Taoyateduta
Encyclopedia
Little Crow was a chief of the Mdewakanton
Dakota
Sioux
. His given name translates as "His Red Nation," (Thaóyate Dúta) but he was known as Little Crow because of his father's name, Čhetáŋ Wakhúwa Máni, (literally, "Hawk that chases/hunts walking") which was mistranslated.
Little Crow is notable in for his role in the negotiation of the Treaties of Traverse des Sioux
and Mendota
of 1851, in which he agreed to the movement of his band of the Dakota to a reservation near the Minnesota River
in exchange for goods and certain other rights. However, the government reneged on its promises to provide food and annuities to the tribe, and Little Crow was forced to support the decision of a Dakota war council in 1862 to pursue war to drive out the whites from Minnesota
. Little Crow participated in the Dakota War of 1862
, but retreated in September 1862 before the war's conclusion in December 1862. Little Crow was killed on July 3, 1863 by a settler who wished to collect the bounty given to any person who killed a Dakota in Minnesota.
Little Crow was born at the Dakota settlement of Kaposia
, near what is modern-day South St. Paul, Minnesota
. His father died in 1846 after accidentally discharging a gun. Tribal leadership was disputed between Little Crow and his brother, which resulted in an armed fight that saw Little Crow shot in the wrist, leaving permanent scars that he concealed with long sleeves for the rest of his life. By 1849, however, Little Crow was able to take control of the tribe.
In 1851, the United States
negotiated the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
and the Treaty of Mendota
with the Dakota people. Little Crow was present at Traverse des Sioux
and signed the Mendota treaty, by which the tribes agreed to move to land set aside along the Minnesota River
to the west. The treaty as ratified
by the United States Senate
removed Article 3 of the treaty, which had set aside this land. The tribe was compelled to negotiate a new treaty, under threat of forcible removal to the Dakota Territory
, and was only granted land on one side of the river.
Little Crow tried to get along with the customs of the United States. He visited President James Buchanan
in Washington, D.C.
, replaced his native clothing with trousers and jackets with brass buttons, joined the Episcopal Church, and took up farming. However, by 1862, stress built up in his community as cheating by traders came to light and Congress failed to pay the annuities mandated by treaty in exchange for the land. As the tribe grew hungry and as food languished in the warehouses of the traders, Little Crow's ability to restrain his people deteriorated.
On August 4, 1862, about five hundred Dakota broke into the food warehouses at the Lower Agency. The agent in charge, Thomas J. Galbraith, ordered defending troops not to shoot and called for a council. At the conference, Little Crow pointed out that the Dakota were owed the money to buy the food and warned that "When men are hungry, they help themselves." The representative of the traders, Andrew Myrick
, replied, "So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry let them eat grass or their own dung." Within weeks, on August 17, 1862, a band of Dakota crossed paths with a group of white civilian settlers. The Dakota killed 5 of the white civilians and mutilated their bodies.
The tribe's need for food and hatred for the white settlers led to the Dakota War of 1862
. Little Crow agreed to lead the tribes through the conflict, even though he knew they were outnumbered and out-gunned. The Dakota first attacked Andrew Myrick's house; they killed him and stuffed his mouth with grass in revenge for his words. Under Taoyateduda's leadership the Dakota initially won battles the US Army such as the attack and burning of New Ulm, Minnesota
, whilst attacking white civilians along the way. In spite of these victories, Little Crow's forces suffered a rout at the Battle of Wood Lake
on September 23, 1862, and Little Crow was forced to flee to Canada
.
Deciding that the tribe must adopt a mobile existence, having been robbed of its territory, he returned to steal horses from his former land in Minnesota. On July 3 1863, while he and his son Wowinapa were foraging for berries in a farmer's field, they were spotted by the landowner Nathan Lamson and his son. The four engaged in a brief firefight in which Little Crow fired twice, once wounding the elder Lamson. Lamson and his son both shot and mortally wounded Little Crow. The chief then told his son to flee. Lamson's son then ran for nearly 12 miles to Hutchinson, Minnesota
to gather a search-and-recovery party. The townspeople quickly departed to find a wounded Lamson and a dead and unidentified Dakota man. When they discovered the latter was Little Crow, they mutilated and displayed the body.
Nathan Lamson received a standard bounty
for the scalp
of a Dakota, plus an addition $500 bounty when it was discovered the remains were that of Little Crow. Little Crow's body was transported back to Hutchinson where it was again mutilated by the citizens. His body was dragged down the town's Main Street while firecrackers were placed in his ears and dogs picked at his head. After their celebration, the town disposed of the body in an alley, where ordinary garbage was regularly thrown. The Minnesota Historical Society received his scalp in 1868, and his skull in 1896. Other bones were collected at other times. In 1971, Little Crow's remains were returned to his grandson Jesse Wakeman (son of Wowinapa) for burial. A small stone tablet sits at the roadside of the field where Little Crow was killed.
near the Main Street bridge access to the downtown business district. In 1982, the artist of the original statue, Les Kouba, created an updated statue; the original statue is now at the McLeod County Historical Society and the new statue still overlooks the Crow River.
