Spotted Tail
Encyclopedia
Siŋté Glešká (1823 - 1881) was a Brulé
Lakota tribal chief. Although a great warrior in his youth, and having taken part in the Grattan massacre
, he declined to participate in Red Cloud's War
, having become convinced of the pointlessness of opposing the white incursions into his homeland; he became a statesman, speaking for peace and defending the rights of his tribe. In his writings about Wyoming
pioneer John Hunton's diaries, historian L. G. (Pat) Flannery noted that Spotted Tail "... was of unusual intellect with deep and abiding understanding of human rights and dignity, who realized the futility of war as an instrument of justice."
He made several trips to Washington, D.C to represent his people, and was noted for his interest in bringing education to the Sioux
.
country west of the Missouri River
. Over the previous 40 years the Lakota or Teton Sioux had moved from present day Minnesota
and eastern South Dakota
to areas west of the Missouri, and reformed into several sub-tribes or bands including the Saône, Brulé and Oglala
. During this time they acquired horses, and rich buffalo
hunting grounds. Spotted Tail's father, Cunka or Tangle Hair, was from the Saône band, and his mother, Walks-with-the-Pipe, was a Brulé. He was given the birth name of Jumping Buffalo.
He took his warrior name, Spotted Tail, after receiving a gift of a raccoon
tail from a white trapper, and sometimes wore a raccoon tail in his war head-dress. Two of his sisters, Iron Between Horns and Kills Enemy, were married to the elder Crazy Horse, and he may have been the uncle of the famous warrior Crazy Horse
which would make him a relative of the famous Touch the Clouds
as well.
In 1871, he visited Washington, D.C., to meet Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ely S. Parker
and President Ulysses S. Grant
; there he met with rival Red Cloud
and agreed to work together.
In 1881, following the Black Hills War, Spotted Tail was killed by Crow Dog for reasons that may be disputed. According to historian Dee Brown:
According to Luther Standing Bear in his memoir My People the Sioux Spotted Tail was killed by Crow Dog
after taking the wife of a crippled man. Spotted Tail had gone to the Carlisle Indian school and removed his three children and granddaughter despite Captain Pratt's objection. Spotted Tail had been given gifts from the Carlisle school and considered his ability to receive gifts from the government and take back his children as a sign of his power. He exploited this and sold land not belonging to him. This angered many of the Sioux chiefs and Chief Standing Bear the first cautioned the other Sioux leaders against hasty action. Spotted Tail's continual flaunting of his believed power was brought to a head when he stole the wife of a crippled man. When told by a council of chiefs to give the man his wife back, Spotted Tail refused saying he will do as he pleases and the US Government is behind him. At this point several men decided that Spotted Tail would be killed but before they could act Spotted Tail was ambushed and assassinated by Crow Dog on August 5, 1881.
He is buried in Rosebud, South Dakota
.
A tribal university (Sinte Gleska University
) on the Rosebud Indian Reservation
in South Dakota
was named for him in 1971.
led a reconnaissance mission into Sioux territory that reported gold in the Black Hills
, an area held sacred by the local Indians. Formerly, the Army tried to keep miners out but did not succeed; the threat of violence grew. In May 1875, delegations headed by Spotted Tail, Red Cloud
, and Lone Horn
traveled to Washington, D.C. in a last-ditch attempt to persuade President Grant to honor existing treaties and stem the flow of miners into their territories. The Indians met with Grant, Secretary of the Interior Delano, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Smith, who informed them that Congress wanted to resolve the matter by giving the tribes $25,000 for their land and resettling them into Indian Territory
. The Indians rejected such a treaty, with Spotted Tail’s reply to the proposition being as follows:
Although these chieftains were unsuccessful in finding a peaceful solution, Spotted Tail and Red Cloud did not take part in the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877 led by Crazy Horse
and Sitting Bull
.
When she was dying in 1866, Fallen Leaf made her father promise that she would be buried on a hillside overlooking Fort Laramie. The entire garrison at the post helped Spotted Tail to honor her request by arranging for a funeral full of pomp and ceremony, which included a Christian service and an Indian burial. Many years later, her remains were taken by Spotted Tail to the Rosebud Indian Agency in South Dakota and interred under an appropriate monument.
