Fool Bull

Tribe: Brulé  Sioux

1849 - Dec 20, 1909

Wives: Red Crane, and Getting Around 

Sons: Richard,  b.1887, John, b. 1889

Fool Bull was a medicine man among the Brulé Lakota. In his youth he took part in the 1873 Massacre Canyon battle between the Sioux and Pawnee and was injured after a boy fired at him point blank with a pistol. It knocked out his eyesight and took several months before the powder burns healed. He was also a participant in the 1876 battle of Little Big Horn aka Greasy Grass where he carried his war shield. Across his lap is a serrated whip made from a section of milled board representing a lightning bolt. This ‘badge of office’ shows that he held an honored and prestigious position as one of four ‘whip bearers’ in a particular warrior society. Whip bearers were tasked with maintaining proper order and conduct among members. The fox pelt with tail hanging from the wrist-loop of the whip indicates that the society was the Tokala, or the Kit Fox society. His shield is on display in the Journey Museum in Rapid City, South Dakota.