USA > Minnesota > Dahkotah land and Dahkotah life [microform] : with the history of the fur traders of the extreme northwest during the French and British dominions > Part 1
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DAHKOTAH LAND
AND
DAHKOTAH
LIFE,
WITH THE
HISTORY OF THE FUR TRADERS OF THE EXTREME NORTHWEST
DURING THE
FRENCH AND BRITISH DOMINIONS.
BY EDW. D. NEILL, SECRETARY OF THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" Nearer, and ever noarer, among the numberless islands Darted a light, swift bont, that sped away o'er the water, Urged on its course by the sinewy arms of hunters and trappers; Northward its prow was turned, to the land of the bison and beaver." LONGFELLOW'S EVANGELINE
PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. CHICAGO: S. O. GRIGGS & 00. AND BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY. 1859. .
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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by EDWARD DUFFIELD NEILL, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
MIARS & DUBENBERY, STEREOTYPEES. ..
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THE following pages form the first part of "NEILL's HISTORY OF MIN- NESOTA, from the Earliest Exploration to the Present Time."
The entire work makes an octavo of 628 pages. Printed on fine .paper, and bound in muslin. Price per copy, $2 50.
Published by J. B. LIPPINCOTT & Co., Philadelphia; and for sale by S. C. GRIGGS & Co., Chicago; and BOOKSELLERS generally.
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DAKOTAH LAND ANDY
DAKOTAH LIFE.
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CHAPTER I.
MINNESOTA is the "land of the Dahkotahs." Long before their existence was known to civilized men, they wandered through the forests, between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, in quest of the bounding deer, and over the prairies beyond in search of the ponderous buffalo.
They are an entirely different group from the Algon- quin and Iroquois, who were found by the early settlers of the Atlantic States, on the banks of the Connecticut, Mohawk, and Susquehanna rivers. Their language is much more difficult to comprehend; and, while they have many customs in common with the tribes who once dwelt in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, they have peculiarities which mark them as belonging to a distinct family of the aborigines of America.
Winona, Wapashaw, Mendota, Anoka, Kasota, Mah- kahto, and other names designating the towns, hamlets, and streams of Minnesota, are words derived from the Dahkotah vocabulary.
Between the head of Lake Superior and the Missis- 4 (49)
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
sippi river, above the Falls of Saint Anthony, is a country of many lakes. So numerous are they, and interlaced by clear and sparkling brooks, to an aeronaut they would appear like a necklace of diamonds, on silver filaments, gracefully thrown upon the bosom of Earth.
Surrounded by forests of the sugar maple-the neigh- bouring marshes fertile in the growth of wild rice-the waters abounding in fish-the shores once alive with the beaver, the otter, the bear, and the fox-they were sites just adapted for the residence of an Indian popu- lation.
· When the Dahkotahs were first noticed by the Euro- . pean adventurer, large numbers were occupying this region of country, and appropriately called® by the voya- geur, " People of the Lakes."1 And tradition, asserts that here, was the ancient centre of this tribe. Though we have traces of their warring and hunting on the shores of Lake Superior, there is no satisfactory evidence. of their residence, east of the Mille Lac region.2
The word Dahketah, by which they love to be desig- nated, signifies allied or joined together in friendly com- pact, and is equivalent to " E pluribus unum," the motto on the seal of the United States.
In the history of the mission at La Pointe, Wisconsin, published nearly two centuries ago, a writer, referring to to the Dahkotahs, remarks :-
" For sixty leagues from the extremity of the Upper Lake, toward sunset; and, as it were in the centre of the western nations, they have all united their force by a general league."
1 Gens du Lac.
' They have no name for Lake Superior .- G. H. Pond, in " Dahkotah Tawaritku Kin."
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THE NAMES SIOUX, AND DAHKOTAH.
The Dahkotahs in the earliest documents, and even until the present day, are called Sioux, Scioux, or Soos. The name originated with the early " voyageurs." - For centuries the Ojibways of Lake Superior waged war against the Dahkotahs; and, whenever they spoke of them, called them Nadowaysioux, which signifies ene- mies.
The French traders, to avoid exciting the attention of Indians, while conversing in their presence, were accustomed to designate them by names, which would not be recognised. t
The Dahkotahs were nicknamed Sioux, a word com- posed, of the two last syllables, of the Ojibway word, for foes.
