The writing of history can be a sensitive matter. Particularly when writing the history of a people that primarily have an oral, rather than written, record of their past. But, to those that are interested, we are glad to provide some overview of how the current situation came to be.
Timeline borrowed from Crow Creek Connections at http://www.crowcreekconnections.org/history%20of%20Crow%20Creek.html
Sept 3, 1783
The Second Treaty of Paris is signed at the end of The American Revolutionary War, and a small piece of land to the east of the Mississippi river is obtained, in what is now modern day Minnesota.
July 4, 1803
President Jefferson announces Louisiana purchase to US citizens. This is a giant tract of land that encompasses over 1/3rd of the continental united states. Included with this land, is the part of Minnesota to the west of the Mississippi and to the south of the Minnesota river.
1803-1839
Over the next few years, daring Americans start exploring these new lands, including one Zebulon Pike. In 1805, he bargained with Native Americans to acquire land where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers meet.
Fort Snelling was built on this land between 1819 and 1825. This became the foundation for modern day Minneapolis as more settlers, tourists and squatters came and settled near the fort. In 1839, the Army actually forced them to move downriver, and they settled in the area that became St. Paul.
March 3, 1849
This area officially becomes the Minnesota Territory. Settlers now come en masse and begin farming, hunting, logging and trading. Tensions between the Native tribes grow. These tribes include the Dakota Sioux.
May-July 1851
Two treaties are signed that cede most of the land in Minnesota to the Americans: the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, and Treaty of Mendota. The language of these treaties suggest good intentions, but one interesting fact remains. During the ratification process, The United States Senate deleted Article 3 of each treaty, wherein a detailed description of the Minnesota reservations were laid out and guaranteed to the tribes in perpetuity.
It is also worth noting that the land bought from the Sioux was sold back to white settlers at a massive profit, in most cases ten to twelve times the original cost.
May 11, 1858
When Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858, representatives of several Dakota bands led by Little Crow traveled to Washington, D.C., to negotiate about enforcing existing treaties. This ended badly, with the northern half of the reservations ceded by the Dakota. This also severely damaged Little Crow's reputation among his people.
This leads us to 1862.
The money that was promised to the Sioux was delivered via government appropriations and filtered through either the Upper Agency or the Lower Agency on the Sioux land. What ended up happening often in these situations was that traders would give the Sioux goods based on credit, and then keep inappropriate sums of money for themselves. Payments from the government were also often late due to the demands of the American Civil War.
The Dakota complained and pleaded several times. They were often successful, but in early August things escalated further.
Early August, 1862
The Dakota arrive at the Lower Agency and are met with insults, and derisive remarks. The most famous of which is Andrew Myricks "[you can] eat grass, for all I care." Later, as the story goes, he was found murdered with grass stuffed in his mouth.
August 16, 1862
The treaty payments finally arrive, but too late to prevent violence.
August 17, 1862
Four young Dakota men were on a hunting trip stole food and killed five American settlers. Soon after, a Dakota war council was convened and their leader, Little Crow, agreed to continue attacks on the European-American settlements to try to drive out the whites.
This is where things become controversial. The Dakota warriors basically marched down the Minnesota river from settlement to settlement, burning and killing most anybody they encountered, including women and children. The final death toll is said to be between 1200-1800.
Most Dakota fighters surrendered shortly after the Battle of Wood Lake at Camp Release on September 26, 1862. Little Crow himself escaped capture, but was killed over a year later. He and his son had wandered onto the land of white settler Nathan Lamson, who shot them to collect the bounty.
In total, 303 Dakota warriors were captured and brought to Mankato, Minnesota to face military tribunal. They are quickly tried and convicted of murder and rape. Some of the trials last less than 5 minutes. All are sentenced to death. However, President Lincoln commuted many of their sentences which reduced the number to 39. One more man was eventually spared.
December 26, 1862
38 Dakota men were hung at Mankato. This event remains the largest public execution in American History. The survivors were interned at Fort Snelling through the winter, and the reservations in Minnesota were thereby abolished.
