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Solar Eclipse Remembered As "Fire Cloud"

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A partial solar eclipse as seen on the Northern Great Plains, Oct. 23, 2014.
Solar Eclipse Remembered As "Fire Cloud"
This Year The Moon Kissed The Sun
By Dakota Wind
Great Plains, N.D. - In the Lakȟóta creation story, Wí (the Sun) and Haŋwí (the Moon) were created after Makȟóčhe (Grandmother Earth) andŠkáŋ (the Source of All Power and All that Moves). 

Sometime after creation, Iktómi (the Trickster) convinced Ité (Face), the beautiful daughter of Wazíya (the Power of the North) and his wife Wakánaka (Old Woman) to commit an indiscretion with Wí and usurp the place of Haŋwí , even as Ité herself was married to Tȟaté (the Wind). 

It so happened then, that at a feast in the lodge of Haŋwí, that Ité seated herself next to Wí. When Haŋwí entered her lodge and found Ité in her place they all laughed at the situation, and Haŋwí drew her shawl over her own face in shame. 

After the feast, Škáŋ presided over all as judge and pronounced that Wí should be rendered from the embrace and comfort of Haŋwí, and from that time forward, Wí ruled the day, and Haŋwí the night. However, Haŋwí might appear in daylight because Wí is her husband and she may want to see him, but when they appear together in the sky, Haŋwí, to this day, draws her shawl over her face in shame. 

Ité received her due. Škáŋ allowed her to keep her beauty, but only one half of her would retain it, the other half was rendered so hideous that any who looked upon her would be terrified. From that time on, she was called Anúŋg Ité (Double Face). She was also parted from her husband Tȟaté and their children, the Tȟatíye Tópa (the Four Winds) and their youngest son, the fifth wind, Tȟatéiyumni (Whirlwind). 

Iktómi was banished to the edge of the world, and would forever remain friendless. 


"The Morning-Sun A-Died [1869]," The Swan Winter Count. 
The Sun Died
On August 7, 1869, a full solar eclipse darkened the Great Plains. Ten Lakȟóta winter counts from all seven Thítȟuŋwaŋ (Teton) tribes remember this outstanding event. Nearly all remember the event as Wí’kte, or "The sun died."

An earlier eclipse, this one in the 1830s, is remembered by the Huŋkphápȟa Lakȟóta as Maȟphíya Yapȟéta, or “Fire Cloud.” The Huŋkphápȟa leader is named for this event, as was his son in turn. Fire Cloud later fought at the Little Bighorn.

Dr. Washington Matthews, the post surgeon at Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, recalled that the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) chief Matȟó Núŋpa (Two Bear) and his band camped outside the fort for the express purpose of viewing the eclipse and discourse with the soldiers about it. They viewed the eclipse through smoked glass. One of the mysteries of creation seemingly explained by way of science, the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna solemnly parted ways with the soldiers.

Matȟó Núŋpa later fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.


A rainbow in the clouds preceded the eclipse.
A Rainbow In The Cloud
The morning was relatively calm. Quiet and cloudless, but as morning passed into afternoon clouds marred the autumnal landscape. Immediately following work I raced my little beast north of town. Dark clouds on the western horizon crawled ominously across the sky, threatening to overtake the heavens.

A rainbow appeared in the clouds above and gently illuminated the gray with a pearly luster.

The Lakȟóta have the tradition to politely point at rainbows with one's elbow or one's lips. If you point with your finger, they say, your finger will swell up. The story behind the swollen finger lies in an old tale about spirits that live in the rainbow who discovered a boy who had ascended their arch and entered their world. He was never seen again, and rainbows became intangible ever after.

The clouds only seemed to get darker.

One cloud split and light cascaded down like downy feathers. High above the open sky another cloud, pale and high, made the sun itself appear as if it were swimming, rays of light played with shadow upon the prairie. Then I looked past the veil and saw the sun.

I learned that the Dakȟóta refer to the eclipse as Wí’te, or “New Moon.” The Lakota Language Consortium has two entries for eclipse on its online Lakota Dictionary: Aháŋzi, or “Shadow,” and AóhanziyA, or “To cast a shadow upon.” My personal preference is Fire Cloud.

The sky remained open for perhaps half an hour, but in that half hour I watched the moon kiss the sun, and I thought for a moment, that perhaps she loved him after all.


Apple Creek Fight And Killdeer Mountain Conflict Remembered

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A painting of the Killdeer Mountain Conflict of 1864 by Carl Boeckman.
The Apple Creek Fight And
Killdeer Mountain Conflict Remembered
Dakota Conflict In Dakota Territory
By Dakota Wind
KILLDEER, N.D. - “Four Horns was shot in the Killdeer Battle between Sioux and General Sully’s troops…some time after the fight, his daughter cut out the lead bullet,” One Bull said to Colonel Alfred Welch on a hot July day in 1934 at Little Eagle, S.D. “The report [that] the soldiers killed hundreds of Indian dogs is untrue,” said One Bull, “because Indian dogs, half wild creatures, would follow the Indians or run away long before soldiers would come up within range.[1]

The Killdeer Mountain conflict occurred on July 28, 1864. Sully was under orders to punish the Sioux in another campaign following the September, 1863 massacre of Dakȟóta and Lakȟóta peoples at Pa ÍpuzA Napé Wakpána (Dry Bone Hill Creek), also known as Whitestone Hill.[2]

The Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta knew Killdeer Mountain as Taȟčá Wakútepi (Where They Hunt/Kill Deer), Killdeer. The hunting there was good and dependable, and the people came there regularly, not just to hunt but to pray as well. The plateau rises above the prairie steppe allowing for a fantastic view of the landscape, and open sky for those who came to pray.

A hand-tinted photo of Matȟó Watȟákpe by Frank Fiske.
Matȟó Watȟákpe (Charging Bear; John Grass), led the Sihásapa (Black Sole Moccasin; Blackfeet Lakȟóta) on the defensive at Killdeer. The Sihásapa had nothing to do with the 1862 Minnesota Dakota Conflict. “In this surprise attack the Indians lost everything… soldiers destroyed tons of food, etc.,” Matȟó Watȟákpe told Welch, and added that great suffering followed the fight and hatred against the whites grew.[3]

The Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta saw General Sully’s approach from miles away, his march put a great cloud of dust into the sky. Sully formed his command in to a large one mile square, and under his command was a detachment of Winnebago Indian Scouts, traditional enemies of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires; Great Sioux Nation). A war party of thirty warriors had tussled with the Winnebago two days before Sully’s arrival.

In Robert Larson's take on the Killdeer Mountain conflict, the Teton are overconfident and Inkpaduta was the chief who organized the defense against Sully.

Historian Robert Larson describes July 28, 1864, nearly perfectly, “…Sully’s five mile march to reach the large Sioux village was a tense and uncomfortable one. Even though it was morning, the day would be hot and dry; the tense summer heat had already thinned the grass and muddied the water holes. On every hill along the valley at the south end of the village were clusters of mounted warriors.”[4]

The Dakȟóta under ĺŋkpaduta (Scarlet Point) had been engaged with soldiers since the Minnesota Dakota Conflict of 1862. They had fled west towards Spirit Lake when General Sibley and his command caught up to them at Big Mound. The Huŋkphápȟa Lakȟóta under Phizí (Gall) had crossed the Mníšoše (Missouri River) to the east in search of game; the heat and drought had driven game from the traditional their hunting grounds. Sibley’s arrival and pursuit of the Dakȟóta and Lakȟóta towards the Mníšoše marked the first U.S. military contact against the Huŋkphápȟa.

Tačháŋȟpi Lúta pictured here in his B.I.A. police uniform. "Sitting Bull was my friend," he said, "I was under orders...I killed him..."

Tačháŋȟpi Lúta (Red Tomahawk), infamously known for his part in Sitting Bull’s death years later, recalled the Sibley Campaign, “There was a shallow lake south of the hills and about where Dawson now stands. That was fine buffalo country. The buffalo would get into this lake and mire down so they could not get out. We went there that time to drive them into the lake and get meat and hides. While we were there the Santees came along.”

Many of the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, who were already dwelling in their traditional homelands, advanced west at General Sibley’s approach and “went directly to the Missouri River opposite the Standing Rock and occupied the country between Beaver Creek [Čhápa Wakpána; Emmons County] and Blue Blanket Creek [Šiná Tȟó Wakpána; Walworth County].”[5]

Tačháŋȟpi Lúta referred to the Isáŋyathi (Santee) as “hostile,” but that the Huŋkphápȟa camped with them and joined together in the hunt. He didn’t detail how the fight began at Big Mound, only that Sibley pursued them to the Mníšoše. The warriors held the attention of the soldiers, which allowed the Lakȟóta two days to cross the river. The ĺsaŋyathi under ĺŋkpaduta and Wakhéye Ská (White Lodge) broke off upon their approach to Tȟaspáŋla Wakpála (Apple Creek) and turned north.

ĺŋkpaduta pictured here. After the Little Bighorn fight he went into exile in Canada and died there in 1881.

The Isáŋyathi moved their camps in an arc, first northerly, then back east and south, and kept a respectable distance between them and Sibley’s retreat.[6]Šákpe (The Six) and his Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ Dakȟóta broke from the main body of Isáŋyathi and crossed the Mníšoše  with Hé Núŋpa WaníčA (No Two Horns) and his band of Huŋkphápȟa. Then they journeyed to Pa ÍpuzA Napé Wakpána to make camp and hunt with the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna the following month. Gen. Sully found the camp that and slaughtered as many as 200 and took over 150 captives, mostly women and children in both cases.

After the Dakȟóta split from the Lakȟóta, “we went to cross the river. We were not afraid,” explained Tačháŋȟpi Lúta, “We did not lose any of our people when we crossed.”[7] He admitted to being a part of the party who waited the night through and then attacked and killed two soldiers.

Here's a reconstruction of the Apple Creek conflict. The map comes from a survey of the Missouri River in the 1850s by G.K. Warren.

The late Delma Helman, a Huŋkphápȟa elder from Standing Rock, recalled the story of the Mníšoše crossing, “The soldiers chased us into the river. We cut reeds to breathe underwater and held onto stones to keep submerged until nightfall.” After sunset, they emerged from the river safely onto Burnt Boat Island (later called Sibley Island) and crossed the Mníšoše.[8]

Mike McDonald, a Dakȟóta elder from the Spirit Lake Oyáte, shared the oral tradition of the Wanéta Thiyóšpaye (The Charger’s Band) when they reached the Mníšoše, “The Wanéta band moved north and easterly in wide arc and settled near present-day Rugby, N.D. at Pleasant Lake. There they stayed until they were invited unto the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.” The Dakȟóta call this lake Wičíbdeza Mní, Pleasant Lake.[9]

Three days after Gen. Sibley’s departure from Tȟaspáŋla Wakpála, Šákpe (The Six) and his band of Isáŋyathi came back across the Mníšoše, accompanied by Hé Núŋpa WaníčA and his band of Huŋkphápȟa[10], and made camp at Čháŋğu Wakpála (Burnt Wood Creek). Six days later, a mackinaw descended the Mníšoše with miners from Fort Benton and landed on a sand bar. A Dakȟóta wičháȟčala (an elder Dakota man) they called Ištá Sapá[11](Black Eyes; father of Hé Núŋpa WaníčA) tried to warn the miners away, they shot him. The Dakȟóta retaliated and killed all the miners, and cast their gold dust into the river, thinking perhaps it was gun powder which had gone bad.[12]

The Sibley campaign was the first military campaign against the Huŋkphápȟa, Sully’s assault at Killdeer was the second. Sitting Bull’s own pictographic record testifies to his own portrayal, not as a warrior but as a medicine man, counting coup and stealing a mule from Sibley’s wagon train in July, 1863.[13] The pictograph testifies that the Huŋkphápȟa were east of the Mníšoše and present at the Big Mound fight against Gen. Sibey’s command.

Sitting Bull pictographed his part in the Big Mound conflict in which he stole a mule from Sully and counted coup on one of the men.

Historian Robert Utley estimates that there were perhaps as many as 1400 lodges at Taȟčá Wakútepi. It was a sizable village consisting of Huŋkphápȟa, Sihásapa, Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, and Isáŋyathi. Utley paints the Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta in overconfident tones: “they did not order the lodges packed,” explains Utley, “nor did they order the village moved, “The women, children, and old men, in fact, gathered on a high hill to watch.”[14]

But the camp was moved. At least the Lakȟóta camp was, from the west side of Taȟčá Wakútepi to the southeast side, below Medicine Hole the day before Sully’s arrival,[15] in a movement which placed a fresh water creek between them and the approaching soldiers. The Lakȟóta had learned the previous summer that water slowed or stopped the soldiers’ advance.

"Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake," says Ernie LaPointe of Sitting Bull, "that's his name."

Ernie LaPointe, Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake’s (Sitting Bull’s) direct lineal descendant, a great-grandson of the Huŋkphápȟa leader, offers this retrospective, “If it had been possible, Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake might have accepted peace terms that simply allowed his people and him to continue to live their traditional lifestyle.” As it was, Sully’s assault left one hundred Lakȟóta dead,[16] though Sully’s reports have the count closer to 150.

A map of the Killdeer conflict as it unfolded, courtesy of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. This author is currently working on a map of the conflict from the perspective of the Lakȟóta.

The Lakȟóta camp had moved in a position which faced Sully’s left flank; ĺŋkpaduta’s camp faced Sully’s right. A hunting party, possibly a war party though all the men were as much prepared to fight as to hunt, skirmished with Sully’s Winnebago scouts earlier that day. Sully’s command, five miles away, approached Taȟčá Wakútepi for a showdown.

When the soldiers got closer, a lone Lakȟóta warrior, Šúŋka Waŋžíla (Lone Dog), decided to test the fighting resolve of the soldiers and boldly rode his horse within range of fire. The soldiers fired three times at him. Tȟatȟáŋka Ská (White Bull) believed that Šúŋka Waŋžíla lived a wakȟáŋ life, charmed some would say in English. “Šúŋka Waŋžíla,” explained Tȟatȟáŋka Ská, “…was with a ghost and it was hard to shoot him.”[17]

A map of the 1864 Sully campaign in Dakota Territory.

Lt. Col. John Pattee, under Sully’s command that day, said of Šúŋka Waŋžíla riding, waving, and whooping at the soldiers, that an aide from Sully approached him, “The General sends his compliments and wishes you to kill that Indian for God’s sake.” Pattee ordered three sharpshooters to bring down Šúŋka Waŋžíla. One shot, according to Pattee, sent Šúŋka Waŋžíla from his horse, though Sully claimed the warrior fell from his horse.[18]

According to the pictographic record of Šúŋka Waŋžíla, he was riding, armed with bow and arrows, carrying black shields as much for practical protection as for spiritual protection, and received one wound.[19]

The fighting continued north for the five miles it took for Sully’s command to reach the encampments. For those five miles, the Lakȟóta held the soldiers’ attention, at times in brutal hand to hand combat. The Lakȟóta managed to outflank Sully’s men, which threatened the wagons and horses, so Sully ordered artillery to open fire. When the fight approached the encampments, the women hastened to break and flee. Frances “Fanny” Kelly, a captive of the Lakȟóta said that as soon as soldiers were sighted, the women withdrew into the hills, woods, and ravines, around Taȟčá Wakútepi, for protection.[20]

Taȟčá Wakútepi (Killdeer Mountain), a view from the south looking north.

On the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna and Isáŋyathi side of the conflict, the fight for the Dakȟóta became a stubborn retreat back to the encampments at the base of Taȟčá Wakútepi. There the soldiers broke into heavy fire into the Dakȟóta protectors until they finally broke. White Bull told Stanley Vestal that the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna and Isáŋyathi were as strangers to the Lakȟóta, and that they lost thirty when their line of defense broke.[21]

In a dialog with Mr. Timothy Hunts In Winter, there was a woman, an ancestor of his, Ohítika Wiŋ (Brave Woman) who fought at Killdeer. “She was only 14 on the day of the Killdeer fight but she fought alongside her até (father). Her até was killed that day in battle,” explained Hunts In Winter, “she was named Ohítika Wiŋ because she was a woman warrior.”[22]

The Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta encampment lay on the other side of this coulee (the treeline in the middle ground). The Lakȟóta camp moved here from the southwest side of the plateau.

From the Lakȟóta camp there came a singer escorting a man known as The-Man-Who-Never-Walked, a cripple since birth. His limbs were twisted and shrunken and in all his forty winters, he had never once hunted nor fought. When the soldiers came to the camp, The-Man-Who-Never-Walked knew that this was his one chance to fight. He was loaded onto a travois and a creamy white horse pulled the drag. The singer led him to where Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake was watching the fight.

When the singer finished his song, he called out, “This man has been a cripple all his life. He has never gone to war. Now he asks to be put into this fight.” Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake replied, “That is perfectly all right. Let him die in battle if he wants to.” White Bull later said of Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake, “Sitting Bull’s heart was full that day. He was proud of his nation. Even the helpless were eager to do battle in defense of their people.”[23] The horse was whipped and drove The-Man-Who-Never-Walked straight into a line of soldiers, who shot the horse then him. They called him Čhaŋte Matȟó (Bear’s Heart) after that because of his great courage.

A closer look at the south-facing slope of Taȟčá Wakútepi, below Medicine Hole. They would have ascended the plateau going around the landmark and over.

Íŋkpaduta engaged in a counter-attack on Sully’s right flank to stall his approach and lost twenty-seven warriors in hand to hand fighting. The Isáŋyathi broke just as Sully’s artillery began to fire upon the encampment.

Women and children who hadn’t retreated into the hills and ravines west of Taȟčá Wakútepi were suddenly in the fight. The women gathered what they could before abandoning camp, and young boys shepherded the horses to safety. “Children cried, the dogs were under everybody’s feet, mules balked, and pack horses took fright at the shell-fire or snorted at the drifting smoke behind them,” according to Frances Kelly.[24]

The Badlands west of Taȟčá Wakútepi. Thousands of places to hide and rendezvous on top of generations of intimate familiarity with the land helped the Lakȟóta remain elusive.

The Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta turned west into the Badlands, and there evaded capture.

The smoke cleared and over a hundred Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta lay dead. Sully ordered troops to destroy everything left behind. Lodges, blankets, and food were burned. Dogs were shot. Children inadvertently left behind in the confusion were chased down by the Winnebago scouts and killed.
____________________
Glossary:
Čháŋğu Wakpála: Burnt Wood Creek, Burleigh County, ND

Čhápa Wakpána: Beaver Creek, Emmons County, ND

Čhaŋte Matȟó: Bear’s Heart (The-Man-Who-Never-Walked), a forty-year-old disabled Lakȟóta man who fought his first and last fight at Taȟčá Wakútepi

Hé Núŋpa WaníčA: No Two Horns, a warrior, artist, and historian of the Huŋkphápȟa; fought at the Little Bighorn

Huŋkphápȟa: Head Of The Circle, also known as “Hunkpapa,” one of the seven Thítȟuŋwaŋ tribes

Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna: Little End Village (Yanktonai), one of the seven tribes that make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, their language is Wičhíyena

ĺŋkpaduta: Scarlet Point, war chief of the Waȟpékhute band of the Isáŋyathi

Isáŋyathi: the general name of the four eastern tribes (Sisíthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute, and Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ), their language is Dakȟóta

Matȟó Watȟákpe: Charging Bear (John Grass), a war chief of the Sihásapa, one of the seven Thítȟuŋwaŋ tribes

Mníšoše: Water-Astir (Missouri River)

Očhéthi Šakówiŋ: Seven Council Fires (The Great Sioux Nation), the confederation is made up of the Thítȟuŋwaŋ, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ, Sisíthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute, and Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ

Ohítika Wiŋ: Brave Woman, she fought at Killdeer Mountain alongside her father when she was fourteen years old

Oyáte: a tribe, a people, or a nation

Pa ÍpuzA Napé Wakpána: Dry Bone Hill Creek (Whitestone Hill Creek), Dickey County, ND

Phizí: Gall, a war chief of the Huŋkphápȟa (Hunkpapa), one of the seven Thítȟuŋwaŋ tribes; led the Huŋkphápȟa at the Little Bighorn, later became a judge

Sihásapa: Black Sole Moccasins (Blackfeet) one of the seven Thítȟuŋwaŋ tribes

Šákpe: The Six, a chief of the Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ (Dwellers At The Sacred Lake), one of the four Isáŋyathi (Santee; Eastern Sioux) tribes.

Šiná Tȟó Wakpána: Blue Blanket Creek, Walworth County, SD

Šúŋka Waŋžíla: Dog Only-One (Lone Dog), a Huŋkphápȟa warrior and a Waníyetu Wowápi (Winter Count) keeper

Tačháŋȟpi Lúta: Red Tomahawk , a Huŋkphápȟa warrior known more for being a Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer and his role in the death of Sitting Bull.

Taȟčá Wakútepi: Where They Kill Deer (Killdeer Mountain), Dunn County, ND

Tȟaspáŋla Wakpála: Lit. Thorn-Apple Creek, Burleigh County, ND

Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake: Sitting Bull, a great leader of the Huŋkphápȟa

Tȟatȟáŋka Ská: White Bull, nephew of Sitting Bull, and a famous warrior

Thítȟuŋwaŋ: Dwellers On The Plains (Teton), the Thítȟuŋwaŋ is made up of the Huŋkphápȟa,Sihásapa, Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, Oglála, Oóhenuŋpa, and Sičháŋǧu, their language is Lakȟóta

Wakȟáŋ: With-Energy, often translated as “Holy” or “Sacred”

Wakhéye Ská: White Lodge, a chief of the Sisíthuŋwaŋ



[1]“One Bull Interview,” Welch, Col. Alfred, Welch Dakota Papers.
[2] Mr. Corbin Shoots The Enemy (Húŋkpathi, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna; Crow Creek Indian Reservation), in discussion with the author, September 2013.
[3]“John Grass Interview,” Welch, Col. Alfred, Welch Dakota Papers.
[4] Larson, R., Gall: Lakota War Chief (University of Oklahoma Press, 2007), 45.
[5] Waggoner, J., Witness: A Huŋkphápȟa Historian’s Strong-Heart Song of The Lakotas(University of Nebraska Press, 2013), 41.
[6] Ibid. pp. 599. Šiná Dúta Wiŋ (Red Blanket Woman) account places Šákpe and his band of Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ at the Apple Creek conflict, and this fight.
[7]“Red Tomahawk Interview,” Welch, Col. Alfred, Welch Dakota Papers.
[8] Mrs. Delma Helman (Húŋkpapȟa, Thítȟuŋwaŋ; Standing Rock Indian Reservation), in discussion with the author, Mobridge, S.D., July 2013.
[9] Mr. Mike McDonald (Dakȟóta; Spirit Lake Oyate), in discussion with the author, Fort Yates, N.D., Nov. 2014.
[10]“No Two Horns [Hé Núŋpa WaníčA ] Interview,” Welch, Col. Alfred, Welch Dakota Papers, July 7, 1915.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Waggoner, J., Witness: A Huŋkphápȟa Historian’s Strong-Heart Song of The Lakotas(University of Nebraska Press, 2013), 599.
[13] Vestal, S. (Campbell, W.), Sitting Bull: Champion Of The Sioux (University of Oklahoma Press, 1957).
[14] Utley, R., The Lance And The Shield: The Life And Times Of Sitting Bull (Henry Holt And Company, 1993), 55.
[15] White Bull, box 105, notebook 24, pp. 1-6, Walter S. Campbell Collection, University of Oklahoma Library, Norman, OK.
[16] LaPointe, E., Sitting Bull: His Life And Legacy (Gibbs Smith, 2009), p. 49.
[17] White Bull, box 105, notebook 24, pp. 1-6, Walter S. Campbell Collection, University of Oklahoma Library, Norman, OK.
[18] Pattee, J., Dakota Campaigns (South Dakota Historical Collections 5, 1910), 308.
[19]“No Two Horns [Hé Núŋpa WaníčA ] Interview,” thípi with pictographic records, Welch, Col. Alfred, Welch Dakota Papers, July 7, 1915.
[20] Kelly, F., Narrative Of My Captivity Among The Sioux (Mutual Publishing Company, 1871), pp. 274-278.
[21] White Bull, box 105, notebook 24, pp. 1-6, Walter S. Campbell Collection, University of Oklahoma Library, Norman, OK.
[22] Mr. Tim Hunts In Winter (Húŋkpathi, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna; Crow Creek Indian Reservation), in an e-dialog with the author, March 2014.
[23] Vestal, S., Sitting Bull: Champion Of The Sioux (University of Oklahoma Press, 1932), p53-54; White Bull, box 105, notebook 24, pp. 1-6, Walter S. Campbell Collection, University of Oklahoma Library, Norman, OK.
[24] Vestal, S. (Campbell, W.), New Sources Of Indian History (Gayley Press, 2008), p. 56.

Warfare On The Northern Plains: Interpreting The Pictographic Bison Robe

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The Pictographic Bison Robe, Peabody Museum.
Warfare On The Northern Plains
Painted Robe Reveals Battle
By Dakota Wind
BISMARCK, N.D. – The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University in Massachusetts has a spectacular collection of Lewis and Clark related artifacts in the country. The artifacts have been determined to have been collected by the Corps of Discovery who did gather dresses, shirts, and various painted robes in 1804-1806, or by Lt. George Hutter in 1825-1826. In particular, both parties acquired a painted robe depicting conflict either with or against such tribes as the Sioux, Arikara, Hidatsa, and the Mandan.

Castle McLaughlin, Associate Curator of North American Ethnography, Peabody Museum at Harvard, carefully researched the “Pictographic Bison Robe” and has concluded that the robe is likely to have been collected by Hutter, not the Corps of Discovery. McLaughlin noted that another robe was collected by a Charles Wilson Peale in 1826, and that this robe was said to depict the Arikara War of 1823, the first American military campaign against Plains Indians. However, McLaughlin notes, “this is unlikely to be the Peabody robe, which does not depict Anglo-Americans.”[1]

In a telephone interview, McLaughlin offered an updated reflection about the painted bison robe, “The robe is likely to be Siouan in origin, and it was collected after the Corps of Discovery Expedition of 1804-06, maybe not by Hutter.” The Lewis and Clark Collection came to the Peabody Museum from more than one source and at different times.

There are about three major conflicts the Očhéti Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires, aka “The Great Sioux Nation”) participated in that fall within a thirty year window: a fight against enemy tribes in the 1790s, a conflict along the Grand River involving the Arikara and Ensign Pryor’s command in 1809, and the Arikara War of 1823.

Warfare At The Turn Of The Century
In the winter of 1794-95, the Dakota camped with the Mandan[2]perhaps to trade but the peace was short lived when a Mandan killed a Dakota with long hair and took his scalp,[3]however other winter counts recall that the Mandan killed a Crow instead, and that may be the case as White Bull recalled this particular conflict at Rawhide Butte.[4]The following year, the Mandan Chief Man-With-A-Hat became noted as a warrior[5], the Mandan knew this great leader by a different name in their own language, Shekek Shote (White Wolf).[6]

In summary, the Očhéti Šakówiŋ waged near continual warfare against such tribes as the Crow, Ponka, Assiniboine, Arikara, and Omaha. In particular, the Očhéti Šakówiŋ continued war against the Omaha until an epidemic of either smallpox or chickenpox struck the Lakȟóta in 1802.[7]The Omaha retaliated in a series of relentless attacks, but when the Lakȟóta recovered sufficiently, a warparty leader raised a pipe with a horsetail affixed to it and waved it over the people, a call to arms.[8]The Lakȟóta rallied together and launched an offensive that left seventy-five Omaha dead and fifty as prisoners.[9]

In 1803, there was one major battle of note, the Battle of Heart River. The northern Očhéti Šakówiŋ known then as Saúŋni, or simply as Saúŋ (White-Rubbed Shirts/Robes), who were made up of Huŋkphápȟa, Oóhenuŋpa, Sihásapa Lakȟóta in alliance with the Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna Dakȟóta[10] fought against the Assiniboine who were possibly allied with the Arikara who were then living at the mouth of Beaver Creek (south of present-day Bismarck, ND). [11]

Conflict At Grand River
A second possible interpretation of the Painted Bison Robe is of the 1808 conflict between Ensign Nathaniel Pryor’s command, the Saúŋ Lakȟóta, and the Arikara. This conflict has its roots in the Corps of Discovery’s visit a few years previous.

In 1804, the Arikara selected a leader, Arketarnarwhar, to descend the Missouri River with an escort provided by coterie from the Corps of Discovery who would escort and interpret his eventual meeting with President Thomas Jefferson back east. The Arikara leader never returned. Manuel Lisa, of the American Fur Company, was charged with delivering the missive of Arketarnarwhar’s death[12], which was found to be of natural causes.[13]The news was carried upriver in 1806 by two French trappers who in turn were detained by the Corps of Discovery on their return journey. The trappers having delivered the Corps news of civilization were dismissed.

When the corps passed by the Arikara villages going downstream they deliberately withheld news of their leader’s death, in fact, the Arikara didn’t hear word of Arketarnarwhar’s death until 1807.[14] The Arikara developed a hostility towards the United States thereafter, and harassed trappers and traders alike coming upriver, and actually halted Ensign Nathaniel Pryor’s expedition to return the Mandan Chief Shehek Shote to his people at Knife River in August 1808 with a war party of about 650 Arikara warriors.[15] Location: where the Grand River converges with the Missouri River near present-day Mobridge, SD.

The Saúŋ Lakȟóta, who had their own mixed history with the Corps of Discovery, were also present when the Arikara stopped the Pryor expedition. The Wapȟóštaŋ Ğí (Brown Hat) Winter Count records the event that a Huŋkphápȟa man named Red Shirt was killed.[16] No Ears recorded the year with the following text, “Ogle Luta on wan itkop ahi ktepi,” which translates a few ways, but essentially means that Red Shirt died in conflict.[17] Lone Dog’s pictograph indicates that Red Shirt died by two arrows[18].

It is possible that Oglé Lutá (Red Shirt), in the Lakȟóta tradition of great leaders, had a different name, Tȟatȟáŋka Sapá (Black Bull). It should be noted that in the Corps of Discovery’s encounter with the Thithúŋwan (Teton) along Bad River in 1804 ended when the Corps gifted a Lakȟóta leader, then Black Bufallo, a hat, a medal, and a red military coat.[19] Black Buffalo intervened on behalf of the Corps of Discovery when the Corps refused to pay a toll. Black Buffalo ordered the warriors to lower their bows. The Corps passed after throwing a twist of tobacco at the feet of the Lakȟóta.

The Arikara War of 1823
The third possibility is the Arikara War of 1823.