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Charlevoix, who visited Wisconsin in 1721, in his history of New France says: "The name of Sioux, that . we give to these Indians, is entirely of our own making, or rather it is the last two syllables of the name of Nadouessioux, as many nations call them."
From an early period, there have been three great divisions of this people, which have been subdivided into smaller bands. The first are called the Isanyati, the Issati of Hennepin, after one of the many lakes at the head waters of the river, marked on modern maps, by the unpoetic name of Rum. It is asserted by Dahkotah missionaries now living, that this name was given to the lake because the stone from which they manufactured the knife (isan) was here obtained .. . The principal band of the Isanti was the M'dewakanton-' wan.1 In the journal of Le Sueur, they are spoken of as residing on a lake east of the Mississippi. Tra-
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1 Pronounced as if written Medday-wawkawn-twawn.
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nthony, is a re they, and an aeronaut nds, on silver m of Earth. a-the neigh- ild rice-the e alive with x -- they were Indian popu-
by the Euro- · cupying this "by the voya- dition, asserts ibe. Though nting on the tory evidence egion. e to be desig- friendly com- m," the motto
te, Wisconsin, iter, referring
of the Upper the centre of their force by
nd, in " Dahkotah
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
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dition says that it was a day's walk from Isantamde or Knife Lake. 6
On a map prepared in Paris in 1703, Rum River is called the river of the M'dewakantonwans, and the Spirit Lake on which they dwelt, was, without doubt, Mille Lac of modern charts.
The second great division is the IHANKTONWAN, com- monly called YANKTON. They appear to have occupied the region west of the M'dewakantonwan, and north of .. the Minnesota river. The geographer De Lisle places. their early residence. in the vicinity of Traverse des Sioux, extending northward.
The last division, the TITONWAN, hunted west of the Thanktons, and all the early maps mark their villages at Lac-qui-parle and Big Stone Lake.+
Hennepin,>in August, 1679, in the vicinity of the Falls of Niagara, met the Senecas returning from war with the Dahkotahs, and with them some captive Tin- tonwans (Teetwawns).
This division is now the most numerous, and comprises about one-half of the whole nation. They have ,wan- .dered to the plains beyond the Missouri, and are the plundering Arabs of America. Whenever they appear in sight of the emigrant train, journeying to the Pacific ' coast, the hearts of the company are filled with painful apprehensions.
North of the Dahkotans, on Lake of the Woods and the 'watercourses connecting it with Lake Superior, were the Assiniboine. These were once a portion of the nation. . Before the other divisions of the Dahkotahs - .had traded with the French, they had borne their pel- tries to the English post, Fort Nelson, on Hudson's Bay, and had received in return British manufactures. By ..
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DIFFERENT DAHKOTAH BANDS.
association with the English, they learned to look upon the French with distrust, and in time to be hostile towards those who had formed alliances with the French.
Le Sueur writes, in relation to their separation from the rest of the nation, in these words :-
" The Assinipoile speak Scioux, and are certainly of' that nation., It is only a few years since they became enemies. It thus originated : The Christianaux having the use of arms before the Scioux, through the English at Hudson's . Bay, they constantly warred upon the Asssinipoils, who were their nearest neighbours. The latter being weak sued for peace, and, to render it more lasting, married, the Christianaux women. The other . Scfoux, who had not made the compact, continued to war, and seeing some Christianaux with the Assinipoils; . broke their heads." After this there was alienation. A letter, however, written at Fort Bourbon, on Hudson's . Bay, about 1695, remarks : "It is said that the Assini- boins are a nation of the Sioux, which separated from them a long time ago."
The Dahkotahs .call these alienated tribes Hohay's, and make woman the cause of the separation .. They are said to have belonged to the Ihanktonwan (Yankton) -division of the nation. A quarrel, tradition asserts, · occurred between two families hunting at the time in the vicinity of Lake Traverse. A young man seduced the wife of one of the warriors. The injured husband, in attempting to rescue his wife, was killed in the tent of the seducer. His father and some relatives wanted to secure the corpse. On the road, they were met, by some of the friends of the guilty youth, and three of their number were killed.' The father then turned back
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Isantamde or 6
Rum River is ans, and the without doubt,
TONWAN, com- have occupied and north of .. e Lisle places . Traverse des P
d west of the their villages
jcinity of the ning from war e captive Tin-
and comprises ey have ,wan- i, and are the. r they appear to the Pacific with painful
ne Woods and ake Superior, portion of the he Dahkotahs . orne their pel- Hudson's Bay, factures. By ..
