The Chairman: “I know you are Sitting Bull.”
Sitting Bull: “You say you know I am Sitting Bull, but do you know what position I hold?”
The Chairman: “I do not know any difference between you and the other Indians at this agency.”
Sitting Bull: “I am here by the will of the Great Spirit, and by his will I am a chief. My heart is red and sweet, and I know it is sweet, because whatever passes near me puts out its tongue to me;[[36]] and yet you men have come here to talk with us, and you say you do not know who I am. I want to tell you that if the Great Spirit has chosen anyone to be the chief of this country it is myself.”
The Chairman: “In whatever capacity you may be here today, if you desire to say anything to us we will listen to you; otherwise we will dismiss this council.”
Sitting Bull: “Yes; that is all right. You have conducted yourselves like men who have been drinking whiskey, and I came here to give you some advice.” (Here Sitting Bull waved his hand, and at once the Indians left the room in a body).[[37]]
A little later, some of the Indians having told Sitting Bull that he had treated the Committee very harshly and should apologize, he appeared and made a much longer speech. In this he asked for many things; he pointed out that the Whites were responsible for the destruction of the buffalo—the Indians’ means of sustenance. He seemed to be aware that his speech had caused ill feeling for his opening sentences are:—
“I came in with a glad heart to shake hands with you, my friends, for I feel that I have displeased you; and I am here to apologize to you for my bad conduct and to take back what I said. I will take it back because I consider I have made your hearts bad. I heard that you were coming here from the Great Father’s house some time before you came, and I have been sitting here like a prisoner waiting for some one to release me. I was looking for you everywhere, and I considered that when we talked with you it was the same as if we were talking with the Great Father; and I believe that what I pour out from my heart the Great Father will hear. What I take back is what I said to cause the people to leave the council, and want to apologize for leaving myself. The people acted like children, and I am sorry for it. I was very sorry when I found out that your intentions were good and entirely different from what I supposed they were. Now I will tell you my mind and I will tell everything straight. I know the Great Spirit is looking down upon me from above and will hear what I say, therefore I will do my best to talk straight; and I am in hopes that some one will listen to my wishes and help me to carry them out. I have always been a chief, and have been made chief of all the land. Thirty-two years ago I was present at councils with the white man, and at the time of the Fort Rice council I was on the prairie listening to it, and since then a great many questions have been asked me about it, and I always said wait; and when the Black Hills council was held, and they asked me to give up that land, I said they must wait. I remember well all the promises that were made about that land because I have thought a great deal about them since that time. Of course I know that the Great Spirit provided me with animals for my food, but I did not stay out on the prairie because I did not wish to accept the offers of the Great Father, for I sent in a great many of my people and I told them that the Great Father was providing for them and keeping his agreements with them, and I was sending the Indians word all the time I was out that they must remember their agreements and fulfill them, and carry them out straight. When the English authorities were looking for me I heard that the Great Father’s people were looking for me too. I was not lost. I knew where I was going all the time. Previous to that time, when a Catholic priest called ‘White Hair’ (meaning Bishop Marty) came to see me, I told him all these things plainly. I meant to fulfill, and did fulfill; and when I went over into the British possessions he followed me, and I told him everything that was in my heart, and sent him back to tell the Great Father what I told him; and General Terry sent me word afterwards to come in, because he had big promises to make me, and I sent him word that I would not throw my country away; that I considered it all mine still, and I wanted him to wait just four years for me; that I had gone over there to attend to some business of my own, and my people were doing just as other people would do. If a man loses anything and goes back and looks carefully for it he will find it, and that is what the Indians are doing now when they ask you to give them the things that were promised them in the past; and I do not consider that they should be treated like beasts, and that is the reason I have grown up with the feelings I have. Whatever you wanted of me I have obeyed, and I have come when you called me. The Great Father sent me word that whatever he had against me in the past had been forgiven and thrown aside, and he would have nothing against me in the future, and I accepted his promises and came in; and he told me not to step aside from the white man’s path, and I told him I would not, and I am doing my best to travel in that path. I feel that my country has gotten a bad name, and I want it to have a good name; it used to have a good name; and I sit sometimes and wonder who it is that has given it a bad name. You are the only people now who can give it a good name, and I want you to take good care of my country and respect it. When we sold the Black Hills we got a very small price for it, and not what we ought to have received. I used to think that the size of the payments would remain the same all the time, but they are growing smaller all the time. I want you to tell the Great Father everything I have said, and that we want some benefit from the promises he has made us; and I don’t think I should be tormented with anything about giving up any part of my land until those promises are fulfilled—I would rather wait until that time, when I will be ready to transact any business he may desire. I consider that my country takes in the Black Hills, and runs from the Powder River to the Missouri; and that all of this land belongs to me. Our reservation is not as large as we want it to be, and I suppose the Great Father owes us money now for land he has taken from us in the past. You white men advise us to follow your ways, and therefore I talk as I do. When you have a piece of land, and anything trespasses on it, you catch it and keep it until you get damages, and I am doing the same thing now; and I want you to tell all this to the Great Father for me. I am looking into the future for the benefit of my children, and that is what I mean, when I say I want my country taken care of for me. My children will grow up here, and I am looking ahead for their benefit, and for the benefit of my children’s children, too; and even beyond that again. I sit here and look around me now, and I see my people starving, and I want the Great Father to make an increase in the amount of food that is allowed us now, so that they may be able to live.”[[38]]
In Sitting Bull’s speech, we have the thoughts and the desires of the native Indian. It is the speech of a strong man. Omitting much that followed, I desire to state that General Logan replied in a severe manner to Sitting Bull.
There is a great deal of good advice in Logan’s speech. It indicates the domination the authorities wished to exercise over the Indians. On page 82 of the report the following words occur:—“Here the interpreter said that Two Bears desired to say a few words to the Committee, and permission was given.” This would indicate that the Committee dominated and had the right to designate such Indians as should speak, or withhold permission from those who desired to talk. Most white men’s councils are foreign to Indian methods of council. Where the white man sought to make of the council a one-sided affair, friction was quite certain to develop.