The Arikara War saw Colonel Henry Leavenworth ascend the Missouri River to defend the interests of the American Fur Company from the hostile aggression of the Arikara. Leavenworth led a command of six companies of the US Infantry, and an aggrieved William Ashley plus sixty men of the American Fur Company who were accompanied by about 750 Očhéti Šakówiŋ warriors.[20]

The Očhéti Šakówiŋ led the assault on the Arikara village at dawn on Aug. 9, 1823. The fighting consisted of an exchange of gunfire and hand-to-hand fighting until the Arikara retreated behind their stockade. The following morning Leavenworth ordered artillery to commence firing on the Arikara. The Arikara pressed for a cease-fire soon after and Leavenworth heard them out. Thirty Arikara were killed by the artillery in addition to the fifteen from the previous day’s fighting.[21]

Leavenworth negotiated peace with the Arikara. Unbeknownst to Leavenworth, the Arikara were preparing to abandon their village that very night. The peace talks were likely a diversion while the village made ready. The Arikara left that night under Leavenworth’s sleepy watch. The Očhéti Šakówiŋ warriors were anticipating a fight in which they’d get many war honors, but were ultimately disgusted with Leavenworth’s decision to treat with the Arikara. The Očhéti Šakówiŋ raided the Arikara cornfields. Ashley was also disgusted with Leavenworth in that the entire Arikara village wasn’t destroyed.

The Lakȟóta remember the Arikara War of 1823 as “The year of much dried corn.[22]” Many winter counts depict stalks of corn to remember 1823 and frequently reference conflict with the Arikara. It is interesting to note that while Leavenworth organized this punitive campaign against a Plains Indian tribe, and referred to his command, including the Očhéti Šakówiŋ, as the Missouri Legion, that three winter count pictographs actually mentions Leavenworth, his soldiers, or the trappers in his command.

The Swan winter count recalls 1823 as “US troops fought Ree Indians.[23]” The 1823 entry on The Flame winter count is “White and Dakotas fought Rees.” Cloud Shield reveals a little more, “They joined the whites on an expedition up the Missouri River against the Rees.” Lone Dog’s entry says, “White soldiers made their first appearance in the region.” Lone Dog does not mention the Corps of Discovery as his people, the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakȟóta were stealing horses from the Crow in 1804. Had this band of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna been at Bad River in 1804, they certainly would have recorded white soldiers ascending the river as Blue Thunder,[24]also an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, did.

The battle depicted on the Pictographic Bison Robe could represent the Arikara War of 1823. Because it does not include the representation of white soldiers or trappers does not mean without certainty that it isn’t. Why would it? The Očhéti Šakówiŋ did the actual fighting. The robe depicts warriors fighting warriors. Leavenworth refrained from ordering his infantry to engage in the fighting, but was still involved in the fight through use of his artillery.

Ken Woody (St. Regis Mohawk), Chief of Interpretation, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, reproduced the Pictographic Bison Robe for the National Forest Service’s Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Great Falls, MT. According to Woody, who examined the original, the green quills on the ends of the quilled strip are in fact bird quills. The Mandan and Hidatsa were well known for their quillwork involving the use of bird quills. The feathers would have been collected from sea gulls which came north in the summer to North Dakota. The feathers were stripped and treated for use in quillwork.[25]“The only thing on the robe which would hint of a Mandan or Hidatsa origin is the bird quills for the quilled strip, although if I remember right, most were porcupine quills and only the green quills at the beginning and end were bird quills,” remarked Woody.

It is entirely possible that the Pictographic Bison Robe represents other conflicts not recorded in winter counts or remembered in surviving oral tradition. There seems to be only one certain thing, that the robe was painted before George Catlin and Karl Bodmer for their visits among the first nations of the Upper Great Plains in the 1830s left such an impression with their art, that simple form pictography was transformed with elaborate flourish and became the high plains pictographic art of the middle nineteenth century.

Endnotes:
[1] McLaughlin, Castle, Arts Of Diplomacy: Lewis & Clark’s Indian Collection, University of Washington Press, Seattle WA, 2003.

[2] The Rosebud Winter Count.

[3] White Cow Killer Winter Count.

[4] White Bull, Chief Joseph (translated and edited by James H. Howard), The Warrior Who Killed Custer: The Personal Narrative of Chief Joseph White Bull, University of Nebraska Press, London, 1968.

[5] The Flame Winter Count.

[6] The Big Missouri Winter Count. It becomes clear who The-Man-With-The-Hat is when Big Missouri mention that a Mandan chief descended the Missouri River in 1806 with some white men to go meet the Great White Father.

[7] Pp. 130-146, Howard, James H., Fourth Annual Report Of The Bureau Of American Ethnology, Washington DC, Smithsonian, 1886.

[8] The Blue Thunder Winter Count, State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, ND.

[9] Clark, Capt. William, journal, Sept. 25, 1804.

[10] The John K. Bear Winter Count, 1803.

[11] Pp. 20-58, Howard, James H., Yanktonai Ethnohistory And The John K. Bear Winter Count, Plains Anthropologist: Journal Of The Plains Conference, Memoir 11, 1976.

[12] Page 306, Jackson, Donald C., Journey To The Mandans, 1809: The Lost Narrative Of Dr. Thomas,” Missouri Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 3, April, 1964.

[13] Pp. 5-7, Innis, Ben, Bloody Knife: Custer’s Favorite Scout, Smoky Water Press, Bismarck, ND. 1994.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Page 144, Potter, Tracy, Sheheke: Mandan Indian Diplomat, Farcountry Press, Fort Mandan Press, Washburn, ND, 2003.

[16] The Brown Hat (Baptiste Good) Winter Count.

[17] No Ears Winter Count.

[18] Lone Dog Winter Count.

[19] Page 169, Ambrose, Stephen, Undaunted Courage, Simon & Schuster, 1996.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Long Soldier Winter Count, Sitting Bull College, Fort Yates, ND.

[23] The Swan Winter Count, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC. The Swan Winter Count, http://wintercount.si.edu.

[24] Blue Thunder Winter Count, State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, ND.

[25] Woody, Ken, discussion with author, Nov. 26, 2014.

A Ring Around The Moon: She Makes A Fire

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A ring of light, or halo, appears around the moon. The planet Jupiter is visible within the arc of light. 
Wíačhéič’ithi: She Makes A Fire
A Ring Around The Moon
By Dakota Wind
GREAT PLAINS– It’s a clear cold night on the Northern Plains, following a cloudless icy day. A blanket of snow on the driveway had become compacted into crunchy ice over the past week. The sun bathed the land in silent golden light then he slipped over the horizon. The stars gradually blinked into their places in the vesper dusk. The full moon slid into the night sky and glided higher and higher. A vast gently glowing halo encircled the moon and altogether her milky white light spilled into the heavens.

I was standing beside my car one minute taking in the serene brisk scene. I imagine for a moment that another man stood here beside his horse in long ago days, outside the glow of his wife’s lodge, standing in the same snow, under the same sky, perhaps even breathing in the same air.

The part of my mind that has been educated and westernized says that the ring around the moon is probably caused by a light refracting through moisture in the atmosphere, and a quick internet search says pretty much the same thing. Science is beautiful in its own way as it questions and sometimes reveals the mystery of creation, but this explanation doesn’t endear me to the majesty of what I see above.

The Lakȟóta saw the natural world, the natural heavens and concluded that what happens here happens above. The thípi glowing in the evenings, filled with the smell of sweet cedar, earthy sage, or rich tobacco, and a mother or grandmother stirring her kettle of tȟaníǧa soup over the fire, now and then adding handfuls of shelled corn and dried thíŋpsiŋla. The way she stirred her kettle reminded the Lakȟóta of the phases of the moon.

A column of moonlight reflected on a body of water is called a "moonglade." The Lakȟóta call this "Mníyata Ožáŋžaŋ."

Kevin Locke, enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, recalled a meeting long ago with Mrs. Holding Eagle at her home on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, “She said the phases of the moon were caused by how hard she stirred her kettle.” Mrs. Holding Eagle referred to the moon, in this sense, not as Haŋwí, but as Hokhémi, an old woman bundled in layers of clothing. The phases of the moon are described as though she were standing at times, dipping, or lying down, and at the full moon she is at her kettle.

When a ring of light appears around the moon, it is Hokhémi building a fire. Wíačhéič’ithi, “She Makes A Fire.”

Mrs. Amanda Grass on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation explained that as the moon wanes, as the moon loses light, the moon itself is the lodge of Haŋwí, and a large mouse with a pointed nose would nibble at the edge of her lodge, going back and forth, gradually, until there was nothing left. When the moon waxed, it was Haŋwí patiently and persistently rebuilding her lodge until it shown full once more. Then the cycle continued.

The cold shakes me from my reverie and I walk across the compacted snow to my home. The horse beside me a moment ago, replaced now by a little silver car. The windows warmly aglow, smells of supper adrift from the door, different smells and different light but homey all the same. 

The High Dog Winter Count, 1798

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The High Dog Winter Count on display at the North Dakota Heritage Center.
The High Dog Winter Count
History Of The Great Plains
By Dakota Wind
Bismarck, ND– The High Dog Winter Count, a pictographic history of the Huŋkphápȟa Lakȟóta people is on display at the North Dakota Heritage Center. It reaches back to the year 1798 and concludes in 1912. Šúŋka Waŋkátuya (Lit. Dog On-High), or High Dog, kept a winter count, a pictographic mnemonic device in which each year was remembered with one image and a “name.” Years, or winters, were never numbered.

When the year was named, a collective of elders, leaders, and medicine people would gather together to determine what to call the year, sometimes in the spring when the new year began, or sometimes in the fall or over the winter.

The first entry of the High Dog Winter Count.

High Dog’s winter count echoes content within other winter counts, such as Blue Thunder, No Two Horns, Swift Dog, and Jaw, among others, but it has distinct entries all its own. The first entry of High Dog’s winter count features an image of one man with a “fan” of four very blue feathers fanning or presenting the feathers to another man. Here follows the entry:

Wiyáka tȟotȟó uŋ akíčilowaŋpi (Lit. Feathers blue-blue to-use-something singing-praise-they). They sang praises using very blue feathers.

It was agreed to among the people that any one of the tribe who was seen wearing the blue feathers should be an example to others in virtue and goodness, and should be esteemed by all as a guardian of the "nation." Four men at that time were set apart with the blue feathers.

The feathers that are depicted on High Dog's entry resemble the tail feathers of the Ziŋtkátȟo Glegléğa (lit. “Bird-blue striped-very"), commonly known as the Blue Jay. In particular, this rendering resembles the beautifully blue Stellar’s Jay tail feathers. 


The Lakȟóta say that when the Ziŋtkátȟo Glegléğa returns, cold rains follow. Steller's Jay photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

By an old ceremony men were set apart as “Atéyapi” (Fathers) and women as "Ináyapi" (mothers). By this ceremony these people were chosen as leaders in the tribe, and their admonitions were heeded.

Sometimes a small child was raised to this class because of a portent at his or her birth that indicated his or her superior wisdom. Grown persons were raised to this class on account of some distinguished service to the tribe, as well as for manifest wisdom and foresight in affairs. Those raised to this class while they were babes are said to have been generally the most satisfactory administrators of justice. Such children received careful training both from those previously raised to this class and also from their grandmothers.

They were taught to admonish with discretion and with gentleness, to honor and respect each and every one of every age and themselves; to be kind to dogs and all animals. If one of this class proved unworthy, one was not deposed, but from that time on, or until one had purged oneself of old offenses and adopted better manners one had small influence in the council-meetings, yet the people still respected him or her.

At that time, men were gifted with blue feathers to designate their worthiness; women were gifted with blue glass pendants they wore proudly upon their forehead, though this practice has long since faded. 


The Blue Cloud Stone as sketched by Col. A. Welch

Kȟaŋpéska Imánipi Wiŋ (Walking On The Shell Woman), the wife of Matȟó Watȟákpe (Charging Bear; John Grass), was among the last Lakȟóta women to have possessed one of what they called Maȟpíya Tȟó, or a Blue Cloud Stone. The stone was actually a flat blue polished piece of glass, possibly volcanic, which was melted and poured into a sand or clay mold. The stone was made by a woman of virtue, and only one was made in a year.

When it was worn, the woman was held in high esteem by all as good and honorable, a role model for all women

Woodcraft And Wisdom, Be Aware As You Go

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The Northern Great Plains, photo by World Wildlife.
XXIII: Woodcraft And Weather Wisdom
Akhíta Máni (Be Aware As You Go)

By Charles Eastman
Note: The following is an excerpt of Charles Eastman's "Indian Scout Tales." Since the life of the Indian is one of travel and exploration, not for the benefit of science, but for his own convenience and pleasure, he is accustomed to find himself in pathless regions —— now in the deep woods, now upon the vast, shimmering prairie, or again among the tangled water-ways of a mighty lake studded with hundreds, even thousands, of wooded islands.

How does he find his way so successfully in the pathless jungle without the aid of a compass you ask? Well, it is no secret. In the first place, his vision is correct; and he is not merely conscious of what he sees, but also sub-consciously he observes the presence of any and all things within the range of his senses.

If you would learn his system, you must note the relative position of all objects, and especially the location of your camp in relation to river, lake, or mountain. The Indian is a close student of the topography of the country, and every landmark—— hill, grove, or unusual tree—is noted and remembered. It is customary with the hunters and warriors to tell their stories of adventure most minutely, omitting no geo graphical and topographical details, so that the boy who has listened to such stories from babyhood can readily identify places he has never before seen.

This kind of knowledge is simple, and, like the every-day meal, it is properly digested and assimilated, and becomes a part of one’s self. It is this instant, intelligent recognition of every object within his vision in his daily roving, which fixes the primitive woodsman’s reckoning of time, distance, and direction.

Sunrise on the Great Plains, featured on Wallpaper Up

Time is measured simply by the height of the sun. Shadow is the wild man’s dial; his own shadow is best. Hunger is a good guide when the sun is behind the clouds. Again, the distance traveled is an indicator, when one travels over known distances. In other words, he keeps his soul at one with the world about him, while the over-civilized man is trained to depend upon artificial means. He winds his watch, pins his thought to a chronometer, and disconnects himself from the world-current; then starts off on the well-beaten road. If he is compelled to cut across, he calls for a guide; in other words, he borrows or buys the mind of another. Neither can he trust his memory, but must needs have a note book.

The wild man has no chronometer, no yardstick, no unit of weight, no field-glass. He is himself a natural being in touch with nature. Some things he does, he scarcely knows why; certainly he could not explain them. His calculations are swift as a flash of lightning; best of all, they come out right! This may seem incredible to one who is born an old man; but there are still some boys who hark back to their great-great grandfathers; they were not born and nursed within six walls!

The colors of tree, grass, and rock tell the points of the compass to the initiated. On the north side, the bark is of a darker color, smoother, and more solid looking; while on the southern exposure it is of a lighter hue, because of more sunshine, and rougher, because it has not been polished off by the heavy beating of snow and rain in the cold season. An Indian will pass his hand over the trunk of a tree in the dark and tell you which way is north; some will tell you the kind of tree, also.

The branches of the tree tell the same story; on the south side they grow thicker and longer, while the leaves lie more horizontal on the sunny side, and more vertical on the north. Again, the dry leaves on the ground corroborate them; on the north side of the trees the leaves are well-packed and overlay each other almost like shingles. The color and thickness of the moss on rock or tree also tells the—secret.

But I must leave some things for you to discover; and I advise you to select a rock or tree that is well exposed to the elements for a first attempt. Of course, in well-protected localities, these distinctions are not so marked, but even there are discernible to a trained eye.

If you ever lose your way in the woods, do not allow yourself to become unnerved. Never give up.” Fear drowns more people than water, and is a more dangerous enemy than the wilderness. A normal man, with some knowledge of out-of-doors, can without much effort keep in touch with his starting-point, and, however tortuously he may rove, he will pick the shortest way back. Know exactly where you are before starting, in relation to the natural landmarks, and at every halt locate yourself as nearly as possible. Measure your shadow (it varies according to the season), and scatter dry earth, leaves, or grass, to learn the direction of the wind. The water shed is another important point to bear in mind. On a clear night, look for the well known stars, such as the Great Dipper,” which lies to the north in summer, the handle pointing west. The Milky Way lies north and south. Once you locate the camp, you may be guided by these or by the wind in night travel.

Hunting bison in the dusty airy landscape.

The Indian, as an out-of-door man, early learns the necessity of a weather bureau of his own. He develops it after the fashion of another system of precaution; that is, he takes note of the danger-signals of the animals, those unconscious criers of the wilderness, both upon water and land. These have definite signals for an approaching change in the weather. For instance, the wolf tribes give the storm call” on the evening before. This call is different in tone from any other and clearly identified by us. Horses kick and stamp, and the buffalo herds low nervously. Certain water fowl display a strange agitation which they do not show under any other circum stances. Antelopes seek shallow lakes before a thunder-shower and stand in the water the Indians say because lightning does not strike in the water. Even dogs howl and make preparations to hide their young. Ducks have their signal call; but the chief weather prophet of the lakes is the loon, as the gray wolf or coyote is of the prairie.

Certain leaves and grass-blades contract or expand at the approach of storm, and even their color is affected, while the wind in the leaves has a different sound. The waves on the beach whisper of the change, and we also observe the ring around the sun, and the opacity and disk of the moon. The lone hunter may be left with only the open prairie and the dome of heaven; but he still has his grass-blades, his morning and evening skies. Sometimes the little prairie birds give him the signal; or, if not, he may fall back upon his old wounds, that begin to ache and swell with the change of atmosphere.

A Lakota Woman's Lost Love

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An engraving of Lake Pepin in Minnesota. Maiden Rock appears in the background in the right half of this image. 
Legend Of The Maiden’s Leap
A Lakȟóta Woman’s Lost Love

Collected by Frances Densmore
Fort Yates, ND – In 1911 Frances Densmore, an anthropologist and ethnographer, on behalf of the Bureau of American Ethnology, came to the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation and recorded hundreds of songs on wax cylinders for preservation.

While Densmore was stationed on Standing Rock she heard a story about a Lakȟóta woman’s leap which bore some similarity to a Sisíthuŋwaŋ (Sisseton) woman’s jump off of a promontory on the eastern shore of what is today Lake Pepin. The Dakȟóta woman jumped off this point and killed herself on the rocks below.

The Thítȟuŋwaŋ (Teton; Lakota) say that their young woman jumped from a high point somewhere in the west. Here is their story:

A young woman had promised to marry a man, but he wished to make a name for himself before the marriage took place. He had been on the warpath, but he wished to go again that he might distinguish himself by valor. When the war party returned they said he had been killed by the Crow.

Sometime afterward in the course of tribal wanderings a camp was made at the place where, according to the report of the war party, the young man had been killed. Dressing herself in her best attire, the maiden went to the edge of the cliff, she offered a song and gave a trill before jumping into the river below her.

This is her song:
Zuyá iyá’yelo (He has gone to war)
Ehápi k’uŋ (You have said)
Hé wašté waláke (I love him)
Iyótiye wakíye (I am sad)

Lakota Woman Goes To War

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Camp of the Gros Ventre on the Prairies, by Karl Bodmer. 
Brave Woman Counts Coup
Huŋkphápȟa Woman Remembered

As told by Jenny Leading Cloud
American Indian Myths And Legends
Edited by The First Scout
White River, Rosebud, SD - Over a hundred years ago, when the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (“Sioux”) were still living in Mníšota (Minnesota), there was a Thítȟuŋwaŋ (Teton) band of Huŋkphápȟa at Mní Wakȟáŋ (Spirit Lake) under an chief called Tȟáwa Makȟóčhe (His Country). It was his country too, Indian Country, until the white soldiers with their cannon finally drove the Thítȟuŋwaŋ across the Mníšoše (Water-Astir; Missouri River).

In his youth the chief had been a great warrior. Later, when his fighting days were over, he was known as a wise leader, invaluable in council, a great giver of feasts, and a provider for the poor.

The chief had three sons and one daughter. The sons tried to emulate their father in deed by becoming great warriors as their father, but it was a difficult thing to do. Time and again they battled against the Kȟaŋğí (Crow) with reckless bravery, exposing their selves in the front rank, fighting hand to hand, until one by one they were all killed. The sad chief had only his daughter left. Some say her name was Makȟáta Wiŋ (On The Ground Woman). Others called her Ohítika Wiŋ (Brave Woman).

The young woman was beautiful and proud. Many young men sent their fathers to the old chief with gifts of fine horses that were preliminary to marriage proposals. Among those who desired Ohítika Wiŋ for a wife was a young warrior named Hé Lúta (Red Horn), himself the son of a chief, who sent his father again and again to arrange a marriage on his behalf.

Ohítika Wiŋ would not marry. “I will not take a husband,” she said, “until I have counted coup on the Crow to avenge my brothers.”

Another young man, Waŋblí Čík’ala (Little Eagle), also loved Ohítika Wiŋ. He was too shy to declare his love because he was poor, and had never been able to distinguish himself.

At this time, the Kȟaŋğí made a great effort to establish their nation on the upper Mníšoše, a country the Saóŋ (Northern Thítȟuŋwaŋ) consider their own. The Huŋkphápȟa decided to send out a strong war party to chase them back. Hé Lúta and Waŋblí Čík’ala were in this same war party.

“I shall ride with you,” Ohítika Wiŋ said. She put on her best dress of white buckskin, which was richly decorated with beadwork and quillwork; around her neck she wore a dentalium choker.

Ohítika Wiŋ then went before Tȟáwa Makȟóčhe and addressed him, “Father, I must go to the place where my brothers died. I must count coup for them. Tell me that I can go.”

Tȟáwa Makȟóčhe wept with overwhelming pride and profound sadness. “You are my last child,” he said, “I fear for you, and for a lonely age without children to comfort me. Your decision has long been determined. I see that you must go. Do it quickly. Wear my warbonnet into battle. Go and do not look back.”

Ohítika Wiŋ then took her brothers weapons, her father’s warbonnet and best horse, and rode out with the war party. They came upon a vast enemy camp, that it appeared to be the entire Kȟaŋğí nation – hundreds of men and thousands of horses. There were many more Kȟaŋğí than Huŋkphápȟa, but they attacked nevertheless.

Ohítika Wiŋ was a sight to stir and motivate the warriors to great deeds. She gave Hé Lúta her oldest brother’s lance and shield, and said, “Count coup for my brother.” To Waŋblí Čík’ala she gave her second brother’s bow and arrows, and said, “Count coup for him who owned these.” She gave her youngest brother’s war club to another young warrior. For herself, Ohítika Wiŋ carried her father’s coup stick wrapped in otter fur.

At first Ohítika Wiŋ held back in the fight. She supported the Huŋkphápȟa by singing brave-heart songs and trilling (the tremulous cry which women use to encourage their men). When the Huŋkphápȟa were driven back by overwhelming numbers, she rode into the midst of the fight. She didn’t try to kill her enemies, but counted coup left and right. What Lakȟóta warrior could think of retreat when a woman fought bravely beside them?

The press of the Kȟaŋğí and their horses pushed the Huŋkphápȟa back a second time. The horse of Ohítika Wiŋ was hit by a musket ball and went down. She was one foot and defenseless when Hé Lúta passed her by. She was too proud to call out for help and he pretended not to see her. Waŋblí Čík’ala then came riding out of the battle dust, dismounted, and told her to get on. She did so, thinking that they would ride double when he called out, “This horse is wounded, and is too weak to carry us both.”

“I won’t leave you to be killed,” said Ohítika Wiŋ, when Waŋblí Čík’ala struck the horse’s rump with her brother’s bow. The horse bolted and Waŋblí Čík’ala went back into the fight on foot. Ohítika Wiŋ rallied the war party for a final charge. Their final push was so determined and fierce that the Kȟaŋğí retreated.

This was the battle in which the Kȟaŋğí were driven away from the Mníšoše. It was a great victory for the Huŋkphápȟa, and many brave young men had died. Among the dead was Waŋblí Čík’ala, struck down with his face towards the enemy. The Huŋkphápȟa warriors took the bow of Hé Lúta and broke it, then took his feathers and sent him home.

They placed the body of Waŋblí Čík’ala on a scaffold, where the enemy camp had been. Then, they killed his horse to serve him in the spirit world. “Go willingly,” they told the horse, “Your rider has need of you in the spirit world.”

Ohítika Wiŋ gashed her arms and legs with a knife in her grief. She also cut her hair short and tore her dress. Thus, she mourned for Waŋblí Čík’ala. They had not been husband and wife. In fact, he hardly dared look at her or speak to her, but now she asked everyone to treat her as a widow.

Ohítika Wiŋ never took a husband, and she never ceased to mourn the loss of Waŋblí Čík’ala. “I am his widow, “she would tell people. She died of old age. She had done a great thing and her fame endures.


GLOSSARY:
Huŋkphápȟa: Head Of The Camp Circle, Hunkpapa
Kȟaŋğí: Crow
Očhéthi Šakówiŋ: Seven Council Fires
Mníšoše: Water Astir, Missouri River
Mníšota: Smoking Water, Minnesota
Mní Wakȟáŋ: Water With Energy, Spirit Lake
Saóŋ: Northern Thítȟuŋwaŋ (Huŋkphápȟa, Oóheŋuŋpa, Mníkowožu, Itázipčho)
Thítȟuŋwaŋ: Dwellers On The Plains, Teton


A Tale Of Jealously And Death

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Ghost Hill on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, south and east of Fort Yates, ND.
Legend Of Ghost Hill
Jealously Drives Mob To Murder

As Told By Šiyáka (Pied-Billed Grebe)
Song by Two Shields
Recorded by Frances Densmore
Standing Rock, SD & ND– Musical ethnologist Frances Densmore recorded this story and song on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation between 1911 and 1914. About eight miles south-east of present-day Fort Yates, ND is a high butte known as Ghost Hill.

When Sitting Bull and his band were brought from Canada they camped one winter on the lowland beside the Missouri River, a few miles below Fort Yates. It was a large camp, including many hostile Indians, who were afterward located at Pine Ridge and at Cherry Creek in the Cheyenne River Reservation.

Among these Indians was a particularly handsome young man, who was very fascinating to the young women.

One day he disappeared. As no trace of him could be found, his parents consulted a man who had some sacred stones, giving him a horse and asking that he would tell them of their son. This man said that during the next night the voice of the missing man would be heard passing through the camp, and that all must follow the voice. On the night designated all the camp was on alert; just before dawn they heard the voice of the young man approaching. His parents and friends, recognizing the voice, began to lament, and the dogs barked at the approach of a person.

The voice passed through the camp, singing a love song, then turned and came back, retracing its way toward this hill. The people followed, but could not go as fast as the voice, which gradually became more distant until it was lost in darkness.

This incident seemed to make the grief of the young man’s parents more acute, and they went again to the owner of the stones, to whom they gave another horse, asking him to tell who had killed their son. The man said he had been murdered by ten men, who were jealous of him, and that one of these men would die in ten days, another in ten days after the first, and so on until all were dead.

This came to pass as he predicted. The parents of the missing man then went again to the owner of the stones and begged to know where they could find the body of their son. The man said that their son had been chased a long distance by his enemies and finally had been killed far from home, and that his body had been devoured by wolves. He told the parents to follow the voice (which was still heard at intervals singing the same song) and to keep following it until they reached the place where the voice disappeared, where they would see their son.

The next time they heard the voice they hastened toward the place whence it came and saw at some distance before them a figure wrapped in a gray army blanket. They followed it but could never quite overtake it. Sometimes they would feel its presence behind them, and on looking back, would see it, but it never quite overtook them. It always followed the path toward Ghost Hill, and the parents thought it disappeared in the side of the hill.

Accordingly they dug into the side of the hill and made a diligent search, but the body of the young man was never found. A man named Walking Elk lived at the foot of Ghost Hill. He had a large family, the members of which died one after another. He laid their deaths to the ghost and shot at it with his rifle. The last appearance of the ghost was about the year 1889. It is said that a similar figure wrapped in a gray army blanket was later seen at Pine Ridge and on the Rosebud Reservation.

Two Shields assented to record the song attributed to the young man’s ghost:

Hénake (Finally)
Wačéye (I Weep)
ČhéyA (Weeping)
Omáwani (I-wander-about)
Kȟoškálaka (Young-man)
Wióyuspapi čhaŋ (Courting-women Then)
Iyótaŋ Wačháŋmni Kȟó (Best I-tried As-well)
ČhéyA (Weeping)
Omáwani (I-wander-about)

Purple Robe, Golden Heart: The Prairie Crocus

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A Prairie Crocus flower blossoms on the Northern Great Plains.
Hokšíčhekpa, Wanáȟča Tȟá Unčí
Prairie Crocus, Grandmother Of The Flowers

By The First Scout
The Prairie Crocus is known by many names: Pasque/Passover Flower, Easter Flower, or Wind Flower. The Lakȟóta know this same flower as Hokšíčhekpa, or “Child’s Navel,” for it resembled a child’s navel in the process of healing after the umbilical cord has fallen off.

One of the legends associated with this flower is that long ago, it was white.

The Lakȟóta have the story of a young man who went to the hill to pray, a spiritual practice still with them today. As day became night, the air cooled, and the young man pulled his bison robe around himself for warmth. A small voice by his feet called out, “Thank you!” He looked down and was surprised to discover that it was a little white flower that addressed him.

As the days and nights passed, the young man and the white flower enjoyed one another’s company as they watched the yellow sun rise around a scene of purple mountains. The young man took great comfort in the little white flower’s companionship, who assured him that he would soon receive his vision.

On the last morning, the Morning Star rose into the sky and the young man received his vision; it was revealed to him that he would be a medicine man and help his people. For assuring the young man and for keeping him company, Morning Star gave the little white flower the option of choosing for herself three gifts.

The little white flower asked for a heavy robe of her own to keep her warm, the color of the purple mountains for her dress (petals), and the warmth of the golden sun in her heart. To this day, in the early spring, when winter snow can still appear, the little flower’s lavender robe opens to reveal her golden heart.

On occasion, 
Hokšíčhekpa opens a white robe. A white Hokšíčhekpa is very rare. When one encounters a white one, they say a bison drew its last breath in that very spot.

The Lakȟóta people say that the 
Hokšíčhekpa is the Unčí (Grandmother) of the flowers. She is the first to appear, announcing that spring is here and the bison will bear their young. She addresses all the other flowers as grandchildren. When all the birds have returned, and the animals have come back out, it is her time to die.

Hokšíčhekpa even inspires the other flowers with a song of encouragement, “Take courage children of the flower nation, you shall appear all over the land. As you wake and rise from Grandmother Earth, I stand here old and gray.”

She shows by her example that all must go on to the land prepared for them by their ancestors. Each spring 
Hokšíčhekpa returns to share the same message to the next generation of flowers.

Coolidge Remembered As Bear Ribs

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President Coolidge seen here with members of the Sicangu Lakota people.
Coolidge Recognized With Lakota Name
Standing Rock Sioux Call Him “Bear Ribs”
Edited by Dakota Goodhouse
Bismarck, N.D. (Bismarck Tribune, July 1927) – The following appeared in the Bismarck Tribune, summer 1927, when three tribal community members sent a letter to President Coolidge. These three later met the President in the Black Hills, August 1927, when he established summer camp near Spearfish, S.D.

President Coolidge has been adopted by an Indian tribe, which has given him the name Bear Ribs, meaning the Indian conception of the chief who originally bore that name as “a far seeing, progressive man.” Another honor bestowed upon the President is the gift of an Indian pipe and beaded tobacco bag. He intends to smoke the pipe, he said, although he does not enjoy pipe smoking.

