Sitting Bull was a leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux. Born in 1831 near Grand River, South Dakota, Sitting Bull gained a reputation as a warrior at a very young age. He was active in military societies and also respected for his wisdom. Using the media player above, listen to David Miller chronicle Sitting Bull’s life history (14m 01s).
SITTING BULL (HUNKPAPA LAKOTA)
born 1831; died December 15, 1890
Given James Henderson’s desire to preserve Indigenous icons of the past, it should not be surprising that he painted Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull was a pivotal Lakota leader who played a key role in resisting American encroachment upon the traditional territories of the Lakota. Like the Dakota-American conflict of 1862, the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876 for the Lakota represented a culmination of tension and violence with the Americans. In 1877, Sitting Bull along with a few thousand Lakota took refuge in what is today southern Saskatchewan. During his time in Canada, Sitting Bull developed a friendship with the Superintendent of the Northwest Mounted Police, James Morrow Welsh.
Eventually in 1881, Sitting Bull and remnants of his band returned to the United States. Interestingly, for a brief period of time in 1885, Sitting Bull toured with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. Throughout the 1880s, Sitting Bull resisted the alienation of Lakota land in his denouncement of the Dawes Act and also in his opposition to the break-up of the Great Sioux reservation. Tragically in 1890, Sitting Bull died in an attempt by tribal police to arrest him. Given the central role that Sitting Bull played in Indigenous history of what is today western Canada, it is fitting that for a period of time this painting was displayed in the Hotel Saskatchewan.
- Neal McLeod
James Henderson
Sitting Bull, c. 1924
oil on canvas
75.3 x 60.1 cm
Collection of James Lanigan, Calgary, AB.
For many years Henderson’s portrait of Sitting Bull hung conspicuously in the Spanish Lounge off the lobby of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s (“CPR”) Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina, where it achieved almost iconic local status. Its prominence was justified, given Sitting Bull’s (1836-1890) notoriety in Western Canadian history. Following his defeat of Gen. George A. Custer’s 7th U.S. Cavalry at Little Big Horn in June 1876, Sitting Bull and his Sioux followers crossed the International Boundary in November 1876 and camped in the Northwest Territories’ District of Assiniboia near present-day Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan. From 1877 to 1881 their presence was controversial. Fear that their warring reputation and Sitting Bull’s leadership skills might unite other Territorial bands against white settlers caused anxiety for Canadian government officials, and created continued political pressures between Canadian and U.S. authorities. Upon an amnesty being granted in July 1881, Sitting Bull returned to the United States. The majority of his followers who chose to remain in Canada were ultimately settled from c.1877 to 1881 under the leadership of Chief Standing Buffalo (Tatankanaje), on the Standing Buffalo Reserve, five miles northwest of Fort Qu’Appelle.
Sitting Bull’s portrait has an interesting provenance. Its first-known recorded reference was in an article titled The Indian in Art in the October 1924 issue of The Maple Leaf. Author Austin Bothwell recounted a visit to Henderson’s Fort Qu’Appelle studio in the company of Henderson patron Norman Mackenzie K.C. of Regina. Bothwell wrote “(regarding) a head of Sitting Bull. The power, the dignity, the fine intellect of this famous Sioux chief are plainly evident in the majestic mould of his features. The artist has done justice to his subject.” The portrait was subsequently purchased by Mr. Mackenzie, and it was listed in a Catalogue of Pictures (in the Private Collection of Norman Mackenzie, Esq., K.C.) published in early-1925. Mackenzie was noted for his generosity and a number of instances are recorded wherein he made gifts of art from his collection. Indeed, in a letter to Henderson dated August 7th 1925, Mackenzie referred to an Indian portrait that he “sent to Judge Robson” in Winnipeg, and the reference was to the portrait of Sitting Bull. (Anecdotally, the portrait is reported to have hung in Robson’s home library, and was affectionately referred to as “Uncle Joe” by Robson family members!)
The circumstance under which the portrait found its way to the CPR’s Hotel Saskatchewan is uncertain, but a reasonable presumption can be made. Mr. Justice Robson’s daughter Jean married Ephraim H. Coleman, the second Dean of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law. Ephraim Coleman was the brother of D’Alton C. Coleman, the CPR’s Vice President of Western Lines (1918-1934), senior Vice President (1934-1942) and President (1942-1947). It is inferred that the Coleman Brothers facilitated the acquisition of the portrait from Robson and its relocation to the Hotel. It is unknown when the latter occurred; however, the Hotel Saskatchewan opened in May 1927 and it is presumed that the transfer occurred during D’Alton Coleman’s Winnipeg tenure as Vice President of Western Lines. The Hotel was sold to private interests in 1980 and, following the expiry of CPR’s 45-day right-of-first-refusal to repatriate the portrait, it was purchased in early-1981 by a private collector in Calgary.
- James Lanigan
Photographer Unknown
Sitting Bull, Sioux Chief. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA., ca. 1880s
Archival Photograph
Courtesy of the Glenbow-Alberta Institute, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB.
