Speaker 1: Wimbo Kelly from executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio. The History Channel's
Speaker 1: documentary event Sitting Bull explores the remarkable life and accomplishments
Speaker 1: of the iconic Lakota chief. It is a special two
Speaker 1: night event on May twenty seventh and twenty eighth. Sitting
Speaker 1: Bull examines the mid nineteenth century westward expansion of American
Speaker 1: settlers and their encroachment upon Native territories. From it rose,
Speaker 1: the legendary Lakota leader. Sitting Bull grew up in a
Speaker 1: time of prosperity for the Lakota people, but people started
Speaker 1: flooding the west. Native people see it as an invasion
Speaker 1: from the east. This is not some distant historic figure.
Speaker 2: This is a real person who had a transformative effect.
Speaker 1: Joining me right now on the show is the star
Speaker 1: of Sitting Bull. Michael Spears. Michael, thank you for coming
Speaker 1: on tonight. How are you.
Speaker 2: Hey, Madalo, I'm doing well. Thank you.
Speaker 1: That's fantastic. You are a member of the Lakota Nation.
Speaker 1: For those who don't know, born in South Dakota, walk
Speaker 1: the same paths that Sitting Bull did. What were the
Speaker 1: stories like that you heard growing up?
Speaker 2: Growing up? I got to hear some of the UH
Speaker 2: the relationships that he had. You know, where his mother
Speaker 2: was from, where his where he came from, and why
Speaker 2: he did what he did.
Speaker 1: When you heard about what he did, like for example,
Speaker 1: most people who may not be familiar with him know
Speaker 1: about the Battle of Wounded Knee and its legacy. The
Speaker 1: battle was between the US Army and the Lakota people.
Speaker 1: Were some three hundred Lakota men, women and children were killed.
Speaker 1: How were those stories conveyed to you growing up?
Speaker 2: You know, getting being so close to to Oglalla country
Speaker 2: where Wounded Knee took place. You know, we every every
Speaker 2: year around the anniversary of those times, you know, we
Speaker 2: would we gather and my father and mother grandparents would
Speaker 2: share those stories and tell us, you know, what happened
Speaker 2: and why they happened. You know, Spotted Elk or Bigfoot
Speaker 2: was was thought to be the next leader as Sitting Bull.
Speaker 2: So that's why they went after him so so hard.
Speaker 2: You know, they thought there was gonna he was gonna
Speaker 2: be the next UH chief and and and rise up,
Speaker 2: and so they you know, the Calvary and the government
Speaker 2: chased him down and hence the massacre at Wounded Knee.
Speaker 1: That's a great point that you made Sitting Bull getting
Speaker 1: back to the to the show is part documentary, part dramatization.
Speaker 1: Is as much as you were involved, how does this
Speaker 1: go about telling the most important events in his life
Speaker 1: as a man, as a leader, as a chief.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, he is one of our brightest icons
Speaker 2: of diplomacy. He was ceremonial chief. He was a holy man,
Speaker 2: you know, and in his later years he didn't actually
Speaker 2: participate in the fighting because he couldn't being a holy man.
Speaker 2: You know, you're a proponent of life. And even in
Speaker 2: the show, you're going to see his telling of his
Speaker 2: vision prior to the battle, a little big horn or
Speaker 2: greasy grass as we know it, and you're going to
Speaker 2: see how it affects him emotionally and personally to talk
Speaker 2: about and realize that there's going to be so much death,
Speaker 2: you know, and not only with the Lakota people, but
Speaker 2: on both sides, you know. And he didn't he wasn't
Speaker 2: a proponent of war, but he was an incredible strategist
Speaker 2: and he was very spiritually grounded and connected individual, which
Speaker 2: you're going to get to see.
Speaker 1: In this time of no real direct communication. Yes, there
Speaker 1: were newspapers, but I was assumed that was more on
Speaker 1: the army side and the settler side. How did the
Speaker 1: legend of Sitting Bull spread? He was talked about in newspapers,
Speaker 1: but how did he spread among the La Coda nation
Speaker 1: and beyond? How did that word travel?