May 1863
Dakota survivors were forced aboard steamboats and relocated to the Crow Creek Reservation, in the southeastern Dakota Territory, a place stricken by drought at the time. The land would later be flooded.
Sept 3, 1783
The Second Treaty of Paris is signed at the end of The American Revolutionary War, and a small piece of land to the east of the Mississippi river is obtained, in what is now modern day Minnesota.
July 4, 1803
President Jefferson announces Louisiana purchase to US citizens. This is a giant tract of land that encompasses over 1/3rd of the continental united states. Included with this land, is the part of Minnesota to the west of the Mississippi and to the south of the Minnesota river.
1803-1839
Over the next few years, daring Americans start exploring these new lands, including one Zebulon Pike. In 1805, he bargained with Native Americans to acquire land where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers meet.
Fort Snelling was built on this land between 1819 and 1825. This became the foundation for modern day Minneapolis as more settlers, tourists and squatters came and settled near the fort. In 1839, the Army actually forced them to move downriver, and they settled in the area that became St. Paul.
March 3, 1849
This area officially becomes the Minnesota Territory. Settlers now come en masse and begin farming, hunting, logging and trading. Tensions between the Native tribes grow. These tribes include the Dakota Sioux.
May-July 1851
Two treaties are signed that cede most of the land in Minnesota to the Americans: the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, and Treaty of Mendota. The language of these treaties suggest good intentions, but one interesting fact remains. During the ratification process, The United States Senate deleted Article 3 of each treaty, wherein a detailed description of the Minnesota reservations were laid out and guaranteed to the tribes in perpetuity.
It is also worth noting that the land bought from the Sioux was sold back to white settlers at a massive profit, in most cases ten to twelve times the original cost.
May 11, 1858
When Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858, representatives of several Dakota bands led by Little Crow traveled to Washington, D.C., to negotiate about enforcing existing treaties. This ended badly, with the northern half of the reservations ceded by the Dakota. This also severely damaged Little Crow's reputation among his people.
This leads us to 1862.
The money that was promised to the Sioux was delivered via government appropriations and filtered through either the Upper Agency or the Lower Agency on the Sioux land. What ended up happening often in these situations was that traders would give the Sioux goods based on credit, and then keep inappropriate sums of money for themselves. Payments from the government were also often late due to the demands of the American Civil War.
The Dakota complained and pleaded several times. They were often successful, but in early August things escalated further.
Early August, 1862
The Dakota arrive at the Lower Agency and are met with insults, and derisive remarks. The most famous of which is Andrew Myricks "[you can] eat grass, for all I care." Later, as the story goes, he was found murdered with grass stuffed in his mouth.
August 16, 1862
The treaty payments finally arrive, but too late to prevent violence.
August 17, 1862
Four young Dakota men were on a hunting trip stole food and killed five American settlers. Soon after, a Dakota war council was convened and their leader, Little Crow, agreed to continue attacks on the European-American settlements to try to drive out the whites.
This is where things become controversial. The Dakota warriors basically marched down the Minnesota river from settlement to settlement, burning and killing most anybody they encountered, including women and children. The final death toll is said to be between 1200-1800.
Most Dakota fighters surrendered shortly after the Battle of Wood Lake at Camp Release on September 26, 1862. Little Crow himself escaped capture, but was killed over a year later. He and his son had wandered onto the land of white settler Nathan Lamson, who shot them to collect the bounty.
In total, 303 Dakota warriors were captured and brought to Mankato, Minnesota to face military tribunal. They are quickly tried and convicted of murder and rape. Some of the trials last less than 5 minutes. All are sentenced to death. However, President Lincoln commuted many of their sentences which reduced the number to 39. One more man was eventually spared.
December 26, 1862
38 Dakota men were hung at Mankato. This event remains the largest public execution in American History. The survivors were interned at Fort Snelling through the winter, and the reservations in Minnesota were thereby abolished.
May 1863
Dakota survivors were forced aboard steamboats and relocated to the Crow Creek Reservation, in the southeastern Dakota Territory, a place stricken by drought at the time. The land would later be flooded.
