The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
This is Part II of the Lac qui Parle Hymn, Part I was published Tuesday, Sep. 19.
141 Lacquiparle(Translation below)
- Wakantanka taku nitawa
Tankaya qa ota;
Mahpiya kin eyahnake ca,
Maka kin he duowanca,
Mniowanca sbeya wanke cin,
Hena oyakihi.
- Nitawacin wasaka, wakan,
On wawicahyaye;
Woyute qa wokoyake kin,
Woyatke ko iyacinyan,
Anpetu kin otoiyohi
Wawiyohiyaye.
- Adam ate unyanpi kin he,
Woope wan yaqu;
Woope kin awahtani qon,
Miye dehan tehiya waun,
Jesus onsimayakida qa
Miyecicajuju.
- Anpetu wan en yahi kin he
Wootanin tanka,
Oyate kin hiyeye cin he,
Iyoyanpa wicayaya;
Jesus waonsiyakida kin,
Unniyatanpi kta.
- Wicohan wan unyanqupi kin
Jesus amaton wan;
Woyute wan woyatke ahna
Mayaqu kin yuwaste wo;
Unnagipi untancanpi ko
Unyuecetu po.
- Micehpi kin woyute yapi
Itancan kin dee,
Mawe kin he woyatke wakan,
Ehe ciqon, wacinwaye:
Nitatiyopa kin he wacin,
Jesus onsimada.
- Wohdaku nitawa kin he
Minagi kin qu wo;
Mahpiya kin iwankam yati,
Wicowaste yuha nanka,
Wiconi kin he mayaqu nun,
Owihanke wanin.
Words by Joseph Renville The Dakota Death March Song
Translated by Rev. Sidney H. Byrd
Translation:
Dakota Native Air Harmonized By J. R. Murry. 1877:
Great Spirit God, the things which are thine,
are great and numerous.
The heavens above thou didst set in place,
and earth received its form by thy hands.
The ocean depths respond to thy will,
For thou canst do all things.
Thy will, so strong and mysterious,
brings growth to all the earth;
Food for our souls and clothing to wear,
are likened to thy cup that fulfills,
provide for us each day of our lives,
sufficient for all our needs.
Adam the father of mankind,
to him you gave thy law;
That law I disobey with my sin,
and now I suffer pain and disgrace.
Jesus express thy mercy to me,
And forgive all my sins.
The day thou didst come to dwell on earth,
Was tidings of great joy.
The nations scattered about the world,
To them you gave the light of life;
O Jesus, thou compassionate one,
We render praise to thee.
Thy sacrament entrusted to us,
Jesus attend with me;
Thy bread of life and drink for our souls
Which thou didst offer now purify;
Sanctify our souls and our bodies,
Restoring us in love.
Take thou my flesh as food for thy soul,
These are thy words O Lord,
Take my shed blood and drink from my cup.
That it may serve to strengthen thy faith:
I desire entrance into thy door,
Jesus, hear thou my plea.
Thy plan for our salvation O Lord,
Grant to my sinful soul;
Thy abode is beyond the heavens,
All goodness is secure in thy hands.
This divine life which thou didst give me,
Is one that has no end.
Words by Joseph Renville The Dakota Death March Song
Translated by Rev. Sidney H. Byrd
Hymn # 271 Dakota Hymn
Laquiparle
Paraphrased by Philip Frazier of the Dakotas
Man-y and Great, O God,
Thy things,
Maker of earth and sky,
Thy hands have set the heav-ens with stars,
Thy fingers spread the moun-tains and plains,
Lo, at thy word, the waters formed;
Deep seas o-bey Thy voice.
Grant un-to us com-munion with Thee,
Thou star abid-ing one;
Come un-to us and dwell with us,
With Thee are found the gifts of life.
Bless us with life that has no end,
E-ter-nal life with Thee.
Copyright by Olive W. Riggs.
This hymn can also be found as number 148 in the Methodist Hymnal (1989:148).
The Lutheran’s has the Hymn number 794 many and great, are your works (1995:794).
Bibliography
Boutin, Loren Dean Cut Nose: Who Stands On A Cloud.
North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
St. Cloud, MN 2006.
Centennial Committee St. Ann’s Centennial, 100 Years of Faith 1885 – 1985
Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation Belcourt, ND.
Deloria, Ella Speaking of Indians.
Friendship Press, Inc. New York 1944
Pages 102 and 103.
“Educated Sioux” South Dakota Historical Collections, Volume 22 1946.
Glover, Raymond F., Editor, The Hymnal 1982 Companion: Volume Three B
The Church Hymnal Corporation,
New York 1990. Pages 719 to 724.
Gridley, Marion E. Indians of Today . Chicago: Tower Town Press, 1960
Kimberling, Clark. Department of Mathematics University of Evansville, IN
Personal correspondence.
He located the Hymnal Companion books. March 2004.
Lewis, Bonnie Sue Creating Christian Indians: Native Clergy in the Presbyterian Church. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 2003.
Lift Every Voice, Board of Education, The Methodist Church.
Published by the Cooperative Recreation Service,
Delaware, Ohio. 1953.
The United Methodist Hymnal: Book of United Methodist Worship.
The United Methodist Publishing House
Nashville, TN 1989.
Paulson, Imogene T. and Lloyd Who’s Who Among the Sioux.
Institute of Indian Studies, University of South Dakota,
Vermillion, SD. State Publishing Company 1988.
Pond, Samuel W. The Dakota or Sioux in Minnesota: As they were in 1834.
Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul: 1986
(Introduction by Gary Clayton Anderson describes the Pond
brothers’ mission work.
The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs.
Westminster / John Knox Press,
Louisville, Kentucky 1955.