News of the President’s adoption came to the White House in a letter signed by the committee of three Indians, living on the reservation near Fort Yates, N.D. as follows:

Hon. Calvin Coolidge
President of the United States,
Washington D.C.

Dear Mr. President:

The Indians of the Kenel District on this reservation at their local council desire to congratulate you upon your re-election and take pleasure in mailing you, under separate cover, a pipe and beaded tobacco bag.

Presidents in the past have done much in reference to the Indian and his destiny, but it remained for you to give to the Indian that citizenship which he hoped for through many years. We desire to express our heartfelt appreciation for the citizenship granted us, and also for the good judgement shown in protecting our property rights and by not turning them over to the Indians without supervision. To turn the property rights over without protection would have been a great misfortune to us.

For many years the Indian has doubted the government’s good intentions, but we now know that it had a definite purpose in view and that the government’s ultimate intention was to train us for citizenship.

Many years ago when trouble arose between the Indians and the soldiers under a white general we called White Beard, we fought the soldiers, but later there came peace between us. At that time Bear Ribs, a progressive chief of the Hunkpapas [Huŋkphápȟa], tried to teach us the white man’s way.

The Indians objected to learning this new way, and as a result Bear Ribs was finally murdered because of his progressive ideas.

We now know that Bear Ribs was right, and we honor his memory. Because Bear Ribs was a far-seeing, progressive man, we now give you the name Bear Ribs, by which you will be known to our tribe.

Very respectfully,
Antoine Claymore
Jovita Badger
Pius Shoots First

The Hero Saved, The Trickster Punished

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Ziŋtkála Ša, Red Bird, reads in this photo. 
The Hero Saved, The Trickster Punished
Shooting Of The Red Eagle

By Ziŋtkála Ša (Red Bird)
The following story, "Shooting of The Red Eagle," comes from Ziŋtkála Ša’s “Old Indian Legends,” and includes minor edits. D/Lakȟóta words, when used, are spelled using the Lakota Language Consortium’s standard orthography.

A man in buckskins sat upon the top of a little hillock. The setting sun shone bright upon a strong bow in his hand. His face was turned toward the round campground at the foot of the hill. He had walked a long journey hither. He was waiting for the chieftain’s men to spy him.

Soon four strong men ran forth from the center thiyúktaŋ (a.k.a. wikiup, wigwam) toward the hillock, where sat the man with the long bow.

“He is the avenger come to shoot the red eagle,” cried the runners to each other as they bent forward swinging their elbows together.[1]

They reached the side of the stranger, but he did not heed them. Proud and silent he gazed upon the cone-shaped wigwams beneath him. Spreading a handsomely decorated buffalo robe before the man, two of the warriors lifted him by each shoulder and placed him gently on it. Then the four men took, each, a corner of the blanket and carried the stranger with long proud steps, towards the chieftain’s thípi.[2]

Ready to greet the stranger, the tall chieftain stood at the entrance way. “Háu, you are the avenger with the magic arrow!” he said, extending to him a smooth soft hand.

Háu, great chieftain!” Replied the man, holding long the chieftain’s hand.[3]Entering the thípi, the chieftain motioned the young man to the right side of the doorway, while he sat down opposite him with a center fire burning between them. Wordless, like a bashful Indian maid, the avenger ate in silence the food set before him on the ground in front of his crossed shins.[4]When he had finished his meal he handed the empty bowl to the chieftain’s wife saying, “Mother-in-law,[5] here is your dish!”

Háŋ, my son!” answered the woman, taking the bowl.

With the magic arrow in his quiver the stranger felt not in the least too presuming in addressing the woman as his mother-in-law.

Complaining of fatigue, he covered his face with his blanket and soon within the chieftain’s thípi he fell asleep.

“The young man is not handsome after all!” whispered the woman in her husband’s ear.

“Ah, but after he has killed the red eagle he will be handsome enough!” answered the chieftain.

That night the star men in their burial procession in the sky reached the low northern horizon,[6]before the center fires within the thípi had flickered out. The ringing laughter which had floated up through the smoke lapels was now hushed, and only the distant howling of wolves broke the quiet of the village. But the lull between midnight and dawn was short indeed. Very early the oval-shaped doorflaps[7]were thrust aside and many brown faces peered out of the wigwams toward the top of the highest bluff.


A photo I took of the sun over Dead Buffalo Lake in North Dakota.

Now the sun rose up out of the east. The red painted avenger stood ready within the camp ground for the flying of the red eagle. That terrible bird appeared! He hovered over the round village as if he could pounce down upon it and devour the whole tribe.

When the first arrow shot up into the sky the anxious watchers thrust a hand quickly over their half-uttered “Hinú!”[8]The second and third arrows flew upward but missed by a wide space the red eagle soaring with lazy indifference over the little man with the long bow. All his arrows he spent in vain. “Ah! My blanket brushed my elbow and shifted the course of the arrow!” said the stranger as the people gathered around him.

During this happening, a woman on horseback halted her pony at the chieftain’s thípi. It was no other than the young woman who cut loose the tree-bound captive.

While she told the story the chieftain listened with downcast face.[9]“I passed him on my way. He is near!” she ended.

Indignant at the bold imposter, the wrathful eyes of the chieftain snapped fire like red cinders in the night time. His lips were closed. At length to the woman he said, “Háu, you have done me a good deed.” Then with a quick decision he gave command to a fleet horseman to meet the avenger. “Clothe him in these, my best buckskins,” he said, pointing to a bundle within the wigwam.[10]

In the meanwhile strong men seized Iktómi[11]and dragged him by his long hair to the hilltop. There upon a mock-pillared grave[12]they bound his hands and feet. Adults and children sneered and hooted at Iktómi’s disgrace. For a half-day he lay there, the laughing stock of the people. Upon the arrival of the real avenger, Iktómi was released and chased away beyond the outer limits of the camp ground.

On the following morning at daybreak, peeped the people out of half-open doorflaps.

There again in the midst of the large camp ground was a man in beaded buckskins. In his hand was a strong bow and red-tipped arrow. Again the big red eagle appeared on the edge of the bluff. He plumed his feathers and flapped his huge wings.


"He placed the arrow on the bow," appears in the Bison Book edition of "Old Indian Legends," the Bison Book edition, by Angel De Cora.

The young man crouched low to the ground. He placed the arrow on the bow, drawing a poisoned flint for the eagle.

The bird rose into the air. He moved his outspread wings one, two, three times and lo! The eagle tumbled from the great height and fell heavily to the earth. An arrow struck in his breast! He was dead!

So quick was the hand of the avenger, so sure his sight, that no one had seen the arrow fly from his long bent bow.

The village was dumb with awe and amazement. And when the avenger, plucking a red eagle feather, placed it in his black hair, a loud shout of the people went up to the sky. Then hither and thither ran singing men and women prepared a great feast for the avenger.

Thus he won the beautiful Indian princess[13]who never tired of telling to her children the story of the big red eagle.



[1] Pointing, as with one’s index finger, was considered rude and impolite. To this day the polite Lakȟóta, points a variety of ways including one’s elbows (as is the case in this story), by cupping one’s hand and gesturing in the general direction of one’s attention, by pointing somewhat indirectly with one’s smallest finger, or with one’s lips, the latter to some mild amusement to those nearby. 

[2] A very high honor, to be carried into the village in this manner.

[3] Shaking hands isn’t generally an everyday Lakȟóta practice. When the occasion arose to shake hands it was with the left hand, the hand closest to one’s heart that was used. When a Lakȟóta shakes hands, it is careful and light, never a crushing or firm grip.

[4] Before chairs, the Lakȟóta man sat down upon the ground with crossed legs and straight back. Women sat upon the ground, knees together, calves tucked beneath their legs, feet extended behind or off to their side.

[5]Uŋčíšiis “mother-in-law.” As a rule, a man never spoke to his mother-in-law. If a man took issue with his in-laws, he spoke through his wife, and they in turn spoke through her. The reverse is true. Not speaking to one’s in-laws was considered polite and respectful.

[6] The stars, Wičáȟpi, were/are considered to be a nation of people. When one dies, or takes his or her last journey, his or her spirit goes to the heavens where he or she is received by all those who’ve gone before. The brightest stars in the Wanáği Tȟačháŋku (The Spirit Road, aka the Milky Way) are said to be the campfires of the spirits.

[7]Thiyópa, the door or door flap of the thiíkčeya (thípi, tipi, teepee).

[8] An exclamation of surprise, usually uttered by women.

[9] The Lakȟóta consider it impolite to make and maintain direct eye contact.

[10] Ziŋtkála Ša’s use of this word is probably in reference to what most Americas knew also as a “wikiup,” a temporary lodge made by bending saplings into a small dome. Sometimes it was covered with a robe or blanket. The Lakȟóta call this type of temporary lodging thiyúktaŋ.

[11] The Trickster! He had been masquerading as the Avenger so that he could marry the chieftain’s daughter!

[12] Ziŋtkála Ša uses an interesting turn of English words to describe a wičháagnakapi, or burial scaffold. In this case, the mock scaffold may have been erected to provide temporary share in the village.

[13] Ziŋtkála Ša uses the term “princess” to describe the chieftain’s daughter. The Lakȟóta do not have royalty. The use of the term here reflects when the story was recorded by Ziŋtkála Ša at the turn of 1900.

My Bow And Arrow Story

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George Catlin's "Game Of The Arrow."
Wičhóȟ’aŋ Itázipayata
The Tradition Of The Bow
By Dakota Wind
GREAT PLAINS, N.D. & S.D. – In my young boyhood days, my mother took me and my younger brother to live on the east coast in the city of Boston. I remember the longest most boring ride in my life from the prairie to the city. My mother had gotten a job there at the Boston Indian Council, nowadays, the North American Indian Center of Boston, but I’ll always remember it as the B.I.C.

I had long hair and wore it in braids. The American Indian population in an urban area is on the order of one percent of the population of Boston, about 6000 today, but I always felt – outside the B.I.C. – like the only Indian, and at school, I probably was.

I remember one time my mother taking us to a sports shop of some kind. There she bought a compound bow for herself and some wonderfully sharp arrowheads for hunting that my brother and I were fond of getting into no matter how many times we were warned. She bought us a bow too to keep us occupied, but probably so we could learn how to shoot.

One day, early morning, we caught a bus to New Hampshire, and then a ride out to a dirt road that lead us to a cabin along a creek there. I don’t remember much about the cabin other than it had two rooms. But outside there my mother put her bow and arrows to use. She also practiced throwing knives too and could stick a tree from perhaps fifty feet away, though my young perspective wants to magnify that distance to a hundred.

There in a cabin tucked away in the eastern woodlands my brother and I learned how to shoot a bow.

We moved back after a year or so. We lived outdoors along the Missouri River for a while there, then into the Episcopal Church, before my mother found us a place to live on Golf Hill. We practiced the bow off and on during this time, but it was after we got a place to live that we practiced most often. My mom got us a square bail of hay to hit that we set up behind the house.

Karl Bodmer's "Bison Hunt." The Plains Indian draw method is not clearly seen in this image (its a variation of what's called a pinch draw, at least what I was taught), but the hunter looks pretty cool hunting from astride a horse.

One day, my Lekší (uncle) Cedric called my brother and I into my lalá’s (grandfather’s) garage. There he had finished some ash bows. He had even rolled the sinew to make the bowstring too. He gave us instruction on how to care for the bow, and even how to draw it.

It followed then, that we should bring our arrows with us the next time we went to our grandmother’s. That day came soon, and my Lekší wasn’t home, but my other other Lekší, Jimmy, was. Uncle Jimmy saw that we had brought our arrows and urged us to take up those bows in the garage.

Later that afternoon Uncle Jimmy saw us shooting into the empty lot next door, and he came out to encourage us in our progress. He nodded many times and told us about an archery game in which we should shoot the arrow up as high as possible, and that the bravest soul would be the one who didn’t move from whence he shot.

Inspired by this revelation, but downplaying my growing anticipation I continued to fire into the empty lot with exaggerated nonchalance until my uncle grew either bored of my play or tired of the sun, I couldn’t tell. Assured of his absence when I heard the weather door slam pitifully shut. I reached for an arrow, nocked it with unconcealed expectation, aimed straight up into the heart of the sky and carelessly drew and released.

I saw it go up and vanish into the blue. My eyes burned with the afterimage of a green circle from following the arrow’s flight past the sun. And I waited.

Faster than I ever thought to anticipate, the arrow cut through the sky and quietly stuck into the earth perhaps a pace or two from where I stood. I could only look at the arrow. I didn’t know what to expect to feel. Relief that I didn’t hurt myself? Bravery that I stood stock still? Fear? If anything, I felt curious for a moment. I wondered what the arrow “saw” so far up. Was the arrow I shot the same as the one that fell?

I used to wonder things like that.

And I ran out of the way after shooting an arrow into the sky.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count

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The Medicine Bear Winter Count is a part of the Native American, Plains Indian, collection at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Purchased through the William S. Rubin Fund, the Guernsey Center Moore 1904 Memorial Fund, the William B. and Evelyn F. Jaffe (58, 60, & 63) Fund, the William B. and Evelyn A. Jaffe Hall Fund.
Waníyetu Wowápi Tȟá Matȟó Wakȟáŋ
The Winter Count Of Medicine Bear
By Dakota Wind
HANOVER, NH - A new era quietly began in the 1880's for Medicine Bear's band of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. The traditional homeland of the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna lies between the Mníšoše (Water-Astir; Missouri River) and Čaŋsáŋsaŋ Wakpá (White Birch River; James River), and south of Mní Wakȟáŋ (Water With-Energy; Spirit Lake) on the Northern Great Plains. 

The vast herds of the great providers, tȟatȟáŋka (bison), were diminished to a few scattered ganges struggling for survival in Yellowstone country. The Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (The Seven Council Fires; Great Sioux Nation) turned to trading for canvas to make their lodges. Cloth replaced the great bison robe too, in their winter counts. 

Medicine Bear was an itáŋčaŋ, one of four principle chiefs, of the Pȟabáksa (Cut-Head) division of the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna. He was forty years old when the reservation era, the time of nothing, began. By then he kept a winter count, a history of his band of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, rendered in his own hand, on muslin cloth. 

The waníyetu wowápi, winter count, is a pictographic record, a mnemonic device, in which each image represents a year with a story of the people. It is not a calendar, not in the sense that you can look ahead and see the next year, but to look back at previous years for as long as the winter count has been maintained. 

In the spring, the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna gathered and a council of leaders, medicine people, and elders would talk about the previous winter or winter. Major events were put forward to remember that year and tie all other stories of that year to that one outstanding event. It was brought out on occasion to share with other bands and tribes, the history of the years was shared communally. 

The Medicine Bear Winter Count entered into private hands in the early reservation period. Nearly a hundred years later, the winter count became part of the Native American collection at The Hood Museum of Art at the suggestion of Mr. Joseph Horse Capture. In 2015, Ms. Singer Horse Capture ('17, Dartmouth College), an intern at The Hood began research on the Medicine Bear Winter Count. 

Ms. Horse Capture offered this descriptive summary to accompany the winter count: The Great Sioux Nation,” or Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, which means “Seven Council Fires” are a large group of indigenous peoples who lived in the western Great Lakes Woodlands region and Great Plains of what is known today as North America. 

[The] Očhéthi Šakówiŋ has seven tribes spanning this geographic area, each of which have several bands and speak languages that fall under the “Siouan” language family, which is why these various groups are all often mistakenly referred to by the homogenous name “Sioux.” This name derives from a mis-transcription by the French of the word the Ojibwe (a Great Lakes Woodlands tribe) used to refer to them. 

One of these Seven Council Fires call themselves Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, which means “Little End Village,” but they are most commonly known as the Yanktonai [,a French corruption of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna]. Historically the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna lived between the Missouri River and the James River, and in Josephine Waggoner’s book “Witness” she states there are thirteen bands of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna. These thirteen groups were split among three different reservations in the late 1800’s, Standing Rock (Wičhíyena), Fort Peck (Wačhíŋča Oyáte), and Crow Creek (Húŋkpathi). This winter count is from Medicine Bear’s band. They were confined to the Standing Rock Reservation and refer to themselves as Wičhíyena and speak Dakȟóta.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count has been correlated with the Blue Thunder Winter Count (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna),the High Dog Winter Count (variously listed as Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna and Huŋkphápȟa), both at the State Historical Society of North Dakota, the Chandler-Pohrt Winter Count at the Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, MI, and the John K. Bear Winter Count (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna). Mr. Mike Cowdrey, a cultural expert, had also rendered a nearly complete interpretation of the Medicine Bear Winter Count. The Lakota Language Consortium standard has been used to write the text of each entry in Dakȟóta. 

Here follows the Medicine Bear Winter Count:


Entries 1 through 10 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1823 (1): Wahúwapa šéča ȟápi waníyetu kiŋ (Ears-of-corn dried bury-they winter the). That winter they cached parched ears of corn.

1824 (2): Ȟaȟátȟuŋwaŋ ób kičhízapi. Čhaŋkáškapi yuȟdéčapi ([Water] Fall-dwellers with fight-they. Fence-fortification to-tear-apart-they). They fought with the Chippewa. They tore their palisades to pieces.

1825 (3): Mní wičhát’E (Water many-dead). Dead bodies in the water.

1826 (4): Tȟaspáŋna Wakpána éd waníthipi (Apple-[Little] Creek at winter-camp). They made winter camp at Apple Creek.

1827 (5): Wičháakiȟ’aŋ na wičháša čheȟpí yútA, Isáŋyathi (Starvation and people flesh to-eat-something, Santee). In their desperate hunger, the Santee ate their own.

1828 (6): Wakáŋkadaŋ ób kičhízapi (Thunder-beings with fight-they). They fought with the Thunder Beings.

1829 (7): Makhú Šá čhaŋkáğa thípi káğA Hiŋháŋ Wakpá éd (Breast-bone Red trimmed-logs lodge to-build Owl River at). Red Breast built a cabin on Owl River (Moreau River).

1830 (8): Pȟadáni ób kičhízapi kiŋ (Arikara with fight-they the). They fought with the Arikara.

1831 (9): Nuŋpá kičhíkte (Two killed-each-other). Two men killed each other.

1832 (10): Thí tȟáŋka obléča káğapi (Lodge big square-sides built-they). They built a large cabin.


Entries 11-20 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1833 (11): Wičháȟpi hiŋȟpáya (Star-Nation to-fall-down). The stars fell down.

1834 (12): Matȟó kičhí waníthipi, Čhaŋté Wakpá éd (Bear with winter-camp, Heart River at). They made winter camp with a bear, at Heart River.

1835 (13): Wičhíyena óta wičhákasotapi waníyetu (Wičhíyena many massacre-they winter). Many Upper Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) were massacred that winter.

1836 (14): Tȟatȟáŋka Iŋyáŋke tȟóka kte na thi akdí kiŋ (Bison-[Bull] Running enemy kill and camp return the). Running Bull killed an enemy and returned to camp.

1837 (15): Wičháȟaŋȟaŋ tȟaŋká (Smallpox big). There was an epidemic of smallpox.

1838 (16): Wičháȟaŋȟaŋ aktá (Smallpox again). Another epidemic of smallpox.

1839 (17): Pté sáŋ ktépi (Bison-[Cow] creamy-white kill-they). They killed a female white bison.

1840 (18): Tȟámina Wé Padáni ob kičhize waktékdi (His-Knife Blood Arikara with fight return-in-victory). His Bloody Knife returned in victory from a fight against the Arikara.

1841 (19): Itáŋčhaŋ ktépi (Leader kill-they). They killed a chief.

1842 (20): Tȟatȟáŋka Oyé Wakȟáŋ t’Á. Wakhéya kdézena uŋ wičháknakapi. (Bison-Bull Tracks With-Energy died. Lodge striped using above-the-ground [buried]-they). Holy Buffalo Tracks dies. They laid him to rest in a striped thípi.


Entries 21-30 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1843 (21): Čhaŋčéğa Yuhá ečíyapi ptehíko (Drum Has called-by-name-them bison-to-attract). Drum Owner called the bison.

1844 (22): Wíŋyaŋ onákte (woman prairie-fire-killed). A woman died in a prairie fire.

1845 (23): Huŋkádowaŋpi (Singing-over-a-relative-they). They sang over someone in ceremony and made a relative.

1846 (24): Šuŋg’híŋzi áwičakdipi (Horse-teeth-yellow captured-return-they). They brought back horses with yellow teeth.

1847 (25): Wašíču nuŋpá kičhí waníthi (Takes-The-Fat two with winter-camp). Two white traders camped with them that winter.

1848 (26): Kičhí ktépi (Each-other killed-they). They killed each other.

1849 (27): WatȟókhiyopȟeyA čhúŋkaške éd waníthipi (To-Trade fort at winter-camp). They wintered at a trading post.

1850 (28): Wópȟetȟuŋ waŋ Wičhíyena ópi. Matȟó Núŋpa thíŋktes’a t’eyÁ (Trader a Wičhíyena wound. Bear Two murderer-would-be caused-to-die). An Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna wounds a trader. Two Bear puts the would-be murderer to death.

1851 (29): Heȟáka šá kútepi (Elk red hunted-they). They hunted a red elk.

1852 (30): Matȟó Wašté ečíyapi ptehíko (Bear Good called-them-by-name bison-to-attract). Good Bear called the bison.


Entries 31-35 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1853 (31): Hé Tópa uŋ waŋ ktépi (Horn/s Four wearing a killed-they). They killed a man wearing a headdress with four horns.

1854 (32): Waníyetu kičhízapi (Winter fight-they). They had a fight that winter.

1855 (33): Phuthíŋ Ská wawáhoye kiŋ (Beard White to-order-things the). White Beard [General William Harney] gave the order.

1856 (34): Wapȟáha waŋ yuk’ézapi (Warbonnet in-particular to-shear-off-they). In a fight, he sheared a war-bonnet off [the enemy’s head].

1857 (35): Tȟatȟáŋka Ináži wiŋyáŋ áwičakdi (Bison-[Bull] Standing woman captured-returned-with). Standing Bull brought back a captive woman.


Entries 36-45 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1858 (36): Waŋbdí Hoȟpí t’Á (Eagle Nest died). Eagle Nest died.

1859 (37): Wókapȟaŋ paŋȟya (Meat-block/pemmican very-much). Much pemmican.

1860 (38): Šuŋkawakȟaŋ óta áwičakdipi (Horses many captured-returned-with). They returned with many captured horses.

1861 (39): Hitȟúŋkasaŋ Dúta šuŋkawakȟaŋ óta áwičakdi aktá (Weasel Red horses many captured-returned-with again). Red Weasel returned with many captured horses.

1862 (40): Kȟaŋğí tópa ktépi (Crow four killed-they). They killed four Crow.

1863 (41): Akíčhita Pȟá Tȟáŋka kaškápi. Kdí na t’Á (Soldier/s Head Big imprisoned. Return and die). Soldiers imprisoned Big Head. He returned and died.

1864 (42): Wíŋyaŋ nuŋpá ktépi (Woman two killed-they). They killed two women.

1865 (43): Pȟatkâša Pȟá čhapȟÁ t’ekíyA (Jugular-vein-scarlet Head [Western Painted Turtle] stab to-cause-one’s-own-death). Turtle Head was stabbed to death.

1866 (44): Wóoyake Wičháša ktépi (Story Man killed-they). They killed Storyteller.

1867 (45): Waníyetu osní (Winter cold). It was a cold dark winter.


Entries 46 through 50 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1868 (46): Itázipčho akézaptaŋ t’Á (Without-Bows fifteen died). Fifteen members of the Itázipčho (Sans Arc) died.

1869 (47): Kȟaŋğí wičháša wikčémna yámni wičháktepi (Crow men ten three men-killed-they). They fought and killed thirty Crow men.

1870 (48): Tȟatȟáŋka Witkó t’Á (Bison-Bull Crazy died). Crazy Bull died.

1871 (49): Witkówiŋ nuŋpá ktépi (Crazy-women two killed-they). They killed two prostitutes.

1872 (50): Wakhéya Šáya t’Á (Lodge Red-Painted died). Red Painted Lodge died.


Entries 51 through 58 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1873 (51): Šuŋkawakȟaŋ nuŋpá áwičakdipi (Horses two captured-returned-with). They returned with two captured horses.

1874 (52): Wičháša zaptáŋ ahí ktépi (Men five came-here killed-they). They killed five of them.

1875 (53): Tȟóka nuŋwaŋki napá (enemy swim-home escape). The enemy escaped by swimming home.

1876 (54): Heȟáka t’Á (Elk died). Elk died.

1877 (55): Waníyetu snižé (Winter withering). A withering year. Šuŋk’akaŋyaŋkapi akíčhita tȟašúŋkawakȟaŋpi oyás’iŋ waíč’iyápi (Horse-riding-they soldiers horses-belonging-to-them all-of-a-kind to-take-things-they). The cavalry took all their horses.

1878 (56): Tȟašúŋke Máza ktépi (Horse Iron killed-they). They killed Iron Horse.

1879 (57): Wapȟáha Sápa šuŋkawakȟaŋ óta áwičakdi (Warbonnet Black horse many captured-returned-with). Black Warbonnet led a successful horse raid.

1880 (58): Phizí thí (Gall lodge). Gall lodge. Rev. Aaron Beede notes that this year soldiers had fired into Gall’s camp on the Tongue River.


Entries 59-61 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1881 (59): Wakíŋyaŋ Nuŋpá ktépi (Thunder Two killed-they). They killed Two Thunder.

1882 (60): Kȟaŋğí wičháša yámni hípi (Crow men three came-they). Three Crow men came to them.

1883 (61): Matȟó Wakȟáŋ t’Á (Bear With-Energy died). Holy Bear died.


Entries 62-69 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1884 (62): Makȟá k’apí (Earth dug-they). They dug earth.

1885 (63): Waȟúŋ Nap’íŋ t’Á (Burning Necklace died). Burning Necklace died.

1886 (64): Wakȟáŋpahomni ktépi (With-Energy-Turns killed-they). They killed Turns Holy.

1887 (65): Maȟpíya Hétoŋ mníwani kté (Cloud Horn Turning kill). Turning Horn Cloud was killed.

1888 (66): Išúŋmanuŋ t’Á (Fails-To-Steal died). Does Not Steal died.

1889 (67): Šuŋkawakȟaŋ waŋ kiíyaŋkdi t’Á (Horse a race-horse died). A race horse died.

1890 (68): Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ktépi (Bison-Bull Sitting-Down killed they). They killed Sitting Bull.

1891 (69): Matȟó Napé t’Á (Bear Hand died). Bear Hand died.


Entries 70-71 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1892 (70): Waŋbdí Tȟaŋka t’Á (Eagle Big died). Big Eagle died.

1893 (71): Šúŋkawakȟaŋ khí mázaska wikčémna tópa otóiyohi (Horse take-away iron-white ten four each-and-every-one). $40.00 for each horse taken away. Pté wakpámni (Cow a-distribution-of). Cattle were issued.


Entries 72-81 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1894 (72): Isáŋyathi hokšína waŋ katáiyeičiya (Santee boy shot-himself). A Santee boy shot himself.

1895 (73): Waŋbdí Dúta t’Á (Red Eagle died). Red Eagle died.

1896 (74): Mázawakȟaŋ nakȟí’ȟma akdí (Iron-With-Energy To-Conceal-One’s-Own return). He hid his gun upon his return.

1897 (75): Čhaŋtéya t’Á (His-Heart died). His Heart died.

1898 (76): Šuŋká Haŋská t’Á (Dog Long died). Long Dog died.

1899 (77): Iŋyáŋšana t’Á (Stone-Red-[familiar-diminutive] died). Little Red Stone died.

1900 (78): Iyá Taníyaŋ Wiŋ t’Á (Voice Visible Woman died). Visible Voice Woman died.

1901 (79): Ičhápsite Máza t’Á (Whip Iron died). Iron Whip died.

1902 (80): Sihá Wó’heyuŋ waŋ tȟawíŋ ičhíu kté (Foot Bundle a his-wife with kill). Bundle Foot and his wife were killed.

1903 (81): Wamánuŋ šičá waŋ ktépi (To-steal-things bad a kill-they). They killed a thief.


Entries 82-83 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1904 (82): Wapȟáha Sápa t’Á (Warbonnet Black died). Black Warbonnet died.

1905 (83): Háŋpa Zí atéyapi (Moccasin Yellow for-whom-they-have-for-a-father). They have Yellow Moccasins for their agent.


Entries 84-93 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1906 (84): Čhetáŋ Wakhúwa t’Á (Hawk To-Hunt/Chase died). Chasing Hawk died.

1907 (85): Waŋbdí Wakȟáŋ katáiyeičiya (Eagle With-Energy shot-himself). Holy Eagle shot himself.

1908 (86): Sisíthuŋwaŋ mázaska kičhúpi (Sisseton iron-white [silver] to-restore-something-to-someone-them). The Sisseton Dakota received a payment due to them.

1909 (87): IyÁ Kičhúŋnipi t’Á (To-Speak To-Desist-Something-They died). They Stopped Talking died.

1910 (88): Tȟáŋka Sitómniyaŋ Dúta t’Á (Big All-Over-In-Every-Direction Red died). Big Red All Over died.

1911 (89): Wakȟáŋheža našlípi (Children measles-they). Measles struck the children.

1912 (90): ThikhíyA núŋpa (Houses two). Two houses.

1913 (91): ThikhíyA ilé (House to-burn). A house burned.

1914 (92): Wašíču núŋpa (White-men two). Two white men.

1915 (93): Šá Ič’íya t’Á (Red To-[Paint]-One’s-Self died). Paints Himself Red died.


Entries 94 & 95 of the Medicine Bear Winter Count.

1916 (94): Wíyaka Wašténa t’Á (Feather Beautiful died). Beautiful Feather died.

1917 (95): Matȟó Ókde t’Á (Bear Shirt/Coat died). Bear Coat died.

The High Dog Winter Count

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The High Dog Winter Count can be seen at the North Dakota Heritage Center. Image courtesy of the SHSND.
Waníyetu Wówapi Šúŋka Waŋkátuya Kiŋ
The High Dog Winter Count
By Dakota Wind
BISMARCK, N.D. - Šúŋka Waŋkátuya (Dog On-High), or High Dog, was a member of the Huŋkphápȟa Lakȟóta people. He is also variously listed as Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) Dakȟóta people. His winter count recalls events of both the Huŋkphápȟa and Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna peoples.

High Dog's winter count as presented here includes Rev. Aaron Beede's original transcription for each entry, which has been re-rendered using the Lakota Language Consortium's standard orthgraphy, followed by additional information and commentary. Beede purchased the High Dog Winter Count in 1912 from High Dog for $8.00. Adjusting for inflation, $8.00 in 1912 is equivalent to $200 in 2015. 

1798:  Wiya ka tota an apicilo wapi.
Wiyáka tȟotȟó uŋ akíčilowaŋpi (Lit. Feathers blue-blue to-use-something singing-praise-they). They sang praises using very blue feathers.

