Burt Medecine Bull is an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. He considers Burt Medicine Bull to be his BIA name. His grandfather's name was Whistling Eagle and Burt’s Cheyenne name is Setovaatse which means Appears. His grandmother was Annie Medicine Bull named E’seeva’e which means Day Woman. His father was Burt Medicine Bull Sr. Cheyenne name E’sheomenestse which means Rising Sun and his mother was Ellen or Hoxovenahane’e which means Across Killing Woman.

 

Medicine Bull grew up in a traditional way, from the ages of 5-12 in Birney, along the Tongue River in the southern part of the Reservation. He lived in a small shack with a dirt floor with his grandparents and uncle. From 1st-3rd grade, Burt did not know English. His family gardened, ate lean meats, and harvested plums, chokecherries, blueberries, buffalo berries, and wild turnips to store for winter. 

 

His grandparents wanted him to learn English, so Medicine Bull began attending St. Labre Indian Catholic High School, a boarding school in Ashland, Montana, until his sophomore year.  In 1971, Medicine Bull graduated from high school in Washington state and then graduated from college in 1991. He worked one year at St. Labre and also in Kyle, South Dakota. While teaching math and science at Little Wound, he began his Master's studies in leadership and school administration. He became an American Indian Higher Education Consortium Fellow (AIHEC).

 

Even when he was young, Setovaatse wanted to be a teacher. After becoming a teacher, he wanted to become an administrator.  After becoming a principal, he wanted to teach the Cheyenne language. Today, Medicine Bull teaches four language level courses at Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer, MT.