On April 25, 1996 a historian by the name of Michael Lawson made a statement in a joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the House subcommittee on Native American Affairs. The following are quotes from his address:
"The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is a constituent band of the Great Sioux Nation, and a signatory of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868. The Tribe resides of its 258,361 acre reservation in central South Dakota. The Missouri River overlies the western boundary of the reservation, and the resources of the Missouri's bottom-lands traditionally provided food,, water, wood for shelter and fuel, forage for cattle and wildlife, and plants utilized for a variety of purposes.
In 1944, Congress authorized implementation of the Pick-Sloan Plan as part of the Flood Control Act of that year. The Pick-Sloan Plan was a joint program designed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation to develop the water resources of the Missouri River Basin...in addition to flood control, these dams were designed to provide the benefits of hydroelectric power, navigation, recreation, and improved water supplies."
"The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe lost 9,154 acres of precious bottom-land to the Fort Randall project, over one-third of which was forested. Eighty-four families, representing approximately 34 percent of the reservation population, were forced to evacuate their riverside homes and to accept land ill suited for houses, ranches, or farms. Fort Thompson, the reservation's largest community, was completely inundated."
"For those unfamiliar with Sioux culture and the geography of the Dakotas, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate how important the bottom-lands were to the way of life of the Crow Creek people. Trees along the river had provided them with their primary source of fuel and lumber. The wooded areas also protected tribal members and their livestock from the ravages of winter blizzards and scorching summer heart. The gathering and selling of wood helped supplement their small cash income. The flooding of the forestland destroyed the vast majority of timber on the reservation.
The gathering and preserving of wild fruits and vegetables was a traditional part of the culture of the Crow Creek Sioux. Wild plants added variety and bulk to their diet and were also used for ceremonial and medicinal purposes. The wooded bottom-lands served likewise as a shelter and feeding ground for many kinds of wildlife. Destruction of this environment by the Pick-Sloan dams reduced the wild game and plant supply on the reservation by 73%."
"The uprooting of the long-standing reservation community disrupted and disorganized the social, economic, political, and religious life of well-integrated family groups and had a serious effect on the entire tribal population, both resident and nonresident. It was an onerous imposition for tribal members to be forced to move their community halls, churches, and religious shrines... Physical losses inflicted by Pick-Sloan are easily quantified. Psychological and aesthetic damages are more difficult to measure." [emphasis added]
"In 1962, Congress enacted Public Law 87-735, which authorized a payment of approximately $4.4 millinion to the crow Creek Sioux Tribe for damages sustained from the Big Bend project and for rehabilitation of the reservation."
"The new community infrastructure proved so inadequate that many families decided to resettle instead in the Crow Creek district of the reservation, approximately 20 miles southeast of Fort Thompson."
"The hospital at Fort Thompson was never replaced and the Indian Health Service did not bring a facility back to the reservation until 1980. The Corps of Engineers built a new Tribal Hall. However, it lacked the auditorium and gymnasium specifically provided for in the Big Bend Settlement Act."
"Tribal elders who experienced the relocation recall that teh cookie-cutter replacement homes were not insulated sufficiently to endure the rigos of harsh Dakota winters. However, they were not reinsulated until 20 years later... While the replacement homes allowed many tribal members to have their first experience with electricity and running water, their cash income was such that they were not prepared for the monthly payments that accompanied these new luxuries. Many assumed that electrical and water supply lines would be free benefits of he dam projects to which they gave up their former homes."
To read the address in its entirety, visit http://www.crowcreekconnections.org/Big%20Bend%20Dam%20Page%201.html
"The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is a constituent band of the Great Sioux Nation, and a signatory of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868. The Tribe resides of its 258,361 acre reservation in central South Dakota. The Missouri River overlies the western boundary of the reservation, and the resources of the Missouri's bottom-lands traditionally provided food,, water, wood for shelter and fuel, forage for cattle and wildlife, and plants utilized for a variety of purposes.
In 1944, Congress authorized implementation of the Pick-Sloan Plan as part of the Flood Control Act of that year. The Pick-Sloan Plan was a joint program designed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation to develop the water resources of the Missouri River Basin...in addition to flood control, these dams were designed to provide the benefits of hydroelectric power, navigation, recreation, and improved water supplies."