           It was agreed to among the people that any one of the tribe who was seen wearing the blue feathers should be an example to others in virtue and goodness, and should be esteemed by all as a guardian of the "nation." Four men at that time were set apart with the blue feathers.

           By an old ceremony men were set apart as “Atéyapi” (Fathers) and women as "Ináyapi" (mothers). By this ceremony these people were chosen as leaders in the tribe, and their admonitions were heeded.

           Sometimes a small child was raised to this class because of a portent at his or her birth that indicated his or her superior wisdom. Grown persons were raised to this class on account of some distinguished service to the tribe, as well as for manifest wisdom and foresight in affairs. Those raised to this class while they were babes are said to have been generally the most satisfactory administrators of justice. Such children received careful training both from those previously raised to this class and also from their grandmothers.

           They were taught to admonish with discretion and with gentleness, to honor and respect each and every one of every age and themselves; to be kind to dogs and all animals. If one of this class proved unworthy, one was not deposed, but from that time on, or until one had purged oneself of old offenses and adopted better manners one had small influence in the council-meetings, yet the people still respected him or her.

           As men were gifted with blue feathers to designate their worthiness, women were gifted with blue glass pendants they wore proudly upon their forehead, though this practice has long since faded.

Kȟaŋpéska Imánipi Wiŋ (Walking On The Shell Woman), a wife of Matȟó Watȟákpe (Charging Bear; John Grass), was among the last Lakȟóta women to have possessed one of what they called Maȟpíya Tȟó, or a Blue Cloud Stone. The stone was actually a flat blue polished piece of glass, possibly volcanic, which was melted and poured into a sand or clay mold. The stone was made by a woman of virtue, and only one was given a year. When it was worn, the woman was held in high esteem by all as good and honorable, a role model for all women.[1]

1799:  Iaske wasicu tako mako el  hi.
Čhaské wašíču tokhíya makȟó el hi (First-born-son takes-the-fat therefore country there came). A white man [they knew as] Čhaské came to their country.

A white man they called Čhaské came to live permanently among them for the sole purpose of trade. Previously, traders had come and gone after a short stay.

The Lakȟóta people have birth order names they call their children by, though the tradition of doing so is rarely practiced today.

Birth Order                  Male                            Female
First                             Čhaské                        Witȟókapȟa/Winúŋna
Second                        Hepȟáŋ                       Hapȟáŋ
Third                            Hepí                            Hepíštana
Fourth                          Čhatáŋ                        Waŋská
Fifth                             Hakéla[2]                     Wiháke
Sixth                            Hakáta                        Hakáta
Seventh                       Čhekpá                       Čhekpá[3]

The fifth born son is called Haké or Hakéla, which is sometimes used to address the last born son. The seventh born son/daughter is called Čhekpá (Navel).

Howard suggests an additional translation to this year’s entry: Iyéska wašíču tokhíya makȟó el hi (Clear-talker takes-the-fat therefore country there came), or, “A white translator came to their country.”[4]

1800:  Capo ati wan miniyawe yapi.
Čhápa otí waŋ mníyawe yápi (Beaver dwelling there water-drawing go-they). [It was so cold] they drew water from beaver holes [in the ice].

           This was an exceptionally dry summer. Tȟatíye Tópa (the Four Winds) drank up the streams.  Women lay in distress in their lodges on account of the heat. They believed Wí (the Sun) was angry with the people over an unexplained misdeed, and so withered the grass and foliage.

The birds went to the great rivers far away, and sat in the thicket mum. The flowers were all gone. The buffalo went away. A harsh winter followed, and it was so cold that the water was sometimes drawn from beaver holes.

1801:  Tahi an akicilo wapi.
Theȟí uŋ akíčilowanpi (Difficult-times of sang-with-each-other-they). They sang together during a difficult period.

           At this meeting the horsetail was adopted as an insignia, or badge, for a “leader.” The horse had become important to the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires; Great Sioux Nation) though only a portion of them had horses as yet. The horse was regarded as a sacred animal.

1802:  Sir gugu lo awicakilipi.
Šúŋg’ğuğú ló, áwičaglipi (Horse-curly-hair declarative, returned-with-they). They returned with curly-haired horses.

           The Huŋkphápȟa, while at war with the Crow, took some curly-haired horses from them. This battle occurred southeast of Ȟesápa (the Black Hills). A favorite hunting and camping spot located in this locale is Pté Tȟathíyopa (Buffalo Gap, SD).[5]

A first encounter of the horse can be found in the Drifting Goose Winter Count, an Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna record. In this account, 1692 is remembered as “Šuŋgnúŋi óta kiŋ,” or the year they saw many wild horses.[6]

The American Horse Winter Count recalls a conflict at this time involving the Oglála, Sičáŋğu, Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, and Šahíyela (Cheyenne) in a united campaign against the Kȟaŋğí (the Crow).[7]

The earliest account of a horse stealing raid can be found in the Brown Hat Winter Count (Oglála), in which 1708 is recalled as the year they stole horses from the Omaha.[8]

1803:  Saki mazo awicakilipi.
Šaké máza áwičaglipi (Hoof iron returned-with-they). They returned with iron-shod horses.

           The Huŋkphápȟa captured some shod horses from the Crow, and concluded that the Crow were somehow in alliance with white men. This was the first time they had seen shoes on horses, though they were aware white men’s horses wore them, and some horses of the white men were trained to strike an enemy with these iron implements.

1804:  Kangi wicasa 8 wicaktipi.
Kȟaŋği wičáša šaglóğan wičháktepi (Crow man/men eight killed-they). A Crow war-party came and killed eight of them.

           Eight Lakȟóta were killed by the Crow in a running battle. This occurred near Ȟesápa. Ȟesápa was contested territory between the Crow, Shoshone, the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, and the Thítȟuŋwaŋ (Teton). Though the native people may have contested over Ȟesápa, but the hills were sacred to all.

1805:  Nam wicakogipapi.
Núm wičhá kȟokípȟapi (Two men were-afraid-of-they). Two men [Crow] attacked the Lakȟóta camp.

The battle was long and well fought. The Crow had ridden double on a horse, which proved to put them at a terrible disadvantage; the Lakȟóta won out.

Kevin Locke (Standing Rock) phrases the concept for riding double upon a horse as “Núm akáŋ yaŋkápi.”[9]

1806:  Akile luto an wan kitipi.
Ógle Lúta uŋ waŋ ktépi (Shirt Red a the killed-they). They killed a man wearing a red shirt.

           In a battle with the Crow, a Huŋkphápȟa leader called Red Shirt was slain. He was considered very brave because at one point in the fight he had bravely recovered the body of a fallen Lakȟóta warrior.

1807:  Fu we yo wan ktepi.
Tuŋwéya waŋ ktépi (Scout the killed-they). They killed a scout.

           A Huŋkphápȟa leader, whom they called Scout, was killed by the Crow.

           The Lakȟóta scout/s were carefully selected for either the hunt or for war. They should have the essential qualities of courage, having a good sense or wariness, truthfulness and having a good sense of the landscape. No more than two are sent in the same direction. By the latter half of the nineteenth century, scouts carried with them a small mirror and a field glass. Upon sight of his thiyóšpaye (a division of a tribe; extended family) he flashed his mirror if sunlight permitted, or howled like a wolf. If there were no immediate danger (i.e. enemy) the scout told his story in four parts to the Itȟáŋčhaŋ (leader; headman) or blotáhuŋka (war-party leader). If the threat were immediate, the scout quickly shared his intelligence.

           The Plains Indian sign for scout is the same for wolf: hold the right hand, palm out, near one’s right shoulder, first and second fingers extended, remaining fingers and thumb closed, followed by a movement of this hand forward and slightly upward.[10]

1808:  Pahato i wan ktepi.
Paháta í waŋ ktépi (To-the-hill on-account-of certain killed-they). They killed a man who went to the hill [to scout].

           The Huŋkphápȟa sent a scout to find where the buffalo were as they were nearly out of meat. The Crow killed him.

1809:  Taka suki ku woahiyu wega.
Tȟáŋka šúŋg’ičú wóečhuŋ wéhaŋ (Big horse-take event last-spring). [They had] a big horse-stealing raid last spring.

           The Huŋkphápȟa crossed the Mníšoše (Water-Astir; Missouri River) and captured a large number of stray horses on the east bank. This gave them a better supply of horses than they ever had before. They say this crossing was made at a place a few days travel north of present-day Pierre, S.D. Perhaps this location is Šiná Tȟó Wakpána (Blue Blanket Creek), near present-day Mobridge, S.D.

1810:  Wicogogotaka.
Wičáȟȟaŋ tȟáŋka (Smallpox big). Epidemic of smallpox.

           Smallpox struck them in winter causing a great loss of life.

           The earliest pictographic record of their encounter with smallpox is seen in the 1735-1736 winter of the Brown Hat Winter Count which is remembered as “Used them up with belly ache winter.” In this account, about fifty people died from an eruptive disease which also caused pain in the bowels. The pictograph depicts eruptions on a single figure indicating sores on the body and pain in the stomach.[11]

1811:  Capa cigalo ti ile.
Čhápa Čík’ala thí ilé (Beaver Little lodge on-fire). Little Beaver’s cabin caught fire.

            A white man came to live with them. He built a small log house. He was a small man and was inclined to stay in his house a good deal, so they named him Little Beaver. The Brown Hat Winter Count says that this man was an English trader.[12]

1812:  8 ahi wicaktipi.
Šaglóğaŋ ahí wičátkepi (eight came killed-they). They came and killed eight.

           The Huŋkphápȟa were camping along the east side of Ȟesápa. The Crow attacked them and were driven back, however they killed eight Lakȟóta. The Huŋkphápȟa beat and killed one Crow who was left behind in the fight. According to Swift Dog, the Crow war party consisted of ten warriors of whom the Huŋkphápȟa killed eight.[13]

1813:  Mato cigalo ahikitipi kin.
Matȟó Čík’ala ahí ktépi (Bear Little came killed-they). [The enemy] came and killed Little Bear.

           The Lakȟóta fought with the Crow. Little Bear, a leader of the Huŋkphápȟa band of Lakȟóta, was killed.

Rev. Aaron Beede questioned the Thítȟuŋwaŋ to some great depth about the War of 1812 which was then being fought in Wisconsin and beyond. In fact, they had known of the war and had believed that all Indians should keep out of it entirely until “the Whitemen [sic] had eaten up each other." They hoped an opportunity would then open and then they would have seizes the chance to regain territory as far east and south as possible. To Beede’s surprise, he discovered that this was discussed in great detail among the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ.[14]

           As many as 700 Isáŋyathi (Santee; Eastern Sioux or Dakota) and Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) joined the English under the British Indian Trade Agent Col. Robert Dickson, whose wife was a Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ Dakȟóta named Ištá Tȟó Wiŋ (Blue Eyes Woman).

           Dickson’s father-in-law was Wakíŋyaŋ Lúta (Red Thunder); his brother-in-law was Waná’átA (The Charger; Waneta). Waná’átA actively recruited among the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and pursued conflict against the encroaching Americans. He rallied the English and Dakȟóta alike at Battle of Sandusky in Ohio, which was where he received the name Waná’átA, after he survived being shot nine times. He later met King George IV and President Van Buren.[15]

1814:  Wito Pahato an wan ko gugapi.
Wítáya pȟeȟáŋ tȟó úŋ waŋ kaȟúğapi (Gathered-together Head Blue use by-means-of smashed-into-they). At a gathering they [he] split the skull of Blue Head [a Crow].

           An enemy, whose forehead was painted blue, came to the Lakȟóta camp on pretense of visiting a friend or relative among them. He was slain by a strike in the head with a buffalo bone. This same year is recorded in the Brown Hat Winter Count as “Smashed a Kiowa’s head in winter,” and depicts a tomahawk on top of a Kiowa’s head.[16]Lone Dog, an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, says that this was an Arapaho whose head was cleft.[17]

           James Howard transcribed the Lakȟóta text as: Wítapaha tȟó úŋ waŋ kaȟúğapi (Lit. Kiowa blue wearing a they-clubbed-him-on-the-skull), which translates freely as, “They smashed a blue-wearing Kiowa’s head.”[18]The Lakȟóta word for Kiowa (also “Osage” according to Rev. Buechel) is: Wítapahatu.[19]

The pictograph High Dog rendered clearly depicts a Crow with a blue forehead.

1815:  Wamanu wan cehupa wawegopi.
Wamánuŋ waŋ čhehúpa wayúȟlokApi (Thief in-the-act-of jaw bored they). They bored the jaw of a thief.

           A Lakȟóta stole a horse from another Lakȟóta, and was punished by having his jaw bored with an awl so that the mark would always be a visible brand upon him. They say this was the first theft ever known committed by a Lakȟóta against another Lakȟóta. The thief got the idea after hearing about a powerful white man on the frontier who would steal horses from other white men.

1816:  Nampa wakte akili.
Núŋpa wakté aglí (Two to-have-done-killing-in-battle return [in-triumph]). A warrior returned victorious from battle with two war honors.

           According to Beede’s informants, this year marks an occasion in which the Lakȟóta were engaged in one particular battle against the Crow. The Lakȟóta war-party is said to have used hoops with horsetails affixed to them which they used to signal one another. Beede suggests that the Lakȟóta were badly beaten in this conflict and that a new interpretation of this year’s story was given to the next generation to cover up this loss.

           The waktégli is still remembered and practiced on Standing Rock today. In particular, this event is held to commemorate the Little Bighorn fight, as much to celebrate the last great victory against invading US military as to remember the price of that victory. Beede’s conjecture that the Lakȟóta were badly beaten is not true. An interpretation of the text and imagery suggests that a war party went and fought against the Crow, only one returned, but he returned victorious against the Crow, and recounted the sacrifices of his fellows against the enemy. The sole survivor of the war party returned with only his two war honors, scalps affixed to hoops (not horse tails).

           Perhaps Beede’s informants chose only to give the barest information about the waktégli, which left an open interpretation of the event for Beede.

1817:  Hico ti taka awakicago.
Héčhe, thí tȟáŋka awákičağa (In-that-way, lodge big to-make-things-on-behalf-of-someone). In the traditional manner, [they] held a memorial give-away which included the gift of a lodge.

           Buffalo Bull’s son died. His name was Buzz. Buzz’ pipe was kept and wrapped in a white bison skin for one year. When a year had passed, his family gave away his belongings.

           Beede’s informants, again, seemed reluctant to share little beyond the fact that Buzz’ soul was kept for a year and then released. A memorial celebration, a feed and a give-away, was held a year later. This practice, or rite, is still carried by many of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ today.

1818:  Maka wablu wanitipi.
Makȟá woblú waníthipi (earth wind-blowing-fine-particles-of wintercamp). A dust storm struck their winter camp.

           There was a great windy dust storm which blew the winter camp to pieces. A dusty storm in winter would seem to indicate a dry winter with little or no snow. Howard’s narrative says that many people starved this winter.

1819:  Gasepih ian bulu an tekaga.
Čhozé čhaŋpúpuŋ uŋ thikáğa (Čhozé wood-rotten there to-build-a-house). Čhozé, a trapper/trader, built a cabin using rotten wood.

           Beede’s notes reveal little more, other than replacing “Čhozé” with “Joseph.” Other winter counts with Lakȟóta text refer to the trader’s name as “Čhozé.”

There were two Josephs at the time, both employed by the American Fur Company, who might be the Joseph remembered here: Joseph Neumanville (a clerk) on the Grand River, and Joseph Schindler (an assistant), also assigned to the Grand River. It could easily be another “Joseph” whom this entry could be referring.[20]

Garrick Mallery asserts that this trader was the French trader Joseph La Framboise.[21]

1820:  Wi ihablo iyawaci kin.
Wí iháŋbla iyé wačhí kiŋ (Sun dream that-one dance the). Someone dreamed about the sundance that time.

           Beede writes, “The Sioux in this summer celebrated for the first time in their history the sundance. They had known of it before, but had never used it.” Beede’s informants tell him that medicine men of great repute at that time had persuaded the Lakȟóta to use this sacred dance which would give them power to resist the threatened inroads of the white men, and so they adopted it as part of their customs.

Beede’s informants tell him that from that time on the medicine men replaced the Wósnakağápi (they who make sacrifices), the traditional priests.

It may be an indication of the times that Beede writes from, the Christianized and civilized post-reservation era, or that his informants didn’t wish to share the fact that there are different kinds of medicine men and women. Many of the traditional practices went quietly underground and stayed quiet because they were made illegal. It wasn’t until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 that traditional practices were allowed to be practiced in the open without legal consequence.

The earliest pictographic record of the sundance ceremony is remembered in the Drifting Goose Winter Count in 1713, but this does not mean that this is the first time they performed the ceremony.[22]

1821:  Wicagipi wan hatu hiyaye.
Wičáȟpi waŋ hotȟúŋ hiyáye (Star the cry-out-characteristically-of-a-species to-come-and-pass-by). A star cried out as it passed.

           Beede’s informants tell him that a star (he supposes that perhaps it could also have been a comet) fell while it was reverberating in the air. The location is unknown.

           The meteor likely never actually struck the ground. The sound was probably produced in the wake of its passage across the sky, and it burned up.

           The Drifting Goose Winter Count recalls a similar event in 1741, as a buzzing or humming heard throughout the land. James Howard suggests that the event was a diurnally occurring bolide (an exploding meteor), which, when entering the atmosphere, produces a sonic boom.[23]

           The Brown Hat Winter Count also demarcates this year’s event as “Star passed by with a loud noise winter,” and notes, too, that this is the first time that whiskey was furnished to them. Many died from excessive use of this hard liquor.[24]

1822:  Sunko wan a gi cuwita ta.
Šúŋka Wanáği čhuwíta t’A (Dog Spirit to-be-cold died). Spirit Dog froze to death.

           A leader named Ghost Dog went out hunting and froze to death. Frank Zahn (Standing Rock), one of Howard’s informants, added that Ghost Dog was the son of Makȟá Ȟóta (Gray Earth).[25]

1823:  Wahu wapaseco ir api.
Wahúwapa šéča ȟápi (Ear-of-corn dried to-bury-they). They cached parched ears of corn.

           The Lakȟóta went to war with the Crow, and some white men stole their corn while they were away. Beede’s informants tell him that the Húŋphapȟa had adopted the Miwátani (Mandan) practice of agriculture, meaning that they grew corn, squash, and beans.

           1823 also marks the first U.S. military campaign against a Plains Indian tribe, in this case, the Arikara. The Arikara had been killing white men, specifically men of the American Fur Company, after they received word of the death of one of their chiefs who was selected to go east to meet President Jefferson. He died out east, and when word of his death eventually came to the Arikara, they suspected treachery.[26]

Subsequently, Col. Leavenworth was dispatched up the Missouri River in a punitive campaign against the Arikara. About 700-750 of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ fought under Leavenworth’s command in this Missouri Legion. At the end of the campaign, when the Arikara were utterly defeated and chased out of their villages, their fields of corn were seized by the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ for their use. Many other winter counts recall this fight with the Arikara.[27]

1824:  Pte wan sayapi.
Pté waŋ sayápi (Bison-cow creamy-white-painted-they). They painted a female bison horn creamy white [in ceremony].

           Beede’s informants tell him of a ceremony in which they anointed a buffalo horn with clay and hung it near the camp so as to make the buffalo come. The clay used was the same as that with which was applied to the breastbones of the scouts as they were about to go into the Little Bighorn fight.

1825:  Mini wicata.
Mní wičhat’Á (Water them-died). Many had died by drowning.

           They were camping on the bottomlands of the Mníšoše that spring when an unprecedented rise of water quickly drowned over one half of the people. They say that this happened on the east bank of the river, opposite of the mouth of the Cannonball River. The Dakȟóta call this place Étu Pȟá Šuŋg t’Á (Lit. Place Head Horse Dead; Dead Horse Head Point) because, following the flood, the shore was lined with dead horse heads. They had corralled their horses for the night and nearly all were drowned but for a few.

           Howard’s interpretation of this event mentions that over one-half of the people drowned.[28]

1826:  Magalo waktipili.
Mağála waktéglipi (Goose [familiar suffix] to-have-done-killing-in-battle-return-they). Little Goose [and his war party] returned from battle with war honors.

           Beede’s translation says that it was a man named “Corn Stalk,” a famous Lakȟóta chief who went to war against the Crow and returned with scalps. The Lakȟóta text clearly says “Little Goose,” and not “Corn Stalk.”

           High Dog, in fact, depicted a man with a name glyph of Corn Stalk. The figure is also depicted holding a scalp stick that is similar to other entries regarding the waktégli (the victorious return from battle, having killed the enemy).

1827:  Wasima Piso ahampi.
WašmÁ psóhaŋpi (Deep-snow snowshoes). The snow was so deep that they used snowshoes.

           Beede writes that this is the “first time they used snowshoes.” Howard concurs. Likely, this is the first time that Beede and Howard have seen the Lakȟóta reference snowshoes; the use of snowshoes was not unknown. They were hunting near Ȟesápa.

1828:  Mato Paha el wanitipi.
Matȟó Pahá él waníthipi (Bear Butte at winter-camp-they). They established winter camp at Bear Butte.

Ȟesápa, or the Black Hills, is the very heartland of the Lakȟóta people. 

1829:  Wata sakiyapi.
Watásakiyapi (Wa-tȟasáka-ya-pi). ([Bison] meat frozen going-there-they). They came across frozen bison meat.

           They came across a man, shot and frozen, on the prairie that winter. They referred to him as “Frozen On The Prairie.” Beede suspects that this man had an unsuccessful bison hunt, and as he lay dying in the cold, that he shot himself rather than succumb to a slow freezing death in the open. It is also possible that the man was shot by an enemy and left for dead.

           The Lakȟóta text clearly indicates that the Huŋkphápȟa came across frozen bison meat that winter. High Dog’s depiction indicates that a man was shot. There is no name glyph that accompanies the pictograph, nor is there anything to distinguish the dead man.

1830:  Kagi wicosa 8 wicaktipi.
Kȟaŋğí wičháša šaglóğaŋ wičháktepi (Crow men eight killed-they). In a fight with the Crow, they killed eight of them.

           Beede’s notes refer to this as a battle in which many were killed.

1831:  Istozi kaskapi.
Ištá Zí kaškápi (Eyes Yellow imprisoned-they). They imprisoned Yellow Eyes.
           
           The Dakȟóta referred to this particular white trader as Yellow Eyes. Beede refers to him as Trader Brown. This year Yellow Eyes shot and killed a Dakȟóta man who drove him to jealousy on account of the man’s indiscretion with Yellow Eyes’ wife. This was considered a just penalty for such an offense, however, such was seldom committed.

           Yellow Eyes is likely to be the Lakȟóta name for the trader Thomas Lestang Sarpy, aka Thomas Leston. Leston took a Sičáŋğu woman as his wife and had a son by her, his name too, was also Ištá Zí (Yellow Eyes).[29]

1832:  Fitopa ablecakogopi.
Thí tȟáŋka obléča káğapi (Lodge big square-sides built-they). They built a large cabin.

           It was the first time a log cabin was built by a Lakȟóta.

1833:  Wicogipi akicam ina.
Wičháȟpi okhíčamna (Star whirling-around). The stars moved all around.

           According to Beede, this year’s fantastic star fall caused great concern for all who witnessed it. Beede says the Lakȟóta feared that Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka (the Great Mystery) had lost control over creation.

           Rev. Buechell notes a star fall or meteor shower as Wičháȟpi Hiŋ ȞpáyA, or Stars In A Reclining Way.[30]

1834:  Wapaha he tu kogapi.
Wapȟáha hetȟúŋ káğapi (Warbonnet to-have-horns made-they). They made a warbonnet with horns.

           Some of Beede’s informants say that this was the first time they made what is called a shaved horn warbonnet. Beede elaborates that this type of headdress symbolized the “vain hope” to resist the destruction of their race.

           The shaved horn warbonnet, split horn warbonnet, or simply the horned warbonnet, utilized a horn which was split and carved down, or shaved, into two equal sized horns which were rubbed with red ochre and then applied to crown of the warbonnet on each side of the brow. This type of warbonnet also included a split trailer, or double trailer, which allowed for the ends to fall on either side of a horse’s rump when riding.

           Warbonnets, including the split horn warbonnet, would often include winter white ermine skins which signified bravery. The ermine was known to confront animals twice its size.

The horns imbued the strength of the bison into the warbonnet. It was also the custom of split horn warbonnet wearers to personalize their bonnet with items such as beaded turtle effigies (which contained their čhekpá, or navel), clusters of feathers or plumes on the crown, or abalone shell on the cape of the trailers. The bison tail might be sewn onto the skullcap of the bonnet.

The horned warbonnet was sometimes made with one single trailer. The interior of this single trailer was adorned with pictography of animals to lend their strength to the wearer, or pictography telling his life story.[31]High Dog’s pictograph depicts this horned warbonnet with one single trailer.

           The feathers were affixed to the trailers so that the top half were placed facing one direction and the bottom the opposite. Wearers of such warbonnets were usually society leaders. Sitting Bull wore such a headdress, which signified that he was the leader of the Midnight Strong Heart Society.[32]

           According to Swift Dog, the Huŋkphápȟa killed an enemy who wore a shaved horn headdress and they adopted its use for themselves.[33]

1835:  Wiciyelo wicakasatapi.
Wičhíyela wičhákasotapi (Upper-Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna massacre). The Upper Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakȟóta experienced a massacre.

           Beede’s informants tell him that there was a fight amongst the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakȟóta and many were killed, but he suspected that the fight was against white men and the whites were killed. The informants also say that some of the Dakȟóta were ready to yield, others were prepared to “kiss the gun” in defiance of the whites’ arrogance.

           The pictograph for this entry depicts a figure, behind which is a travois. Four of the dead are depicted by their heads alone above the travois, indicating that they brought their dead back this way.

1836:  Palani 6 wicakte pi.
Pȟaláni šákpe wičháktepi (Arikara six men-killed-they). They killed six Arikara.

           Beede’s notes say that they killed six “Crow,” despite the fact that the text he recorded clearly says it was Arikara. The pictograph for this year depicts Crow as opposed to Arikara who were killed. The text for this year should be “Kȟaŋğí šákpe wičháktepi,” meaning that they killed six Crow.

           Howard’s interpretation agrees with Beedes’ in that they killed six Crow, but adds that the six were chiefs.[34]

1837:  Wicogaga.
Wičháȟȟaŋ (Smallpox). Smallpox.

This summer the steamboat, S.S. Saint Peter, knowingly spread the smallpox threat to all the people it came into contact, particularly the native people who had little immunity to this deadly disease. By summer’s end, all the tribes living in the Missouri River basin or nearby were affected.[35]

Howard includes the narrative that smallpox carried many off to the spirit world.[36]

1838:  Sunpile ska awicakilipi.
Šuŋgléška áwičhaglipi (Horse-spotted captured-returned-they). They returned with spotted horses.

           They took many spotted horses in battle with the Crow.

1839:  Wikite wan icikte kin.
Wíŋkte waŋ ič’íkte kiŋ (Effeminate-man [homosexual/transvestite] an suicide the). A wíŋkte committed suicide.

           Beede’s notes say that a woman killed herself because her husband was killed by a white man. It was was a love-romance act. Beede either didn’t know what a wíŋkte was, or ignored the fact (as a priest) that a man was in love with another man and killed himself after his lover died.

           High Dog clearly depicted a figure wearing a dress, but with the addition of a phallus, in the act of hanging him/herself. According to White Bull, this wíŋkte was known as Pȟeží (Grass).[37]

1840:  Ikitami heraka ktipi.
Uŋktómi Heȟáka ktépi (Spider Elk killed-they). They [the enemy] killed one of their own whom they called Elk Spider.

           Beede’s informants tell him that Uŋktómi Heȟáka was a Huŋkphápȟa chief, and that he was killed in combat by the Crow.

1841:  P S a ahampi.
Psóhaŋpi (Snow-shoes). Snowshoes.  

           It was a deep snow winter.

1842:  Hahe spe la wanktepi.
Hóhe Ošpúla waŋ ktépi (Assiniboine Cuttings/Leavings a killed-they). They killed Leavings, an Assiniboine.

           Beede’s handwritten notes offer an interesting translation of this year as Assiniboine Dwarf/Little/Deformed they-killed.

           The pictograph shows a scalped man. There is nothing to indicate it was an Assiniboine.

1843:  Hetapa kilisin.
Hé Tópa glí šni (Horn Four return not). Four Horns did not return.

           According to Beede’s informant, a chief was lost in combat with the Crow, and was thought to have died. He later returned victorious with a Crow horse. They kept a bison skull in the thípi that year. Lone Dog says that it was the Itázipčho who kept a bison skull in their lodge and made medicine to bring the buffalo.[38]The pictograph for this year’s entry, however, only refers to Four Horns.

           Four Horns was a recognized leader of five Huŋkphápȟa bands: Tȟaló Nap’íŋ (Meat Necklace), Khi GlaškÁ (Tie One’s Own In The Middle), Čhegnáke Okhísela (Half Breechcloth), Šikšíčela (Bad Ones), and the Itázipe ŠíčA (Bad Bows).[39]

           White Bull said that the family of Four Horns, believing that he was dead, had a memorial feast and gave-away everything they had in his memory.[40]

1844:  Nawiasile.
Nawíčhašli (Measles). Measles.

           They were struck with measles that year, but there was no great mortality.

1845:  Ikim wocoapi.
Igmútȟaŋka wičhóhaŋpi (Cat-big [Mountain Lion] among-them-they). Some mountain lions came among them.

           They killed seven mountain lions in Ȟesápa. The Crow still contested Ȟesápa as their territory at that time and killed seven Lakȟóta in retaliation for the mountain lions.

           Beede’s informants tell him that there was a small band of Shoshone who lived west of Ȟesápa, and who were on friendly terms with the Crow. They tell Beede further that it was this band of Shoshone whom Sacagawea, the native woman who accompanied the Corps of Discovery, was taken from and not the nation of Shoshone further west. The Lakȟóta knew Sacagawea as Zitkála Wiyáŋ, which translates simply as Bird Woman.

1846:  Tabubu alawapi.
Tabú’bu alówaŋpi (Something-Large-And-Unknown sang-over-someone-they). They sang in honor over a man about something large.

           One man, entirely alone, defended the staff, the Lakȟóta flag, against great odds in combat against the Crow. Beede supposes that the “real” explanation is that the Lakȟóta adopted a more rigid system of respect for the leader “class,” those who wore feathers. His informants tell him that respect for traditional leadership was eroding with the advancing of white men, which led to the people in not holding the feather in high respect. The basis of traditional government was in danger, and with this, the nation too.

Rev. Eugene Beuchel’s “Lakota English Dictionary” translates Tabú’bu as “something large and big that no one ever saw,” but also describes this particular word as when children pile robes on another child so that the one child becomes something big.[41]It may be this last that describes this one man’s battle the Crow, against great odds that none could describe, and he came out victorious.

Howard interprets Tabú’bu as “Humpback,” and the pictograph to represent Huŋkálowaŋpi (Adopted-person-singing-over-they), in which the one holding the quirt is taking the other figure as his relative.[42]

           The pictograph depicts a man holding what appears to be a notched horse quirt above or towards the other figure.

