The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
In St. Paul, Minnesota there is a street named Wabasha, as well as a Wabasha City located in Wabasha County. Wabasha was the name of a famous Dakota chief. He lived 1740 to 1876— considered the leader of all the Dakota, first by the French and later by the British.
The purpose of this article is to Possiblysolve a puzzle perplexing historians, ethnologists and anthropologists for years. His name Wabasha is spelled incorrectly. What is the correct spelling? James A. M. Ritchie, from Clearwater, Manitoba, a local historian has solved the riddle. Before we discuss Mr. Ritchie’s discovery, we must return to the chief’s name. Wabasha could be spelled Wabasha. (sa=sha, red). Waba is the question. Is it wape or wah’pe? which means a leaf, more correctly canwape, a tree leaf. Other Dakota surmise the name means Wapa’hasa (Red Warbonnet, and more closely to the truth Wapaha’sa Red Banner. [note the accent placement]
The French fur traders were the first Europeans to meet the Dakota. They called Wabasha Le feuille the Leaf. The history books move between Red Leaf and Red Banner as to his name. It is well known that the Dakota fought on the side of the British during the American Revolution and the War of 1812.
Mr. Ritchie reminds us that the European style battles of that time, each unit carried a unit flag. This is done so that the generals would know the location of each unit during the battle. The Wapaha’sa name was not his name, but possibly a nick name, meaning a Red Flag. What design was on the Flag? A Red Maple Leaf. This answers the French name Le feuille the Leaf. The red color comes to the answer with the Sa (Pronounced Sha).
Now comes the Red in the Maple Leaf. It is the symbol of Canada the second largest country after Russia. The red leaf is found all over Canada, The Red Maple leaf is also on the Canadian flag. The Toronto Maple Leaf’s is another example of its use in Canada. This leaf symbol has been in existence since 1868, but the red color presently symbolizes the blood sacrifices of the Canadian military during World War One. Could the Red Leaf have started much earlier with Wabasha?
“As the story goes Wabasha recognized as brigadier general in command of a task force of mixed Native Americans, Canadian militia and British regulars, needed a flag. He was already known for using the red maple leaf interwoven with his eagle feather emblems and adoring his ceremonial staff. Since other generals and commanders had flags, it was only
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logical that General Wabasha should too. And so, it is possible that the very first use of the Red Maple Leaf on a flag, was by the Dakota, Wahpekute and mixed Native and British forces lead by General Wabasha One, during the war of 1812.” (Ritchie: 7)
Hats off to James A.M. Ritchie he has probably solved the origin of the name Wabasha, and possibly the use of the Red Maple Leaf as a symbol of Canada.
Bibliography
Diedrich, Mark The Chiefs Wapahasha Three Generations of Dakota Leadership.
Coyote Books Rochester, MN 2004. ISBN: 1-892415-C3-8
Richie, James A. M. and Sara Childers.
With Contributions from Oswald McKay, Christ Hunt and Sara Ramsden.
Waziyata Cankag’a (The Northern Bridge): An Archival Booklet.
Documents relating to the British, Sioux and American relationships in the Red River frontier of Manitoba and North Dakota during the 1850-1880 periods. The Flandreau Sioux Tribe Historical Office, Flandreau, South Dakota. Clearwater, Manitoba 2023.
