Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Crow Foot

Crow Foot (c. 1873 – December 15, 1890) was a member of the and the son of the prominent leader and spiritual figure . Named Kȟaŋǧí Sihá in Lakota, his moniker honored the Blackfoot chief for extending hospitality to during the latter's refuge in after the . As a teenager living on the , Crow Foot resided with his father amid growing federal concerns over the movement, which authorities viewed as a potential incitement to unrest. On December 15, 1890, Lakota dispatched by Indian agent James McLaughlin attempted to arrest for allegedly promoting the ; when resisted and the situation escalated into gunfire, Crow Foot was among those killed in the melee, reportedly shot while intervening or firing back. His death, alongside 's, intensified grievances and contributed to the volatile atmosphere preceding the Wounded Knee Massacre later that month. Accounts of the incident vary, with some historical analyses questioning whether the action constituted a premeditated rather than a defensive response to resistance, highlighting tensions between assimilation policies and autonomy.

Early Life

Birth and Family

Crow Foot (Lakota: Kȟaŋǧí Šihá), born circa 1873, was the son of (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake), a prominent leader, and his wife, identified in accounts as either Seen by Her Nation (Oyáte Waŋyáŋkapi Wiŋ) or Four Robes (Tašinátópi Wiŋ), who were sisters and among Sitting Bull's spouses. He was born as one of twins into a nomadic band reliant on buffalo herds, amid escalating U.S. territorial incursions and military pressures that diminished traditional lifeways, including the near-extirpation of populations by the mid-1870s. The naming of Crow Foot honored Isapo-Muxika, chief of the Blackfoot (Siksika) Confederacy, whom respected for providing refuge and hospitality to exiles in present-day Alberta, Canada, following the Hunkpapa band's flight after the June 25, 1876, , where had conducted unifying ceremonies. This gesture underscored intertribal alliances formed during displacement, as 's group sought sanctuary from U.S. Army pursuit between 1877 and 1881. Crow Foot grew up in a family structure typical of kinship networks, with fathering multiple children across his marriages; known siblings included daughters Standing Holy and Many Horses. The household reflected the band's resilience against encroaching settlement, though birth records remain approximate due to oral traditions and lack of written documentation in pre-reservation society.

Childhood and Education

Crow Foot, born circa 1873 to the Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull and one of his wives, either Four Robes or Seen by Her Nation, grew up immersed in traditional Lakota practices during a period of increasing pressure from U.S. expansion. Early childhood in Lakota society emphasized experiential learning, including horsemanship, hunting, and the oral transmission of historical and spiritual knowledge essential for survival in a warrior culture. Sitting Bull, while staunchly defending Lakota sovereignty, pragmatically advocated for selective adoption of Western tools, including education, to strengthen negotiations with government authorities; he reportedly lobbied for schools on the reservation and expressed in 1889, "When you find something good in the white man's road... let us take it and put it to use." This outlook led to Crow Foot's enrollment in the Grand River Day School, a Congregational mission day school on the Standing Rock Reservation taught by Carignan, an unusual step for the son of a prominent chief resistant to full . Attendance at such a aimed to impart literacy and basic academic skills, enabling Lakota individuals to better comprehend and contest treaties and policies imposed by settlers and officials.

Involvement in Lakota Resistance and Surrender

Participation in 1881 Surrender

In July 1881, Crow Foot, then approximately five years old and the son of leader , accompanied his father during the formal at Fort Buford in the Dakota Territory. presented his Winchester lever-action rifle to Major David H. Brotherton, the fort's , by first handing it to Crow Foot, who delivered it as instructed, symbolizing the act of submission through the child. reportedly emphasized the gesture by stating he surrendered the weapon via his son, whom he cherished above all else, and urged the officers to treat the boy with paternal care. This event concluded years of evasion following the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, after which led about 200 followers—44 warriors and 143 women and children—into exile in to avoid U.S. subjugation. The band's return stemmed from the collapse of buffalo herds, resulting in widespread starvation, alongside mounting U.S. military encirclement and the failure of Canadian support to materialize as promised. Crow Foot's role, though minor, underscored the familial dimension of the surrender, marking a generational shift toward accommodation with U.S. reservation policies amid the exhaustion of nomadic resistance. The rifle handover, preserved as an artifact, later entered collections like the Smithsonian, reflecting the ceremony's documented formality.