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
and raised a party of sixty warriors, who waged war against the seducer and his friends, which continued until the whole band were involved, and ended in a revolt upon the part of the aggressor and his friends, who in time became a separate people.
In the valleys of the Blue Earth, the Des Moines, and the eastern tributaries of the Missouri, within the limits of the territory of Minnesota, there also dwelt in ancient days bands of the Ioways, Ottoes, Cheyennes, Aricarees, and Omahaws, who sought other hunting-grounds as the Dahkotahs advanced westward.
- The Dahkotahs, like all ignorant and barbarous peo- ple, have but little reflection beyond that necessary to gratify the pleasure of revenge and of the appetite.
It would be strange to find heroes among skulking savages, or maidens like " Minnehaha" of the poet, among those whose virtue can be easily purchased. While there are exceptions, the general characteristics of the Dahkotahs, and all Indians; are indolence, im- purity, and indifference to the future.
The religion'of this people is exceedingly indistinct, and with reluctance do they converse on the subject. That.a nation so low in the scale of humanity should have preserved the idea of one great spirit, the father of all spirits, the supreme and most perfect of beings, is not to be supposed. To attribute to them more elevated conceptions than those of the cultivated Athe- nians, is perfect absurdity. The Dahkotahs, in their religious belief, are polytheists. The hunter, as he passes over the plains, finds a granite boulder : he stops and prays to it, for it is " Wawkawn"-mysterious or supernatural. At another time, he will pray to his dog; and at another time, to the sun, moon, or stars.
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DAHKOTAH WORSHIP AND GODS.
In every leaf, in every stone, in every shrub, there is a spirit. It may be said of them, as Cotton Mather said of the Massachusetts Indians, in his Life of Eliot : " All the religion they have amounts to thus much : they believe that there are many gods, who made and own the several nations of the world. They believe that every remarkable creature has a peculiar god within or about it; there is with them a sun god or a moon god and the like; and they cannot conceive but that the fire must be a kind of god, inasmuch as a spark of it will soon produce very strange effects. They believe that when any good or ill happens to them, there is the favour or anger of a god expressed in it."
The Dahkotahs have greater and minor deities, and they are supposed to multiply as men and animals, and the superior to have power to exterminate the inferior.
The Jupiter Maximus of the Dahkotahs is styled Oanktayhee. As the ancient Hebrews avoided speak- ing the name of Jehovah, so they dislike to speak the name of this deity, but call him "Taku-wakan," or " That which is supernatural." This mighty god mani- fests himself as a large ox. His eyes are as large as the moon. He can haul in his horns and tail, or he can lengthen them, as he pleases. From him proceed in- visible influences, In his extremities reside mighty powers.
He is said to have created the earth. Assembling in grand conclave all of the aquatic tribes, he ordered them to bring up dirt from beneath the water, and proclaimed death to the disobedient. The beaver and others for- feited their lives. At last the muskrat went beneath the waters, and, after a long time, appeared at the sur- face nearly exhausted, with some dirt. From this,
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10 waged war ich continued d ended in a . is friends, who
es Moines, and thin the limits welt in ancient nes, Aricarees, ng-grounds as
barbarous peo- at necessary to appetite.
nong skulking of the poet, ily purchased. characteristics indolence, im-
ngly indistinct, on the subject. manity should irit, the father rfect of beings, to them more ultivated Athe- otahs, in their hunter, as he ulder : he stops -mysterious or ill pray to his moon, or stars.
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
Oanktayhee fashioned the earth into a large circular plain.
The earth being finished, he took a deity, one of his own offspring, and grinding him to powder, sprinkled 'it upon the earth, and this produced many worms. The worms were then collected and scattered again. They matured into infants; and these were then collected and scattered and became full-grown Dahkotahs.
The bones of the mastodon, the Dahkotahs think, are those of Oanktayhee, and they preserve them with the , greatest care in the medicine bag. It is the belief of the Dahkotahs that the Rev. R. Hopkins, who was drowned at Traverse des Sioux, on July 4th, 1851, was killed by Oanktayhee, who dwells inthe waters, because he had preached against him.
