Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake) with his Crucifix

Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake), also nicknamed Slon-he or “Slow”; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies.

In 1883 Sitting Bull embraced the Catholic faith and was baptised by a French-speaking Jesuit priest.

He earned money by selling his autographed picture and gave much of that money to the poor.

William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody is one of the most iconic figures of the Wild West. His Wild West show made him one of the most famous people in the country. Cody was known as a trapper, a soldier, a Medal of Honor recipient, bullwhacker, “Fifty-Niner” in Colorado, a Pony Express rider in 1860, wagonmaster, and a stagecoach driver. But Cody also became a Catholic the day before his death.

It is believed that Cody was inspired to become a Catholic by his friend Sitting Bull, himself a Catholic convert.

Sitting Bull was re-buried in the Catholic part of Mobridge cemetery in South Dakota.