Tribal government was composed of ten men who were selected to act as a council usually twice a year during the spring and fall buffalo hunt. They met in the Tent of Tents (Tiyotipi) pitched in the center of the camp. They selected four hunt leaders named Wicaŝtayatapi, and a man with a loud voice to be the Announcer or Speaker (Eyanpaha), and four Policemen (Akicita), one being the Police Chief (Akicita Itancan) who enforced the edicts of the Council (Lowie 1913; One Road and Skinner 2003: 63-64).

Odd as it may seem when the first treaties were negotiated with the Dakota, the representatives for the white negotiators thought the Speaker, who was receiving his instructions from the ten leaders, was the chief. These white negotiators spoke directly to the Speaker, not understanding the ten men sitting behind him where the actual chiefs. As time went on the United States Government disliked negotiating with ten chiefs, and pressured the Dakota to select one man as chief. The Dakota were used to dealing with the white negotiators backed by the President (Tunkanŝina) of the United States. Previously the Dakota dealt with Europeans who traditionally had one leader – a King or Queen before the American Revolution. Hence the one chief rule never was popular among the Dakota. Each side did not understand the government structure of each other (DeMallie: 2014, 100).

On July 5 to 7 1876 a census was taken to determine how many Dakota people settled upon the reservation. This census showed a population of 1,077, noting that 65 Cut-Heads were absent at that time, which would have made 1,142 tribal members. This census shows us the number of bands and their leaders.

While this 1876 census is important as it tells us the name of each head of family, the following year on July 16, 1877 Agent James McLaughlin grouped the people by band with the leader listed first. Because of this census, we now have the original tribal bands and their leaders. This 1877 census of heads of families, listed 263 families of 1,105 individuals grouped coincidently into ten bands.

Census of 1877:

Band # 1. Tiyowaṡte (Good inside his House) Sisitun Dakota, 141 families.

Band # 2. Waanatan (Charging) Sisitun Dakota, 122 families.

Band # 3. Pṡiptoduta (Scarlet Bead) Sisitun Dakota, Abdowapusikiya (Shoulder Drying Band) 119 families.

Band # 4. Ecaĥtake (Touch) Sisitun Dakota, 129 families.

Band # 5. Hokṡinaduta (Scarlet Boy) Wahpetun Dakota, 87 families.

Band # 6. Ṡunkamaza (Iron Dog) Wahpetun Dakota, Tizaptanna (Five Tent Band), 101 families.

Band # 7. Cadozi (Yellow Crotch) Wahpetun Dakota, 122 families.

Band # 8. Unspeokawinġe (Broken Ax Handle) Wahpetun Dakota, Iŝtahinŝpa (Needle Elbow) Band 105 families.

Band # 9. Oyetanka (Big Track) Ihanktun Nakota, Pteyuteṡni (No Buffalo Cow Eater) Band, 119 families.

Band # 10. Wahacankaduta (Scarlet Shield) Ihanktunwanna Nakota, Pabaksa (Cut Head) Band, 55 families.

In 1878 Agent McLaughlin reports twelve bands with the following leaders. This census shows a significant drop in population, the reason for this is unknown at the present time:

Icanajinka (Standing Steady) represents 70 Indians.

Pŝiptoduta (Scarlet Beads) Shoulder Drying Sisitun, represents 131 Indians.

Matocatka (Left handed Bear) Hintahankpan (Bass Fiber Moccasin Tie) Waĥpetun, represents 80 Indians.

Cadoze (Yellow Crotch) represents 88 Indians.

Unspeokawinġe (Broken Ax [Handle]), Needle Elbow band of Waĥpetun, represents 84 Indians.

Icaĥtake (Touch) represents 92 Indians.

Waanatan (Rushes Forward) Sisitun Represents 62 Indians.

Śunkamaza (Iron Dog), Five Tent band of Waĥpetun, represents 109 Indians.

Hokŝinaduta (Scarlet Boy) Waĥpetun represents 71 Indians.

Oyetanka (Big Track) Hunkpatina (Live at Entrance to Camp) Nakota, represents 75 Indians.

Tiyowaŝte (Good Inside his Lodge) Sisitun represents 130 Indians.

Wahacankaduta (Scarlet Shield) Severed Head Ihanktunwan (Live at End) Nakota, represents 83 Indians.