The Presbyterian Council, The First Fifty Years; Dakota Presbytery to 1890.
Pine Hill Press, Freeman, SD 1984
Riggs, Stephen Return Mary and I.
Ross and Haines, Inc, Minneapolis, MN 1969
Rogers, Elwin E. For God and Land: Brown Earth a Dakota Indian Community 1876-
1892. Pine Hill Press, Sioux Falls, SD 2002.
Sneve, Driving Hawk, Virginia. Completing the Circle. University of Nebraska
Press, Lincoln. 1995. (Genealogy of a branch of the Frazier family)
Upham, Warren Minnesota Place Names. Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul
2001.
Willand, John Lac Qui Parle and the Dakota Mission. Lac Qui Parle Historical Society
Madison, MN 1964.
Willand, John; personal correspondence with author January 21, 1987.
With One Voice: A Lutheran Resource for Worship. Augsberg Fortress, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, 1995.
Young, Carlton R. Companion To The United Methodist Hymnal. Abingdon Press,
Nashville, TN. 1993. (Pages 283, 480, 481,751, 802, and 818).
Glossary
Byrd, Sidney H. (Hoksilawaste = Good Boy) retired minister. Was raised on the
Pine Ridge Reservation, where is grandfather Samuel Weston, was an ordained minister. Rev. Byrd attended Genoa Indian School in Nebraska, Served in the army during World War Two. Attended Dubuque, University Divinity School, and became an ordained minister. He is a well-respected orator, known for his wit in the pulpit. He currently resides in Flandreau, South Dakota.
Frazier, Reverend Francis Philip was born at Ponca Creek in June 1892. Died in 1964 at Yankton, SD. His parents were Francis and Margaret Frazier. He graduated from Santee Normal, Yankton Academy, Mount Herman School, Massachusetts, and Dartmouth College. He served in the Army in France and Germany during World War One. He married Susie Meek, a
Sac and Fox Indian. Continuing on with his education he studied at Oberlin College, Garrett Seminary, and Chicago Theological Seminary to become ordained. He first paraphrased the hymn Lacquiparle into English in 1929. His older brother George became a medical doctor.
Lac Qui Parle or Lake that Speaks is the name of a mission started by Reverend Dr.
Thomas Williamson in 1835.The mission was nearly opposite the mouth of the Lac Qui Parle River and southeast from the foot of the lake (MN. Place Names). The historical site is managed by the Chippewa County Historical Society.
Mdeiyedan or Lake that Speaks (Mde = lake; Iye = to speak; Dan = familiarity)
Located in Lacquiparle County, Minnesota. This lake is merely a widening
of the Minnesota River (Wakpa Minisota) some eight miles long and one mile wide.
Pezutawicasta = Doctor (pezuta = herb, wicasta = man) the Indian name of T.S.
Williamson, because he was a medical doctor.
Pond, H. Gideon and his brother Samuel W. left Washington, Connecticut without financial support and traveled to Prairie du Chien (now in the state of Wisconsin) to covert the Indians to Christianity. On May 6, 1834 Samuel and Gideon stepped off the steamboat “Warrior” at Fort Snelling and were welcomed by Major Bliss and the Rev. William T. Boutwell, a missionary to the Ojibway. Later they moved to Lake Calhoun (now Minneapolis, MN) to learn the Dakota language. By 1836 they moved to Lac qui Parle. Gideon: June 30, 1810 – January 20, 1879. Samuel: April 10, 1808 – December 12, 1891.
Psincinca or Arrowhead Plant (Sagitta’ria). The Indian name of Joseph Renville.
Renville, Joseph (1779 –1846) Born at present day St. Paul, MN. At age 26 was a guide to Lieutenant Z.M. Pike for his Mississippi, Missouri and Red River surveys. He was a Captain in the British army during the war of 1812, participating in the battles at Fort Megis and Fort Stephenson in present day Ohio. He established his Columbia Fur Company trading post at Lake Traverse. Another post was organized at Lac Qui Parle in 1825 for the Wahpeton band of Dakota. He was against the mission but slowly warmed to the idea. Riggs and Williamson were continually admonishing him for his use of alcohol as a business gratuity, and his multiple wives. His son John B. became a minister as well as his grandson Daniel. Daniel (Caskedan = First Born Boy [Zitkanatawa]) was the one who started the Brown Earth Church and then the mission at Woodlake (Bdecan) in 1879. This mission later became the Bdecan Presbyterian Church, Tokio, ND; it is the only Indian church of the Presbyterian denomination in North Dakota (Paulson and Moses 1988:198; Rogers 2002; St. Ann’s Centennial 1985: 509).
Riggs, Mary Ann (Longley) (1813 – 1869) her Indian name was Payuha (Has a Head, meaning, Practical) or it could mean Curly Head.
Riggs, Stephen Return (1812 – 1883) Cofounder of the Lac Qui Parle mission station.
Tamakoce (His Land), The Indian name of Stephen Return Riggs. The name was given to
Him. “some good Dakota long ago had borne that name” (Riggs 1969).
Williamson, Margaret (Poage) (18— – 1872) wife of Doctor Williamson.
Williamson, Thomas Smith (1800 – 1879) was a medical doctor as well as a missionary.
Founder of the Lac Qui Parle mission station.
Woolworth, Alan R. Historian emeritus of the Minnesota Historical Society.
Personal communication via the internet.
Mr. Woolworth is one of those rare individuals who records history with his many scholarly articles, but also made history, with his service in World War Two, archaeological digs, and historical finds. If anyone knows about the history of Minnesota, it is Mr. Alan R. Woolworth. He goes to the top of his class. His file cabinets are crammed full of documents.
