Site Overview and Site History
The original Sitting Bull burial location was in the northern part of the Standing Rock Reservation, near Fort Yates, North Dakota. The reburial site (current gravesite) is located in the southern part of the Standing Rock Reservation, across the Missouri River/Lake Oahe from Mobridge, South Dakota. This is where the cultural center and museum will be built. This site is just a few miles east of where Sitting Bull lived on the Grand River.
The Foundation is planning to document and tell the story of the relocation of Sitting Bull's gravesite. Both the original site and the current, permanent site have tremendous significance. The Sitting Bull Monument Foundation believes both locations should be protected, preserved and honored. Both sites should be treated with respect and should properly and positively pay tribute to Sitting Bull. For many years both sites have been abused, neglected and vandalized.
The time has come to stop the abuse and neglect. The Sitting Bull Monument Foundation has already completed a thorough and respectful cleanup of the gravesite and is now working with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to preserve and protect both sites. A cooperative effort is underway to obtain funding and support for these historically and culturally significant sites.
The Foundation is planning to provide information about the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and his involvement in the creation of the bust of Sitting Bull, which is located at the burial site.
Both the northern and the southern locations have been included in the corridor management plan for an extension of the National Native American Scenic Byway on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The byway plan calls for the development, improvement and promotion of both sites, along with other significant sites along the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation portion of the scenic byway.
