While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Dakota ('allies'). The largest division of the Siouan
family, known commonly as Sioux, according to Hewitt a French Canadian
abbreviation of the Chippewa Nadowe-is-iw, a diminutive of
nadowe, 'an adder,' hence 'an enemy.' Nadoweisiw-eg is the
diminutive plural. The diminutive singular and plural were applied by the
Chippewa to the Dakota, and to the Huron to distinguish them from the
Iroquois proper, the true 'adders' or 'enemies.' According to Chippewa
tradition the name was first applied to a body of Indians living on an
island somewhere east of Detroit (W. Jones).
Dakota, Nakota, Lakota are the names used by
themselves, in the Santee, Yankton, and Teton dialects respectively. J. O.
Dorsey, in his classification of the Siouan languages, divides the Dakota
group into 4 dialects: Santee, Yankton Assiniboin, and Teton. The
Assiniboin, however, constitute a separate tribe. The close linguistic
relation of the divisions the differences being largely dialectic
indicates that they are branches of an original group, the development
probably being augmented by incorporations. At the time of Long's
expedition (1825), when the bands were still near their respective
localities, the country inhabited by the group was, according to him,
bounded by a curved line extending east of north from Prairie du Chien on
the Mississippi, so as to include all the east tributaries of the
Mississippi, to the first branch of Chippewa river; thence by a line
running west of north to Spirit lake; thence west wardly to Crow Wing
river, Minn., and up that stream to its head; thence west wardly to Red
river, and down that stream to Pembina; thence south west wardly to the
east bank of the Missouri near the Mandan villages; thence down the
Missouri to a point probably not far from Soldiers river; thence east of
north to Prairie du Chien, Wis. This tract includes the territory between
lat. 42° to 49°, and long. 90° 30' to 99° 30', but omits entirely the vast
region occupied by the various bands of the Teton Sioux west of the
Missouri from the Yellowstone southward to the Platte.
The first positive historical mention of this people is
found in the Jesuit Relation for 1640, where it is said that in the
vicinity of the "Nation des Puans" (Winnebago) are the "Nadvesiv" (Nadowessioux),
"Assinipour" (Assiniboin), etc. In the Jesuit Relation for 1642 it is
stated that the Nadouessis are situated some 18 days' journey northwest or
west of Sault Ste Marie, "18 days farther away." According to their
tradition, the Chippewa first encountered the Dakota at Sault Ste Marie.
Dr Thomas S. Williamson, who spent several years among the Dakota of the
Mississippi, says (Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 1, 247, 1851) that they
claimed to have resided near the confluence of the Mississippi and
Minnesota rivers. for several generations; that before they came to the
Mississippi they lived at Mille lac, which they call Isantamde, 'knife
lake,' from which is probably derived the name Isanyati, 'dwelling at the
knife, by which the Dakota of the Missouri call those who lived on
Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Rev. A. L. Riggs asserts that Isanyati,
from which Santee is derived, was properly applied only to the
Mdewakanton, which would seem to identify this tribe with Hennepin's
Issati. He also remarks that most of these Indians with whom he conversed
could trace their history no further back than to Mille lac, but that some
could tell of wars they had with the Chippewa before they went thither and
trace their history back to Lake of the Woods. He adds that all their
traditions show that they came from the northeast and have been moving
toward the southwest, which would imply that they came from some point
north of the lakes. DuLuth (1678) and Hennepin (1680) found some of the
Dakota at and in the region of Mille lac, named by the latter in his text
Lake Issati, and in his autograph map Lake Buade.
These included the Mdewakanton, part of the
Sisseton, part if not all of the Wahpeton, and probably the Wahpekute.
Hennepin's map places the Issati (Mdewakanton) close to Lake Buade, the
Ofia de Battons (Wahpeton) a little to the northeast of the lake, the
Hanctons (Yankton or Yanktonai) some distance to the north, and the
Tinthonha or Gens des Prairies (Teton) to the west, on the upper
Mississippi. If this may be considered even approximately correct, it
indicates that parts at least of some of the western tribes still lingered
in the region of the upper Mississippi, and indeed it is well known that
very few of the Sioux crossed the Missouri before 1750. Mallery's winter
count (10th Rep. B. A. E., 266, 1894) places their entrance into the Black
Hills, from which they dispossessed the
Cheyenne and the
Kiowa, at about 1765. Referring to
their location in the
latter part of the 17th century, Hennepin (Descr. La., Shea trans., 201,
1880) says: " Eight leagues above St. Anthony of Padua's falls on the
right, you find the river of the Issati or Nadoussion [Rum river], with a
very narrow mouth, which you can ascend to the north for about 70 leagues
to Lake Buade [Mille lac] or of the Issati where it rises. In the
neighborhood of Lake Buade are many other lakes, whence issue several
rivers, on the banks of which live the Issati, Nadouessans, Tinthonha
(which means 'prairiemen'), Ouadebathon River People, Chongaskethon Dog,
or Wolf tribe (for chonga among these nations means dog or wolf),
and other tribes, all which we comprise under the name Nadonessiou." Here
the Issati are distinguished from the Tinthonha (Teton), Ouadebathon
(Wahpeton), Chongaskethon (Sisseton), and Nadouessans (perhaps the
Wahpekute). From the time of Le Sueur's visit (1700) the Dakota became an
important factor in the history of the northwest. Their gradual movement
westward was due chiefly to tile persistent attacks of the Chippewa, who
received firearms from the French, while they themselves were forced to
rely almost wholly on bows and arrows.
Lieut. Gorrell, an English officer, mentions their
condition in this respect as late as 1763 (Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1,
36,1855): " This day, 12 warriors of the Sous came here [Green Bay, Wis.].