Speaker 2: So in our history is historically we provide our our
Speaker 2: youth are the people with an oral history or a
Speaker 2: winter con is what we call it. And we would
Speaker 2: have gatherings where even here where I'm at in Montana,
Speaker 2: we have the headwaters, there's places on sacred spaces, including
Speaker 2: the Black Hills, where we would gather and have our
Speaker 2: annual sun dance or wiping of tears or hungapi ceremonies
Speaker 2: are making of relatives. And so we had sacred spaces
Speaker 2: that Sitting Bull fought for and Crazy Horse and you
Speaker 2: know all of our leaders fought for these spaces too
Speaker 2: that we have used over the last you know, hundreds
Speaker 2: of of years to h to have uh you know
Speaker 2: that they say, uh, you know, I don't like to
Speaker 2: use that word pow wow, but it's a it's a
Speaker 2: contemporary word of an actually a payout word power. Uh.
Speaker 2: It's a gathering. So we would have gatherings of ceremonies
Speaker 2: to to tell the you know, who lived and who
Speaker 2: died and why and who uh what happened? So you know,
Speaker 2: we would keep our records on on heights on there.
Speaker 2: There was a job of a historian of each tribe
Speaker 2: to have those records and to share them orally and pictographically.
Speaker 1: I know there must be a lot of expectation and
Speaker 1: a lot of responsibility in portraying someone like sitting Bull.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I said in the beginning that it was executive produced
Speaker 1: by Leonardo DiCaprio, But there are a lot of people
Speaker 1: correct me if I'm wrong, from the Lakota Nation who
Speaker 1: are also involved this piece. Is that true?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, that was gave me a a big sense
Speaker 2: of pride, you know, walking on to the location and set,
Speaker 2: seeing the la Quota commentators, seeing the Lakota producers, and
Speaker 2: you know, we've got Native historians telling the story. You know,
Speaker 2: we've got representation not only from la Quota, but the Crow,
Speaker 2: the Hunk, Popa, the you know, we have a representation
Speaker 2: from all walks of life that are getting to share
Speaker 2: in their knowledge.
Speaker 1: Does any of this make you just a little bit
Speaker 1: nervous as a person, because you know, there's so many
Speaker 1: people tuning in with their own preconceived notions of how
Speaker 1: the story should be told. You know, there's always going
Speaker 1: to be some sort of pushback. Does that weigh on
Speaker 1: you in any way?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yes, yes it does, you know, just just as
Speaker 2: a person, you know, you want to have a good
Speaker 2: relationship with everybody. You know, you don't want to hurt
Speaker 2: nobody's feelings. And I try to do the best that
Speaker 2: I could in my own research, my own connection, asking
Speaker 2: permission through ceremony to play this role. You know, I've
Speaker 2: I've already felt some of that pushback on on social
Speaker 2: media with some of the relatives of sitting well himself,
Speaker 2: and I definitely feel the weight on the responsibility of
Speaker 2: playing such an important character or person chief relative.
Speaker 1: Do you think that you will be sitting watching as
Speaker 1: it airs the first night, in the second night, or
Speaker 1: are you someone who doesn't necessarily need to see yourself
Speaker 1: on screen as it airs in premieres?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess I'm one of those guys who doesn't
Speaker 2: really like to watch himself. But I have some relatives
Speaker 2: that put together a watch party. I'm going to be
Speaker 2: sitting there with my with some family and relatives, and
Speaker 2: we're going to get to watch it together.
Speaker 1: That's good. It's nice to hear that your family and
Speaker 1: friends will be supporting you, because I know, especially with
Speaker 1: social media, it can really really be difficult on occasion.
Speaker 1: Sitting Bull a special two night event on May twenty
Speaker 1: seventh and twenty eighth History Channel starring my guest Michael
Speaker 1: Spears as City Bull. Mister Spears, thank you for coming
Speaker 1: on this evening. I salute you and celebrate you and
Speaker 1: wish you nothing but success in the future.
Speaker 2: Oil Thank you so much from my heart to yours,
Speaker 2: and I hope you all enjoy and come away with
Speaker 2: some awareness and a little bit of knowledge and love.
Speaker 1: Today we're honoring our nation's heroes on Memorial Day with
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