1847:  Sino zkipato wakipa el wanityi.
Šiná Okhípatȟa Wakpá él waníthipi (Robe To-Piece-Together [Quilt] Creek at winter-camp). Their winter camp was at Blanket Creek.

           The Huŋkphápȟa made winter camp along a creek. They had recently obtained many wool trade blankets and named the creek after their acquisition.

           The pictograph depicts a blanket, one half of which appears to be dark blue and the other half is red. The blanket is next to lodge poles arranged for camp. Beede remarks that Blanket Creek is in South Dakota. The Dakȟóta referred to a same creek in SD as Šiná Tȟó Wakpána.[43]It is possible that this is the same creek.

1848:  Winya wayako wicaynzapi.
Wíŋyaŋ wayáka wičháyuzapi (Woman prisoner [a]-man-seized-her-for-his-wife-they). They seized a woman, and one man took her for his wife.

           The Crow seized a Huŋkphápȟa woman, and took her as his wife.

1849:  Wanaseta natahi.
Wanáseta natáŋ ahíyu (Bison-hunting charge chase-towards-here). They went on a bison hunt for meat and were ambushed.

           They went to hunt bison for meat and were ambushed by the Crow.

1850:  Kewayuspata.
Khéya OyúspA t’Á (Turtle Catch died). Turtle Catcher died.

           Beede’s informants tell him that Khewóyuspa was a chief. He died. The pictograph reveals depicts a common man holding onto, or catching, a turtle by its tail.  

1851:  Wayaka Paho el waniti.
Wayáka Pahá él waníthipi (Prisoner Butte at winter-camp). They made winter camp at Captive Butte.

           Beede’s notes refer to this site as “Slave Heart Butte,” and also that its location is in South Dakota. There is a Slave Butte in South Dakota, located north of present-day Newell, SD. The Lakȟóta killed some Shoshone captives there long ago.

1852:  Psa akiya akili alakata.
Psá[loka] akhíyA aglí wólakȟota (Crow [as the Lakȟóta pronounce this word] to-confer-in-a-group return-in-a-group peace-time).

           Beede’s informants told him that there was distemper (fever and coughing) during the winter. This same winter the Lakȟóta made a treaty with the Crow.

It is interesting to note that the Lakȟóta referred to their long-time enemy as Psáloka, the Lakȟóta word for Apsáalooke (which they call themselves), rather than Kaŋğí, the Lakȟóta word for Crow.

           Lone Dog says they exchanged pipes at this meeting.[44]

1853:  Hetopa an waktipi.
Hé Tópa waŋ waktépi (Horn Four in-particular to-have-done-killing-in-battle-they). In a fight, in which they returned victorious, Four Horns had killed them.

           Four Horns, a Huŋkphápȟa itȟáŋčhaŋ (chief), led the Lakȟóta in victory against the Crow. White Bull says this fight was at White Earth Creek, ND, north of Fort Berthold.[45]

           At was around this time that Four Hours was selected as one of four Huŋkphápȟa shirt-wearers (a responsibility similar to a magistrate or other judicial leader). The other three were: Hé Lúta (Red Horn), Čhetáŋ Hó Tȟáŋka (Loud Voice Hawk), and Tȟatȟóka Íŋyaŋke (Running Antelope).[46]

1854:  Mato cante ktepi.
Matȟó Čhaŋté ktépi (Bear Heart killed-they). They killed Bear Heart.

           Bear Heart was killed by a Crow.

1855:  Putihi sko wa akijija.
Phuthíŋhiŋ Ská awáŋkičiyaŋka (Beard White to-look-after-somebody). They took care of White Beard.

           A white man with a long white beard camped with them, and they took care of him through the winter. Beede says this man’s name was John Johnson, but it is likely to be a reference to Gen. Harney who went to make peace with the Oóhenuŋpa (Two Kettle), Húŋkpathi (Lower Yankton), Huŋkphápȟa, Sihásapa (Black-Soled Moccasins; Blackfeet Lakȟóta), Mnikȟówožu (Planters By The Stream), Itázipčho (Without-Bows; Sans Arc), Iháŋktȟuŋwanŋa (Yanktonai), and Sičháŋğu (Burnt-Thigh; Brule), in March, 1856, so that settlers on the Oregon Trail might pass by unperturbed.[47]

1856:  Wapaha wan yukisapi.
Wapȟáha waŋ  yuk’ézapi (Warbonnet in-particular to-shear-off-they). In a fight, he sheared a warbonnet off [the enemy’s head].

           Good Bear tore a warbonnet off of a Crow’s head in a fight. The pictograph depicts a Crow on horseback wearing a shaved horn warbonnet, a Lakȟóta rider behind with a lance chases his enemy.

1857:  Ata kte pi akilipi.
Áta ktépi aglípi (Entire killed-they returned-they). They returned having killed all of them.

           They returned from battle with the Crow, having killed all of them (the enemy war party). The pictograph indicates that the war party also counted coup three times.

1858:  Pato pi Pte so wa a.
Hé Tópa pté sáŋ waŋá (Head Four female-bison dull-white then-at-that-time). Four Horns got a white bison cow that time.

           Beede’s notes say that it was a man named “Paunch” who killed a white bison cow. According to White Bull, Four Horns killed this white bison at Pahá Zizípela (Slim Buttes), SD.[48]

           The Lakȟóta informed Frances Densmore that the white bison was swift and especially wary, because of this and also because it was rare, it was very difficult to acquire. The fur was exceedingly soft and fine; its horns smooth and glossy. The hooves of the white bison were somewhat pink, as was its nose. The last white bison hide seen near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation was killed by the Huŋkphápȟa along what was once called Íŋyaŋwakağapi Wakpá (Stone Idol Creek; Spring Creek).

           The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna used to live on the east side of the Mníšoše. Once they were forced to live on the west bank of the river, the name of that creek was displaced as well. Today, Íŋyaŋwakağapi Wakpá is now known as Spring Creek[49]; it is within the vicinity of Pollock, SD. The creek today which bears the name Stone Idol Creek is a tributary of the Cannonball River. It is the first by which the Huŋkphápȟa killed their last white bison.[50]

1859:  Simka ham skaktepi.
Šúŋka HáŋskA ktépi (Dog Long killed-they). They killed Long Dog.

           Beede’s informants tell him that Long Dog was killed by the Crow. The Blue Thunder Winter Count says that Long Dog and Jumping Bull were killed in a fight with the Assiniboine. A war party of eight went out and only Red Robe returned.

1860:  Kaginigi su toyapi.
Kaȟȟniȟ siŋtéyapi (Choose-selectively tail-to-have-for-they). They carefully chose a [horse] tail for themselves.

           Beede’s interpretation is that a man named “Race Horse” killed ten race horses. The horse depicted is a male buckskin which was killed by an arrow. There is no indication that ten horses were killed, only the one, nor who killed the horse.

           In a discussion with Great Plains cultural expert, Mr. Butch Thunder Hawk (Standing Rock), this year likely represents the creation of a horse memorial, commonly known as a horse dance stick, which was carved horse effigy. Makers of these Horse Memorials carefully selected horse hair from the tail of the horse and removed a modest strip of the horse’s flesh with hair on, which was scraped and cleaned, and was affixed to the carving. It may be hung in a special place in the lodge or home, or even sometimes danced with at the wačípi (pow-wow).

           No Two Horns referred to these horse sticks as “Tȟáwa Šúŋkawakȟaŋ Ópi Wokíksuye,” or “A Memorial To His Wounded Horse.”[51]

           In July, 1920, Col. Alfred Welch recorded the use of a different kind of horse stick. These were simple branded sticks which were presented at a give-away. These branded sticks designated to gift recipients that they could select for themselves a horse from the givers’ herds. These horse sticks were not elaborately carved nor decorated beyond bearing a brand.[52]

1861:  Itu kaso luto ktepi.
Itȟúŋkasaŋ Lúta ktépi (Weasel Red killed-they). They killed Red Weasel.

           There are two explanations for this year’s event. The first being that a man named, according to Beede, Tracks Weasel, was killed in a fight with the Crow who had stolen horses from them. Beede’s interpretation suggests that the image of Red Weasel also contains within it his phallus. Beede says that the true explanation is that this year’s entry signifies the first time a sexually transmitted disease came among them, but doesn’t say which disease, only that it came from white men.

1862:  Hahe 20 wicakte pi.
Hóhe wikčémna núŋpa wičháktepi (Assiniboine ten two men-killed-they). They killed twenty Assiniboine.

           Beede’s interpretation is that the Lakȟóta fought and killed twenty “HAKES,“ which he interprets as Creeks. The pictograph suggests, instead, that the Lakȟóta war party killed twenty Crow.

           Frances Densmore recorded a song which was sung in pursuit of the Crow shared by Swift Dog and Kills At Night who recounted a song in their pursuit of the Crow:

           Eháŋna                        Long-Ago (Long ago)
           Hečhámuŋ kte č’uŋ     Thusly to-do afore-said (I would have done this)
           Núŋmlala kešá            Only-two no-matter-which (Only twice again)
           AwápȟA peló               To-strike-people they-are-coming (I struck them [the enemy])
           Hó!                               Now! (Now!)
           Nayáȟ’uŋpi huwó?       You-hear question? (Do you hear it?)[53]

1863:  Taka kuwa wan kte.
Tȟóka khuwá waŋ ktépi (Enemy chase particular-one killed-they). They chased one of the enemies and killed him.

           In a fight with the Crow, they found a Crow youth in a coyote trap and killed him. The pictograph suggests that the one who chased him counted first coup. It also seems evident that the Crow youth was known to them as Yellow Weasel.

1864:  Wayaka wiyapeyapi.
Wayáka wiyáŋ iyópȟeyapi (Captive woman exchange-for-they). They exchanged a captive woman in trade.

           They captured and held a white woman. They refused to give her up because they believed her to be good luck. This is probably Fanny Kelly. The Oglála had captured Kelly at Box Elder Creek in Wyoming. She was stolen from the Oglála by the Sihásapa and made the wife of Brings Plenty. Kelly was given the name “Real Woman.” She eventually regained her freedom either by tricking her Lakȟóta captors into bringing her to Fort Sully (present-day Pierre, SD), or she was was escorted to Fort Sully, willingly, by a Huŋkphápȟa man and under the protection of Sitting Bull himself.[54]

1865:  Leje awicaya.
LéžA awíčhoyazaŋ (to-pass-water-often sickness-on). A sickness struck, which causes one to urinate frequently.

           Beede’s notes reveal that he believed this was caused by a sexually transmitted disease. A urinating phallus appears in this pictograph. Beede’s informants told him that blood was involved. This sickness could also have been a urinary tract infection, but what caused it is unknown.

1866:  Pizi capapapi.
Phizí čhapȟápȟapi (Gall stabbed-they). They stabbed Gall.

           Gall was stabbed twice and left for dead near Fort Berthold in November of 1865. He recovered. When the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty was brought to Fort Rice, D.T., for the Huŋkphápȟa to sign, Gall showed Fr. DeSmet his bayonet scars. Gall realized that the treaty meant conceding more land to the whites, and though he signed the treaty (as Goes In The Middle), perhaps even unknowing what he was signing after being feasted and gifted, the first thing Gall said when offered the chance to speak to the officials was, “You ask me where are our lands? I answer you. Our lands are wherever our dead are buried!”[55]Gall would later lead the defense of the Huŋkphápȟa at the Little Bighorn fight and routed Major Reno’s assault.

1867:  Winya wan hu wakise.
Wiyáŋ waŋ hú waksé (Woman a leg severed). A woman’s leg was severed.

            A woman died, over in Montana, after her leg was severed.

1868:  Itazipica ake zapi ta.
Itázipčho akézaptaŋ t’Á (Without-Bows fifteen died). Fifteen members of the Itázipčho (Sans Arc) died.

           Only five Lakȟóta are shown on this year’s entry. Beede’s notes say that it was actually fifteen Crow who were killed in this fight. According to Brown Hat the Crow killed fifteen Itázipčho and a Khulwíčaša (Lower Brule) named “Long Fish.”[56]

1869:  Kanigi wicasa zo wicaktepi.
Kȟaŋğí wičháša wikčémna yámni wičháktepi (Crow men ten three men-killed-they). They fought and killed thirty Crow men.

           They killed thirty Crow. The pictograph, however, only shows fourteen.

1870:  Kangi wiyakota.
Kȟaŋğí WíyakA t’Á (Crow Feather died). Crow Feather died.

           Crow Feather, an itáŋčhaŋ (leader), died of natural causes.

1871:  Kangi cigala to.
Kȟaŋğí Čík’ala t’Á (Crow Little died). Little Crow died.

           Little Crow died. This is not the same Taóyate Dúta (His Red Nation; aka “Little Crow”) who was involved in the 1862 Minnesota Dakota Conflict. The Isáŋyathi Little Crow was shot and killed by a settler in July of 1863.

1872:  Mata kawige ti hi wankte.
Matȟó KawíŋğA thí hí waŋ kté (Bear Turns-About lodge comes-here a killed). Circling Bear killed [an enemy] who came to his lodge.

           Circling Bear (also Circle Bear) killed a Crow who came to his lodge to fight. Turning Bear, an Itázipčho, was a participant in the Little Bighorn fight, a Ghost Dancer leader, and a witness of the Wounded Knee massacre. The Carnegie Museum winter count depicts the death of Turning Bear in the winter of 1912-1913 when he was run over by a train.[57]

1873:  Ikacolo towa wan eyayapi.
Íkačhaŋla tȟáwa waŋ iyéyapi (Trot-little his a found they). They found his horse which was trotting with a light gait.

           A Crow stole a white horse from someone. They found the horse trotting lightly.

1874:  Taka cepa wan ktepi.
Tȟóka čhépa waŋ ktépi (Enemy fat a killed-they). They killed a fat enemy.

           They killed a fat Crow. Afterward, they dissected the body in hopes of discovering why or how he had grown so large. According to Beede, a member of the St. Luke’s Episcopal community had participated in the dissection of the Crow, and believed that the body weighed somewhere around 400 lbs. Beede’s informant also said that the flesh was very thick and yellow in color.  

1875:  Sunko ska hikin.
Šuŋgská hí kiŋ (Dog-White came-here the). White Dog came here.

           According to Beede, they were visited by “Apache” that summer, who rode white horses. The pictograph, however, indicates a Crow named White Horse instead. Beede’s handwritten notes say that this was an Assiniboine chief. The Lakȟóta word for Apache is Čhíŋčakiŋze (Squeaking Wood).

Perhaps Beede was meant Arapaho, who were allied with the Thítȟúŋwaŋ and Šahíyela (Red Talkers; Cheyenne) at the Little Bighorn fight. The Lakȟóta word for Arapaho is Maȟpíya Tȟó (Blue Cloud). How or why Beede concluded it was the Apache who came is not clear. The pictograph for this year is a Crow with a name glyph of a white horse or a white dog.

According to White Bull, this was an Assiniboine chief they knew as White Dog.[58]

1876:  Tatka iyato ke tako akileso ab.
Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake táku Ógleša ób (Bison-Bull Sitting something Coat-red with-them). Sitting Bull did something [an agreement] with the Redcoats.

           Sitting Bull made an agreement with the Canadian military at Fort Walsh in Canada, following the Little Bighorn fight, for the Huŋkphápȟa to stay there. The Lakota began arriving to the fort in November, 1876, and throughout the winter and spring the following year. Canada refers to this event as the Lakota Refugee Crisis.

           Canada regarded the Lakȟóta as “Americans.” Sitting Bull argued that the Lakȟóta were allies of the English, who still managed Canada’s foreign affairs, in the War of 1812.[59]

1877:  Wicagipi wanjilo ktepi.
Wičáȟpi Waŋžíla ktépi (Star Only-One they-killed). They killed One Star.

           One Star was killed in a fight with the Crow.

1878:  Mata cigatato ahiktepi.
Matȟó Čík’ala ahí ktépi (Bear Little came-here killed they). They came and killed Little Bear.

           Little Bear was killed in a fight with the Crow.

1879:  Tawahu kezalutoto.
Tȟáwahukheza Lúta t’Á (His-Spear Red died). His Red Spear died.

           He Has A Red Spear died.

1880:  Pizi ti.
Phizí thí (Gall lodge). Gall lodge.

           Beede’s informants say this this year, only two words, is when Gall intervened during a sundance near Fort Yates, ND. Beede refers to this as a “remarkable feat of bravery.” Beede’s handwritten notes say that Gall shot at the camp on Tongue River.

           Frank Zahn, Howard’s informant, says that this year represents when soldiers shot into Gall’s camp on Tongue River.[60]

           Gall and his followers, Crow King, Black Moon, Low Dog, and Fools Heart, and their extended families (a total of 230 people) were brought to Standing Rock Agency in the summer of 1881.[61]

1881:  Pehi ska kin Napeyuzapo.
Pȟehíŋ Ská kiŋ napéyuzapo (Hair White the handshake-with-all-of-them). The White Hair shook hands in greeting with all of them.

           A white man they called White Hair (Maj. James McLaughlin) led the Lakȟóta to feel friendly towards the government, with mixed success. McLaughlin was the superintendant of the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. Beede’s notes refer to McLaughlin as White Beard.

1882:  Pehi ska kici wanasapi.
Pȟehíŋ Ská kičhí wanásapi (Hair White with big-game-[bison]-hunt-they). White Hair went on a bison hunt with them.

           White Hair went bison hunting with the Lakȟóta.

           White Hair (McLaughlin) supervised the last great bison hunt in North America in the summer of 1882. The hunting party consisted of about 600 mounted Lakȟóta. Francis Densmore briefly, yet optimistically, describes the few years’ acquaintance between Sitting Bull and McLaughlin.[62]

1883:  Kangi wicaso 3 hipi.
Kȟaŋğí wičháša yámni hípi (Crow men three came-they). Three Crow men came to them.

           Three Crow came to visit them as friends.

1884:  Kangi cigaloto.
Kȟaŋğí Čík’ala t’Á (Crow Little died). Little Crow died.

           Little Crow died. According to White Bull, this is Kȟǧí Yátapi (Crow King) who died. Crow King led eighty warriors against the 7thCavalry in the Little Bighorn fight.[63]He died of consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis) and was buried according to Roman Catholic sacraments.[64]

1885:  Iceta Wahacakata.
Čhetáŋ Waháčhaŋka t’Á (Hawk Shield died). Hawk Shield died.

           An old warrior named Hawk Shield died. Howard suggests that this may be Flying By.[65]

1886:  Herako 1897
Heȟáka Wašté t’Á (Bull-Elk Good died). Good Elk died.

           Good Elk died. This year also begins including the year of the Common Era.

1887:  Hetapo to 1898.
Hé Tópa t’Á (Horn Four died). Four Horns died.

           Four Horns died.

Following the Little Bighorn fight, Four Horns led the Huŋkphápȟa under his leadership to Fort Walsh in Canada. He was among the Huŋkphápȟa who journeyed to Fort Buford, Dakota Territory, in 1881. Four Horns and his immediate family were held as prisoners of war at Fort Randall where his wife died. The Huŋkphápȟa prisoners were eventually taken to Standing Rock to be with the Huŋkphápȟa there. According to the Indian census Four Horns was seventy-three winters.[66]

1888:  Wisapata 1899.
Wí SápA t’Á (Luminary [i.e. Sun/Moon] Black died). Black Moon died.

           There was a solar eclipse this year on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 1889, however, this year’s entry indicates that it was the Huŋkphápȟa chief, Black Moon, who died. The pictograph clearly depicts a man with a name glyph above his head. The name glyph depicts an inverted black crescent representing a solar eclipse.

           Black Moon met the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty commission at Fort Rice to declare his desire for peace on the condition that the the Great Father halt the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad and recall his soldiers. He fought in the Little Bighorn conflict, and was among the Huŋkphápȟa who returned from Canada with Gall.

The Lakȟóta have many ways to describe the solar eclipse. The Huŋkphápȟa also refer to the solar eclipse as Maȟpíya Yapȟéta which means “Fire Cloud.” About ten other Lakȟóta winter counts refer to the solar eclipse of 1869 as Wí’kte (The Sun Died; Death Of The Sun).

According to Mr. Warren Horse Looking Sr. (Sičáŋğu), the solar eclipse is Aŋpétuwi Tokȟáȟ’aŋ, or “The Disappearing Sun.” Mr. Jon Eagle (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) says Wí’Atá (The Sun Entire). Ms. Leslie Mountain (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) learned to refer to the solar eclipse as WakhápheyA (Of A Singular Appearance).

The New Lakota Dictionary interprets a solar eclipse in the Lakȟóta language as: Aháŋzi (Shadow) and AóhaŋziyA (To Cast A Shadow Upon).

1889:  Kawakata el winyawicaka 1890.
Kawéğata él wíŋyaŋ wičháktepi (To-break-off-on at woman a-died-they). Something fell on a woman of theirs and killed her.

           A woman was killed when a tree collapsed onto her.

           Used As A Shield said of the summer of 1889, “This was the last time that Sitting Bull was in a regular tribal camp...used to go around the camp circle every evening just before sunset on his favorite horse, singing this song:”

           Ikíčhize                        Warrior (A Warrior)
           Waóŋ’kȟoŋ                  Have-been (I Have been)
           Waŋná                         Now (Now)
           Henála yeló                 It-is-finished (It is all over)
           Iyótiye khiyá                Difficult-time (A hard time)
           Waóŋ                           Having (I Have)[67]

1890:  Tatoka iyatake kte pi 1891.
Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ktépi (Bison-Bull Sitting killed-they). They killed Sitting Bull.

           They killed Sitting Bull that winter.

           As Sitting Bull was arrested, he paused at the door of his cabin and sang a farewell song, “I am a man and wherever I lie is my own.” Moments later, he lay dead outside the door of his home; six members of Midnight Strongheart Society also died that morning.[68]

           Red Tomahawk offered this frank, brutal, and succinct account:

Sitting Bull was my friend. I killed him like this...

At the time of the death of Sitting Bull I was second lieutenant of the Indian Police at Fort Yates. The Indian police were ordered to go out and bring him in dead or alive. We found him with about 500 men out on the banks of the Grand River, about thirty miles from Fort Yates. The Indians in the party were holding a ghost dance, which the government had prohibited. The Indian police went over to where the camp was and told them to stop the dance, but they did not do so. Captain Bull Head, Sergeant Shave Head and myself
[sic] went over and stood beside Sitting Bull and I grabbed Sitting Bull’s left arm and held him. One of Sitting Bull’s men fired and shot Bull Head. When I saw him sinking to the ground I drew my revolver and shot Sitting Bull twice, once through the left side and once through the head. We broke up the dance and Sitting Bull was taken back to the agency dead.[69]

           In Fort Yates, 1915, Colonel Alfred B. Welch interviewed Tačháŋȟpi Lúta (Red Tomahawk), who asserted to Welch that his name meant [His] Red War Club. Welch spoke with Red Tomahawk about the death of Sitting Bull. "I was under orders," Red Tomahawk said to Welch, "so I killed him. He should not have been hollared [sic]."

Welch asked if Sitting Bull's spirit ever returned there. "Yes. Sometimes," replied Red Tomahawk, "He rides in on an elk spirit." Welch wanted to visit Sitting Bull's burial site and asked Red Tomahawk to go with him there. Red Tomahawk declined the invitation and ended the interview with, "No. I do not go. I am afraid. There are mysterious flowers upon his grave every year. We do not know where they come from. They are wak
ȟáŋ."[70]

1891:  Tasuke heratota 1892.
Tȟašúŋke Híŋȟota t’Á (His-Horse Roan died). Roan Horse died.

            Spotted Horse died. He was a follower of Chief Circle Bear.

1892:  Sinko mazata 1893.
Šúŋka Máza t’Á (Dog Iron died). Iron Dog died.

           Beede’s translation says this man’s name was “Horse Shoe.”

           Little is known of Iron Dog. He was a Načá (headman) who lead his Huŋkphápȟa followers to Fort Walsh, Canada, following the Little Bighorn fight. While in exile, Iron Dog had a disagreement with Sitting Bull and refused to follow his lead again.[71]

1893:  Tawahu kezotuta ta 1894.
Tȟáwahukheza Lúta t’Á (His-Spear Red died). His Red Spear died.

            His Red Spear died.

1894:  Pizi to 1895.
Phizí t’Á (Gall died). Gall died.

           Chief Gall died. Gall became a Christian and regularly attended services at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Wakpala, SD, a farmer, a judge, and a proponent of education, going so far as to donate some of his allotment to create a day school.[72]He rests at St. Elizabeth’s cemetery in Wakpala, SD.

1895:  Winya wan ilekin 1896.
Wíŋyaŋ waŋ ilé kiŋ (Woman a burn the). A woman burned [to death].

           A woman burned to death in her home.

1896:  Pa Wicoyukisapi 1897.
Pȟá wičháyazaŋpi (Head sickness-they). A sickness affected their heads.

           A sickness caused sores on their heads. The Roan Bear Winter Count has a similar entry for 1838 in which many died of a head sickness which caused sores on their heads. This may be the hemorrhagic form of smallpox which causes extreme headaches and sudden violent death.

           The pictograph for this year depicts three Dakȟóta men and a noose. The image clearly recalls the lynching and hanging of three Dakȟóta men in retaliation for the Spicer family murders across the river from Standing Rock.[73]

1897:  Kangi iuiyakata 1898.
Kȟaŋğí Wíyaka t’Á (Crow Feather died). Crow Feather died.

           Beede’s notes say that there was a woman who was once taken prisoner by the Crow. She then lived with them for the remainder of her life and died among them.  

The pictograph for this year depicts a common man with a name glyph of a red feather.

1898:  Mato cuwiyukisa ta 1899.
Matȟó Čhuwíyuksa t’Á (Bear From-The-Waist-Up died). Bear Vest died.

           Beede’s notes refer to this man as “Spotted Bear” instead. Howard interprets the text as, “Bear Broken In Half died.”

The pictograph is of a common man with a name glyph that appears to be the front half of a small black bear.

1899:  Ieta wahacaka ta 1900.
Čhetáŋ Waháčhaŋka t’Á (Hawk Shield died). Hawk Shield died.

Hawk Shield was a chief of the Sihásapa Lakȟóta.

1900:  Herako wawaite ta 1901.
Heȟáka Hó Wašté t’Á (Elk-Bull Voice Good died). Good Voice Elk died.

1901:  Tatako pa to 1902.
Tȟatȟáŋka Pȟá t’Á (Bison-Bull Head died). Bull Head died.

           Beede notes that this isn’t the same Lt. Bull Head who was involved in the death of Sitting Bull.

1902:  Tatako wano yi ta 1903.
Tȟatȟáŋka Wanáği t’Á (Bison-Bull Ghost died). Bull Ghost died.

           Beede knew him as Buffalo Ghost.

1903:  Wicaripi wanjilo ta 1904.
Wičáȟpi Waŋžíla t’Á (Star Only-One died). One Star died.

           Beede interprets this as the year a star disappeared. The pictograph depicts a star.

1904:  Wahacakasapota 1905.
Waháčhaŋka SápA t’Á (Shield Black died). Black Shield died).

           Beede’s notes says his name was Beaver Shield. The pictograph depicts a black shield.

1905:  Ite amaroju ta 1906.
Ité Omáğažu t’Á (Face Raining-On died). Rain In The Face died.

The pictograph depicts a common man whose name glyph is a pictograph of a Crow Indian.

By Rain In The Face’ own account, he was called so on two occasions as a youth. The name was deemed auspicious, when upon going to war against the Hidatsa, he had painted his face red and black to represent the sun, they had fought in the rain all day which streaked his painted face. Rain’ was known for his part in the Fetterman Fight, his infamous escape from Fort Abraham Lincoln, and for participating in the Little Bighorn fight. When the reservation era began, Rain’ put aside all his conflict with the whites and lived peaceably the rest of his days.[74]

1906:  Ieto wakiuate 1907.
Čhetáŋ Wakíŋyaŋ t’Á (Hawk Thunder died). Thunder Hawk died.

           According to Beede, this is Feather Hawk.

The pictograph depicts a common man wearing a red and white striped shirt. The name glyph is a yellow hawk with lightning coming out of its wings.

The prominent use of yellow in the coloring of the name glyph and the deliberate black lines upon the head, wings, and tail, seem to hint at this depiction being a Čhaŋšíŋkaȟpu (Yellow Winged Woodpecker).

The Lakȟóta associate the Čhaŋšíŋkaȟpu with the Wakíŋyaŋ (Thunder-Beings), in the black crescent moon upon its breast and black hailstone upon its body. In fair weather, Čhaŋšíŋkaȟpu is said to proclaim, “Aŋpétu wašté, aŋpétu wašté [It’s a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful day!].”[75]

1907:  Tadukeiyake to 1908.
Tȟašúŋke ÍŋyaŋkA t’Á (Horse To-Run died). Running Horse died.

           Beede’s notes say his name is His Horse Rears. The pictograph depicts a name glyph of a running horse above a common man.

1908:  Tyacukaske suwakipimoin 1909.
Tȟašúŋkaška wakpámni (Horses-staked a-distribution-of). Horses were issued.

According to Frank Zahn, horses were issued to the Lakȟóta at Rock Fence Place, south of Fort Yates, ND.[76]

1909:  Wico gipi wan ile yahan 1910.
Wičáȟpi waŋ ilé yÁ haŋ (Star a burn go night). A burning star went into the night.

           This is in reference to Halley’s Comet.

1910:  Fata ko witka ta 1911.
Tȟatȟáŋka Witkó t’Á (Bison-Bull Crazy died). Crazy Bull died.

1911:  Note:The last entry of the High Dog Winter Count appears to be two separate events which occurred in the same year.

Wakaheja nasilipi 1912.
Wakȟáŋheža našlípi (Children measles-they). Measles struck the children.

Wicarpi wan ileyoukin.
Wičáȟpi waŋ ilé ú kiŋ (Star a burn coming-here the). A burning star came this way.

There appeared at least six comets in 1913 as recorded and observed by H.C. Wilson and C.H. Gingrich at Carlton College, M.N. The entry for this year may reference Comet 1913a which was visible to the naked eye in May and June of 1913.[77]

           The pictograph depicts a common person whose body is adorned with red spots, but whose face is unmarked. A falling star is depicted close enough to be a name glyph, but there is no marker connecting the two.