Life on Standing Rock Reservation

Following the surrender of Sitting Bull's band on July 20, 1881, at Fort Buford, Crow Foot, then approximately five to eight years old, accompanied his family during initial confinement at Fort Randall in southeastern , where they remained as prisoners without formal charges until May 1883. Upon release, the family relocated to the Standing Rock Reservation, straddling the modern North Dakota-South Dakota border, where federal policies had already confined bands to diminishing allotments; by the late 1880s, chronic land reductions—culminating in the Act of March 2, 1889, which fragmented the into six smaller ones, including Standing Rock—intensified overcrowding and resource strain for over 8,000 residents. Reservation conditions imposed a regimen of dependency on U.S. Indian Agency rations, issued biweekly at Fort Yates, consisting primarily of (slaughtered on-site), , beans, and , though shortfalls were routine due to bureaucratic delays, among agents, and declining buffalo herds from overhunting, leaving families like 's reliant on meager allotments averaging 1.5 million pounds of annually for the agency by the mid-1880s—insufficient for nutritional needs amid population pressures. Cultural erosion accelerated under agent oversight, which enforced sedentary farming experiments and suppressed traditional practices, yet maintained influence as a spiritual leader, publicly decrying treaty breaches like the unauthorized 1877 seizure and agent graft, fostering subtle resistance within the community. In this impoverished setting, Crow Foot's adolescence from roughly ages eight to fourteen involved adaptation to routine family dynamics, assisting with chores such as tending livestock, gathering firewood, or small-scale trapping—tasks typical for youth amid the shift from nomadic hunting to agency-dictated subsistence, though specific records of his contributions are absent, underscoring the lack of prominent exploits for most young males confined to boundaries without access to pre-contact mobility. Occasional family events, like communal ration distributions or Sitting Bull's 1885-1886 tour with Cody's Wild West Show (from which he returned disillusioned), punctuated the monotony, but Crow Foot's documented role remained peripheral, shaped by paternal guidance emphasizing resilience against assimilationist edicts from agents like James McLaughlin.

Final Days and Death

Context of the Ghost Dance Movement

The Ghost Dance movement originated in 1889 with the visions of , a prophet in , who preached a message of spiritual renewal that included the return of herds, resurrection of the dead, and the disappearance of white settlers from Native lands through peaceful adherence to the dance and moral living. This doctrine rapidly spread across the , reaching communities on reservations in by late 1889, where it was adapted into a more militant form emphasizing armed resistance against ongoing encroachments. delegations, including figures like , visited to learn the rituals, which involved circular dances lasting days and inducing trance-like states believed to hasten the prophesied changes. On the Standing Rock Reservation, Sitting Bull permitted Ghost Dances among his Hunkpapa followers but refrained from personal participation or full endorsement of its militant interpretations, viewing it as a cultural expression amid reservation hardships rather than a call to open war. His home became a gathering point for dancers and sympathizers, heightening concerns among Indian agents who associated the activity with potential organization for rebellion, drawing on memories of Sitting Bull's leadership in the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn. These fears were compounded by recent U.S. policy failures, including the 1889 Sioux Agreement, which Congress ratified to divide the and cede approximately 9 million acres for white settlement, coupled with chronic reductions in rations that left many facing starvation. The U.S. government, through the , perceived the as a direct threat to assimilation efforts and reservation control, prompting agents to request military intervention and bans on the practice by October 1890. At age 14, Crow Foot resided in this charged atmosphere at his father's compound, exposed to the fervent dances and discussions that fueled agent suspicions of an uprising orchestrated by Sitting Bull's influence. This context of spiritual revival amid economic desperation and historical grievances positioned the family at the epicenter of escalating federal-Lakota tensions.

