Michael Gentry - The Vision of Sitting Bull 1992 30" x 48"

Michael Gentry (American, 1940-1994)The Vision of Sitting Bull, 1992 Oil on canvasCanvas: 30” x 48”Frame: 41.5” x 60”Signed and Dated with Artist’s Device Lower Right: ‘Michael Gentry / © ’92 / WAA UBAA’ In March of 1876, the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes join together to participate in the Sun Dance ritual. Led by Sitting bull, they offer prayers to the Great Spirit—Wakáŋ Táŋka—to aid them as federal troops move into their area. In this ceremony, Sitting Bull has a vision of soldiers falling into their camp like grasshoppers from the sky. In June, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong and all of the men under his command enter their valley and are killed. Despite continued success for the Sioux against the United States, their reliance on buffalo—whose population was quickly decreasing due to white encroachment—meant the Sioux were forced to move North and eventually surrender. This painting captures the determination and comradery of a group of people faced with persistent perse