The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull by Utley, Robert M - 1993

New York: Henry Holt and Company - A John Macrae Book, 1993. 413 Pages Indexed. This is the 1993 First Edition and First Printing. Light brown boards with brown quarter-spine. Frontispiece is portrait of Sitting Bull. All first editions are printed on acid free paper. Sitting Bull treasured his lance and shield. His father presented them to him in ceremonies marking his passage to warrior rank, after his first coup at age fourteen. The shield, considered to possess sacred power, bore a design that came to Sitting Bull's father in a dream. The lance was decorated with beadwork crafted by his mother. The lance was Sitting Bull's favorite weapon. An offensive weapon, it symbolized Sitting Bull's role among the Hunkpapa Sioux from 1864, following the Battle of Killdeer Mountain, until 1869, following the Treaty of 1868 and the split of the Lakota Sioux tribes into agency and nontreaty factions. During these years Sitting Bull became the Hunkpapas' most noted and effective warrior in raids against the whites, especially the soldiers in the forts along the upper Missouri River. A defensive weapon, the shield symbolized Sitting Bull's role between 1869 and his surrender in 1881. As the principal leader of the nontreaty Lakotas, he defended his people and land against white aggression and encroachment. He had become the Lakota shield.. First Edition First Printing Stated. Hard Back. As New/Fine. Illus. by Ward, Jeffrey L. - Design. 6 1/2" X 9 1/2".