The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1888-03

              e Word Carrier.
vou'me  xvii.
HELPING   THE   RIGHT,   EXPOSING   THE   WRONG
m'mheh   8.
SANTEE AGENCY, NEBRASKA.
MARCH,  1888.
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR.
OUR PLATFORM.
For Indians we want American Education ! We want American Homes!
We want American Rights! The result of which is American Citizenship I
And the Gospel is the Power of God for
iheir Salvation.
If Professor Kirk had only made
Sbe explanation in his History, in
regard to who Avere the Santees,
which he has iioav made, and as
Neil and Burton, in these quotations, and Dr. T. S. Williamson,
elsewhere, have done, Ave would
not have made this criticism, even
though Mr. Kirk's present statement
Mis short of the truth. Of course
Eeane is 110 authority here, because
he takes too general a view to admit
#f such accuracy of detail. But in
a book like this of Kirk's, Ave look
for photographic truth; and generally Ave find it.
As to the ancient place of the
Yanktons 011 the map, Mr. Kirk's
proof, Avhen boiled down, is this:
"They occupied the prairies east of
ihe Bed Biver of the North" (Warren). "They Avere north of the Mille
Lac " (Hennepii 1). " They were north
of the Teetons, who were located
aboxit Big Stone Lake" (Dr. T. S.
Williamson). That is, they were to
the north of all the other branches
of the Dakota nation about the
headwaters of the Mississippi, and
moving westward to the north of
the headwaters of the Minnesota.
Consequently, it is a great perversion of logic to conclude that they
were "therefore in the great north-
em angle" of these tAvo rivers. The
fact is, they never were in that augle.
As to the location of the Omahas
at those early times, it simply proves
that they, as many tribes have done,
had visited the red pipestone quarry,
which, let it be borne in mind, is in
the extreme southwestern corner of
Minnesota. It does not establish
their residence there. Certainly
they were not located east of there,
nor in any part of what is iioav Minnesota ; for, according to the traditions of the Poncas, avIio were one
with the Omahas until tbey separated and the latter turned back southward, the combined tribes lived west
of the Big Sioux Biver and near the
Missouri.
In these two particulars the map
is incorrect and misleading, and
should be corrected.
AVe will here state that the publisher will send the book post-paid
for $1.35 to auy Avhose orders are
sent through us.
DISPUTED   POINTS    OF   HISTORY.
It has been suggested that the Indian Bureau be called the Government Inquisition. The appropriateness of the name is manifest
every' day. Its intolerance is illustrated by this: When Inspector
Bannister was at Yankton Agency
last fall, he met the teachers of the
Government School in a social Avay
in their oavii private parlors, and
the anti-vernacular orders became
a subject of conversation. Miss
Bonine, a most competent and faithful worker, who had long been connected with the school, ventured
to express her opinion in favor
of the work of the missionaries.
The next day the agent was direct:
ed to dismiss her, which he did
sum ma lily.
Professor Kirk Answers  the Criticisms of
His History of Minnesota.
In the January number of The
Word Carrier, there is a very appreciative review of my History of
Minnesota, but in it you make these
criticisms:
First.   That the Mdewakanton-
Avans are the Santees, and not one I
of the four bands of the same, the ;
other three being the Wapekutes, ;
WahpetonAvans, and Sissitonwans.
Second. That you know no rea-
son for locating the Yanktons in
the great angle made by the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers.
Third.    That you knoAV no rea- j
son for   locating the Omahas   in
southeastern Minnesota.
Allow me to reply to these in the
order given.
WHO   WERE   THE   SANTEES.
Neill says (p. 256, vol. i., Minne- j
sota Historical Collections): "At
this day, 1850, the Mississippi and
Minnesota Dakotas are called by
those 011 the Missouri, Issati or
Isanyati."
Dr. T. S. Williamson says (p. 295
of the aboA-e-cited volume): "It is
sufficiently clear that, in the latter
part of the seventeenth century, the
principal residence of the Isanyati
Sioux, that is of the Mdewakanton-
Avans, Wahpetoiiwans, and Sissitonwan Avas at the head of
Rum River."   *   *   *
Burton, in his "The City of the
Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California," speaking of the
Mdewakantonwans, Wapekutes, Sis-
setons, and Wahpetons, says (p. 97):
"The aboA-e four constitute the Mississippi and Minnesota Sioux, and
are called by those on the Missouri,
Isanti or Isanyati, because they
once lived near Isantamde, one of
the Mdle Lacs."
Hennepin's map of 1683 places
all af these tribes, save the Wape-
kute (not named), at and in the vicinity of Lake Buade (Mille Lacs),
and Franquelin's map, prepared for
Louis XIV. in 1688, places them in
similar positions ; Avhile in all fairness it is to be OAA'ned that the old
forms of the word Santees are applied to those dAvelling at the lake
itself. This geographic relation,
however, they still retained when
Nicollet made his map in 1842, although they had removed from
their ancient habitation. At that
time, the Mdewakantonwans were
north of the Minnesota River, in
the great bend formed by its southeast course to the Blue Earth and
northeast course to the Mississippi.
South of the course last mentioned,
and east of the Blue Earth, were
the Wapekutes ; immediately south
of the course first? mentioned Avere
the Wahpetons, and south of them
again the Sissetons. But the Yanktons and Teetons'wandered far from
them and each other.
Keane, translator of Hehvald's
"Die Erde und litre Vadker," gives,
on the best American authority, this
classification:
i Mdewakanton wan,
I. Santees.   -j Wapekutes,
( Wahpetons.
