Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotanka), the renowned head chief, argued that the Lakota Sioux tribes were both a ward of the state and a sovereign nation that had signed treaties with the United States. In his 1883 presentation to a U.S. Senate committee, Sitting Bull reminded the ³Great Father² (the president) that he had a responsibility to take care of the Lakota. At the same time, he demanded that the ³Great Father² live up to previous treaties the U.S. Government had signed promising monetary payment, clothing, agricultural tools, and livestock. Without these resources, Sitting Bull believed, the Lakota would not escape poverty.

Myers-Lipton, p. 62-63

(Excerpted from “Social Solutions to Poverty” © Paradigm Publishers 2006)