This deity is supposed to have a dwelling-place beneath the Falls of Saint Anthony. A few years ago, by the sudden breaking up of a gorge of ice, a cabin near Fort Snelling, containing a soldier, was swept off by the flood. The Dahkotahs supposed that this great god was descending the river at the time, and, being hungry, devoured the man.
HAY-O-KAH (the anti-natural god) .- There are four per- sons in this godhead. The first appears like a tall and slender man with two faces, like the Janus of ancient mythology. Apollo-like, he holds a bow in his hand streaked with red lightning, also a rattle of deer claws. The second is a little old man with a cocked hat and enormous ears, holding a yellow bow. The third, a man with a flute suspended from his neck. The fourth is invisible and mysterious, and is the gentle zephyr which bends the grass and causes the ripple of the water.
Hayokah is a perfect paradox. He calls bitter sweet,
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HAYOKAH, AND OTHER DEITIES.
and sweet bitter; he groans when he is full of joy ; he laughs when he is in distress; he calls black, white, and white, black ; when he wishes to tell the truth he speaks a lie, and when he desires to lie, he speaks the truth; in winter he goes naked, and in summer he wraps up in buffalo robes. The little hills on the prairies are called Hay-o-kah-tee, or the house of Hay-o-kah. Those whom he inspires, can make the winds blow and the rain fall, the grass to grow and wither.
There is said to exist a clan who especially adore this deity, and at times dance in his honour. At dawn of day they assemble within a teepee, in the centre of which is a fire, over which are suspended kettles. With cone- shaped hats and ear-rings, both made of bark, and loins girded with the same material, they look like incarnate demons. . On their hats are zigzag streaks of paint- representations of lightning.
The company remain seated and smoking around the fire, until the water in the kettle begins to boil, which is a signal for the commencement of the dance. The excitement now becomes intense. They jump, shout, and sing around the fire, and at last plunge their hands into the cauldron, seize and eat the boiled meat. Then they throw the scalding water, on each others backs, the sufferers never wincing, but insisting that it is cold.
TAKU-SHKAN-SHKAN .- This deity is supposed to be invisible, yet everywhere present. He is full of revenge, exceedingly wrathful, very deceitful, and a searcher of hearts. His favourite haunts are the four winds, and . the granite boulders strewn on the plains of Minnesota. He is never so happy as when he beholds scalps, warm and reeking with blood.
The object of that strange ceremony of the Dahko-
a large circular
leity, one of his der, sprinkled it y worms. The d again. They en collected and tahs.
otahs think, are them with the is the belief of kins, who was 4th, 1851, was waters, because
dwelling-place few years ago, of ice, a cabin r, was swept off that this great time, and, being
ere are four per- slike a tall and anus of ancient ow in his hand e of deer claws. cocked hat and The third, a man The fourth is le zephyr which : the water. ills bitter sweet,
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
tahs, in which the performer being bound hand and foot with the greatest care, is suddenly unbound by an invi- sible agent, is to obtain an interview with Taku-shkan- shkan.
The name of another one of the superior divinities is Wahkeenyan. His teepee is supposed to be on a mound on the top of a high mountain, in the far West. The teepee or tent has four openings, with sentinels clothed in red down. A butterfly is stationed at the east, a bear at the west, a fawn at the south, and a reindeer at the north entrance. He is supposed to be a gigantic bird, the flapping of whose wings makes thunder. He has a bitter enmity against Oanktayhee, and attempts to kill his offspring. The high water a few years ago was supposed to be caused by his shooting through the earth, and allowing the water to flow out. When the lightning strikes their teepees or the ground, they think that Oanktayhee was near the surface of the earth, and that Wahkeenyan, in great rage, fired a hot thunderbolt at him.
By him wild rice, is said to have been created, also the spear, and tomahawk.
A bird of thunder was once killed, the Indians assert, near Kaposia. Its face resembled the human counte- nance. Its nose was hooked like the bill of an eagle. Its wings had four joints, and zigzag like the lightning.
About thirty miles from Big Stone Lake, near the head waters of the Minnesota, there are several small lakes bordered with oak-trees. This is the. supposed birth-place of the Thunder Bird, and is called the Nest of Thunder. The first step the spirit ever took in this world was equal to that of the hero, in the child's story, who wore seven-league boots, being twenty-five miles in length. A rock is pointed out which has a foot-like
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