"The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe lost 9,154 acres of precious bottom-land to the Fort Randall project, over one-third of which was forested. Eighty-four families, representing approximately 34 percent of the reservation population, were forced to evacuate their riverside homes and to accept land ill suited for houses, ranches, or farms. Fort Thompson, the reservation's largest community, was completely inundated."
"For those unfamiliar with Sioux culture and the geography of the Dakotas, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate how important the bottom-lands were to the way of life of the Crow Creek people. Trees along the river had provided them with their primary source of fuel and lumber. The wooded areas also protected tribal members and their livestock from the ravages of winter blizzards and scorching summer heart. The gathering and selling of wood helped supplement their small cash income. The flooding of the forestland destroyed the vast majority of timber on the reservation.
The gathering and preserving of wild fruits and vegetables was a traditional part of the culture of the Crow Creek Sioux. Wild plants added variety and bulk to their diet and were also used for ceremonial and medicinal purposes. The wooded bottom-lands served likewise as a shelter and feeding ground for many kinds of wildlife. Destruction of this environment by the Pick-Sloan dams reduced the wild game and plant supply on the reservation by 73%."
"The uprooting of the long-standing reservation community disrupted and disorganized the social, economic, political, and religious life of well-integrated family groups and had a serious effect on the entire tribal population, both resident and nonresident. It was an onerous imposition for tribal members to be forced to move their community halls, churches, and religious shrines... Physical losses inflicted by Pick-Sloan are easily quantified. Psychological and aesthetic damages are more difficult to measure." [emphasis added]
"In 1962, Congress enacted Public Law 87-735, which authorized a payment of approximately $4.4 millinion to the crow Creek Sioux Tribe for damages sustained from the Big Bend project and for rehabilitation of the reservation."
"The new community infrastructure proved so inadequate that many families decided to resettle instead in the Crow Creek district of the reservation, approximately 20 miles southeast of Fort Thompson."
"The hospital at Fort Thompson was never replaced and the Indian Health Service did not bring a facility back to the reservation until 1980. The Corps of Engineers built a new Tribal Hall. However, it lacked the auditorium and gymnasium specifically provided for in the Big Bend Settlement Act."
"Tribal elders who experienced the relocation recall that teh cookie-cutter replacement homes were not insulated sufficiently to endure the rigos of harsh Dakota winters. However, they were not reinsulated until 20 years later... While the replacement homes allowed many tribal members to have their first experience with electricity and running water, their cash income was such that they were not prepared for the monthly payments that accompanied these new luxuries. Many assumed that electrical and water supply lines would be free benefits of he dam projects to which they gave up their former homes."
To read the address in its entirety, visit http://www.crowcreekconnections.org/Big%20Bend%20Dam%20Page%201.html
The Crow Creek Sioux Indian Reservation, home of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, is approximately 358,000 acres with a land base of approximately 10 x 70 miles located in central South Dakota along the northern and eastern shores of the Missouri River. Of the total land base, approximately 270,000 acres is reservation tribal land within Buffalo, Hughes, and Hyde Counties. Another approximate 108,000 acres is held in trust by the United States government. The terrain consists of plains, hills, shoreline, bluffs, prairie, lakes, dams, rivers, and creeks. Tribal administration headquarters, businesses, and the largest concentration of population are located in the town of Fort Thompson, which is approximately 60 miles southeast of the state capitol, Pierre. The Crow Creek Reservation is organized in three defined district areas: Fort Thompson, Crow Creek, and Big Bend.
Because the Dakota who settled on Crow Creek Reservation are descendants of all bands of the Oceti Sakowi (Seven Council Fires) or the Dakota/Nakota/Lakota Nation (Great Sioux Nation) they most naturally called themselves Hunkpati (Making of Relatives, To Live). The Hunkpati are identified as a distinct band with signature authority on the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the United States Government. The Crow Creek Sioux lost over 16,700 acres of land under the Pick-Sloan Act. The building of the Oahe, Big Bend and Fort Randall dams on the Missouri River had the most devastating and immediate effects on the Crow Creek Sioux’s subsistence, economy, food, geographical landscape, and natural resources.
