Sitting Bull Remembers

Grade 3–6—In this first-person, fictionalized account, Sitting Bull is living in captivity near the end of his life and remembering his past. He longs for the life that Native Americans enjoyed before the coming of the Wasicu, the white people. He talks about the Sioux victory at Little Bighorn and the destruction of the buffalo herds. Turner's writing is lyrical, almost poetic. The story is poignant and sympathetic to the plight of the Native peoples who were driven from their land and forced to live on tiny reservations. They are depicted as brave and noble victims, while white people are the greedy villains who want only gold. The illustrations give a romanticized view of Native American life on the Great Plains, and are similar in style to those in Joseph Bruchac's A Boy Called Slow (Philomel, 1995). Minor includes pictograph images superimposed on the representational art to suggest Sitting Bull's feelings and vision. The well-crafted art adds drama and depth to the story. This book is a mood piece that communicates the injustice of Native American oppression in the 1800s. Those looking for an unbiased, fact-filled account of Sitting Bull's life must look elsewhere, for example, to Ann Todd's Sitting Bull (Capstone, 2002).—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT
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