[1] Welch, Col. Alfred B. "Chapter 7: Blue Cloud Stone." www.welchdakotapapers.com. October 13, 2013. Accessed February 1, 2015.
[2]New Lakota Dictionary, 2ndEdition, s.v. “Hakéla.”
[3]Šuŋgmánitu-Išná (Lone Wolf). "Lakota Birth Order Names." The Lodge of Šuŋgmánitu-Išná. January 1, 1998. Accessed February 2, 2015.
[4]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 352.
[5]Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 319. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[6] Howard, James H. "Yanktonai Ethnohistory And The John K. Bear Winter Count." Plains Anthropologist: Journal Of The Plains Conference 21, no. 73, Pt. 2 (1976): 22.
[7]"4: Winter By Winter." In The Years The Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts At The Smithsonian, edited by Candace S. Greene, by Russell Thornton, 130. 1st ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 2007.
[8] Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 295. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[9]Locke, Kevin. Online conversation with author. April 24, 2015.
[10]The Indian Sign Language, First Bison Print Edition, s.v. “Scout.”
[11]Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 300. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[12] Ibid., 315.
[13] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 359.
[14]Beede, Rev. Aaron. "The High Dog Winter Count." notes, Fort Yates, ND, June 6, 1912.
[15] Diedrich, Mark. "Chapter 4, Waneta: Dakota Dictator." In Famous Chiefs Of The Eastern Sioux, 29-42. 1st ed. Vol. 1. Minneapolis, MN: Coyote Books, 1987.
[16]Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 316. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[17]Ibid., 276.
[18]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 360.
[19]Lakota-English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, s.v. “Wi’tapaha” and “Witapahatu.”
[20]"American Fur Company Employers - 1818-1819." In Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites, 154-169. Vol. 12. Madison, Wisconsin: Democrat Printing Company, State Printers, 1892.
[21]Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 316. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[22]Howard, James H. "Yanktonai Ethnohistory And The John K. Bear Winter Count." Plains Anthropologist: Journal Of The Plains Conference 21, no. 73, Pt. 2 (1976): 26.
[23] Ibid., 33.
[24]Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 317. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[25]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 365.
[26] Innis, Ben. "The Heritage of Bloody Knife." In Bloody Knife: Custer's Favorite Scout, 1-9. Revised ed. Bismarck, ND: Smokey Water Press, 1994.
[27] Ibid., 10-12.
[28]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 366.
[29] Sundstrom, Linea. "The Chandler-Pohrt Winter-Count." St. Francis Mission Among The Lakota. January 1, 1998. Accessed March 3, 2015.
[30]Lakota-English Dictionary, 2ndEdition, s.v. “Star.”
[31]Mails, Thomas. "Hair Styles, Jewelry, And Headdresses." In The Mystic Warriors Of The Plains, 357-396. 2nd ed. Tulsa, OK: Council Oak Books, 1991.
[32] Thunderhawk, Butch. Conversation with the author, April 14, 2015.
[33]Desnmore, Frances. Teton Sioux Music And Culture. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 1992. 403.
[34]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 373.
[35]Chardon, F.A. Chardon's Journal At Fort Clark, 1834-1839. Edited by Annie Heloise Abel. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 1997. 123.
[36]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 374.
[37] Vestal, Stanley. Warpath : The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. 1st ed. Boston, MA: University Of Nebraska Press, 1934. 348.
[38]Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 281. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[39]LaPointe, Ernie. "Jumping Badger." In Sitting Bull: His Life And Legacy, 22. 1st ed. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2009.
[40]Vestal, Stanley. Warpath : The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. 1st ed. Boston, MA: University Of Nebraska Press, 1934. 265.
[41]Lakota-English Dictionary, Bilingual Edition, s.v. “Tabú’bu.”
[42]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 379.
[43]Waggoner, Josephine. "Dakota And Lakota Oyate Band Organization." In Witness: A Huŋkphápȟa Historian’s Strong-Heart Song of The Lakotas, 41. Lincoln, Nebraska: University Of Nebraska Press, 2013.
[44]Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 283. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[45]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 383.
[46]Utley, Robert M. "2: Warrior." In The Lance And The Shield: The Life And Times Of Sitting Bull, 21-22. 1st ed. New York, NY: Henry Holt And Company, 1993.
[47]Reavis, L.U., and Cassius Marcellus Clay. The Life And Military Services Of Gen. William Selby Harney. 1st ed. Saint Louis, MO: Bryan, Brand &, 1878. 201.
[48]Vestal, Stanley. Warpath : The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. 1st ed. Boston, MA: University Of Nebraska Press, 1934. 349.
[49]Nicolett, Joseph, and Lt. J.C. Fremont. Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi River from Astronomical and Barometrical Observations, Surveys, and Information. Washington D.C.: Bureau of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, U.S. Dept. of War, 1843.
[50]Desnmore, Frances. Teton Sioux Music And Culture. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 1992. 446.
[51]Wooley, David L., and Joseph D. Horse Capture. "Joseph No Two Horns: He Nupa Wanica."American Indian Art Magazine 18, no. 3 (1993): 32-43.
[52] Welch, Col. Alfred B. “Life On The Plains In The 1800s." www.welchdakotapapers.com. October 13, 2013. Accessed April 22, 2015.
[53]Desnmore, Frances. Teton Sioux Music And Culture. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 1992. 407.
[54]Vestal, Stanley. "The Captive White Woman." In Sitting Bull: Champion Of The Sioux, A Biography, 64. 1st ed. Norman, OK: University Of Oklahoma Press, 1989.
[55]Crawford, Lewis F. Rekindling Camp Fires: The Exploits Of Ben Arnold (Conner) (Wa-si-cu Tam-A-he-ca) An Authentic Narrative Of Sixty Years In The Old West As Indian Fighter, Gold Miner, Cowboy, Hunter, And Army Scout. 1st ed. Bismarck, ND: Capital Book Company, 1926. 172.
[56]Mallory, Garrick. "Chapter X: Chronology." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 326. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1972.
[57]Haukaas, Thomas "Red Owl""Lakota Of The Plains: The Winter Count." www.carnegiemnh.org/. January 1, 1995. Accessed April 22, 2015.
[58]Vestal, Stanley. Warpath : The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. 1st ed. Boston, MA: University Of Nebraska Press, 1934. 350.
[59]Coneghan, Daria. "Fort Walsh." www.esask.uregina.ca. January 1, 2006. Accessed April 22, 2015.
[60]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 398.
[61]Dickson III, Ephriam D. The Sitting Bull Surrender Census: The Lakotas At Standing Rock Agency, 1891. 1st ed. Pierre, SD: South Dakota State Historical Society, 2010. 48-59.
[62]Densmore, Frances. "The Buffalo Hunt." In Teton Sioux Music And Culture, 436. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 1992.
[63]Vestal, Stanley. Warpath : The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. 1st ed. Boston, MA: University Of Nebraska Press, 1934. 270.
[64]Bismarck Tribune, April 11, 1884.
[65]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 401.
[66] Utley, Robert M. "20: Standing Rock." In The Lance And The Shield: The Life And Times Of Sitting Bull, 252. 1st ed. New York, NY: Henry Holt And Company, 1993.
[67]Densmore, Frances. "The Buffalo Hunt." In Teton Sioux Music And Culture, 258. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 1992.
[68]LaPointe, Ernie. "The Murder." In Sitting Bull: His Life And Legacy, 104. 1st ed. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2009.
[69]Red Tomahawk, Brenda. "The Death Of Sitting Bull: The Story Of Red Tomahawk." Interview by author. May, 2010.
[70]Welch, Col. Alfred B. "Red Tomahawk: "Sitting Bull Was My Friend. I Killed Him Like This..."" www.welchdakotapapers.com. October 13, 2013. Accessed November 14, 2014.
[71]Utley, Robert M. "14: Winter Of Dispair." In The Lance And The Shield: The Life And Times Of Sitting Bull, 176. 1st ed. New York, NY: Henry Holt And Company, 1993.
[72]Lawson, Robert W. "His Final Years." In Gall: Lakota War Chief, 230-238. 1st ed. Norman, OK: University Of Oklahoma Press, 2007.
[73] Bueling, Lynn. "Book Recounts N.D. Mob Lynching." The Bismarck Tribune, December 1, 2013, Book Reviews sec. Accessed May 6, 2015.
[74] Eastman (Ohiyesa), Charles A. "Rain In The Face." In Indian Heroes & Great Chieftains, 132-151. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 1991.
[75]Thunderhawk, Butch. Conversation with the author, April 14, 2015.
[76]Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 409.
[77]Wilson, H.C., and C.H. Gingrich. "Observation Of The Comets of 1913 And 1914." Publications of the Goodsell Observatory 4 (1915): 1-28.

Bullhead And The Last Days Of Sitting Bull

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Lt. Henry Bullhead, a Yanktonai Dakota. Photo by D.F. Barry. 
Who Really Killed Sitting Bull?
Lakota Leader Killed In Confrontation

Edited By Dakota Wind
FORT YATES, N.D. – Note: the following article appeared in the Sioux County Pioneer which had previously ran a story attributing the murder of Sitting Bull at the hands of Red Tomahawk. This article refutes and minimizes Red Tomahawk’s role in Sitting Bull’s camp.

Francis B. Bullhead, son of the famed Bullhead who led the policemen in the arrest and killing of Sitting Bull, has taken exceptions to an article appearing in the Pioneer some weeks ago giving Red Tomahawk credit for the killing of Sitting Bull and has requested us to publish the sworn statement of Wakhutemani (Shoots-Walking), one of the policemen who took part in the affair. His statement is verified by police men Cross Bear and Looking Elk, who were also present. The story of the killing of Sitting Bull follows which is very interesting reading:

“We had orders to meet at the home of Chief of Police Bullhead on the Grand River about three or four miles from the camp of Sitting Bull on the night of the fourteenth of December, 1890. We left Bullhead’s place on the morning of December 15th, mounted, and rode directly to the camp of Sitting Bull. When within one-half mile of his camp, we charged rapidly directly [sic] to his house.

In accordance with instructions we surrounding his house and Captain Bullhead, Sergeant Shavehead, Little Eagle, High Eagle, and Warrior Fear Him, entered the house. The remainder of the force were to stand outside but I was curious to know what was going on and went into the house with the officers. Sitting Bull was in bed with one of his wives and was pulled out of bed by High Eagle and Little Eagle. His rifle, which was lying by his bed was taken by Captain Bullhead and another rifle which was hanging on the wall was taken by Sergeant Shavehead. After Sitting Bull was dressed, I was ordered outside and the officers followed almost immediately with Sitting Bull. 


According to Mr. Ernie LaPointe, the direct lineal descendant, great-grandson of Sitting Bull, the police knocked on the door and asked Sitting Bull to come outdoors, then waited for him. When Sitting Bull walked to the door, Crow Foot rose with his rifle and said to his father, "I will stand with you." Sitting Bull turned to his family and sang: "I am a man and where ever I lie is my own." Just after Sitting Bull and Crow Foot stepped through the door was Sitting Bull shot and killed. Crow Foot joined his father seconds later. 

Sitting Bull had been brought out about forty yards from the house and was surrounded by a cordon of policemen with the officers in the middle of the enclosed space. There were thirty-four or thirty-five policemen.

By this time it had become somewhat light and we could begin to recognize each other at some distance in the early dawn. The hostiles were running from all directions toward us yelling to kill the policemen either by shooting them or clubbing them to death.

After Sitting Bull saw that his followers were surrounding the police he yelled in a loud voice in [the] Sioux language, “I will not go! Attack! Attack!” At this time, Catch The Bear, a hostile, broke through the cordon of police and weeping and lamenting demanded that the police turn Sitting Bull loose. Closely following Catch The Bear, three other hostiles broke through the cordon of police, wearing blankets with their rifles concealed under them. As they entered the ring they threw their blankets away and made for the group of officers surrounding Sitting Bull. 


Sitting Bull, photo by D.F. Barry.

Little Eagle was standing at the right of Sitting Bull and High Eagle was at Sitting Bull’s left. These two men had been chosen to handle the person of Sitting Bull as they were powerful men physically. They had hold of him and prevented him from getting away. Captain Bullhead stood immediately in front of Sitting Bull facing him and Sergeant Shavehead stood immediately behind Bullhead.

As the hostiles threw away their blankets Catch The Bear reached the group of officers first and fired point blank at Captain Bullhead, the bullet striking the officer at about waist line and passing through his body.

At the same instant Strikes The Kettle shot Sergeant Shavehead. When Captain Bullhead was shot he immediately raised his rifle and shot Sitting Bull. The bullet struck Sitting Bull just above the sternum and passed upward and back through his body, breaking the spinal column where his neck and body join. Where the bullet left the body it tore a hole about two inches in diameter. Sitting Bull dropped dead. Neither Bullhead nor Shavehead fell when shot but Sitting Bull collapsed at once.

I actually saw these things. The battle then became general and most of the police fell back towards Sitting Bull’s barn. Two of us remained where the officers had fallen. I was not hit, but a bullet went through my hat and was fired at such close range that my neck was burnt by the powder. During the fight it was impossible to observe what was going on but I know the man remaining with me, Broken Arm or Armstrong, was killed. Three other police remained beside the house, Bad Horse, Looking Elk, and Cross Bear. None of them were wounded.

Three of the four hostiles who started the fight were killed. They were Catch The Bear, Spotted Horn, and Black Bird. Strike The Kettle was wounded but he got away and lived for many years after the fight.

While the battle was still in progress the military detachment from Fort Yates arrived at the top of the hill and apparently began firing at us. They also discharged a cannon at us twice, the shells falling within a hundred yards of us and exploding. We sent a policeman with a white flag toward the military and formed in line and marched in twos to let the military know who we were. They then changed their range and fired their cannon in the direction in which the hostiles were retiring. The cannon scattered the hostiles in every direction and the battle was over. 

LaPointe's narrative says that during the military cannon fire, Sitting Bull's oldest daughter, Many Horses, his wives, Seen By Her Nation and Four Robes, their five children and perhaps 200 more fled south across the Grand River, but were intercepted by the military and then brought to Fort Yates. 

We then found that Bullhead and Shavehead were still alive. As the police came back to the point where the fight started and saw their officers lying mortally wounded and their comrades dead, many of them shot into the body of Sitting Bull. His body was badly mutilated. Swift Cloud, a half-brother of Little Eagle, was not a policeman but as he came to the battle ground and saw his brother lying dead, he seized a club and beat the head of Sitting Bull into a shapeless mass. Holy Medicine, who was not a policeman but was a brother of Broken Arm, also came to the battle ground and seeing his brother dead, seized a club and beat the remains of Sitting Bull. 

Crow Foot, by D.F. Barry.

Crow Foot was the son of Sitting Bull. He was a young man of seventeen or eighteen at the time and when his father was taken from the house followed at three different times in an effort to get him back to the house. The first two times he was sent back to the house but the third time the battle began.

After the battle we carried the dead and wounded into Sitting Bull’s house. When we made the third trip for the body of Little Eagle we heard two shots, following a commotion in the house and a voice pleading for mercy. As we came near the house a body was hurled through the door. It was Crow Foot. He had hidden under a pile of bedding in the corner of the hut and when found by the officers had been sent by Lone Man and One Feather. 

Mr. LaPointe begs to argue this discrepancy. "It seeks to humiliate the memory of his son," says LaPointe. Crow Foot died outside the cabin. Crow Foot's younger half-brother, William, was about twelve years old. William was the crying child present. 

The hostiles killed in the fight were Catch The Bear, Spotted Horn, Black Bird, Jumping Bull, his son Brave Thunder, and Crow Foot, the son of Sitting Bull. They were buried by Riggs, a Congregational minister.

There is no question as to who killed Sitting Bull. I saw the captain of police kill him, saw him fall and saw the terrible wound made by the heavy police rifle afterward. It literally tore the upper part of his chest to pieces.

After cooking our breakfast with the military our dead were loaded into a wagon and the wounded into a military ambulance and we started for Fort Yates. The wounded reached the agency that night but we camped on Oak Creek near where the town of McLaughlin now stands. The next morning the military proceeded to Fort Yates and we received orders to return to the Grand River and order the hostiles to report to the agency. This we did with those who still remained in that vicinity but most of them had stampeded to Pine Ridge.

Many years have gone by since that fateful morning but the events as I have related them are burned indelibly upon my mind. The ride in the early morning hours, the frenzy and the screams of the ghost dancers as they rallied to their leader, the wily medicine man who made every excuse to delay his departure, his change of front when he thought his followers could save him, the bravery of the officers who knew they faced certain death, the death of Crow Foot and the tardy arrival of the military make a picture on my mind that will never be effaced.”

Suggested reading:


Sitting Bull: His Life And Legacy, by Ernie LaPointe, Great-Grandson of Sitting Bull. 

The North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission Since 1949

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Map of tribal nations of North Dakota. Standing Rock and the Lake Traverse (Sisseton-Wahpeton) extend into South Dakota. 
North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission
A Reflection Of State To State Relations

By Dakota Wind
Bismarck, ND – In 1949, the North Dakota Legislature created the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission (NDIAC). The first responsibilities of the NDIAC was to secure assistance for American Indians to work in agriculture or other self-sustaining businesses and to work with the five tribal nations to secure federal funding for programs that benefit all citizens of North Dakota.

In the early years of the NDIAC, the commission took a paternal approach to providing assistance to first nation peoples, and believed that the way of helping the first nations was to assimilate them into the state through their association with the larger population in their day-to-day business and social relationships. At the time, the NDIAC un-successfully lobbied the federal government to administer Bureau of Indian Affairs assistance and programming.

As paternal as the NDIAC was in those early years, the NDIAC lobbied many important issues regarding Indian Country, including two: that the federal government determine a new and more specific definition of who and “Indian” is, and that off-reservation American Indians should be entitled to all the same benefits as regular North Dakota citizens, such as medicine, education, housing, and employment.

In 1952, the NDIAC lobbied Congress to abolish the reservation system, and soon after, the federal recognition status of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa was placed in jeopardy. Federal recognition is granted to tribal peoples who signed treaties with the United States for irrevocable rights in exchange for permanent land cessions. 

Scott Davis is the current NDIAC Executive Director. He is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, but he is also part Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. His Lakota name is Ošká Tȟáwa, His Celebration. Listen to Davis' story

Treaties are legal agreements between two or more nations. The relationship between the United States and the First Nations people was established in the 2nd Article of the US Constitution. Tribes that have entered into treaties with states have state recognition. Tribes that have entered into treaties with the United States have federal recognition. Federal recognition general entails that certain lands are set aside for the use of a tribe forever.

In 1954, the Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa successfully lobbied to retain their recognition and rights.

The NDIAC has changed with the needs of the tribal nations, and in 1959, sixteen years before the federal government recognized sovereignty in tribal nations’ own determination with the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act, the first nations of North Dakota were given a voice on the NDIAC board.

Despite the oppositional agenda on which the NDIAC was founded, the NDIAC has since worked hard to improve the state to state relationship between the State of North Dakota and the five federally recognized nations within North Dakota. Highlights include scholarships to American Indian students attending a North Dakota institution, the development of the United Tribes Technical College, which opened its doors to native and non-native students in 1969, and legislative support for North Dakota to adopt an Indian education requirement for educators to have had at least one college course in American Indian Studies in their pursuit to teach in North Dakota.

In March of 1999, the NDIAC observed its fiftieth year in operation by co-sponsoring the University of North Dakota’s Writer’s Conference, which featured Native American authors and film makers, and brought their work in contact with the general public.

In 1999, the NDIAC updated its goals to include: “work for greater understanding and improved relationships between Indians and non-Indians.”

Scott Davis (enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe), Executive Director, NDIAC (2009-present), believes the NDIAC as evolved and matured as the state has realized the unique status of federally recognized tribal nations, “Our state is ahead in its relationship between tribal nations and the state. The NDIAC is really the only state with a cabinet level position dedicated to fostering a nation to nation relationship.” 

President Lindquist is known to her people as Šuŋka Wičháȟpi Wiŋ, Star Horse Woman.

Dr. Cynthia Lindquist (enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation), President of Candeska Cikana Community College on the Spirit Lake (2003-present), was the Executive Director of the NDIAC when the commission observed its 50th anniversary.

Lindquist recalls of the NDIAC’s 50th anniversary, “The most memorable thing for me was that the governor was so supportive. United Tribes set up some tipis on the lawn – we had to acquire special permission to set those up. We had elders from all the reservations come and share their stories.” When asked about the next fifty years, Linquist added, “We Indian people still struggle with how we relate to our state and our country. There needs to be a better relationship between our native people and non-native peoples. We should always have a place at the table of the state.”

Chairman Reflects On President's Visit To Reservation

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President Obama visits with Standing Rock childrenTȟatȟáŋka Aná’taŋ (Charging Bull) (left) andMatȟó Napé Ská (White Hand Bear) (right) at the Cannonball Flag Day Wačhípi, June, 2014. 
Chairman Reflects On President's Visit
A Visit With Youth Provokes Action
By Dakota Wind
Cannonball, N.D. – Every Flag Day on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation the 
community of Cannonball hosts the annual Flag Day Wačhípi (Pow-wow). Families from across the reservation bring the American flags of their loved ones in memory over each gathering. 

The 2014 Cannonball Flag Day W
ačhípi was going to be different. 

Flags caught in the wind rippled and snapped above the wačhípi grounds. 

After a months-long assessment, White House staff selected Standing Rock for the President and First Lady to visit from among a handful of other destinations that day. Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II credits former Chairman Charles Murphy for creating a positive professional relationship with the White House Chief of Staff, Mr. Pete Rouse.

When the President landed in Cannonball, his first order of business was to meet with youth for a roundtable discussion about the many challenges of growing up on the reservation from poverty to homelessness. “The worst is over,” said the President, and remarked that neither he nor the First Lady came from wealth, but said that anything was possible and that “the future holds anything.”

Sometime after 4:00 PM the President and the First Lady entered the wačhípi circle to cheers and a song of encouragement song by the Grand River Singers. The President greeted the people in hesitant Lakȟóta, “Haú mitákuyapi [Greetings my relatives],” and 
spoke for only eleven minutes, about the improving nation to nation relationship that exists between the federal government and American Indian first nations, and giving Indian Country the resources to meet the needs of the youth. 

The President spoke of, “returning control of Indian education to tribal nations with additional resources and support so that you can direct your children's education and reform schools here in Indian Country.”

Chairman Archambault offered the President a star quilt and Mrs. Archambault offered the First Lady a shawl on behalf of the people of Standing Rock and Indian Country. Dancers were divided between the men, women, and the youngest to exhibit their living culture. “The pow-wow was a surreal experience. As we sat there, I explained to him the different dances,” said Archambault. When the Chairman voiced his doubt that the President would actually visit Standing Rock, the President replied, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

As a result of his visit, the President invited the youth panel to visit him in Washington D.C. and play basketball on his court. He immediately challenged his Cabinet to do all they can in their power and authority to do all they could in Indian Country, and he has established a native youth initiative with a focus on education.

When the youth traveled to the White House, they saw all the gifts from Standing Rock to the President and First Lady on display. “The Youth realized that the President’s visit meant more to him than just an afternoon on the reservation. He genuinely cared about the youth. And the youth were inspired to become productive members of their communities,” said Chairman Archambault.

Coolidge vacationed in the Black Hills. During his visit he was honored with a Lakȟóta name.

The last time a president met with members of Standing Rock for a cultural exchange like this was in 1928 when President Calvin Coolidge met the Lakȟóta in the Black Hills, there, Coolidge was gifted with the name Matȟó Čhuwíksuya (Bear Rib), in honor of one of the great Huŋkphápȟa Lakȟóta leaders. 

President Obama was honored with the name “Black Eagle” by the Crow Indian Nation in May, 2008.

The Blue Thunder, Or Yellow Lodge, Winter Count

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A composite image of the Blue Thunder Winter Count.
Wakíŋyaŋ Tȟó Waníyetu Wowápi
The Blue Thunder Winter Count
Edited by Dakota Wind
BISMARCK, N.D. - The Blue Thunder Winter Count is currently part of the permanent collections at the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Blue Thunder's story can be found here. Following his death sometime in the early 1920s, the winter count tradition was taken up by Yellow Lodge. The last dozen or so entries clearly by a hand not Blue Thunder's. 

Blue Thunder had no known children, no sons or daughters of his own, but the tradition was taken up by his step-daughter Tópa Kdí Inážiŋ Wiŋ (Stops Four Times Returning Woman). She in turn passed it down to her daughters (one of those daughters is this writer's own great-grandmother, Tȟaté Dúta Wiŋ (Scarlet Wind Woman). 

He Nuŋpá Waníča (Lit. "Horn/s Two There-Are-None"), or No Two Horns, rendered this winter count. It is currently in the collections at the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

The Blue Thunder Winter Count entries are matched in the entries of the No Two Horns Winter Count (pictographs are rendered in No Two Horns own wonderful artistic hand).

1785-86:          Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka wíŋyaŋ waŋ iyéyapi (With-Energy Great woman a found-for-themselves). They found a Great Spirit woman.

Blue Thunder said that this was near the ocean, or the mouth of the Missouri River.

According to High Hawk (Oglála) the Lakȟóta captured a Hóhe (Assiniboine) woman who cried out that she was a Wakȟáŋ Tȟaŋká wiŋyáŋ. They took her with them regardless, but later freed her.

1786-87:          Ȟewáktokta ób kičhízapi kiŋ (Hidatsa with battle-they the). They fought with the Hidatsa.

1787-88:          Pȟóğe HáŋskA ktépi (Nostril Long killed-they). They killed Long Nose.

1788-89:          Pȟehíŋ HáŋskA waŋ ktépi (Hair Long a killed-they). They killed a Long Hair.

1789-90:          Mníyaye Yuhá waŋ ktépi (Water-Carrier Has a killed-they). They killed Water-Carrier-Owner.

1790-91:          Wapȟáha Kitȟúŋ tȟóka ahí ktépi (Warbonnet To-Wear-Something enemy came-here killed-they). An enemy came and killed Wears-Warbonnet.

1791-92:          Ištá Saŋní waŋ Sihásapa Wašíču Ikčéka ktépi (Eye One-Of-Two a Sole-Black Fat-Takes Common killed-they). The French killed One-Eye, a Sihásapa (Blackfeet; one of the seven Lakota tribes).

1792-93:          Ȟaȟátȟuŋwaŋ wíŋyaŋ heyáke šá uŋ waŋ ktépi (Waterfall-Village woman dress red a killed-they). They killed an Ojibwe woman wearing a red dress.

1793-94:          Ȟewáktokta nakúŋ Pȟadáni nakúŋ Miwátani ób kičhízapi, Wakpá Wašté éd, iyúhaŋ hú ópi eyápi (Hidatsa and Arikara and Mandan with fight-they, River Good at, everyone leg wounded say-they). They say they fought with the Hidatsa, Arikara, and Mandan at the Good River (presently the Cheyenne River), and everyone’s leg was wounded.

1794-95:          Šiyótȟaŋka Yuhá waŋ ahí ktépi (Flute Has a came-here killed-they). They came and killed Flute-Owner.

1795-96:          Ȟewáktokta nakúŋ Pȟadáni ób kičhízapi. Istó ópi eyápi. (Hidatsa and Arikara with fought-they. Arm wounded said-they). They say they fought with the Hidatsa and Arikara and everyone’s arms were wounded.

1796-97:          Wówapi waŋ makȟá kawíŋȟ hiyáyapi (Flag/book a earth to-turn-around came-and-passed-along-they). They brought a flag around the country. The image for this year is the British Union Jack flag.

1797-98:          Omáha yamní ktépi (Omaha three killed-they). They killed three Omaha.

1798-99:          Šuŋg pȟehíŋ tȟáŋka yedó (Horse mane big it-is-so). There was a horse with a big mane.

1799-1800:      Čhápa othí mníyaweyapi (Beaver dwelling water-found-they). They found water in a beaver’s den. 

1800-01:          Wičháȟaŋȟaŋ (Man-full-of-scabby-sores). Smallpox.

1801-02:          Šuŋgníni óta áwičakdipi (Horse-wild many captured-return-they). They returned with wild horses.

1802-03:          Šuŋg’ğúğuna áwičakdipi (Horse-curly-hair captured-return-they). They returned with curly-haired horses.

1803-04:          Šaké máza áwičakdipi (Hoof iron captured-return-they). They returned with iron shod horse/s.

1804-05:          Tȟasíŋte uŋ akíčhidowaŋpi (Their-tail using together-with-song-they). They sang in praise of one another using horse tails.

1805-06:          Šakdóğaŋ ahí wičáktepi (Eight came-here men-killed-they). They came and killed eight of them.

1806-07:          Tuŋwéya waŋ ktépi (Scout the killed-they). They killed a scout.

1807-08:          Napsíoȟdi mázazi tȟoká uŋ waŋ ktépi (Ring iron-yellow first wear a killed-they). They killed a man who was the first to wear brass rings.
             
1808-09:          Paháta í waŋ ktépi (To-the-hill on-account-of the killed they). They killed a man who went to the hill.

1809-10:          WíyakA tȟó ótapi iyéyapi waníyetu (Feather blue many-they found-they winter). That winter they found many blue feathers.

1810-11:          Wi’akhíniča pedó (Woman-to-have-a-dispute-over they-did). They had a dispute over a woman.

1811-12:          Šúŋkawakȟaŋ ská šuŋksímaza yuhá waŋ iyéyapi (Horse white hooves-iron had the found-they). They found a white horse wearing horseshoes.

1812-13:          Matȟó Čík’ada ahí ktépi (Bear Little came-here killed-they). They came and killed Little Bear.

1813-14:          Šákpe wičáktepi waníyetu kiŋ (Six them-killed-they winter the). They killed six that winter.

1814-15:          Thítȟuŋwaŋ ka Ȟewáktokta ób kičhízapi na nakúŋ Thítȟuŋwaŋ čhehúpa ópi (Teton there Hidatsa with fight-they and also Teton jaw wound). The Teton fought the Hidatsa and a Lakota was shot in the jaw.

1815-16:          Núŋpa wakté akdí (Two to-have-killed-in-battle return). He returned with two war honors.

1816-17:          Pté sáŋ waŋ unktépi (Bison-cow creamy-white we-killed-they). They killed a white bison cow.

1817-18:          Pȟeháŋ Tȟó pȟá dúta waŋ yáŋkapi (Heron Blue head red look sat-they). They saw a blue crane with a red head.

1818-19:          Makȟóšiča Našdí (Across-the-country-bad to-have-pustules). An epidemic of measles.

1819-20:          Čhozé čhaŋpúpuŋ uŋ thikáğA (Čhozé [Joseph] wood-dry/rotten live to-pitch-a-lodge). A man they called Čhozé [Joseph] built a cabin using dry-rotted wood.

1820-21:          Kȟaŋğí óta t’Ápi (Crow many died-they). Many crows died.

1821-22:          Wičháȟpi waŋ hotȟúŋ hiyáyA (Star a cried-out pass-by). A star cried out as it passed by.

1822-23:          Ȟewáktokta yámni wátamahE wičáktepi (Hidatsa three in-a-boat them-killed-they). They killed three Hidatsa in a boat.

1823-24:          Wahúwapa šéča ȟápi waníyetu kiŋ (Ears-of-corn dried bury-they winter the). That winter they cached parched ears of corn.

1824-25:          Ȟaȟátȟuŋwaŋ ób kičhízapi. Čhaŋkáškapi yuȟdéčapi ([Water] Fall-dwellers with fight-they. Fence-fortification to-tear-apart-they). They fought with the Chippewa. They tore their palisades to pieces.

1825-26:          Mní wičhát’E (Water many-dead). Dead bodies in the water.

1826-27:          Máğana iwáktekdi kiŋ (Garden [Little] returned-victorious-having-done-killing-in-battle the). Little Garden returned with war honors.