The Dakota on the Crow Creek Reservation voted not to approve of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and were not formally organized until ordered to adopt a Constitution and By-Laws by the Secretary of Interior in 1949 to govern and manage tribal affairs. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Council is the official governing body of and for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. The Tribal Council, which consists of a Tribal Chairman elected at large and six Council Members, is empowered and authorized to enact resolutions and ordinances governing the management of all economic and educational affairs and enterprises of the Tribe and Reservation. The council also has authority to appoint committees and boards and hire department staff to assist in the day-to-day administration of services of the Tribe and Reservation.
Information was taken from http://hunkpati.org/about/background-of-crow-creek/
Because the Dakota who settled on Crow Creek Reservation are descendants of all bands of the Oceti Sakowi (Seven Council Fires) or the Dakota/Nakota/Lakota Nation (Great Sioux Nation) they most naturally called themselves Hunkpati (Making of Relatives, To Live). The Hunkpati are identified as a distinct band with signature authority on the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the United States Government. The Crow Creek Sioux lost over 16,700 acres of land under the Pick-Sloan Act. The building of the Oahe, Big Bend and Fort Randall dams on the Missouri River had the most devastating and immediate effects on the Crow Creek Sioux’s subsistence, economy, food, geographical landscape, and natural resources.
The Dakota on the Crow Creek Reservation voted not to approve of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and were not formally organized until ordered to adopt a Constitution and By-Laws by the Secretary of Interior in 1949 to govern and manage tribal affairs. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Council is the official governing body of and for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. The Tribal Council, which consists of a Tribal Chairman elected at large and six Council Members, is empowered and authorized to enact resolutions and ordinances governing the management of all economic and educational affairs and enterprises of the Tribe and Reservation. The council also has authority to appoint committees and boards and hire department staff to assist in the day-to-day administration of services of the Tribe and Reservation.
Information was taken from http://hunkpati.org/about/background-of-crow-creek/
The following is an overview of the History of the Crow Creek Reservation, as stated in DWM's Work Packet.
The writing of history can be a sensitive matter. Particularly when writing the history of a people that primarily have an oral, rather than written, record of their past. An in-depth account will not be given here. However, many of the more important events and occurrences will be accounted here so you can get a better idea of how the current situation came to be.
Throughout history people have inhabited the shores of the Missouri River. Earth lodge villages of Arikara tribes lined the bluffs along the river in this area in the 18th century. The Arikara were gradually displaced by the more nomadic Lakota people. It is this mix of Arikara villages and Lakota encampments that the Lewis and Clark expedition encountered upon reaching this region on September 19th, 1804. Their journals are filled with vivid descriptions of the area and its inhabitants.
During the first part of the 19th century, the history of this area was one of exploration and trading by European traders and explorers. Trading posts and military forts were soon established as non-Indian people began arriving by steamboat up the Missouri River.
In 1863 the United States government established Fort Thompson eight miles upstream of the small tributary stream called Crow Creek. Fort Thompson was one of several military forts built in this region at that time. Fort Thompson was named for Clark W. Thompson, the fort’s first superintendent. Fort Thompson also served as the headquarters for the Crow Creek Agency. The Crow Creek Agency was created as a “repository” for American Indians in the aftermath of the Dakota-United States Conflict of 1862 in the neighboring State of Minnesota.
During the Dakota-United States Conflict of 1862, hundreds of Minnesota settlers were killed and homes destroyed during an uprising by certain bands of Dakotas. Much can be said and has been written about the circumstances and cause of the conflict that won’t attempt to be addressed here. The end result however was the hanging of 38 Dakotas and the imprisonment and subsequent extradition of all American Indians within the State of Minnesota, whether they had any involvement in the uprising or not. The Santee Dakota prisoners were sent to a prison camp and eventually to forced internment at the newly created Crow Creek Agency at Fort Thompson.