It is certainly the greatest nation of Indians ever yet found. Not above
2,000 of them were ever armed with fire-arms, the rest depending entirely
on bows and arrows and darts, which they use with more skill than any
other Indian nation in North America. They can shoot the wildest and
largest beasts in the woods at 70 or 100 yards distance. They are
remarkable for their dancing; the other nations take the fashion from
them." He mentions that they were always at war with the Chippewa. On the
fall of the French dominion the Dakota at once entered into friendly
relations with the English. It is probable that the erection of trading
posts on Lake Pepin enticed them from their old residence on Rum river and
Mille lac, for it was in this section that Carver (1766) found those of
the eastern group. He says (Travels, 37, 1796): "Near the river St. Croix
reside three bands of the Naudowessie Indians, called the River bands.
This nation is composed, at present, of 11 bands. They were originally 12,
but the Assinipoils [Assiniboin] some years ago, revolting, and separating
themselves from the others, there remain only at this, time 11. Those I
met here are termed the River bands, because they chiefly dwell near the
banks of this river: the other 8 are generally distinguished by the title,
Naudowessies of the Plains, and inhabit a country that lies more to the
westward. The names of the former are Nehogatawonahs, the Mawtawbauntowahs,
and Shahsweentowahs." During an investigation by Congress in 1824 of the
claim by Carver's heirs to a supposed grant of land, including the site of
St Paul, made to Carver by the Sioux, Gen. Leavenworth stated that the
Dakota informed him that the Sioux of the Plains never owned any land east
of the Mississippi.
During the Revolution and the War of 1812 the Dakota
adhered to the English. There was, however, one chief who sided with the
United States in 1812; this was Tohami, known to the English as Rising
Moose, a chief of the Mdewakanton who joined the Americans at St Louis,
where he was commissioned by Gen. Clark. By the treaty of July, 1815,
peace between the Dakota and the United States was established, and by
that of Aug., 1825, the boundary lines between them and the United States
and between them and the various tribes in the northwest were defined. The
boundaries of the Sioux and other northwestern tribes were again defined
by the treaty of Sept. 17, 1851. Their most serious outbreak against the
whites occurred in Minnesota under Little Crow in 1862, when about 700
white settlers and 100 soldiers lost their lives and some of the most
horrible cruelties known to history were committed by the Indiana; but the
entire Dakota group never participated unitedly in any of the modern wars
or outbreaks. The hands engaged in the uprising mentioned were the
Mdewakanton, Wahpekute, Wahpeton, and Sisseton. Although this revolt was
quelled and the Sioux were compelled for a time to submit tot he terms
offered them, a spirit of unrest continued to prevail. By the treaty of
1867 they agreed to relinquish to the United States all their territory
south of Niobrara river, west of long. 104°, and north of lat. 46°, and
promised to retire to a large reservation in southwest Dakota before Jan.
1, 1876. On the discovery of gold in the Black Hills the rush of miners
thither became the occasion of another outbreak. This war was participated
in by such well known chiefs as Sitting Bull,
Crazy Horse, Spotted Tail,
Rain-in-the-face, Red Cloud, American Horse,
Gall, and Crow King, and was rendered famous by the cutting off of Maj.
Gen. George A. Custer and five companies of cavalry on the Little Bighorn,
June 25, 1876. A final rising during the Ghost dance excitement of 1890-91
was subdued by Gen N. A. Miles.
The Dakota are universally conceded to be of the
highest type, physically, mentally, and probably morally, of any of the
western tribes. Their bravery has never been questioned by white or
Indian, and they conquered or drove out every rival except the Chippewa.
They are educated in their own language, and through the agency of
missionaries of the type of Riggs, Williamson, Cleveland, and Cook, many
books in the Dakota language have been printed, and papers in Dakota are
issued regularly. (See Pilling, Bibliog. Siouan Lang., Bull. B. A. E.,
1887.)
Socially, the Dakota originally consisted of a large
number of local groups or bands, and, although there was a certain
tendency to encourage marriage outside the band, these divisions were not
true gentes, remembered blood relationship, according to Clark, being the
only bar to marriage. Personal fitness and popularity determined
cieftainship more than heredity, but were decent played any part it was
usually from father to son. The tipi might belong to either parent and was
obtained by that parent through some ancestor who had had its character
revealed in a dream or who had captured it in war. The authority of the
chief was limited by the band council, without whose approbation little or
nothing could be accomplished. War parties were recruited by individuals
who had acquired reputation as successful leaders, while the shamans
formulated ceremonial dances and farewells for them. Polygamy Was common,
the wives occupying different sides of the tipi. Remains of the dead were
usually, though not invariably, placed on scaffolds.
In 1904 the Dakota were distributed among the following
agencies and school superintendencies:
Cheyenne River ( Miniconjou, Sans Arcs, and Two Kettle), 2,477;
Crow Creek (Lower Yanktonai), 1,025;
Ft Totten school (Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Pabaksa), 1,013;
Riggs Institute (Santee), 279; Ft Peck (Yankton), 1,116;
Lower Brutes (Lower Brgle), 470;
Pine Ridge (Oglala), 6,690;
Rosebud (Brulé, Waglukhe, Lower Brulé,
Northern, Two Kettle, and Wazhazha), 4,977;
Santee (Santee), 1,075;
Sisseton (Sisseton and Wahpeton), 1,908;
Standing Rock (Sihasapa, Hunkpapa, and Yanktonai), 3,514;
Yankton (Yankton), 1,702;
under no agency
(Mdewakanton in Minnesota), 929; total, 26,175.
Including the Assiniboin the total for those speaking the Dakota languages
28,780. A comparison of these figures with those taken in previous years
indicates a gradual decline in numbers, but not so rapid a decrease as
among most North American tribes.