1827-28:          Wičháakiȟ’aŋ na wičháša čheȟpí yútA, Isáŋyathi (Starvation and people flesh to-eat-something, Santee). In their desperate hunger, the Santee ate their own.

1828-29:          Ógde Dúta, Pȟadáni, ktépi (Red Shirt, an Arikara, was killed).

1829-30:          Makhú Šá čhaŋkáğa thípi káğA Hiŋháŋ Wakpá éd (Breast-bone Red trimmed-logs lodge to-build Owl River at). Red Breast built a cabin on Owl River (Moreau River).

1830-31:          Wónase adówaŋpi kiŋ (Bison-Chase/Hunt Singing-for-they the). They sang for Buffalo Chase.

1831-32:          Pȟadáni ób kičhízapi kiŋ. Šagdóğaŋ wičáktepi. (Arikara with fight-they the. Eight them-killed-they). They fought with the Arikara. The Arikara killed eight of the Dakȟóta.

1832-33:          Hú KsahÁŋ mníwakȟaŋ iyéya na yatkáŋyaŋ t’Á (Leg Broken/Severed water-with-energy to-do-suddenly and drinking died). Broken Leg found whiskey and died drinking it.

1833-34:          Wičháȟpi hiŋȟpáya (Star-Nation to-fall-down). The stars fell down.

1834-35:          Matȟó kičhí waníthipi, Čhaŋté Wakpá éd (Bear with winter-camp, Heart River at). They made winter camp with a bear, at Heart River.

1835-36:          Wičhíyena óta wičhákasotapi waníyetu (Wičhíyena many massacre-they winter). Many Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) were massacred that winter.

1836-37:          Wapȟáha Iyúsdohetoŋ waníyetu, Pȟadáni Wakpá éd (Warbonnet Trailing-tail winter, Arikara River at). Warbonnet with trailer winter, at Grand River.

1837-38:          Wičháȟaŋȟaŋ (Smallpox). Smallpox.

1838-39:          Pȟóžaŋžaŋ pté sáŋ kté (To-sniff-as-an-animal-does-the-wind female-bison creamy-white killed). Sniffer killed a white bison cow.

1839-40:          Ištá Máza ktépi, Waáŋataŋ (Eye/s Iron killed-they, He-Rushes-To-Attack). They killed Iron Eyes, The Charger.

1840-41:          Tȟámina Wé iwáktekdi kiŋ, Pȟadáni (His-Knife Blood returned-with-war-honors the, Arikara). His Bloody Knife returned with war honors against the Arikara.

1841-42:          Psaóhaŋpi (Snowshoes).

1842-43:          Tȟatȟáŋka Oyé Wakȟáŋ t’Á. Wakhéya kdézena uŋ wičháknakapi. (Bison-Bull Tracks With-Energy died. Lodge striped using above-the-ground [buried]-they). Holy Buffalo Tracks dies. They laid him to rest in a striped thípi.

1843-44:          Dé thiyópa šá othí pté akhú (This lodge-door red to-dwell bison brought-home).  A red thípi door brought the bison.

1844-45:          Makȟóšiča Nawíčašdi (Epidemic measles). There was an epidemic of measles.

1845-46:          Pȟadáni Waȟpé Šá, Wičhíyena, čhaŋkpé ópi (Arikara Leaf Red, Wičhíyena, Knee wound/shot). An Arikara wounded an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna named Red Leaf in the knee.

1846-47:          Tȟatȟáŋka Pȟá ištíŋmA t’Á (Bison-bull Head sleep died). Bull Head died in his sleep. This was the father of Lt. Henry Bullhead who killed Sitting Bull.

1847-48:          Ȟaŋtéčhaŋ Wakpá na Píğa Wakpá ožáte éd waníthipi. Wašíču wiínaȟbe kičhí waníthi. (Cedar Creek and Boiling Creek forks at winter-camp-they. Takes-The-Fat seducer-of-women with winter-camp). They established winter camp where the Cedar River and Boiling River converge. A white man, a seducer of women, camped the winter with them.

1848-49:          Pȟadáni na Wičhíyena kičhí čhapȟápi (Arikara and Wičhíyena with stabbed-they). An Arikara and an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna stabbed each other.

1849-50:          Wakíŋyaŋ Yuhá, Wičhíyena, čhaŋkȟáğathipi mahé t’Á (Thunder Has, Wičhíyena, wood-cut-lodge inside died). Has Thunder, an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, died in a log cabin.

1850-51:          Wópȟetȟuŋ waŋ Wičhíyena ópi. Matȟó Núŋpa thíŋktes’a t’eyÁ (Trader a Wičhíyena wound. Bear Two murderer-would-be caused-to-die). An Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna wounds a trader. Two Bear puts the would-be murderer to death.

1851-52:          Heȟáka Dúta kičhí waníthipi, Pȟadáni (Elk Red with winter-camp, Arikara). Red Elk, an Arikara, camped with them that winter.

1852-53:          Psaóhaŋpi (Snowshoes). Snowshoes.

1853-54:          Hé Tópa uŋ waŋ ktépi (Horn/s Four wearing a killed-they). They killed a man wearing a headdress with four horns.

1854-55:          Wičhíyena Hóhe ób kičhízapi kiŋ. Makȟá Sáŋ Wakpá éd. WahíŋtkA ktépi. (Wičhíyena Assiniboine with fight-they the. Earth Creamy-White River at. Scraper killed-they). The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna fought with the Assiniboine. They were at White Earth River. They killed Scraper.

1855-56:          Phuthíŋ Ská wawáhoye kiŋ (Beard White to-order-things the). White Beard [General William Harney] gave the order.

They were at Čhúŋaške (Fort Pierre) that winter. White Beard called a council and treated with them. They wintered with him.

1856-57:          Wičhíyena Hóhe ób kičhízapi kiŋ. Mníyaye Zí ktépi (Wičhíyena Assiniboine with fight-they the. Water-carrier Yellow killed-they). The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna fought with the Assiniboine. They killed Yellow Water-Carrier.

1857-58:          Tȟóka, Pȟadáni Miwátani Ȟewáktokta, Wičhíyena ób kičhízapi. Wičhíyena šákpe ktépi (Enemy, Arikara Mandan Hidatsa, Wičhíyena with fight-they. Wičhíyena six killed-they). The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna fought against the enemy force of Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa. They killed six Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna.

1858-59:          Waŋbdí Hoȟpí t’Á (Eagle Nest died). Eagle Nest died.

1859-60:          Šúŋka HáŋskA ktépi (Dog Long killed-they). They killed Long Dog.

1860-61:          Tȟaŋčháŋ WíyakA YukȟÁŋ, Wičhíyena, čhuwíta t’Á (Body Feather To-Be, Wičhíyena, to-be-cold die). Feather On His Body, an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, died from the cold.

1861-62:          Čhaŋté Wakpá othípi (Heart River to-camp-they). They camped at Heart River.

1862-63:          Hóhe wikčémna núŋpa wičáktepi (Assiniboine ten two them-killed-they). They killed twenty Assiniboine.

1863-64:          Akíčhita Pȟá Tȟáŋka kaškápi. Kdí na t’Á (Soldier/s Head Big imprisoned. Return and die). Soldiers imprisoned Big Head. He returned and died.

1864-65:          Tȟáȟča Óta ahí wóokhiye káğA (Deer Many came-here peace to-make). Many Deer (Gen. Henry Maynadier) came and made peace.

Blue Thunder: Soldiers made camp [Fort Rice, ND] to made a treaty with the Wičhíyena but  the Wičhíyena ran off and the soldiers took three of them as prisoners. Their leader, IyÁ Wičákȟa (The One Who Speaks The Truth), the father of Two Bear, was among the three.

1865-66:          Pȟatkâša Pȟá čhapȟÁ t’ekíyA (Jugular-vein-scarlet Head [Western Painted Turtle] stab to-cause-one’s-own-death). Turtle Head was stabbed to death.

Blue Thunder: They were camping at Kaȟmíčhiŋka (River Bends Back Upon Itself; Big Bend, SD).

1866-67:          Phizí čhapȟápi (Gall stabbed-they). They stabbed Gall.

Blue Thunder: Phizí tried to make peace at Fort Rice [Berthold], but soldiers stabbed him, twice in the body and once in the neck. He had not done anything bad. He and Grass (Matȟó Watȟákpe; Charging Bear) went there together to talk with the head soldier (Capt. Adams Bassett).

1867-68:          Čháŋ Ičú čhiŋkšítku núŋpapi čhuwíta t’ápi. Waníyetu osní. (Wood Takes son/s two-they to-be-cold died-they. Winter cold.)  He Takes Wood and his two sons froze to death. The winter was cold.

1868-69:          Máni Dúta, Šinásapa, ahí wóokhiye káğA (Walk Red, Robe-black, came-here peace to-make). Fr. De Smet, a Jesuit (Black Robe), came to make peace with Walks In Red (Gall).

Blue Thunder: Fr. De Smet, a Catholic priest, came to make a treaty with the Thítȟuŋwaŋ. Blue Thunder brought twenty Húŋkphapȟa under Gall to Fort Rice to entice them to sign the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. When they arrived at Fort Rice, the soldiers took Gall prisoner then let word spread that they were going to hang him. Two Bear protested. The soldiers stripped Gall then beat him before releasing him. The Thítȟuŋwaŋ were angered at this. There would be no peace, nor trust.

1869-70:          Núŋpa čhaŋ mnayáŋpi wičáktepi, Pȟadáni (Two wood gathering killed-they, Arikara). They killed an Arikara couple who were out gathering wood.

1870-71:          Šúŋkawakȟaŋ óta mní t’ápi. Šúŋkawakȟaŋ wičhóthi okáwiŋȟ khuwápi. (Horse many water died-they. Horse camp-around chased-they.) Many horses drowned. They chased horses around the camp.

Blue Thunder: Winter camp at Pȟadáni Wakpá (Grand River). A flood drowned many horses which were tied to the trees for shelter that night.
Blue Thunder variants I-III: At Grand River. Many horses died in a flood. The Húŋkphápȟa were camping between the Rosebud River and Fast Horse Creek. The Crow came and stole nearly all the horses. They chased the horses through the camp.

1871-72:          Wašíču waŋ Nasú ikčéka kté (Takes-The-Fat a Brain common killed). Brain, a Lakȟóta, killed a white man.

Blue Thunder variants I-III: A Dakȟóta they called Brain killed a white man. The Blue Thunder winter count and variants I-III all depict a man dressed as a white man, but with long hair, and wearing a wawóslata wanáp’iŋ (a hair-pipe breastplate), with an arrow in his side.

1872-73:          Túwe Tȟatȟáŋka Nážiŋ kté (Someone Bison-Bull Stand kill). Someone killed Standing Buffalo (Bull).

1873-74:          Hokšída Akíčhita, Ziŋtkáda ŠíčA, tuŋwéya Dakȟóta waŋ wašíču ikčéka ktépi, Psíŋ Otȟúŋwahe éd (Boy Soldier, Bird Bad, scout Dakȟóta a Takes-The-Fat common killed-they, Wild-Rice Village at). Soldier boy, Bad Bird, Dakȟóta scout was killed by the whites, at Wild Rice Village (Fort Rice, DT).

Blue Thunder: The whites killed Bad Bird, a Dakȟóta scout.
Blue Thunder winter count and variants II & III: Bad Bird is depicted wearing a hat with his name, a black bird, above his head. In the variant I, he is depicted wearing a small feather “dream headdress” upon the back of his head.

1874-75:          Ité Omáğažu kaškápi, Čhanté Wakpá Akíčhita Otȟúŋwahe éd (Face It-Rains-Into imprison-they, Heart River Soldier Camp at). Rain In The Face was imprisoned at Fort Abraham Lincoln, DT.

1875-76:          Mníwakȟáŋ Iyéyapi (Water-with-energy [whiskey] found-they). They found whisky.

Blue Thunder: They found a keg of whiskey near the shore at Íŋyaŋ Bosdáta Akíčhita Otȟúŋwahe (Standing Rock Soldier Village; Fort Yates, DT). They had a council and drank it all up.

1876-77:          Šuŋk’akaŋyaŋkapi akíčhita tȟašúŋkawakȟaŋpi oyás’iŋ waíč’iyápi (Horse-riding-they soldiers horses-belonging-to-them all-of-a-kind to-take-things-they). The cavalry took all their horses.

Blue Thunder and all the variants: Horse soldiers confiscated all of their horses at Fort Yates. This was in retaliation for the loss of General Custer and the 7thCavalry the previous summer.

1877-78:          Matȟó Tȟamáheča čhaŋkȟáğathipi mahéd t’Á (Bear Lean log-lodge inside died). Lean Bear died in a log cabin.

1877-78:          Matȟó Núŋpa t’Á (Bear Two died). Chief Two Bear died.

1878-79:          GnaškíŋyAŋ Máni wayázaŋ (To-Be-Raging-Mad/Crazy Walk to-be-sick). Crazy Walker was sick.
           
Blue Thunder variant: Crazy Walker was so sick they carried him in a blanket to another lodge. He got well again.

1879-80:          Pȟá ȞuğáhAŋ wakȟáŋ wóhaŋpi káğA (Head Dented/Broken-Into with-energy feast-they to-make). Broken Head made a sacred feast that winter.

1880-81:          Itázipa Dúta iná t’Á (Bow Red mother died). Red Bow’s mother died.

1881-82:          Ziŋtkáda Čík’ada uŋgnúhaŋna t’Á (Bird Little suddenly/unexpectedly died). Little Bird died suddenly.

1882-83:          Tȟatȟáŋka Dúta t’Á (Bison-Bull Red died). Red Bull died.

1884-85:          Wasú Dúta čhuŋwíŋtku t’Á (Hail Red daughter died). Red Hail’s daughter died.

1885-86:          Hé Núŋpa WaníčA wakȟáŋ wóhaŋpi tȟáŋka káğA (Horn Two There-Is-None with-energy feast big to-make). No Two Horns made a large ceremonial feast.
           
No Two Horns made a big feast in the winter in memory of his sister who had passed away the previous summer.

1886-87:          Matȟó Núŋpa huŋká waŋžítku t’Á, Čhečá Yámni ečíyapi (Bear Two ceremoniously-adopted one-his died, Thighs Three name-they). Two Bear’s ceremonially adopted brother, whom they called Three Thighs, died.

1887-88:          Matȟó Witkó wačhípi thitȟáŋka othí (Bear Crazy/Foolish dance-they lodge-big dwell). Fool Bear held a dance in a large lodge where he dwelt.

1888-89:          Šaké Waŋblí kaškápi t’Á (Claw Eagle imprisoned died). Eagle Claw died in captivity.
           
No Two Horns says this was in Fort Yates, DT; Blue Thunder says this was in Mandan, DT. Both No Two Horns and Blue Thunder list an alternate name of Frosted Red Fish for Eagle Claw.

1889-90:          Wáğačhaŋ, Wičhíyena itȟáŋčhaŋ t’Á (Cottonwood, Wičhíyena chief died). Cottowood, an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna chief, died.

1890-91:          Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ktépi (Bison-Bull Sitting-Down killed they). They killed Sitting Bull.

1891-92:          Mázaska yámni waŋžígži wičhák’u (Iron-white three each-one-apiece them-give). $3.00 to each person.

1892-93:          Šúŋkawakȟaŋ khí mázaska wikčémna tópa otóiyohi (Horse take-away iron-white ten four each-and-every-one). $40.00 for each horse taken away.

1893-94:          Mázaska hokšída šuŋg’yúslohAŋ t’Á (“Money” boy horse-drag-along die).
A boy was dragged to death by a horse at the Mandan Rodeo. His name was Mázaska (Silver or “Money”). He was twelve years old.

1894-95:          Wakhéya Áya t’Á (Tent To-There-From-Here died). Carries The Lodge died.

1895-96:          Tȟáisto KsÁ t’Á (His-Arm Cut-Off died). His Arm Cut Off  (H.S. Parkins) died.

1896-97:          PažípA t’Á. Pȟá Tȟáŋka čhiŋkšítku. (To-Sting died. Head Big son.) To-Sting died. He was Big Head’s son.

1897-98:          Nağí Wakȟáŋ t’Á (Soul With-Energy died). Holy Soul died.

1898-99:          Matȟó Héya t’Á (Bear Louse died). Louse Bear died.

1899-1900:      Matȟó Ȟotá tȟabkápsičapi t’Á. Mandan Fair éd. (Bear Grey to-strike-a-ball-with-a-bat-they died. Mandan Fair at.) Grey Bear died playing shinny. At the Mandan Fair.

1900-01:          Wapȟáha Wašté owíŋža mahé ğú (Warbonnet Good/Pretty bed in burn). Pretty Warbonnet was burned in bed.

1901-02:          Wapȟóštaŋ t’Á. (To-put-something-on-one’s-head died). Hat died.
                        Hat, a policeman, died.

1902-03:          Matȟó Ȟóta úŋtȟuŋ, hú kašúžA, hú ksÁ, t’Á (Bear Grey injure, leg broke, leg cut-off, died). Grey Bear’s injury was a broken leg, which was removed, then he died.

1903-04:          Šúŋka Čík’ada t’á (Dog Little died). Little Dog died.

1904-05:          Waŋbdí Ská t’á (Eagle White died). White Eagle died.

1905-06:          Matȟó SápA ktépi (Bear Black killed-they). Black Bear was killed.

1906-07:          Joe Tomahawk ič’ikte (Joe Tomahawk to-kill-oneself). Joe Tomahawk committed suicide.

1907-08:          Makȟá Wiŋ t’Á (Earth Woman died). Earth Woman died.

1908-09:          Matȟó Núŋpa iná t’Á (Bear Two mother died). Two Bear’s mother died.

1909-10:          Maȟpíya Kiŋy'Aŋ kaškA, Akíčita Háŋska Otȟúŋwahe éd (Cloud Flying imprison, Soldier Long Village at). Flying Cloud was imprisoned at Fort Yates.

1910-11:          Matȟó Waŋkátuya t’Á (Bear On-High died). High Bear died.

1911-12:          Matȟó Čhuwíyuksa t’Á (Bear From-The-Waist-Up died). Half Body Bear [Bear Vest?] died. He was known in English as Bear Coat.

1912-13:          Šúŋka Dúta tȟawíča t’Á (Dog Red his-wife died). Red Dog’s wife died.

1913-14:          Akíčita huŋkádowaŋpi waníyetu (Soldier to-have-for-a-relative-singing-over-they winter). That winter they adopted a soldier (Col. A.B. Welch).

The Chandler-Pohrt Winter Count

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The Chandler-Pohrt Winter Count (above) is housed at the Detroit Institute of Arts. It was created by an unknown artist at the beginning of the reservation era in North Dakota. Image courtesy of the Detroit Institute of Arts
Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakȟóta Waníyetu Wówapi
The Chandler-Pohrt Winter Count Revisited
Edited by Dakota Wind
Fort Totten, N.D. – The Chandler-Pohrt Winter Count was acquired by Mr. Milford G. Chandler in the 1930s on the Spirit Lake Nation Reservation (formerly the Devils Lake Sioux Indian Reservation). The keeper of this winter count is unknown. This particular winter count contains events that relate mostly to the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakȟóta (Yanktonai) and the Huŋkphápȟa Lakȟóta peoples from 1823 to 1919.

Today, the Spirit Lake Nation is made up of some Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ (Yankton) and Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna who were invited onto the reservation some years following the 1863 Sibley Punitive Campaign, but is mostly comprised of Sisíthuŋwaŋ (Sisseton), and Waȟpêthuŋwaŋ (Wahpeton) Dakȟóta people for whom the reservation was founded.

In 1998, Dr. Linea Sundstrom rendered an interpretation of this winter count on behalf of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Her interpretation is currently online on the St. Francis Indian Mission website. It is re-transcribed here as follows: the year, the first line of text is as it was recorded using Missionary Dakota, the Missionary Dakota re-written using the Lakota Language Consortium standard orthography, a word for word translation, a free translation, and then any additional information or commentary.

1823
Wahuwas·eca ih·anpi.
Wahúwas ečhá iȟápi.
Ear-Of-Corn deliberately to-bury-something-they.
They cached ears of corn.

This year’s event refers to the Arikara War of 1823, in which Colonel Leavenworth led the Missouri Legion (soldiers, artillery, and even the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna and Thítȟuŋwaŋ) in the first ever US punitive military campaign against a Plains Indian tribe, the Arikara.

About 700-750 of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ fought under Leavenworth’s command in this Missouri Legion. At the end of the campaign, when the Arikara were utterly defeated and chased out of their villages, their fields of corn were seized by the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ for their use[1].

1824 
Wah·pes·a conkas·ke kii.
Waȟpé Šá čhúŋkaške khí.
Leaf Red Fence/Fortification to-take-away-something-from-somebody.
Red Leaf took a fort.

Red Leaf, an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna chief, is mentioned in the Blue Thunder Winter Count in the entry for 1845 when he was injured in a fight with an Arikara.

1825 Miniwicata.
Mní wičhát’A.
Water many-died.
Many drowned.

This was at Horse Head Bottom, also known as Gayton’s Crossing[2].

They were camping on the bottomlands of the Mníšoše that spring when an unprecedented rise of water quickly drowned over one half of the people. They say that this happened on the east bank of the river, opposite of the mouth of the Cannonball River. The Dakȟóta call this place Étu Pȟá Šuŋg t’Á (Lit. Place Head Horse Dead; Dead Horse Head Point) because, following the flood, the shore was lined with dead horse heads. They had corralled their horses for the night and nearly all were drowned but for a few[3].

Howard’s interpretation of this event mentions that over one-half of the people drowned[4]. Howard’s informant, Mr. Pete Big eagle, places this event not in North Dakota, but instead at White Swan Creek located near present-day Pickstown, SD on the Yankton Indian Reservation[5].

1826
Tas·pan ojued wanitipi.
Tȟaspáŋ Ožú éd waníthipi.
Apple To-Plant-Something at winter-camp.
They established winter camp at Apple Orchard.

Apple Orchard, or Apple Creek is located around present-day Bismarck, ND area. The creek is known as Tȟaspáŋla Wakpála (Lit. “Little Apple Creek”) for the wild Hawthorn trees. The fruit, or thornapple, are called tȟaspáŋla, which means “little apple.”

The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna returned to Tȟaspáŋ Ožú time and again. It was a favorite place to winter, specifically mentioned in 1777, 1826, and 1861 for that purpose[6].

1827 
Isanyati akikantapi.
Isáŋyathi akíȟ’aŋt’api.
Santee to-die-of-starvation-them.
Many of the Eastern Dakota died of starvation.

1828 
Kiyahiyaze istasapi kici kicio.
Khiyé ahí yazé istášapi kičhí kíčio
Near to-come-here to-pull-with-the-teeth arm-red-they with to-shoot-and-hit-something-for-someone.
Someone close came, fought hand-to-hand, was wounded, and shot.

The pictograph for this year indicates that the wounded one’s name is possibly Ziŋtkála SápA (Lit. “Black Bird”), as evidenced by a rather plain black bird flying above him. The Mnikȟówožu winter counts Bush, Lone Dog, and Swan, along with the Sa’úŋ (northern Thítȟuŋwaŋ - Teton - Lakȟóta, in this case, the Itázipčho and Oóhenuŋpa) winter count kept by The Flame, all refer to a fight this year involving a man named Dead Arm who was stabbed in the arm by a Mandan Indian.

1829 
Kanpi kicitipi.
Kánapi kičhí thípi.
Way-over-there-them with reside-there-they.
They camped with them way over there.

The traditional territory of the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ (Yankton) and Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) lay between the Mníšoše (The Water-Astir; “Missouri River”) and the Čhaŋsáŋsaŋ Wakpá (White Birch River; “James River”) in present day North Dakota and South Dakota. The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna dwelt north of the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ. Their northern most territory boundary lay from the mouth of the Čháŋté Wakpá (Heart River) and Mní Wakȟáŋ (Spirit Lake).

The image suggests that the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna travelled far to trade with a trader (the cabin) and wintered there with him (the thípi next to the cabin).

The Mnikȟówožu were living along the Wakpá Wašté (Good River; “Cheyenne River”) at this time. The Mnikȟówožu winter counts by Lone Dog and Thin Elk recall the arrival of the trader F.A. Chardon. Chardon established a trade post on what became known as Makȟóthi Wakpála (Earthlodge Creek) at Pahá Čhaŋ Igná YaŋkÁ (Hill In The Woods) along Makhízita Wakpá (Lit. “White Dirt River;” White River)[7]. Today, Makȟóthi Wakpála is known as Makȟásaŋ Wakpála (Lit. “Creamy-White-Earth Creek;” Whiteclay Creek).

The location of Chardon’s trading post lay between the historic territories of the Mnikȟówožu and Oóhenuŋpa Lakȟóta peoples. The site of the trading post lay within the borders of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

1830
Hewatamahica wicaktepi.
Ȟewák tȟamáheča wičáktepi.
Arikara [Ȟewák being a contraction of Ȟewáktotka] lean/skinny/poor men-killed-they.
They killed some poor Arikara.

According to the Blue Thunder Winter Counts and the White Bull Winter Count the Dakȟóta fought against the Arikara; the Arikara killed eight of the Dakȟóta in the fight.

1831
Wicasa num kiciktepi.
Wičháša núm kičhí ktépi.
Man two with killed-they.
Two men killed each other.

The pictograph for this year depicts two ikčéya wičháša, two common men, indicating that it was two Dakȟóta men who were killed this year.

1832 
Titankaobdica.
Thí tȟáŋka obdéča.
Lodge big square-sides.
A big cabin.

The High Dog Winter Count recalls the year as Thí tȟáŋka obléča káğapi (Lodge big square-sides built-they), that they built a large cabin that year. It was the first time a log cabin was built by a Lakȟóta.

1833 
Wicahpi hinhpaya.
Wičháȟpi hiŋȟpáya.
Nation-star to-fall-down.
The stars fell down.

Beede’s informants told him the Lakȟóta feared that Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka (the Great Mystery) had lost control over creation[8].

1834
Mato wan kiciwanitipi.
Matȟó waŋ kičhí waníthipi.
Bear a with winter-camp.
They wintered with a bear.

Blue Thunder and No Two Horns say that the Dakȟóta camped with a bear that winter at Čháŋté Wakpá (Heart River).


1835
Iktonwanotawica kasatapi.
Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna wičhákasotapi.
Yanktonai massacre-they.
Many Yanktonai were killed [in battle].

There was a battle between the Wazíkhute (Lit. “Pine-Shooters”) band of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna against a war party of Pȟadáni (Arikara) and Miwátani (Mandan).

The depiction of the Hupáwaheyuŋpi (Lit. “Poles Pack-things-up-to-travel”) indicates that this wasn’t a hunting expedition, but perhaps an envoy including women and even children, non-combatants, on their way to the next camp or perhaps on their way to trade or treat with another tribe.

The Cranbrook Winter Count, a Huŋkphápȟa winter count, recalls this year as the massacre of a Lakȟóta peace party. The High Dog Winter Count, generally a Huŋkphápȟa winter count but also includes Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna information, has that the dead Lakȟóta peace party members were brought back on travois. The Blue Thunder Winter Count says that twelve Dakȟóta died in this conflict. The Butterfly Winter Count, a Mandan winter count, recalls the the deaths of thirty Dakȟóta though they probably counted the ones they wounded in battle as dead.

1836
S·aketepa wokiye wicatipi.
Šaké Tópa wókhiye wičháktepi.
Hoof Four to-make-peace men-killed-they.
They killed Four Hoof a member of a peace delegation.

Only Four Hoof is identified of the two figures depicted in this year’s entry. It is possible that this year’s entry is related to the previous year in that it involved a peace delegation with either the Arikara, Mandan, and/or the Hidatsa.

1837
Wicah·anh·an tanka.
Wičáȟaŋȟaŋ tȟáŋka.
Smallpox big.
There was an epidemic of smallpox.

There was an epidemic of smallpox which struck the Upper Missouri River in 1837. It was most deadly among the sedentary tribes like the Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan. Nomadic tribes like the Thítȟuŋwaŋ (Lit. “Dwellers-On-The-Plains;” Teton) were not as heavily affected by the disease.

The steamboat, S.S. Saint Peter, knowingly spread the smallpox threat to all the people it came into contact, particularly the native people who had little immunity to this deadly disease. By summer’s end, all the tribes living in the Missouri River basin or nearby were affected[9].

1838
Akiwicah·anh·an.
Akhé wičáȟaŋȟaŋ.
Again smallpox.
Smallpox again.

The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna winter count by Roan Bear details that many people died from pȟózaŋ (lit. “Head-Sickness”). It is possible that this year’s entry recalls hemorrhagic smallpox, of which the first stage includes headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and severe muscle aches[10].

1839
Maza is·taya wanktepi.
Máza Ištáya waŋ ktépi.
Iron Eyes-In-A-State-Of the killed-they.
They killed Iron Eyes (lit. “Glasses”).

This was the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna chief otherwise known as Waáŋataŋ (lit. “He-Rushes-To-Attack;” The Charger) who was assassinated by one of his own people. He has fought in the War of 1812 as a young man, where he acquired the name “The Charger[11].” Towards the end of his life he favored wearing non-native attire, and even took to wearing green spectacles, from which his new name, “Iron Eyes,” was derived[12]. He died in the winter camp of the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna along Čhápa Wakpá (lit. “Beaver Creek”) in present-day Emmons County, N.D[13].

1840
Tamina wewe ktepi.
Tȟámina Wéwe ktépi.
His-Knife Blood-blood killed-they.
They killed His Bloody Knife.

This year refers to the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ chief His Bloody Knife, not the Huŋkphápȟa-Pȟadáni mixed blood Bloody Knife who served in the Fort McKeen Detachment of U.S. Indian Scouts at Fort Abraham Lincoln, and who died in the Reno Fight of the Little Bighorn.

The John K. Bear Winter Count details the victorious return of His Bloody Knife[14].

Blue Thunder says: Tȟámina Wé iwáktekdi kiŋ, Pȟadáni (His-Knife Blood returned-with-war-honors the, Arikara). His Bloody Knife returned with war honors against the Arikara. This was at the mouth of the Íŋyaŋwakağapi Wakpá (Stone-Make-For-Themselves River), or Cannonball River[15].

1841
Wicas·a itancan wan ktepi.
Wičháša itȟáŋčhaŋ waŋ ktépi.
Man chief in-particular killed-they.
They killed a chief.

The High Dog Winter Count refers to the death of a Hóhe (Assiniboine) this year named Ošpúla[16] (lit. “Cuttings,” or “Leavings”).

1842
Wakeya hdezena oti wankan.
Wakhéya kdézena othí wakȟáŋ.
Lodge striped to-dwell-within with-energy.
Dwelling within a sacred striped.

The Blue Thunder Winter Count calls this year: Tȟatȟáŋka Oyé Wakȟáŋ t’Á. Wakhéya kdézena uŋ wičháknakapi. (Bison-Bull Tracks With-Energy died. Lodge striped using above-the-ground [buried]-they). Holy Buffalo Tracks dies. They laid him to rest in a striped thípi[17].