Brulé
The Brulé are one of the seven branches or bands of the Teton Lakota Sioux American Indian nation. They are known as Sičháŋǧu Oyáte , or "Burnt Thighs Nation," and so, were called Brulé by the French...
Lakota tribal chief. Although a great warrior in his youth, and having taken part in the Grattan massacre
Grattan massacre
The Grattan Massacre was the opening conflict of the First Sioux War, fought between United States Army and Lakota Sioux warriors on August 19, 1854. It occurred east of Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory, in present-day Goshen County, Wyoming...
, he declined to participate in Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War was an armed conflict between the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho and the United States in the Wyoming Territory and the Montana Territory from 1866 to 1868. The war was fought over control of the Powder River Country in north central present day Wyoming...
, having become convinced of the pointlessness of opposing the white incursions into his homeland; he became a statesman, speaking for peace and defending the rights of his tribe. In his writings about Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
pioneer John Hunton's diaries, historian L. G. (Pat) Flannery noted that Spotted Tail "... was of unusual intellect with deep and abiding understanding of human rights and dignity, who realized the futility of war as an instrument of justice."
He made several trips to Washington, D.C to represent his people, and was noted for his interest in bringing education to the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
.
His life
Spotted Tail was born about 1823 in the White RiverWhite River (South Dakota)
The White River is a Missouri River tributary that flows through the U.S. states of Nebraska and South Dakota. The name stems from the water's white-gray color, a function of eroded sand, clay, and volcanic ash carried by the river...
country west of the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
. Over the previous 40 years the Lakota or Teton Sioux had moved from present day Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and eastern South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
to areas west of the Missouri, and reformed into several sub-tribes or bands including the Saône, Brulé and Oglala
Oglala
Oglala may refer to:* Oglala Lakota, or Oglala Sioux, a Sioux Nation sub-band of the Western division * The Oglala National Grassland of Nebraska* Oglala, South Dakota, a town located in Shannon County, South Dakota...
. During this time they acquired horses, and rich buffalo
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
hunting grounds. Spotted Tail's father, Cunka or Tangle Hair, was from the Saône band, and his mother, Walks-with-the-Pipe, was a Brulé. He was given the birth name of Jumping Buffalo.
He took his warrior name, Spotted Tail, after receiving a gift of a raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
tail from a white trapper, and sometimes wore a raccoon tail in his war head-dress. Two of his sisters, Iron Between Horns and Kills Enemy, were married to the elder Crazy Horse, and he may have been the uncle of the famous warrior Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
which would make him a relative of the famous Touch the Clouds
Touch the Clouds
Touch the Clouds was a chief of the Minneconjou Teton Lakota known for his bravery and skill in battle, physical strength and for his diplomacy in counsel. The youngest son of Lone Horn, he was brother to Spotted Elk, Frog, and Roman Nose...
as well.
In 1871, he visited Washington, D.C., to meet Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ely S. Parker
Ely S. Parker
Ely Samuel Parker , was a Seneca attorney, engineer, and tribal diplomat. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel during the American Civil War, when he served as adjutant to General Ulysses S. Grant. He wrote the final draft of the Confederate surrender terms at Appomattox...
and President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
; there he met with rival Red Cloud
Red Cloud
Red Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...
and agreed to work together.
In 1881, following the Black Hills War, Spotted Tail was killed by Crow Dog for reasons that may be disputed. According to historian Dee Brown:
- "White officials... dismissed the killing as the culmination of a quarrel over a woman, but Spotted Tail's friends said that it was the result of a plot to break the power of the chiefs...."
