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Mdewakanton Indian Chiefs and Leaders
Redwing
Redwing. The name of a
succession of chiefs of the
former Khemnichan band of Mdewakanton Sioux, residing on the west
shore of Lake Pepin, Minnesota,
where the city
of Redwing now stands.
At least four
chiefs in succession bore the
appellation, each being
distinguished by another
name.
The elder Redwing is
heard of as early as the
time of the Pontiac war, when he visited Mackinaw, and was in
alliance with the English in the Revolution.
He
was succeeded by his son, Walking
Buffalo (Tatankamani), who
enlisted in the British
cause in 1812. The name was
maintained during two succeeding
generations, but
disappeared during the Sioux outbreak of 1862-65. The family
was less influential than the
Little Crows or the Wabashas
of the same tribe.
Wamditanka
Wamditanka
('Great war eagle'). A chief of one of the bands of Mdewakanton Sioux
at the time of the Sioux uprising in 1862; commonly called Big Eagle,
and sometimes known as Jerome Big Eagle. According to his personal
narrative, recorded by R. L. Holcombe (Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vi, pt.
3, 382-400, 1894), he was born in 1827 at the Indian village near the
site of Mendota, Dakota county, Minn., and on the death of his father,
Gray Iron, succeeded him as chief. In his youth he often went with war
parties against the Chippewa and other enemies of his tribe, and on
occasion wore a headdress with six feathers representing as many
Chippewa scalps taken by him. Although Wamditanka took part with the
Sioux in the uprising of 1862, he claims that he did not participate
in the massacres of the settlers, but even used his influence, in some
instances, to save from death both whites and converted mixed-bloods.
The evidence shows this claim to be substantially correct, and that he
was perhaps pressed into the war by his people. At this time his
village was on Crow creek, in McLeod county, Minn. His band consisted
of about 150 to 200 persons, including about 40 warriors. Soon after
the battle of Birch Coolie, Minn., in 1862, Wamditanka and his band,
with others, surrendered to Gen. Sibley. He was tried, convicted, and
sentenced to three years imprisonment, part of the time at Davenport,
Iowa, the remainder at Rock Island, Ill. After his discharge he was
converted to Christianity. He was twice married; his second wife was
still alive in 1894, at which time his home was at Granite Falls,
Yellow Medicine county, Minn. He visited Washington with a delegation
of his tribe in 1858, and was one of the signers of the treaty with
the Sioux negotiated June 19 of that year.
Shakopee
Shakopee (Shakpe,
'six'). The name of a succession of chiefs of the Mdewakanton Sioux,
residing on Minnesota river not far from the present town of Shakopee,
Scott coounty, Minn. Three men of the name are mentioned in
succession. The first met Maj. S. H. Long at the mouth of the
Minnesota in 1817, when he came up to distribute the presents which
Lieut. Z. M. Pike had contracted to send them 12 years earlier, and
Long found him very offensive. This Shakopee was succeeded by his son,
who was known as Eaglehead- Shakopee, and he by his son Little Six (Shakopeela),
who was a leader in the Minnesota massacre of 1862.
Mankato
Mankato
(properly M-ak'-to, 'blue earth'). A former band and village of
in the Mdewakanton Sioux, probably at or near the site of the present
Mankato, at the month of Blue Earth r. Faribault County, Minnesota,
named from a chief known as Old Mankato. A later Mdewakanton chief who
bore the name Mankato, the son of Good Road, was a member of the
delegation who signed the Washington treaty of June 18, 1858, in which
his name appears as "Makawto (Blue Earth)," and he is referred to also
in the Indian Affairs Report for 1860, in connection with his band as
under the Lower Sioux Agency, Minn. He took an active part in the
Sioux outbreak of 1862, and was one of the leaders in the second
attack, in Aug. 1862, on Ft Ridgely, Minn., in which, it and is said,
about 800 Sioux and Winnebago were engaged. He participated also in
the fight at Birch Coolie, Minn., on Sept. 3 of the same year,
and was killed by a cannon ball at the battle of Wood (or Battle)
lake, Sept. 23.
Napeshneeduta
Napeshneeduta ('Red man who flees not'). A Mdewakanton Sioux, the first
full-blood Dakota man to be baptized and received into a Christian church. He
was a son of the sister of Mrs. Renville, wife of Joseph Renvulle the trader,
and claimed kindred with some of the principal chiefs of the Mdewakanton.
He is described as having been above the average height, well formed and with a
countenance indicative of intelligence, kindness and honesty. He was
baptized at Lac-qui-Parle, Minnesota, Feb. 21, 1840 receiving the name
Joseph Napeshnee; his wife was received into the church at the same time, and he brought four children to be baptized, three of them by former wives. His
wife died within 5 years, when he married a convert, Pretty Rainbow, who
deserted him; he later married another Christian, woman and removed to
Little Crow's Village, a few miles below Ft Smelling, on the Mississippi,
where many of his relatives lived. Here he became ill with fever, and because of
his change of religions faith his people refused him food and help. When
the outbreak of the Sioux began in 1802 Joseph, like the other Christian
Indians, befriended the whites, and in the following spring he was engaged as a
Government scout, a position he held for several year, returning finally to
Lac-qui-Parle where he died in July 1870. In his last years Joseph was respected
for his piety and industry by both whites and Indians. For nearly 10 years
he was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, and supported his family, not
withstanding the infirmities of old age, without Government aid.
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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