Friday, August 8, 2025 – Lakota project breathes new life into Chief Sitting Bull’s songs

Sitting Bull is remembered for strong leadership and resistance against the U.S. government, but a series of songs by and about him reveal another side to the renowned Lakota leader. Courtney Yellow Fat (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe) has been sifting through oral and written history to identify the songs that are known to the tribe, but only recently attributed to Sitting Bull. Yellow Fat and others are recording those songs through the Densmore/Lakota Songs Repatriation Project. (Photo: KUYI radio) And Hopi radio station KUYI is marking 25 years on the air. The celebration comes amid new uncertainty about the future of many public and tribal radio stations. We’ll talk with the station manager about the milestone for the station and the role community radio plays for Hopi citizens. GUESTS Courtney Yellow Fat (Hunkpapa Lakota), chief cultural consultant and co-producer with the Densmore/Lakota Songs Repatriation Project John Eagleshield Jr. (Hunkpapa Lakota), singer Samantha Honani Molina (Hopi), KUYI general manager   Break 1 Music: Fearless I Live by Chief Sitting Bull (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) Break 2 Music: I Am the Beginning and the End (song) Dorothy Tsatoke (artist) Native American Healing Songs Come to me Great Mystery (album)