The Arrest and Killing on December 15, 1890

On the morning of December 15, 1890, Lieutenant Henry Bullhead led approximately 39 Indian police officers and four volunteers to 's cabin on the Standing Rock Reservation to arrest him for suspected agitation related to the movement. Crow Foot, Sitting Bull's teenage son aged around 14 to 17, reportedly taunted his father with words to the effect of "They are making a fool of you," prompting Sitting Bull to resist the arrest despite initial reluctance. As the police attempted to escort Sitting Bull outside, a crowd of about 150-200 supporters gathered, and gunfire erupted from both sides, with Catch-the-Bear reportedly firing the first shot that mortally wounded Bullhead. In the ensuing chaos, Bullhead, while dying, shot in the head, killing him almost instantly. Crow Foot, unarmed and intervening by positioning himself behind his father, urged non-resistance but became caught in the violence; he was struck during the exchange. Following the , which resulted in the deaths of , Crow Foot, one or two supporters like Black Bird, and several including Bullhead, the wounded officers were carried into the cabin where Crow Foot was found hiding under bedclothes. Pleading "My uncles do not kill me. I do not wish to die," the unarmed youth was clubbed by three policemen and then shot dead, possibly at Bullhead's dying instruction or by officers including . The bodies of Sitting Bull and Crow Foot were transported by wagon to Fort Yates, accompanied by U.S. Army troops, while Sitting Bull's cabin was burned to prevent it becoming a shrine. This incident, occurring two weeks before the Wounded Knee Massacre, heightened tensions on the reservation but was contained without further immediate escalation beyond the eight total Indian deaths reported.

Controversies and Assessments

Government Justification vs. Lakota Perspectives

The U.S. government and James McLaughlin justified the arrest attempt on as a necessary preventive measure against an anticipated uprising fueled by the movement. McLaughlin, fearing 's influence would lead his followers to join other resistant bands, ordered the Indian police on December 14, 1890, to apprehend him quietly before he could mobilize supporters. Reports indicated had hosted instructors like and refused to suppress the ceremonies among his people, which agents interpreted as incitement amid widespread fears of armed rebellion following discoveries of weapons in other camps. This action was framed as upholding reservation order, drawing on 's prior resistance history, including leadership in conflicts that had resulted in significant settler casualties during the and . Lakota oral histories and perspectives portray the incident as an unprovoked of a revered spiritual leader who posed no immediate threat, with his son Crow Foot, aged 17, depicted as an innocent youth ensnared in the violence. Accounts emphasize Sitting Bull's role as a non-violent at the time, focused on cultural preservation rather than warfare, and suggest the killing deepened longstanding distrust toward federal agents and Indian , whom some viewed as collaborators. Crow Foot's death is often highlighted as particularly tragic, with narratives claiming he intervened to protect his father without armament, caught in a provocation possibly amplified by infiltrators or the 's aggressive approach. Empirical details from the event reveal no firearms initially on Sitting Bull or Crow Foot, though the confrontation escalated when supporters, including Catch the Bear, fired upon the police, leading to a shootout that killed , Crow Foot, and six other , while mortally wounding Lieutenant Bull Head and killing another officer. Major General Nelson Miles' subsequent investigation criticized the execution's mishandling and lack of military oversight but substantiated broader concerns of rebellion, noting adherents' armament and Sitting Bull's potential to rally over 100 warriors. These facts underscore the government's emphasis on preemptive action amid perceived threats versus claims of targeted elimination of dissent.

