The Spirit Lake Massacre

by Thomas Teakle

CHAPTER VIII

[112] In spite of their villainous character the Sioux pitied the apparent misfortunes of the Inkpaduta band and explained their unhappy lot as follows: “Long ago some chiefs and principal men of the Iowas returned from Canada to Prairie du Chien in the winter, and attempted to pass through the Dakota territory to their own country. They were kindly received and hospitably entertained by the Wabashaw band, who sent messengers to the Wahpekutas, then encamped at Dry Wood, requesting them to receive the Iowas in a friendly manner and to aid them in their journey. The Wahpekutas returned a favorable answer and prepared a feast for the Iowas, but killed them all while they were eating it.” Thereafter, these Wahpekutas were very unfortunate, many were killed, and the band nearly perished. Their wickedness on this particular occasion was held to account for all their calamities of the future. In this connection read Pond’s The Dakotas or Sioux in Minnesota as They Were in 1834 in the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Vol. XII, p. 425.

[113] Lee’s History of the Spirit Lake Massacre, p. 14.

[114] Hughes’s Causes and Results of the Inkpaduta Massacre in the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Vol. XII, p. 264.

[115] The term gens, as here used, implies descent in the male line. It is also well in this connection to recall the fact that the Sioux were in no sense a nation but acted as bands, each band being entirely separate, distinct, and independent from any other.—See Dorsey’s Siouan Sociology in the Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 213 ff.

[116] Richman’s The Tragedy at Minnewaukon in John Brown among the Quakers, pp. 207, 208; Hodge’s Handbook of the American Indians, Pt. II, pp. 891, 902; Robinson’s A History of the Dakota or Sioux Indians in the South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 215, 216; House Executive Documents, 1st Session, 35th Congress, Vol. II, Pt. I, p. 359.

[117] House Executive Documents, 1st Session, 35th Congress, Vol. II, Pt. I, p. 359; The Spirit Lake Massacre and Relief Expedition in the Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers, Vol. VI, p. 887.

[118] Robinson’s History of the Dakota or Sioux Indians in the South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 204, 216.

[119] Executive Documents, 1st Session, 35th Congress, Vol. II, Pt. I, p. 389; Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. II, p. 220.

[120] Following the murder of Tasagi, Inkpaduta either through choice or fear became an exile from the band of Tasagi. His flight to the band of his father had automatically made him one. Doane Robinson in his Sioux Indian Courts in the South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. V, pp. 404, 405, thus describes how a Wahpekuta became an exile:

“If the offense was peculiarly repellent to the better sentiment of the camp the court might insist upon the summary infliction of the sentence imposed. This might be the death penalty, exile or whipping; or it might be the destruction of the tepee and other property of the convict.... For some offenses a convict was exiled from the camp, given an old tepee and a blanket, but no arms, and was allowed to make a living if he could. Sometimes he would go off and join some other band, but such conduct was not considered good form and he usually set up his establishment on some small hill near the home camp and made the best of the situation. If he conducted himself properly he was usually soon forgiven and restored to his rights in the community. If he went off to another people he lost all standing among the Sioux and was thereafter treated as an outlaw and a renegade. The entire band of Inkpaduta, once the terror of the Dakota frontier, was composed of these outlaws.” It was Inkpaduta’s flight to his father’s band at this time that lost, for him, all standing with the followers of Tasagi. See also Robinson’s A History of the Dakota or Sioux Indians in the South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 343, 344.

[121] Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. III, p. 220.

[122] Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. III, p. 221.

[123] Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. III, p. 217.

[124] Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. III, p. 220.

[125] Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. III, pp. 217-222.

[126] Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. III, pp. 221, 222; Robinson’s A History of the Dakota or Sioux Indians in the South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. II, p. 209.

[127] Ingham’s Ink-pa-du-tah’s Revenge in the Midland Monthly, Vol. IV, p. 272.

[128] Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. III, pp. 267, 268; South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. VI, p. 226.

[129] Mrs. Sharp’s History of the Spirit Lake Massacre (1902 edition), pp. 56, 57.

[130] Mrs. Sharp’s History of the Spirit Lake Massacre (1902 edition), p. 57. It is to be regretted that much of Mrs. Sharp’s characterization of the Sioux evidences an animus and a tendency to emphasize the bad rather than the good traits. The following from page 57 of her book is evidently unfair: “No other tribe of aborigines has ever exhibited more savage ferocity or so appalled and sickened the soul of humanity by wholesale slaughtering of the white race as has the Sioux”.

[131] Hubbard and Holcombe’s Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. III, p. 223.

[132] Robinson’s History of the Dakota or Sioux Indians in the South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 346, 347.

[133] Hodge’s Hand Book of the American Indians, Pt. II, pp. 891, 902; South Dakota Historical Collections, Vol. I, pp. 110, 111; House Executive Documents, 1st Session, 35th Congress, Vol. II, Pt. I, pp. 359, 389; Mrs. Sharp’s Spirit Lake Massacre (1902 edition), pp. 54-56.