"I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place"

Sitting Bull’s powerful statement asserts the natural validity and dignity of his identity as a “red man,” a term he uses for his Native American heritage. He expresses unwavering acceptance of himself as he was made, associating his identity not with mere circumstance, but with divine intention, the “Great Spirit,” a reference to the spiritual beliefs common among Lakota Sioux and many other Indigenous nations. By invoking the will of the Great Spirit, Sitting Bull frames his existence as not just a matter of ancestry or chance, but of sacred purpose and order.

At the heart of this perspective is a quiet yet firm resistance to pressure for assimilation by Euro-American society. In the late 19th century, Indigenous peoples in North America were being forced to give up their ways of life, languages, and religions, to become more like the settlers, “white men”, through forced education, outlawing of ceremonies, and land seizures. By declaring satisfaction in his own being, Sitting Bull challenges the underlying assumption that to be white, or to adopt white customs, was inherently superior. He recognizes the attempts to erase or “improve” him and his people, and counters with the argument that diversity among humans is intentional and valuable.

His words articulate a sense of self-worth that comes from a spiritual worldview, seeing difference not as a mistake or deficiency but as part of the intended variety of creation. This stance is both an assertion of pride and a rejection of imposed shame. It encourages others to value themselves, as they are, and honors the role of cultural and spiritual traditions in shaping identity. Sitting Bull’s message is not just personal, but universal: authentic self-acceptance and respect for one’s origins are acts of resistance as well as acts of fidelity to higher principles.