A dedicated Christian missionary, Mr. John P. Williamson accompanied the Santee Dakotas on their steamboat trip up the Missouri River to the Crow Creek Agency. Mr. Williamson gave this account of the trip, “As they look on their native hills for the last time, a dark cloud is crushing their hearts. Down they go to St. Louis thence up the Missouri to Crow Creek. But this brings little relief… The shock, the anxiety, the confinement, the pitiable diet, were naturally followed by sickness…Thirteen hundred Indians were crowded like slaves on the boiler and hurricane decks of a single boat, and fed musty hardtack and briny pork, which they had not half a chance to cook, diseases were bred which made a fearful havoc during the hot months, and the thirteen hundred souls that were landed at Crow Creek on June 1st, 1863, decreased to one thousand.
This marked the beginning of three years of great suffering at Fort Thompson. Mr. Williamson further recorded,” For a time a teepee where no one was sick could scarcely be found, and it was a rare day when there was no funeral. So were the hills soon covered with graves. The very memory of Crow Creek became horrible to the Santee’s, who still hush their voice at the mention of the name.”
(The out of print book, “John P. Williamson, Brother of the Sioux”, is an excellent historical book about this time period. Mr. Williamson was used in a very powerful way to save the lives of thousands of Dakotas during this time period. He and his family were also significant in the creation of a written Dakota language, the writing of many of the Dakota language hymns that we still sing every week, and the spreading of the Gospel among the Dakota people. He left a legacy of great Christian revival among the Dakotas of eastern South Dakota, and his example of dedicated service and love is still noted and honored among Dakota Christians today.)
Winnebagos from Minnesota were also moved to the Crow Creek agency at this time. During these early years other bands of Dakota including Brules, Two Kettles, Yanktons, and Yanktonais joined the Santees at the Crow Creek Agency. After three horrific years of suffering the Winnebagos and most of the Santee Dakotas were relocated to reservations further downstream to what is now northeastern Nebraska. Later the Brules and some other tribes were resettled on what is now the Lower Brule Reservation. What remained on what would become the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation were several various bands of Dakotas. The last band to settle at the Crow Creek Agency was a group of Yanktonai Dakota led by their Chief, Drifting Goose. Drifting Goose and his people migrated off and on to the reservation for many years, until finally reluctantly resigning themselves to the Crow Creek Agency in 1883.
Over the coming decades many hardships confronted those on the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation. Broken treaties, diminished reservation borders, encroachment by non-Indian homesteaders, introduction of alcohol, and general loss of an entire way of life, are a few of the tragic events. Eventually the federal government would construct a series of large hydropower and flood control dams on the Missouri River, including Big Bend Dam at Fort Thompson. The result of the dam construction was the flooding and loss of the only well wooded areas on the reservation, the lush Missouri River shoreline. Even the community of Fort Thompson was moved from its original location to higher plains north of the old town site.
Much rich history is associated with this area and the people who live here. What is written here only “scratches the surface”. “History” though is not just a classroom subject taught in school. Here it is a very important part of the daily culture of the people.
Throughout history people have inhabited the shores of the Missouri River. Earth lodge villages of Arikara tribes lined the bluffs along the river in this area in the 18th century. The Arikara were gradually displaced by the more nomadic Lakota people. It is this mix of Arikara villages and Lakota encampments that the Lewis and Clark expedition encountered upon reaching this region on September 19th, 1804. Their journals are filled with vivid descriptions of the area and its inhabitants.
During the first part of the 19th century, the history of this area was one of exploration and trading by European traders and explorers. Trading posts and military forts were soon established as non-Indian people began arriving by steamboat up the Missouri River.
In 1863 the United States government established Fort Thompson eight miles upstream of the small tributary stream called Crow Creek. Fort Thompson was one of several military forts built in this region at that time. Fort Thompson was named for Clark W. Thompson, the fort’s first superintendent. Fort Thompson also served as the headquarters for the Crow Creek Agency. The Crow Creek Agency was created as a “repository” for American Indians in the aftermath of the Dakota-United States Conflict of 1862 in the neighboring State of Minnesota.