Character and Historical Role

Crow Foot, the teenage son of the leader , was depicted in contemporary accounts as a youth of approximately seventeen years old whose actions during his father's arrest reflected the tensions of the era. James McLaughlin, in his detailed recollection, noted that upon the arrival of Indian police on December 15, 1890, Crow Foot urged to resist capture, exclaiming that the leader who called himself a brave warrior should not submit without a fight, before seizing a rifle and participating in the shootout that led to his death. This defiance contrasted with Sitting Bull's initial non-resistance, highlighting Crow Foot's alignment with more impulsive traditionalist supporters amid factional divides. Despite his youth, Crow Foot's exposure to formal education underscored a potential shift toward in Lakota leadership circles. Sitting Bull, recognizing the value of , enrolled Crow Foot and his siblings in a Congregational day school operated by teacher John Carignan near Grand River on the Standing Rock Reservation, reflecting pragmatic family efforts to equip the next generation with skills amid persistent tribal challenges. His brief life thus symbolized an interrupted generational transition from armed resistance to selective incorporation of Western tools, cut short by the violent clash between accommodationist Indian police and non-compliant adherents. In historical assessments, Crow Foot occupies a peripheral role, primarily referenced in primary documents concerning Sitting Bull's killing, such as police reports and McLaughlin's memoirs, with limited standalone analysis due to scarce personal records. Post-2000 scholarship contextualizes such figures within broader strategies of survival, emphasizing decisions like schooling against the backdrop of chronic inter-tribal warfare on the Plains, where pre-contact conflicts among groups including the , , and involved frequent raids and displacements long before U.S. expansion intensified pressures. His death amplified narratives of external aggression but also exposed internal rifts, as police—loyal to agency authority—enforced the arrest, resulting in casualties on both sides and underscoring the complex dynamics of tribal under reservation constraints.