II. Sissetons.
III. Yanktons.
IV. Teetons.
He also says that the Yanktons,
Santees, and  Teetons speak three
well-marked dialects.
To sum up, hi respect to these
few of many authorities that might
be given, it seems safe to assert
that for geographic and linguistic
reasons, together with the custom
of the other tribes of their nation in
addressing them, Ave are warranted
in applying to these tribes a common name which, it is true, has
sometimes had a narrow signification.
the yanktons.
On page 20 of my history, I have
spoken of the nomadic character of
the Dakotas which they possessed
in common Avith other Indians. In
locating the Minnesota tribes, therefore, I have sought to indicate on
my chart only the centers of their
wanderings during that eventful
epoch of the seventeenth century
when they first came in contact
Avith the French voyageurs.
Warren's "History of the Ojib-
Avas" (Minnesota Historical Society
Collections, vol. v., p. 138), presents
a tradition of the OjibAvas. It
claims that, before the earliest explorers came to Minnesota, the
Yanktons dwelt upon the prairies
east of the Bed Biver of the North,
at which time the Assiniboines separated from them.
Hennepin's map (1683) places
them north of Mille Lacs. But his
map is crude, and it is more than
likely that they were at the head of
the Mississippi.
LeSueur (1700) places the Yanktons at the Pipestone Quarry; but
Doctor Williamson, in the work
where I have before cited him, says
only part of them Avere there and
the rest north of the Teetons.
Noav all the early maps, as Hennepin's (1683), Franquelin's (1688),
and De L' Isle's (1703), agree in
placing the Teetons at Big Stone
Lake and in the valley of the Minnesota, Avhile Doctor Williamson
himself' says they wandered from
Sauk Rapids on the Mississippi to
that lake. Hence, it appears, save
the band at Pipestone, that the
Yanktons were in the great northern angle of the Mississippi and
Minnesota Rivers. Is this not what
Ave would naturally expect, when
Ave note the seventeenth century positions given them by Warren and
Hennepin, and when we remember
Iioav slowly all of the Dakota tribes
migrated to the south and southwest before they began to feel the
power of their Ojibwa enemies ? Is
it not likelv, too, that thev were
still there as late as 1754? For
Buache's chart, made in that year,
shows the Teetons yet occupying
the position accorded them by all;
and only in 1805, Avhen Pike explored the country, do Ave begin to
notice the Yanktons inhabiting the
upper valley of the Minnesota.
Professor Winched seems to have
reached such conclusions. In the
Minnesota Geological Report (vol.
i.), he places them on his historical
chart about as I have on mine. It
Avould have been better, I think, had
the word Yanktons been placed farther up and to the left on my chart.
the omahas.
On pages 19 and 20 of my History,
it is stated that various tribes, among
Avhoni were the Omahas and IoAvas,
hunted to the  southward, particu
larly in the celebrated pipestone region and along the the Blue Earth
and Pes Moines Rivers. The words
"lowas and Omahas" are so disposed on my chart as to show that the
tribes named occupied southern '
Minnesota, and not to show, as you
supposed, the Omahas in the southeastern part.
In a carefully prepared account,
Doctor Williamson (p. 297, vol. i.,
Minnesota Historical Society Collections) says, in the conclusion of his
reasons: "Thus it appears that the
Shiens, the lowas, the Omahas, and
the Ottoes, were the earliest inhabitants of Minnesota of whom AA'e
have any written or certain traditional account." lie adds, elseAvhere, that, at the time the Dakotas
entered Minnesota, the IoAvas, "according to the most common and reliable traditions" of the Dakotas,
occupied the country at the mouth
of the Minnesota Biver.
Governor Ramsey, in the Minnesota Historical Society Collections,
notes a Mdewakantonwan tradition
claiming that the lowas were on the
Minnesota River at a very early
date, and were still there in Le
Sueur's time (1770). For linguistic
reasons, he concludes that the Omahas separated from them then.
G. H. Pond (p. 144, v. i., Minnesota Historical Society Collections 1
says that Black Tomahawk, the
best Mdewakantonwan traditionist,
claimed that the lowas were once located at the mouth of the Minnesota.
Strong's History of Wisconsin
Territory (p. 941 shows that the
lowas were in the country of the
Upper Iowa Biver in the early pari
of fhe present century.
The early French charts substantiate all of the above views respecting the lowas.
The Smithsonian Institute Publications of the Bureau of Ethnology
(vol.  iii.,  p. 212)   presents   these
statements   of   J.   Owen    Dorses :
"The Omahas and  Poncas crossed
the Missouri    in the State of that
name], accompanied by the lowas,
proceeded by degrees through Missouri,   Iowa,   and   Minnesota,   till
j they reached the neighborhood of
j the   red   pipestone  quarry.     This
must   have   taken   many   years, as
I their course was marked by a sue -
: cession  of   villages   consisting   of
earth lodges."
I haye myself inspected many
mounds where those villages were
supposed to have stood ; and note
j 5, under Catlin, in my History,
speaks of a large battle mound near
: Pipestone, where it is said the lowas
and   Omahas  fought  a century or
more ago.
T. li. Kirk.
The following will take the premi-
: um as a polite note for the slopping
of one's paper. It AA'as received by
the Iajii Oaye, and this is a translation from the Dakota.. 'Tainting
! his face better," refers to the fact
that some of the last numbers issued from tbe old office were not so
bright and clear as formerly.
"From a long time ago I have
been the friend of the Iapi ('aye,
and as I have beeu able have put
sixty cents (the subscription price)
into its mouth. But iioav I Wish to
' lay it by. After a while, when my
friend paints his face better, then I
may again be his friend.
"Walks-Shoi nx<;."