During the Dakota-United States Conflict of 1862, hundreds of Minnesota settlers were killed and homes destroyed during an uprising by certain bands of Dakotas. Much can be said and has been written about the circumstances and cause of the conflict that won’t attempt to be addressed here. The end result however was the hanging of 38 Dakotas and the imprisonment and subsequent extradition of all American Indians within the State of Minnesota, whether they had any involvement in the uprising or not. The Santee Dakota prisoners were sent to a prison camp and eventually to forced internment at the newly created Crow Creek Agency at Fort Thompson.
A dedicated Christian missionary, Mr. John P. Williamson accompanied the Santee Dakotas on their steamboat trip up the Missouri River to the Crow Creek Agency. Mr. Williamson gave this account of the trip, “As they look on their native hills for the last time, a dark cloud is crushing their hearts. Down they go to St. Louis thence up the Missouri to Crow Creek. But this brings little relief… The shock, the anxiety, the confinement, the pitiable diet, were naturally followed by sickness…Thirteen hundred Indians were crowded like slaves on the boiler and hurricane decks of a single boat, and fed musty hardtack and briny pork, which they had not half a chance to cook, diseases were bred which made a fearful havoc during the hot months, and the thirteen hundred souls that were landed at Crow Creek on June 1st, 1863, decreased to one thousand.
This marked the beginning of three years of great suffering at Fort Thompson. Mr. Williamson further recorded,” For a time a teepee where no one was sick could scarcely be found, and it was a rare day when there was no funeral. So were the hills soon covered with graves. The very memory of Crow Creek became horrible to the Santee’s, who still hush their voice at the mention of the name.”
(The out of print book, “John P. Williamson, Brother of the Sioux”, is an excellent historical book about this time period. Mr. Williamson was used in a very powerful way to save the lives of thousands of Dakotas during this time period. He and his family were also significant in the creation of a written Dakota language, the writing of many of the Dakota language hymns that we still sing every week, and the spreading of the Gospel among the Dakota people. He left a legacy of great Christian revival among the Dakotas of eastern South Dakota, and his example of dedicated service and love is still noted and honored among Dakota Christians today.)
Winnebagos from Minnesota were also moved to the Crow Creek agency at this time. During these early years other bands of Dakota including Brules, Two Kettles, Yanktons, and Yanktonais joined the Santees at the Crow Creek Agency. After three horrific years of suffering the Winnebagos and most of the Santee Dakotas were relocated to reservations further downstream to what is now northeastern Nebraska. Later the Brules and some other tribes were resettled on what is now the Lower Brule Reservation. What remained on what would become the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation were several various bands of Dakotas. The last band to settle at the Crow Creek Agency was a group of Yanktonai Dakota led by their Chief, Drifting Goose. Drifting Goose and his people migrated off and on to the reservation for many years, until finally reluctantly resigning themselves to the Crow Creek Agency in 1883.
Over the coming decades many hardships confronted those on the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation. Broken treaties, diminished reservation borders, encroachment by non-Indian homesteaders, introduction of alcohol, and general loss of an entire way of life, are a few of the tragic events. Eventually the federal government would construct a series of large hydropower and flood control dams on the Missouri River, including Big Bend Dam at Fort Thompson. The result of the dam construction was the flooding and loss of the only well wooded areas on the reservation, the lush Missouri River shoreline. Even the community of Fort Thompson was moved from its original location to higher plains north of the old town site.
Much rich history is associated with this area and the people who live here. What is written here only “scratches the surface”. “History” though is not just a classroom subject taught in school. Here it is a very important part of the daily culture of the people.
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This circle appears often in the Dakota Sioux culture where it is commonly seen as the sacred hoop or medicine wheel. This symbol often reflects the personal goal of having a balanced and fulfilling life. Although each color of the medicine wheel has many meanings, one common interpretation is that each color represents an aspect of one's health.
Yellow: spiritual Black: physical Red: emotional White: mental |
This medicine wheel is incorporated into DWM's logo which was designed many years ago by Christian Lakota artist Dale Stands. In this design, all elements have a special meaning within the Dakota culture:
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In it's entirety, this design then simply testifies that everything needed for life, an abundant and full life, now and eternally, is found in and through God's son, Jesus Christ!
"I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Jesus Christ in John 10:10
"I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Jesus Christ in John 10:10
Picture of the river was provided by www.beautyofgracephotos.com