A mask commemorating Little Crow is near the waterfall in Minnehaha Park
in Minneapolis.
The American historian Gary Clayton Anderson
has written Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux, published in 1986 by the Minnesota Historical Society.A contributor to New Mexico Historical Review calls Anderson's book a "major contribution to our understanding of an Indian tribe that profoundly influenced the course of history in the upper Mississippi Valley, partly at least through the personal role played by its most famous leader."Anderson has also written on Sitting Bull
.
Mdewakanton
Mdewakantonwan are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti Dakota . Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota, which in the Dakota language was called mde wakan .As part of the Santee Sioux, their ancestors had migrated from the Southeast of the present-day United States, where the...
Dakota
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...
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 given name translates as "His Red Nation," (Thaóyate Dúta) but he was known as Little Crow because of his father's name, Čhetáŋ Wakhúwa Máni, (literally, "Hawk that chases/hunts walking") which was mistranslated.
Little Crow is notable in for his role in the negotiation of the Treaties of Traverse des Sioux
Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was a treaty signed on July 23, 1851, between the United States government and Sioux Indian bands in Minnesota Territory by which the Sioux ceded territory. The treaty was instigated by Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of Minnesota Territory, and Luke Lea,...
and Mendota
Treaty of Mendota
The Treaty of Mendota was signed in Mendota, Minnesota on August 5, 1851 between the United States federal government and the Sioux tribes of Minnesota ....
of 1851, in which he agreed to the movement of his band of the Dakota to a reservation near the Minnesota River
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
in exchange for goods and certain other rights. However, the government reneged on its promises to provide food and annuities to the tribe, and Little Crow was forced to support the decision of a Dakota war council in 1862 to pursue war to drive out the whites from 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...
. Little Crow participated in the Dakota War of 1862
Dakota War of 1862
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux. It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota...
, but retreated in September 1862 before the war's conclusion in December 1862. Little Crow was killed on July 3, 1863 by a settler who wished to collect the bounty given to any person who killed a Dakota in Minnesota.
Early life
Kaposia
Kaposia was a seasonal American Indian settlement, also known as "Little Crow's village," after a long line of tribe Chiefs named Little Crow.-History:The settlement was within the limits of the modern city of South St...
, near what is modern-day South St. Paul, Minnesota
South St. Paul, Minnesota
South St. Paul is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, immediately south and southeast of the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is also southeast of West St. Paul, Minnesota. The population was 20,160 at the 2010 census. It is notable as one of the historic major meat packing cities in the United...
. His father died in 1846 after accidentally discharging a gun. Tribal leadership was disputed between Little Crow and his brother, which resulted in an armed fight that saw Little Crow shot in the wrist, leaving permanent scars that he concealed with long sleeves for the rest of his life. By 1849, however, Little Crow was able to take control of the tribe.
In 1851, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
negotiated the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was a treaty signed on July 23, 1851, between the United States government and Sioux Indian bands in Minnesota Territory by which the Sioux ceded territory. The treaty was instigated by Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of Minnesota Territory, and Luke Lea,...
and the Treaty of Mendota
Treaty of Mendota
The Treaty of Mendota was signed in Mendota, Minnesota on August 5, 1851 between the United States federal government and the Sioux tribes of Minnesota ....
with the Dakota people. Little Crow was present at Traverse des Sioux
Traverse des Sioux
Traverse des Sioux is a historic site in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Once part of a preindustrial trade route, it commemorates that route, a busy river crossing on it, a nineteenth century settlement, trading post, and mission at that crossing place, a transshipment point for pelts in fur trading...
and signed the Mendota treaty, by which the tribes agreed to move to land set aside along the Minnesota River
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
to the west. The treaty as ratified
Ratification
Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent where the agent lacked authority to legally bind the principal. The term applies to private contract law, international treaties, and constitutionals in federations such as the United States and Canada.- Private law :In contract law, the...
by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
removed Article 3 of the treaty, which had set aside this land. The tribe was compelled to negotiate a new treaty, under threat of forcible removal to the Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
, and was only granted land on one side of the river.
Little Crow tried to get along with the customs of the United States. He visited President James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, replaced his native clothing with trousers and jackets with brass buttons, joined the Episcopal Church, and took up farming. However, by 1862, stress built up in his community as cheating by traders came to light and Congress failed to pay the annuities mandated by treaty in exchange for the land. As the tribe grew hungry and as food languished in the warehouses of the traders, Little Crow's ability to restrain his people deteriorated.
Dakota War of 1862
Andrew Myrick
Andrew J. Myrick , was a trader with an Indian wife who operated a store in southwest Minnesota near the Minnesota River in the late part of his life.-Claim to fame:Myrick worked at the Lower Sioux Agency to the southeast...
, replied, "So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry let them eat grass or their own dung." Within weeks, on August 17, 1862, a band of Dakota crossed paths with a group of white civilian settlers. The Dakota killed 5 of the white civilians and mutilated their bodies.
