Verbal Meets Visual: Sitting Bull and the Representation of History

Abstract

A distinct form of Plains Indian historical narrative, the recounting of war deeds known as coup, was once produced through two linked forms of expression: oral recitation and pictorial representation. Many nineteenth-century examples of the visual component have survived, now separated from their oral component. A rare example in which both narrative strands have been preserved presents an opportunity to examine the types of information included in each, to consider the ways in which the different strands were deployed toward social ends, and to gain insights into Lakota historical consciousness. The materials were created by the Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull in 1882 while a prisoner of the US Army.