"These essays provide us with new dimensions of Sitting Bull, the Lakota leader; they further help define the material culture of the man." Jerome A. Greene, author of Fort Randall on the Missouri, 1856-1892, and Nez Perce Summer 1877 The violent death of the great political and spiritual Lakota leader, Sitting Bull, is one of the most tragic murder cases in American history. To this day, it is controversial and painful for many Lakota people. Inseparably linked to this powerful chief is one of his highly important ceremonial possessions, an elaborate and beautifully made pipe carried by him in several famous photos. The pipe’s story reveals the dubious role of Indian Agent, James McLaughlin who, with false statements about the intentions and deeds of the chief, orchestrated Sitting Bull’s demise. Among McLaughlin’s infamous lies was the claim that Sitting Bull had broken his ceremonial pipe to wage war against the White Man. Its recent rediscovery is a story equal to a scientific mystery case. From the 19th century windswept Plains of North Dakota, the pipe found its way into the Forrest Fenn collection where it then became the subject of a detailed forensic photographic examination to prove its authenticity. This study of Sitting Bull’s pipe energized the authors to re-examine the political whirlwind on the Standing Rock reservation during Sitting Bull’s last days and the turbulent situation of the Ghost Dance movement.weiterlesen