The tribe's need for food and hatred for the white settlers led to the Dakota War of 1862
Dakota War of 1862
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux. It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota...
. Little Crow agreed to lead the tribes through the conflict, even though he knew they were outnumbered and out-gunned. The Dakota first attacked Andrew Myrick's house; they killed him and stuffed his mouth with grass in revenge for his words. Under Taoyateduda's leadership the Dakota initially won battles the US Army such as the attack and burning of New Ulm, Minnesota
New Ulm, Minnesota
New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,522 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brown County....
, whilst attacking white civilians along the way. In spite of these victories, Little Crow's forces suffered a rout at the Battle of Wood Lake
Battle of Wood Lake
The Battle of Wood Lake was a battle in the Dakota War of 1862 in September. By that time in the Dakota War of 1862, the Sioux offensive had slowed considerably, and the Minnesota forces were beginning to implement a plan formulated by Governor Alexander Ramsey...
on September 23, 1862, and Little Crow was forced to flee to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Death
Hutchinson, Minnesota
According to the 2000 United States Census , there were 13,080 people, 5,333 households, and 3,418 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,763.6 people per square mile . There were 5,667 housing units at an average density of 764.1 per square mile...
to gather a search-and-recovery party. The townspeople quickly departed to find a wounded Lamson and a dead and unidentified Dakota man. When they discovered the latter was Little Crow, they mutilated and displayed the body.
Nathan Lamson received a standard bounty
Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
for the scalp
Scalping
Scalping is the act of removing another person's scalp or a portion of their scalp, either from a dead body or from a living person. The initial purpose of scalping was to provide a trophy of battle or portable proof of a combatant's prowess in war...
of a Dakota, plus an addition $500 bounty when it was discovered the remains were that of Little Crow. Little Crow's body was transported back to Hutchinson where it was again mutilated by the citizens. His body was dragged down the town's Main Street while firecrackers were placed in his ears and dogs picked at his head. After their celebration, the town disposed of the body in an alley, where ordinary garbage was regularly thrown. The Minnesota Historical Society received his scalp in 1868, and his skull in 1896. Other bones were collected at other times. In 1971, Little Crow's remains were returned to his grandson Jesse Wakeman (son of Wowinapa) for burial. A small stone tablet sits at the roadside of the field where Little Crow was killed.
Legacy
In 1937, the city of Hutchinson erected a large bronze statue of Little Crow in a spot overlooking the Crow RiverCrow River
Crow River may refer to:In Canada*The Crow River , a tributary of the Beaver River,In New Zealand*The Crow River , a tributary of the Waimakariri River*The Crow River , a tributary of the Karamea River...
near the Main Street bridge access to the downtown business district. In 1982, the artist of the original statue, Les Kouba, created an updated statue; the original statue is now at the McLeod County Historical Society and the new statue still overlooks the Crow River.
A mask commemorating Little Crow is near the waterfall in Minnehaha Park
Minnehaha Falls
Minnehaha Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River located in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from Lake Minnetonka in the west and flows east for 22 miles through several suburbs west of Minneapolis and then through south Minneapolis. Including Lake Minnetonka, the watershed for the...
in Minneapolis.
The American historian Gary Clayton Anderson
Gary Clayton Anderson
Gary Clayton Anderson is a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma at Norman, Oklahoma, known for his specialization in the American Indians of the Great Plains and the Southwest.-Background:...
has written Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux, published in 1986 by the Minnesota Historical Society.A contributor to New Mexico Historical Review calls Anderson's book a "major contribution to our understanding of an Indian tribe that profoundly influenced the course of history in the upper Mississippi Valley, partly at least through the personal role played by its most famous leader."Anderson has also written on 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...
.
Sources
- Anderson, Gary Clayton (1986) Little Crow, spokesman for the Sioux. Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical SocietyMinnesota Historical SocietyThe Minnesota Historical Society is a private, non-profit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehood. The Society is named in the Minnesota...
Press. - Carley, Kenneth (2001) The Dakota War of 1862. Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press.
- Clodfelter, Michael (1998) The Dakota War: The United States Army Versus the Sioux, 1862-1865. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.
- Mayer, Frank Blackwell (1986) With Pen and Pencil on the Frontier in 1851. Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87351-195-6.
- Nix, Jacob (1994) The Sioux Uprising in Minnesota, 1862: Jacob Nix's Eyewitness History. Gretchen Steinhauser, Don Heinrich Tolzmann & Eberhard Reichmann, trans. Don Heinrich Tolzmann, ed. Indianapolis: Max Kade German-American Center, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis and Indiana German Heritage Society, Inc.
- Schultz, Duane (1992) Over the Earth I Come: The Great Sioux Uprising of 1862. New York: St. Martin's Press.
- Swain, Gwenyth (2004) Little Crow: Leader of the Dakota. Saint Paul, MN, Borealis Books.
- Tolzmann, Don Heinrich, ed. (2002) German pioneer accounts of the great Sioux Uprising of 1862. Milford, Ohio: Little Miami Pub. Co.