References

  1. [1]
    Crow Foot Lakota (1873-1890) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree
    Nov 19, 2020 · Crow Foot was born in 1873. Son of Sitting Bull and Four Robes (or Seen by Her Nation). He was killed in 1890, with his father.
  2. [2]
    An Account of Sitting Bull's Death | The West | PBS | Ken Burns - PBS
    Crow Foot (Sitting Bull's son), killed, 17 years of age. Black Bird, killed, 43 years of age. Catch the Bear, killed, 44 years of age. Spotted Horn Bull, killed ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
  3. [3]
    Chief Crowfoot: Warrior, Peacemaker, and Blackfoot Leader
    Crowfoot (Isapo-Muxika) (c.1830–1890) was a legendary chief of the Blackfoot (Siksika) Nation on the Canadian Prairies. A renowned warrior in his youth and ...
  4. [4]
    Crow Foot / D. F. Barry, Photographer - Digital Collections
    Crow Foot was shot and killed during the attempted arrest of Sitting Bull on December 15 1890. Printed on verso: D. F. Barry, Photographer, Bismarck, D.T. ...
  5. [5]
    Crow Foot, son of Sitting Bull | www.American-Tribes.com
    Jun 27, 2015 · His son, Crow Foot, came and was killed right away. He went down these tracks and died. (Pointed to the trail depicted on the map). I shot ...Missing: Native | Show results with:Native
  6. [6]
    “Kangis Siha” Crow Foot (1873-1890) - Find a Grave Memorial
    the son of Sitting Bull, cowardly murdered. For a biography, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow_Foot. For an account of his death and the death of his ...
  7. [7]
    Ta Oyate Wanyakapi Win Seen-by-her-Nation Woman (1846-1897)
    Family Members. Spouse. Sitting Bull. 1831–1890 ( m. 1870). Children. "Kangis Siha" Crow Foot. 1873–1890. Flowers • 26. Pause Animations Resume Animations. In ...
  8. [8]
    ISAPO-MUXIKA (Crowfoot, Pied de Corbeau)
    In 1873 Crowfoot's eldest son was killed in a raid on a Cree camp, and ... He met Sitting Bull [Ta-tanka I-yotank] during the chief's exile in Canada ...<|separator|>
  9. [9]
    Remarkable Facts About Sitting Bull, The Hero Of Lakota Resistance
    Jan 11, 2021 · Crowfoot was a leader of the Blackfoot tribe, a traditional enemy of the Lakota Sioux. However, Sitting Bull and Crowfoot both preferred to make ...
  10. [10]
    Sitting Bull Family Tree and Descendants - The History Junkie
    Jul 31, 2023 · Crow Foot (1873 - 1890) - First son of Sitting Bull and known as his favorite. Crow Foot was killed along with his father on December 15 ...
  11. [11]
    DAKOTA IMAGES | Sitting Bull - South Dakota Historical Society Press
    His family also included an adopted nephew, One Bull; an assiniboine boy named Stays Back; and two sons of Seen-by-the-Nation. Always resistant to white ...
  12. [12]
    Sitting Bull College
    Sitting Bull was born into the old Lakota ... After these deeds he was publicly praised for his courage and in a ceremony his father gave him the name Sitting ...Missing: Foot Crowfoot
  13. [13]
    Tribal Strengths and Native Education
    180-day returnsFeb 22, 2018 · In 1889, Sitting Bull addressed the formal, Western-style education of his people. “When you find something good in the white man's road ...Missing: pragmatic literacy
  14. [14]
    In the Spirit of Yellow Eyes: A Cultural Legacy Video Transcript
    He actually gave his young son Crow Foot his rifle to give to the ... Sitting Bull lobbied and lobbied the government for schools and as soon as ...
  15. [15]
    Report On the Death of Sioux Chief Sitting Bull - DocsTeach
    5 Crow Foot, (Sitting Bull's son, 17 ... Carignan is the teacher of the Grand River Day School, who has kept me informed of Sitting Bull's movements &c &c.<|separator|>
  16. [16]
    Field Officers' Quarters - The Historical Marker Database
    At Sitting Bull's side was his young son Crow Foot. Sitting Bull gave his Winchester rifle to Crow Foot and then told him to give the rifle to Major Brotherton.
  17. [17]
    [PDF] Sitting Bull and the Sioux Resistance - ROBERT M. UTLEY
    Placing his Win- chester rifle beneath the chair, Sitting Bull drew to him his five-year-old son Crow Foot. Major David. H. Brotherton opened the council by ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  18. [18]
    Sitting Bull Surrender | Prairie Public
    May 19, 2022 · Sitting Bull handed his rifle to his five-year-old son, Crowfoot, and addressed the assembled officials: “I surrender this rifle to you through ...
  19. [19]
    Sitting Bull PWNA Resources - Partnership With Native Americans
    Following the assassination, a riot erupted and six policemen and eight of Sitting Bull's followers, including his son Crow Foot, were killed. Our Mission ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  20. [20]
    [PDF] The Sitting Bull Surrender Census, Standing Rock Agency, 1881
    Sep 16, 2019 · In all, the Sitting Bull Surrender. Census records information for 1,081 families of Hunkpapas, Blackfeet. Lakotas, and Lower and Upper ...
  21. [21]
    Friends Projects 2007-2008 - Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield
    ... Sitting Bull's son Crow Foot at Sitting Bull's formal surrender on 20 July 1881 at Ft. Buford, D.T. and later donated to the Smithsonian by the Brotherton ...
  22. [22]
    History - Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
    In the act of March 2, 1889, however, Congress further reduced the Great Sioux Reservation, dividing it into six separate reservations, including the Standing ...Missing: conditions 1880s shortages loss
  23. [23]
