Song of Sitting Bull
Sung by Courtney Yellowfat
Song No. 193 • Catalog No. 612
Densmore recording sung by Waháčhaŋka-yapi (Used-as-a-Shield)
From Teton Sioux Music by Frances Densmore:
John Eagle Shield’s grandmother was born in 1881 and knew Sitting Bull. She shared the stories with her grandson.
“She was 9 years old when they killed Sitting Bull, and she tell us about it and then she’d cry. And then she’d remember something else and she’d cry about that. This was in December. There was thunder and lightening and the ground even split open down at the camp there, just a ways from where he fell. It was a real powerful time so she’d remember that.”
John Eagle Shields Great grandfather sang for Densmore. In his youth, he was sent to the United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
The school was founded in 1879 by the U.S. government. From 1879 until 1918, more than 10,000 Native American children from 140 tribes attended Carlisle.
John Eagle Shield’s Student Card from Carlise. He arrived on October 20, 1902 at age 16, and left (“Ran”) on May 20, 1904.