According to Luther Standing Bear in his memoir My People the Sioux Spotted Tail was killed by Crow Dog
Crow Dog
Crow Dog was a Brulé Lakota subchief, born at Horse Stealing Creek, Montana Territory, he was the nephew of former principal chief Conquering Bear who was killed in 1854 in an incident which would be known as the Grattan massacre. Crow Dog was one of the leaders who helped popularize the Ghost...
after taking the wife of a crippled man. Spotted Tail had gone to the Carlisle Indian school and removed his three children and granddaughter despite Captain Pratt's objection. Spotted Tail had been given gifts from the Carlisle school and considered his ability to receive gifts from the government and take back his children as a sign of his power. He exploited this and sold land not belonging to him. This angered many of the Sioux chiefs and Chief Standing Bear the first cautioned the other Sioux leaders against hasty action. Spotted Tail's continual flaunting of his believed power was brought to a head when he stole the wife of a crippled man. When told by a council of chiefs to give the man his wife back, Spotted Tail refused saying he will do as he pleases and the US Government is behind him. At this point several men decided that Spotted Tail would be killed but before they could act Spotted Tail was ambushed and assassinated by Crow Dog on August 5, 1881.
He is buried in Rosebud, South Dakota
Rosebud, South Dakota
Rosebud is a census-designated place in Todd County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,587 at the 2010 census.Rosebud, located on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, is the home to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Headquarters...
.
A tribal university (Sinte Gleska University
Sinte Gleska University
Sinte Gleska University is a four-year private American Indian tribal college, located in Mission, South Dakota, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, a Brulé Lakota Indian Reservation...
) on the Rosebud Indian Reservation
Rosebud Indian Reservation
The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Sicangu Oyate, also known as Sicangu Lakota, the Upper Brulé Sioux Nation, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe , a branch of the Lakota people...
in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
was named for him in 1971.
Prelude to the Great Sioux War of 1876-77
In 1874, George Armstrong CusterGeorge Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
led a reconnaissance mission into Sioux territory that reported gold in the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
, an area held sacred by the local Indians. Formerly, the Army tried to keep miners out but did not succeed; the threat of violence grew. In May 1875, delegations headed by Spotted Tail, Red Cloud
Red Cloud
Red Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...
, and Lone Horn
Lone Horn
Lone Horn, , was chief to the Minneconjou Teton Lakota. He was father to Spotted Elk and uncle to Touch the Clouds, Roman Nose and Frog. He was uncle of Crazy Horse. He participated in the signing of the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868...
traveled to Washington, D.C. in a last-ditch attempt to persuade President Grant to honor existing treaties and stem the flow of miners into their territories. The Indians met with Grant, Secretary of the Interior Delano, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Smith, who informed them that Congress wanted to resolve the matter by giving the tribes $25,000 for their land and resettling them into Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
. The Indians rejected such a treaty, with Spotted Tail’s reply to the proposition being as follows:
- “My father, I have considered all the Great Father told me, and have come here to give you an answer.... When I was here before, the President gave me my country, and I put my stake down in a good place, and there I want to stay.... I respect the Treaty (doubtless referring to the 1868 Treaty of Fort LaramieTreaty of Fort LaramieTreaty of Fort Laramie may refer to:*Treaty of Fort Laramie *Treaty of Fort Laramie...
) but the white men who come in our country do not. You speak of another country, but it is not my country; it does not concern me, and I want nothing to do with it. I was not born there.... If it is such a good country, you ought to send the white men now in our country there and let us alone....”
Although these chieftains were unsuccessful in finding a peaceful solution, Spotted Tail and Red Cloud did not take part in the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877 led by Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
and Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
.
Fallen Leaf
Eugene Ware, a Fort Laramie army officer, wrote that Spotted Tail’s daughter, Ah-ho-appa (Fallen Leaf), “... was one of those individuals found in all lands, at all places, and among all people; she was misplaced.” She apparently was not in harmony with her own race, preferring instead to emulate white people. There was also speculation that she was secretly in love with one of the officers at the fort.When she was dying in 1866, Fallen Leaf made her father promise that she would be buried on a hillside overlooking Fort Laramie. The entire garrison at the post helped Spotted Tail to honor her request by arranging for a funeral full of pomp and ceremony, which included a Christian service and an Indian burial. Many years later, her remains were taken by Spotted Tail to the Rosebud Indian Agency in South Dakota and interred under an appropriate monument.