MS 1929-b Sitting Bull pictographic autobiography and related material
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: NAA MS 1929B
name: label: Creator
content: Sitting Bull, 1831-1890
place: label: Place
content: North America
creator: label: Creator
content: Sitting Bull, 1831-1890
culture: label: Culture
content: Assiniboine (Stoney)
label: Culture
content: Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke)
label: Culture
content: Sahnish (Arikara)
label: Culture
content: Salish (Flathead)
label: Culture
content: Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux)
setName: label: See more items in
content: MS 1929-b Sitting Bull pictographic autobiography and related material
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Volume (disbound and laminated; 22 drawings, pencil and watercolor, 13.25 x 8.25 inches)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1882-1923
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Sitting Bull drew these pictures on the leaves of an Army ledger book while he was held prisoner at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory in 1882. They were acquired at that time by Lt. Wallace Tear together with explanations from Sitting Bull of each image. Tear sent them to Gen. John C. Smith in August 1882, and they were donated to the Bureau of American Ethnology by Smith's son Robert A. Smith in 1923.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS1929B
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Volumes
label: Type
content: Works of art
label: Type
content: Ledger drawings
label: Type
content: Pictographs
label: Type
content: Newsclippings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Works of art
label: Genre/Form
content: Ledger drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Pictographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Newsclippings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of a ledger book, now partially disbound, containing twenty-two (22) drawings by Sitting Bull and related material.  The drawings depict Sitting Bull's war deeds, and each image is signed by him. The scenes are not in chronological order. The drawings were made on the front leaves of the ledger book, and were removed by the Bureau of American Ethnology Archives (BAE) for lamination at an unknown date. The remaining volume has eight (8) leaves with mounted newspaper clippings about Sitting Bull, and many additional blank leaves. The collection also includes letters transmitting the ledger book as well as explanations of the drawings dictated by Sitting Bull from Wallace Tear to John C. Smith, and from Smith's son to the BAE.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.