Sitting Bull's name is still the best-known of any American Indian leader, but his life and legacy remain shrouded with misinformation and half-truths. His life spanned the entire clash of cultures and ultimate destruction of the Plains Indian way of life. He was a powerful leader and a respected shaman, but neither title fully captures the enigma of Sitting Bull.Drawing on research into rare contemporary records, and Sitting Bull's own 'hieroglyphic autobiography', this absorbing volume traces his life from a headstrong youth (named Jumping Badger) and first contact with White settlers, through his election as spiritual and military leader of the Lakota Sioux, his role in the major victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, his subsequent flight to Canada and return as a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, to his arrest and untimely death at the hands of the Indian Affairs police on the eve of the Battle of Wounded Knee.The first new biography of Sitting Bull (1831-1890), in over fifteen years, Yenne's work will set a benchmark for all future histories.