    [PDF] the history and culture of the standing rock oyate
    By this point the Lakota and Dakota people were not willing to negotiate for more loss of land. The process was regarded as a sham; there was no true ...
  24. [24]
    [PDF] Table of Contents - South Dakota State Historical Society
    From the Grand River Day School, Little Eagle Day School or Grand River. Boarding School. Page 64. Dakota, Nakota, Lakota Life. South Dakota State Historical ...
  25. [25]
    The Ghost Dance Religion among the Sioux
    Word of Wovoka's vision spread among Indians throughout the West. By late 1889, it had reached the Lakota and other Sioux, living on their reservations in what ...
  26. [26]
    GHOST DANCE | Encyclopedia of the Great Plains
    The Ghost Dance affected no group more than the Lakota Sioux bands who adopted it. Several Lakota bands sent emissaries to interview Wovoka about his teachings.
  27. [27]
    Ghost Dance | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
    The ghost dance spread to the Great Plains in 1889 as a four-day round dance. Leaders waved eagle-wing fans before the faces of the dancers, inducing trances.
  28. [28]
    Analysis: The Ghost Dance Among the Lakota | Research Starters
    By 1890, the Ghost Dance had reached the Lakota Sioux at the Pine Ridge Reservation in Dakota Territory. The Lakotas had been particularly hard hit by the ...
  29. [29]
    Sitting Bull - Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (U.S. ...
    As a leader, Sitting Bull was heavily involved in the Lakota's struggle for identity during the 1850's. ... Sitting Bill was involved in the Ghost Dance movement.
  30. [30]
    [PDF] The Sioux Land Commission of 1889: Prelude to Wounded Knee
    Relinquishment of over 9 million more acres in 1889 nearly completed it. This loss stirred the Sioux into unprecedented desperation. Two decades of Indian ...
  31. [31]
    Last Words Sitting Bull - James Charles Roy
    The young Crow Foot was found hiding under bedclothes, and plead for his life. ... Chief Ben American Horse complained that "the Indians talked and looked ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  32. [32]
    Why Sitting Bull Was Killed by Indian Agency Police at His Cabin on ...
    Dec 15, 2024 · Eight Indians were killed, including Sitting Bull and his son, Crow Foot, and several others wounded,” McLaughlin wrote in the telegram ...Missing: life 1881-1890
  33. [33]
    Sitting Bull Killed by Indian Police - GenealogyBank
    At dawn on 15 December 1890, the life of Sitting Bull ... Eight Indians were killed, including Sitting Bull and his son, Crow Foot, and several others wounded.
  34. [34]
    Death of Sitting Bull | Hunt the Devil - WordPress.com
    Apr 26, 2016 · The wounded Indian policemen were carried into Sitting Bull's cabin, where Crow Foot was hiding. Three policemen clubbed him, and shot him dead.<|separator|>
  35. [35]
    Sitting Bull - HistoryNet
    Powerful Blackfoot Chief Crow Foot confirmed that Sitting Bull had made overtures to him. Crow Foot said that in the spring of 1876, before the Battle of ...Missing: details | Show results with:details
  36. [36]
    Sitting Bull Arrest Letter | National Archives
    Jun 20, 2024 · McLaughlin gave this order in response to perceptions of a growing threat of conflict connected to the Ghost Dance, a Native American spiritual ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  37. [37]
    https://ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iii-waves-development-1861-1920/lesson-4-alliances-and-conflicts/topic-2-defending-lakota-homelands/section-7-ghost-dance
  38. [38]
    Everything You Know About the Indian Wars Is Wrong - HistoryNet
    Jun 15, 2017 · In 1867 records logged 2,479 soldiers and 37 settler deaths. In 1868 frontier troop strength reached 3,226 men, yet civilian killings increased ...
  39. [39]
    How Lakota Historians Remember Tatanka Iyotake, Sitting Bull
    Dec 24, 2020 · Although Tatanka Iyotake was not the leader in the battle, he had a vision of victory before the battle. An eloquent speaker Sitting Bull ...
  40. [40]
    December Remembrances: Sitting Bull and Wounded Knee
    Dec 21, 2023 · Tathanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull) was a Hunkpapa Lakota chief and spiritual leader who led an important, dignified life, cut short far too soon.
  41. [41]
    1891 Annual Report of Major General Miles – Part 3
    Aug 18, 2013 · In Part 3 of his Annual Report of 1891, Major General Nelson A. Miles details the arrest and death of Sitting Bull, the arrest of Hump, the disposition of the ...
  42. [42]
    [PDF] My friend the Indian
    ... Crow Foot his son, a youth of sey- enteen years. The women were very much frightened and began to cry. Sitting Bull sat up and asked what was the matter ...
  43. [43]
    the american indian in the united states period 1850–1914
    In the house entered by Bull Head's party they found the old medicine man, his two wives, and Crow Foot his son, a youth of seventeen years. “The women were ...
  44. [44]
    Precontact Warfare on the North American Great Plains - jstor
    American frontier: the probable victors at the village, the Lakota, were driven onto the Plains by the westward movement of White settlement and Western ...
  45. [45]
    A Sioux Chief's Arrest: The Death of Sitting Bull | Rock Island Auction
    Police killed Sioux Chief Sitting Bull during an arrest attempt meant to defuse renewed Lakota unrest in 1890.Missing: investigation | Show results with:investigation