(McLaughlin Papers Roll 19: 208-214)

Tiyowaŝte still wished to remain a traditional leader and not accept the Government rules, enforced by McLaughlin. So Agent McLaughlin rearranges the leadership structure by deposing Tiyowaŝte as a Chief. Tiyowaŝte told McLaughlin you can’t depose me, my people made me chief (oral history).

Pŝiptoduta (Scarlet Bead) = First Sisitun Chief.

Icanajinka (Standing Steady) = Second Sisitun Chief.

Icaĥtake (Touch) = Third Sisitun Chief.

Śunkamaza (Iron Dog) = First Waĥpetun Chief.

Cadoze (Yellow Crotch) = Second Waĥpetun Chief.

Unspekawinġe (Broken Ax) = Third Waĥpetun Chief.

Matocatka (Left Bear) = Fourth Waĥpetun Chief.

Waanatan (Charger) = First Cut Head Chief.

Oyetanka (Big Track) = Second Cut Head Chief.

Adam Ironheart or Cantemaza = Leader of the Christian Indians.

(McLaughlin Papers Roll 19:257-258).

It is surprising to see that Agent McLaughlin didn’t understand the tribal makeup of the people he had control of and who lived west of the agency in what would later become the Raven Hill District. Waanatan was a Sisitun not a Cut Head, and Big Track was a Yankton.

Further reducing the power of the chiefs and tribal government he sets up a police force to enforce the new rules imposed by the United States Government.

The next census 1885 shows how the tribal make up has changed; the bands and their leaders are no longer recognized by the United States Government, each individual is listed by family group. The land allotment is about to begin, further separating the people and dissolving the Tribal Government and the influence of the band chiefs.

As the years passed some of the leaders died, an example is the Tizaptana (Five Tent Band), after Iron Dog’s death, Maḣpiyaku (Coming Cloud) became chief. Matocatka (Lefthanded Bear) Chief of the Hintahankpan (Basswood Fiber Moccasin String Band) may have camped with the Five Tent Band as he is not listed on McLaughlin’s 1877 census. Another possibility for his absence from the list is that he was visiting relatives on the Lake Traverse Reservation when the census was taken.

The Last Ten Chiefs

.Tiyowaŝte (Good Inside His House) DLS #204 1825-1919

Matocatka (Left Handed Bear) DLS #616 1823-1905

Clement Suna Waanataŋ, Itkowicakipa (He Met Them) DLS #404 1860-1937

Ignatius Court Maĥpiyahotanka (Loud Voiced Cloud) DLS #433 1868-1941

Martin Blueshield Wahacankato DLS #834 1852-1936

Charles Belland Wakanhdiohiya (Winning Lighting) DLS #303 1870-1934

Michael Cijan (Spider) Heĥakaduta (Scarlet Elk) DLS #197 1857-1920

Joseph Sherman Tawacinhehomni (His Feather Goes Around) DLS #290 1850-1934

Thomas Iyayuĥmani (Walking After) DLS #785 1842-1917

Wakakŝaŋ (Bending) DLS #123 1851-1904 (Diedrich 2007:130)

Bibliography

DeMallie, Raymond J. “The Great Treaty Council at Horse Creek” Pp.89-111. Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations. Edited by Suzan Shown Harjo. Washington D.C.: National Museum of the American Indian 2004.

Diedrich, Mark Mni Wakan Oyate: A History of the Sisitunwan, Wahpeton, Pabaksa, and other Dakota that Settled at Spirit Lake, North Dakota. Fort Totten, ND: Cankdeska Cikana Community College Publishing 2007.

Lowie, Robert H. “Dance Associations of the Eastern Dakota” Anthological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History Volume XI, part 2 New York: 1913.

One Road, Amos E. Being Dakota: Tales and traditions of the Sisseton and Wahpeton. Alanson B. Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul: 2003. Edited by Laura L. Anderson.

Louie Garcia teaches Dakota Culture at Cankdeska Cikana Community College in Fort Totten, ND on the Spirit Lake Nation.

Editor’s. note: Many of the names and phrases in Mr. Garcia’s submissions are written with pronunciation markings and letters not compatable with today’s technology. Please contact Garcia on correct spellings and pronunciations.

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