1843
Wasicun maza wadowan.
Wašíčuŋ máza wadówaŋ.
Takes-The-Fat Metal to-sing-over-someone.
Iron White Man was sung over.

The alówaŋ, or alówaŋpi, is a ceremony involving singing over individual/s and ascribing status to him/her/them. Some people are sung over, honored, for deeds which have benefited the community. A person might be sung over and formally adopted by a family.

1844
Winyan was anog·uta.
Wíŋyaŋ waŋ oná ğú t’A.
Woman in-particular prairie-fire burned died.
A woman died died of burns from a prairie fire.

The Medicine Bear Winter Counts entry for this year recalls the same incident: Wíŋyaŋ onákte (woman prairie-fire-killed). A woman died in a prairie fire[18].

1845 
Hunkawoqinyuta.
Huŋká wóniŋ yútA.
An-adopted-person sang to-eat-something.
A beggar was adopted and fed.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count entry for this year says: Huŋkádowaŋpi (Singing-over-a-relative-they). They sang over someone in ceremony and made a relative[19].

The High Dog entry for 1846 says: Tabú’bu alówaŋpi (Something-Large-And-Unknown sang-over-someone-they). They sang in honor over a man they called Something Large. This one man, entirely alone, defended the staff, the Lakȟóta flag, against great odds in combat against the Crow[20].

Rev. Eugene Beuchel’s “Lakota English Dictionary” translates Tabú’bu as “something large and big that no one ever saw,” but also describes this particular word as when children pile robes on another child so that the one child becomes something big. It may be this last that describes this one man’s battle the Crow, against great odds that none could describe, and he came out victorious[21].

James H. Howard interprets Tabú’bu as “Humpback,” and the pictograph to represent Huŋkálowaŋpi (Adopted-person-singing-over-they), in which the quirt behind one figure is taking the other figure as his relative[22].

The pictograph for this entry seems to support that this man who was adopted was indeed hunch backed. The Cranbrook Winter Count (Huŋkphápȟa) notes an adopted man was also known as His Horse Runs[23].

1846
S·unkakan hih·dokapi.
Šuŋk’ákaŋ hiŋkdókapi.
On-horseback to-suddenly-happen-as-it-were-they.
A rider unexpectedly brought horses to them.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count entry for this year says: Šuŋg’híŋzi áwičakdipi (Horse-teeth-yellow captured-return-they). They brought back horses with yellow teeth[24].

The pictograph depicts a black horse with a white face.

1847
Was·icun num wopeton yankapi.
Wašíčuŋ núm wópȟetȟuŋ yaŋkápi.
Take-the-fat two to-buy-things to-sit-they.
Two white traders sat [camped] with them.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count entry for this year says: Wašíču nuŋpá kičhí waníthi (Takes-The-Fat two with winter-camp). Two white traders camped with them that winter[25].

Blue Thunder says: Ȟaŋtéčhaŋ Wakpá na Píğa Wakpá ožáte éd waníthipi. Wašíču wiínaȟbe kičhí waníthi. (Cedar Creek and Boiling Creek forks at winter-camp-they. Takes-The-Fat seducer-of-women with winter-camp). They established winter camp where the Cedar River and Boiling River converge. A white man, a seducer of women, camped that winter with them[26].

1848
Odowan wanji kicikici kte.
Odówaŋ waŋží kičhíkičhi kté.
Song One to-one-another killed.
One Song and another killed each other.

Medicine Bear says: Kičhí ktépi (Each-other killed-they). They killed each other[27].

Blue Thunder says: Pȟadáni na Wičhíyena kičhí čhapȟápi (Arikara and Wičhíyena with stabbed-they). An Arikara and an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna stabbed each other[28].

The pictograph for this entry shows men with rifles, not knives.

1849
Titanka osniyata.
Thí tȟáŋka osníyata.
Lodge big cold-at/in-[the].
A big cabin when it was cold.

Medicine Bear says: WatȟókhiyopȟeyA čhúŋkaške éd waníthipi (To-Trade fort at winter-camp). They wintered at a trading post[29].

Blue Thunder says: Wakíŋyaŋ Yuhá, Wičhíyena, čhaŋkȟáğathipi mahé t’Á (Thunder Has, Wičhíyena, wood-cut-lodge inside died). Has Thunder, an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, died in a log cabin[30].

1850
Witkonasa was·icun wan kte.
Witkó NasÁ wašíčuŋ waŋ kté.
Crazy To-chase-large-game-in-a-communal-hunt take-the-fat a killed.
Crazy Chase Hunter killed a white man.

Blue Thunder says: Wópȟetȟuŋ waŋ Wičhíyena ópi. Matȟó Núŋpa thíŋktes’a t’eyÁ (Trader a Wičhíyena wound. Bear Two murderer-would-be caused-to-die). An Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna stabbed a trader. Two Bear puts the would-be murderer to death. This happened at a camp below present-day Mandan, ND[31].

No Two Horns says: a Dakȟóta man shot/killed a white man with an arrow[32].

The entry for this year depicts a Dakȟóta shooting a trader [figure with a hat] in the back with his bow and arrow.

1851
Heh·aka duta kici wanitipi.
Heȟáka dúta kičhí waníthipi.
Bull-Elk Red with winter-camp.
Red Elk wintered with them.

Blue Thunder says that Red Elk was an Arikara. This was at Mní Nažúŋspe KawéğA (lit. “Water Axe Broken”), Broke Axe Lake, an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna campsite located near present-day Washburn, ND[33].

Broke Axe Lake is what is commonly known as an “oxbow lake,” a former channel of the Missouri River. The name fell out of disuse and the site is now known as Painted Woods, whose name is derived from a tragic love story between a Mandan maiden and an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna brave[34].

1852
Matowas·te pte hiko.
Matȟó Wašté ptehíko.
Bear Good bison-to-attract.
Good Bear called the bison. 

Medicine Bear says: Matȟó Wašté ečíyapi ptehíko (Bear Good called-them-by-name bison-to-attract). Good Bear called the bison[35].

Blue Thunder’s entry for this year simply says: Psaóhaŋpi (Snowshoes). Blue Thunder and the variants say that they wintered at a site east of Fort Berthold, a place called either “Corn Hill” or “Cave Hill.” They also hunted many bison that winter[36]. Many winter counts recite a hard or difficult winter.

Another possible name of this site is a “coal hill,” where small strip mines later removed the deposit, which is about six miles east of old Fort Berthold, nearly halfway between old Fort Berthold and Fort Stevenson[37].

1853 Hetopa wan ktepi.
Hé Tópa waŋ ktépi
Horn Four the killed-they.
They killed Four Horns.

Blue Thunder says: Hé tópa uŋ waŋ ktépi (Horn/s Four wearing a killed-they). They killed a man wearing a headdress with four horns. According to Blue Thunder, a lone Crow warrior wearing a four-horned headdress charged into a Lakȟóta war party and died a glorious death at Čhaȟlí Wakpá. Afterward, all the warriors who had participated in this fight took to wearing four-horned headdresses in memory of the Crow’s bravery and his last fight[38].

1854
Osnikicizapi.
Osní kičhízapi.
Cold battle-they.
They had a battle that winter.

Medicine Bear says: Waníyetu kičhízapi (Winter fight-they). They had a fight that winter[39].

Blue Thunder says: Wičhíyena Hóhe ób kičhízapi kiŋ. Makȟá Sáŋ Wakpá éd. WahíŋtkA ktépi. (Wičhíyena Assiniboine with fight-they the. Earth Creamy-White River at. Scraper killed-they). The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna fought with the Assiniboine. They were at White Earth River. They killed Scraper. Blue Thunder further says that this was at Fort Berthold[40].

1855
Putihinska waaks·ija.
Phuthíŋ Ská waáŋkičiya.
Beard White cared-for-with-them.
They took care of White Beard.

High Dog says: This was Gen. Harney who went to make peace with the Oóhenuŋpa (Two Kettle), Húŋkpathi (Lower Yankton), Huŋkphápȟa, Sihásapa (Black-Soled Moccasins; Blackfeet Lakȟóta), Mnikȟówožu (Planters By The Stream), Itázipčho (Without-Bows; Sans Arc), Iháŋktȟuŋwanŋa, and Sičháŋğu (Burnt-Thigh; Brule), in March, 1856, so that settlers on the Oregon Trail might pass by unperturbed[41].

Medicine Bear says: Phuthíŋ Ská wawáhoye kiŋ (Beard White to-order-things the). White Beard [General William Harney] gave the order[42].

Blue Thunder says: Phuthíŋ Ská wawáhoye kiŋ (Beard White to-order-things the). White Beard [General William Harney] gave the order. They were at Čhúŋaške (Fort Pierre) that winter. White Beard called a council and treated with them. They wintered with him[43].

1856
Kangi wicas·an wan wapaha aykusapi.
Kȟaŋğí wičháša waŋ wapȟáha ayúk’ezapi.
Crow man/men the warbonnet on-something-to-shear-off-they.
They sheared a Crow man’s warbonnet [off his head].

The High Dog Winter Count says that it was Good Bear who tore a shaved horn warbonnet from the Crow[44].

The Cranbrook Winter Count says that a war party of about 100 went into Crow territory to steal horses. The Crow spotted them, followed, and overtook them, forcing the Huŋkphápȟa into a fight. In one of the charges, a Lakȟóta grabbed a Crow’s warbonnet by its long tail. The warbonnet came apart in his hands[45].

1857
Tatanka Iyotanke wayaka akdipi.
Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake wayáka akdípi.
Bison-Bull Sitting-Down prisoner return-they.
Sitting Bull and his war party returned with a prisoner.

Blue Thunder says: Wičhíyena Hóhe ób kičhízapi kiŋ. Mníyaye Zí ktépi (Wičhíyena Assiniboine with fight-they the. Water-carrier Yellow killed-they). The Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna fought with the Assiniboine. They killed Yellow Water-Carrier[46].

High Dog says: Áta ktépi aglípi (Entire killed-they returned-they). They returned having killed all of them. The pictograph indicates that they killed the entire enemy war party, and counted coup three times[47].

Medicine Bear says: Tȟatȟáŋka Ináži wiŋyáŋ áwičakdi (Bison-[Bull] Standing woman captured-returned-with). Standing Bull brought back a captive woman[48].

The Cranbrook Winter Count says that a little enemy boy was killed. Praus’ notes on the Cranbrook Winter Count says that this year’s event refers to a raid on an Assiniboine camp where Sitting Bull and his war party killed an entire family, all but one, who was captured and later adopted by Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull gave his misúŋkala (younger brother) the name Tȟatȟáŋka PsíčA (lit. “Bison-Bull To-Jump;” Jumping Bull). Jumping Bull died in Sitting Bull’s camp on the Grand River in the fight against the BIA police when they came to arrest his čhiyé (older brother), December 1890[49].

1858
Wanbdihoh·pita.
Waŋbdí Hoȟpí t’Á.
Eagle Nest died.
Eagle Nest died.

Blue Thunder says Eagle Nest died of no sickness[50].

1859
Was·na ota.
Wasná óta.
Pemmican to-be-much.
There was much pemmican.

Medicine Bear says: Wókapȟaŋ paŋȟya (lit. “meat-block very-much”). There was very much meat prepared[51].

This year’s entry is depicted by a lodge, representing camp, with four thick lines on the side, representing representing wókapȟaŋ (meat blocks) or wakápȟapi (pounded meat). 

1860
Canhuta oqapi.
Čhaŋhúta Očhápi.
Stump into-dig-up-as-by-stabbing.
Dug Up A stump.

Medicine Bear says: Šuŋkawakȟaŋ óta áwičakdipi (lit. “Horses many captured-returned-with”). They returned with many captured horses[52].

High Dog says: Kaȟníȟniȟ siŋtéyapi (Choose-selectively tail-to-have-for-they). They carefully chose a [horse] tail for themselves[53]. Ten race horses were killed. A tail was carefully selected and a Tȟáwa Šúŋkawakȟaŋ Ópi Wokíksuye, or Horse Memorial Stick (commonly called “Horse Sticks) was created[54].

The Cranbrook Winter Count and the Mnikȟówožu Winter Count (White Bull) say that choice horses were killed. Praus’ notes in the Cranbrook Winter Count says that the best horse of Kȟaŋğí YatáŋpikA (lit. “Crow One-Who-Is-Highly-Praised”), or Crow King (a Huŋkphápȟa chief), was killed by an arrow. Overnight, all the best horses in camp were killed and the group scattered[55].

This year’s entry is depicted by eight horse tracks that seemingly has nothing to do with the accompanying text for the same year. The interpretation for this year would seem to be that it was ‘Stump’s horses that were killed. Perhaps it was later realized that it was ‘Stump who killed Crow King’s horse, which set off a retaliation.

1861
Itonkasanduta.
Hitȟúŋkasaŋ Dúta.
Weasel Red.
Red Weasel.

Medicine Bear says: Hitȟúŋkasaŋ Dúta šuŋkawakȟaŋ óta áwičakdi aktá (Weasel Red horses many captured-returned-with again). Red Weasel returned with many captured horses[56].

High Dog says: Itȟúŋkasaŋ Lúta ktépi (Weasel Red killed-they). They killed Red Weasel[57].

1862
Tiyokicizapi.
Thí okíčhizapi.
Lodge in/at-fight-they.
They fought at a house.

This year’s entry is depicted with a house or cabin. This year could refer to the fight that set off the 1862 Dakota Conflict in Minnesota when four young Dakȟóta men killed five settlers, or to the fight at the Lower Sioux Agency where the Dakȟóta raided the agency headquarters and killed the agent. No fight is actually depicted, only mentioned in the Mission Dakota text accompanying the pictograph.

The Wind-Roan Bear Winter Count refers to the Isáŋyathi, Santee or Dakȟóta, in a fight with the whites[58].

1863
Nasunatankata.
Nasúna Tȟáŋka t’Á.
Brain Big died.
Big “Head” Died.

Blue Thunder and Medicine Bear both say: Akíčhita Pȟá Tȟáŋka kaškápi. Kdí na t’Á (Soldier/s Head Big imprisoned. Return and die). Soldiers imprisoned Big Head. He returned and died[59].

No Two Horns refers to this individual as Nasúna Tȟáŋka, Big Brain, and not as Pȟá Tȟáŋka[60].

Wind-Roan Bear Winter Count refers to the Dakȟóta as captives in military forts. No forts are named, but this clearly refers to the imprisonment of the Isáŋyathi at Fort Snelling, MN, this year[61].

1864
Winyan num wicaktepi.
Wíŋyaŋ núm wičáktepi.
Woman two them-killed-they.
They killed two women.

Medicine Bear says: Wíŋyaŋ nuŋpá ktépi (Woman two killed-they). They killed two women[62].

These two women referred to in this year’s entry are quite possibly the white women who were taken captive during the 1863-64 Dakota Conflict in Dakota Territory punitive campaigns. One was Mrs. Eubanks, who was rescued by the Oglála Two Face and brought to Fort Laramie - her rescuer was hung; the other was Mrs. Kelly.

High Dog says: Wayáka wiyáŋ iyópȟeyapi (Captive woman exchange-for-they). They exchanged a captive woman in trade[63]. She was stolen from the Oglála by Brings Plenty, a Sihásapa who tried to arrange a trade for her, and he made her his wife. Kelly was given the name “Real Woman.” She eventually regained her freedom either by tricking her Lakȟóta captors into bringing her to Fort Sully (present-day Pierre, SD), or she was was escorted to Fort Sully by a Huŋkphápȟa man under the protection of Sitting Bull[64].

It would appear that the text accompanying the pictograph is in error. It is not. In the cultural context of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (The Seven Council Fires; “Great Sioux Nation”), when a women was stolen she was considered dead, whether literally or metaphorically, she died to her people. If she was stolen and was married into an enemy’s tribe, she might not ever be seen again. If a woman died in an enemy raid, she died. In either case, she was mourned and life resumed without her.

1865 Kepacapapi.
Khepȟá Čhapȟáp.
Turtle-Head Western-Painted-Turtle-them.
Western Painted Turtle Heads.

Medicine Bear[65], Blue Thunder (the British Museum variant)[66], and No Two Horns[67] say: Pȟatkáša Pȟá čhapȟÁ t’ekíyA (Jugular-vein-scarlet Head Western-Painted-Turtle stab to-cause-one’s-own-death). Blue Thunder adds that Turtle Head was stabbed to death at Kaȟmíčhiŋka (lit. “Bends-Back-On-Itself;” Big Bend), located at Big Bend, S.D. He was an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna.

1866
Ohunkakan ktepi.
Ohúŋkakaŋ ktépi.
Long-Ago-Story killed-they.
They killed Myth.

Medicine Bear says: Wóoyake Wičháša ktépi (Story Man killed-they). They killed Storyteller[68].

1867
Cahsu.
Čhaȟsú.
Little-ice-drop.
Sleet.

Medicine Bear says: Waníyetu osní (Winter cold). It was a cold dark winter[69].

Blue Thunder and No Two Horns say: Čháŋ Ičú čhiŋkšítku núŋpapi čhuwíta t’ápi. Waníyetu osní. (Wood Takes son/s two-they to-be-cold died-they. Winter cold.) He Takes Wood and his two sons froze to death. The winter was cold[70].

The Mnikȟówožu Winter Count (White Bull) says the winter was icy. A heavy snow fell, followed by a week’s thaw, then a freeze. The landscape was covered with ice[71].

The Drifting Goose Winter Count (the John K. Bear Winter Count) says: Bdé Haŋská éd wonáseta akíčhita waŋ čhuwíta t’Á (Water Long at bison-hunting soldier a to-be-cold died). A soldier froze to death on a bison hunt at Long Lake[72].

This year’s entry is depicted by a blackened circle. The blackened circle can represent death, night, or winter. Some winter counts have used the same device to represent instead a full solar eclipse that happened in August, 1869. It was visible across the Northern Plains.

The New Lakota Dictionary lists two entries for an eclipse: Aháŋzi (lit. “Shadow”), and Aóhaŋziya (lit. “To-Cast-A-Shadow-Upon”)[73]. Mr. Warren Horse Looking (Oglála), referred to the solar eclipse as: Aŋpétuwi Tokȟáȟ’aŋ (lit. “Day-Luminary To-Disappear”). The Huŋkphápȟa refer to the eclipse as: Maȟphíya Yapȟéta (lit. “Cloud/Sky/Heaven On-Fire”). Mr. John Eagle (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) refers to the eclipse as: Wí’Atá (lit. “Luminary All-Of-It”). Ms. Leslie Mountain (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) refers to the eclipse as: Khaphéya (lit. “Of-A-Singular-Appearance”). An unnamed informant from Spirit Lake refers to the eclipse as: Wí’te (lit. “New Moon”)[74].

Many winter counts depict the eclipse as a blackened circle, sometimes including two stars. In those many other winter counts, in the Lakȟóta language, they refer to the eclipse as Wí’kte (lit. “Luminary killed”).

1868
Akezaptan wicaktepi.
Akézaptaŋ wičáktepi.
Again-Five them-killed-they.
They killed fifteen of them.

Medicine Bear and High Dog say: Itázipčho akézaptaŋ t’Á (Without-Bows fifteen died). Fifteen members of the Itázipčho (Sans Arc) died[75].

High Dog says it was fifteen Crow who were killed at Waŋhíŋkpe Wakpá (lit. “Arrow River”), presently called O’Fallon Creek, located in Montana[76].

The Cranbook Winter Count says that fifteen Lakȟóta were killed[77].

Vestal’s notes on the Mnikȟówožu Winter Count (White Bull) offer a fuller picture. A Thítȟuŋwaŋ war party of as many as thirty, mostly Itázipčho, went to fight the Kaŋğí. When they encountered a Crow camp the mounted warriors closed in as those on foot prepared log breastworks, but they were discovered and routed. Those on foot perished, while those on horseback survived[78].

1869
Kangi wicas·a 30 wicaktepi.
Kȟaŋğí wičháša wikčémna yámni wičháktepi.
Crow men ten three men-killed-they.
They fought and killed thirty Crow men.

High Dog[79], Cranbrook[80], Iron Hawk[81], Lone Dog[82], Swan[83], and the Mnikȟówožu Winter Count (White Bull), say the same. The Mnikȟówožu Winter Count (White Bull) says this happened at HéčhiŋškA Pahá (lit. “Bison-Horn-Spoon Butte;” Spoonhorn Butte), presently known as Mountain Sheep Butte, located in Montana[84].

1870
Tatankawitko wonase ta.
Tȟatȟáŋka Witkó wónase t’Á.
Bison-Bull Foolish/Crazy bison-hunt died.
Fool Bull died in a bison hunt.

Medicine Bear says: Tȟatȟáŋka Witkó t’Á (Bison-Bull Crazy died). Crazy Bull died[85].

1871
Wikos·ke num tapi.
Wikȟóške núm t’ápi.
Young-woman two died-they.
Two young women died.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count appears to be the only winter count that provides further insight regarding this year’s entry. It says: Witkówiŋ nuŋpá ktépi (Crazy-women two killed-they). They killed two prostitutes[86].

The Cranbrook Winter Count recalls that Shell Necklace killed a woman, but the motive is not revealed[87].

An unfaithful man might find his belongings outside the lodge; an unfaithful women might find herself set upon a horse and sent back to her parents. Generally, the punishment for infidelity was disfigurement. A woman or man might draw a knife through the others’ nostril, perhaps even cutting the nose off as well.

The death of two women, who are vaguely remembered on this year’s entry, and remembered as prostitutes on another probably served as a minder to all Očhéthi Šakówiŋ women that they were keepers of the nation and such behavior would not be tolerated.

1872
Wis ·aya oti ta.
Wíšaya Othí t’Á.
Dyed-Red To-Dwell-There died.
Red Lodge died.

Medicine Bear says: Wakhéya Šáya t’Á (Lodge Red-Painted died). Red Painted Lodge died[88].

1873
Is·kona tawa ewicayayapi.
Iškóna[ǧi] tȟáwa ewíčhayayapi.
Black-spot-inside-horse’s-hoof his/theirs there-with-happened-they.
They happened to find horses with black spotted hooves.

Medicine Bear says: Šuŋkawakȟaŋ nuŋpá áwičakdipi (Horses two captured-returned-with). They returned with two captured horses[89].

1874
Zaptan ahiwicaktepi.
Záptaŋ ahí wičháktepi.
Five came-here them-killed-they.
They killed five [of the enemy] who came.

Medicine Bear says: Wičháša zaptáŋ ahí ktépi (Men five came-here killed-they). They killed five of them who came[90].

This year’s entry depicts five common figures, some with a reddish hue, but this indicates that it was five of the Dakȟóta or Lakȟóta who were killed and not the enemy. The enemy is not identified. Other winter counts this year indicate conflict with the Crow in Čhaȟlí Wakpá Makȟóčhe (lit. “Coal/charcoal River Country”), or Powder River country, in Montana.

1875
Toka kinuwanpi.
Tȟóka khí nuŋwáŋpi.
Enemy stole/steal-something swim-they.
The enemies stole something then swam [away].

Medicine Bear says: Tȟóka nuŋwaŋki napá (enemy swim-home escape). The enemy escaped by swimming home[91].

Blue Thunder says: Šuŋk’akaŋyaŋkapi akíčhita tȟašúŋkawakȟaŋpi oyás’iŋ waíč’iyápi (Horse-riding-they soldiers horses-belonging-to-them all-of-a-kind to-take-things-they). The cavalry took all their horses[92].

Some of the Oglála winter counts recall 1875-76 as the year the soldiers confiscated the agency Indians’ horses in retaliation for the failed Centennial Campaign that ended in General Custer’s defeat at Pȟežísla Wakpá Okíčhize (lit. Grass-Greasy River Fight), the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

This year’s entry depicts what appears to be four Crow who made off with nine horses.

1876
Hehaka ta.
Heȟáka t’Á.
Bull-Elk died.
Elk died.

Medicine Bear says: Heȟáka t’Á (Elk died). Elk died[93].

1877
Was·ni waniyetu.
Wá šni waníyetu.
Snow-on-the-ground no year/winter.
There was no snow this winter.

Medicine Bear says: Waníyetu snižé (Winter withering). A withering winter[94].

This year’s entry is depicted with what appears to be an earthlodge. A heavy arch is drawn on the outside of the lodge, which doesn’t represent snow, but an intact earthlodge. No maintenance was needed to be done on the outside of the earthlodge because there was no snow. Typically, there is a lot of regular maintenance, or patching of the earth (sometimes clay) on the earthlodge after the snow melts, and especially after a rain.

1878
Tas·unkemaza ktepi.
Tȟašúŋke Máza ktépi.
Horse Metal killed-they.
They killed Iron Horse.

This incident is also recorded in the Medicine Bear Winter Count[95].

Nearly all the remaining pictographs that indicate a permanent sedentary lifestyle, as demonstrated with the depictions of fort palisades and/or cabins from this year’s entry up until 1911.

1879
Wapahasapa tawa ewicayayapi.
Wapȟáha SápA tȟáwa ewíčhayayapi.
Warbonnet Black his/theirs there-with-happened-they.
Black Warbonnet was there with them.

Medicine Bear says: Wapȟáha Sápa šuŋkawakȟaŋ óta áwičakdi (Warbonnet Black horse many captured-returned-with). Black Warbonnet led a successful horse raid[96].

This year’s entry depicts a warbonnet above a fort/cabin.

1880
Titonwan ouwicatapi.
Thítȟuŋwaŋ oúŋ wičhát’Api.
Teton state-of-living dead-they.
The Teton were in a state of deadness.

The Huŋkphápȟa returned from Canada in a couple of movements. Some returned with Phizí, or Gall, and surrendered at Fort Buford, others with Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake surrenderd a few months later[97].

The Huŋkphápȟa can be found today at Wood Mountain in Canada (those who stayed behind), Fort Peck, MT, and on Standing Rock, in ND & SD.

The Medicine Bear[98] and High Dog winter counts both say: Phizí thí (Gall lodge). Gall lodge. Rev. Aaron Beede notes that this year soldiers had fired into Gall’s camp on the Tȟačhéži Wakpá (Bison-Tongue River), Tongue River[99].

This year’s entry is depicted with three lodges within the confines of a fort/cabin.

1881
Wakinyan nupa ktepi.
Wakíŋyaŋ núŋpa ktépi.
Thunder two killed-they.
They killed Two Thunder.

Medicine Bear says: Wakíŋyaŋ Nuŋpá ktépi (Thunder Two killed-they). They killed Two Thunder[100].

This year’s entry is depicted by two Thunderbirds above a fort/cabin.

1882
Joe hoks·ina s·ahiya owicauspa.
Joe Hokšína Šahíya owíčha yušpÁ.
Joe Cree Boy some-men to-break-off-a-piece-with-the-hands.
Joe Cree Boy met with some [Crow] men and they traded.

Joe Cree Boy may be a reference to Joseph Picotte, a French-Canadian trader, a trade partner of Charles Primeau. Both men had Dakȟóta-Lakȟóta wives at Standing Rock[101].

The Cranbrook Winter Count says that three Crows came to Standing Rock on a mission of peace[102].

Medicine Bear and High Dog say: Kȟaŋğí wičháša yámni hípi (Crow men three came-they). Three Crow men came to them[103].

This year’s entry depicts a trader beside the fort and three Crow within the palisade.

1883
Matowakanta.
Matȟó Wakȟáŋ t’Á.
Bear With-Energy died.
Medicine Bear died.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count says the same[104].

This year’s entry depicts a bear “with-energy” [wavy lines within its body] above a fort/cabin, indicating that Medicine Bear died at the agency.

1884
Makaqapi.
Makȟá k’apí.
Earth dug-they.
They dug into the earth.

Medicine Bear says: Makȟá k’apí (Earth dug-they). They dug earth[105].

This year’s entry depicts an earthlodge with a heavy line around it. This may indicate that those who had earthlodges did some maintenance this year.

1885
Wag·unapin ta.
Waȟúŋ Nap’íŋ t’Á.
Scorches Necklace died.
Necklace Burn died.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count says the same[106].

This year’s entry is depicted with a figure wearing a choker above a fort/cabin.

1886
Wakanpahomini ktepi.
Wakȟáŋpahomni ktépi.
With-Energy-Turns killed-they.
They killed Turns Holy.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count says the same[107].

This year’s entry features a figure with stylized hair [Crow perhaps?], wearing a breastplate, and holding a discharging gun. Above the figure appears to be a name glyph, which seems to be something rotating in a counterclockwise direction. Oglála and Sičháŋğu winter counts recall hunting accidents on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud agencies.

1887
Mah·piyaheton miniwani kte.
Maȟpíya Hétoŋ Mníwani kté.
Cloud Horn Turning kill.
Turning Horn Cloud was killed.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count says the same[108].

This year’s entry is depicted by three common figures above a fort. The leftmost figure appears to bear a wound, the rightmost figure holds a discharged gun.

There was an Oglála named Horn Cloud and his wife, Nest, however both died about 1890. This year’s pictograph may refer to that incident.

1888
Isun manusa ta.
Išúŋmanuŋ t’Á.
Fails-To-Steal died.
Does Not Steal died.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count says the same[109].

This year’s entry depicts a figure imprisoned within the fort’s stockade.

1889
Sunka kan wan kiinyan kdi ta.
Šuŋkawakȟaŋ waŋ kiíyaŋkdi t’Á.
Horse a race-horse died.
A horse died in a horse race.

The Medicine Bear Winter Count says the same[110].

This year’s entry depicts a horse’s head above a fort/cabin.

1890
Tatankaiyotake ktepi.
Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ktépi.
Bison-Bull Sitting-Down killed-they.
They killed Sitting Bull.

Major McLaughlin ordered the BIA Police to arrest Sitting Bull after word reached him about a ghost dance that was held there at Sitting Bull’s camp along the Grand River. Catch The Bear demanded the release of Sitting Bull, then ran for the officers when it was evident they wouldn’t release him, and shot Captain Bull Head. Bull Head in turn turned and shot Sitting Bull in the side, killing him immediately[111].

This year’s entry is depicted by an upright bison bull and two figures above a fort/cabin. The two figures in hats could represent Captain Bull Head and Sergeant Shave Head who were shot and wounded at nearly the same time.

1891
Matonape ta.
Matȟó Napé t’Á.
Bear Hand died.
Hand Bear died.

This year’s entry depicts a figure in a shirt above a fort/cabin.

The Indian Affairs Commission appointed Left Hand Bear as chief of the Huŋkphápȟa people in the summer of 1866. This may refer to his passing.

1892
Wanbditanka ta.
Waŋbdí Tȟaŋka t’Á.
Eagle Big died.
Big Eagle died.

This year’s entry depicts an eagle above a fort/cabin.

There was a Big Eagle (Mnikȟówožu) who signed the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. This may refer to his passing.

1893
Akicita wan uta yapi.
Akíčhita waŋ utȟÁ yápi.
Soldier/s a/the to-fire-a-shot they-go.
The soldiers went there and fired a shot.

This year’s entry depicts a horse’s head and something else (a bird perhaps?) above a fort/cabin.

1894
Isanyati hoksina wan kataiyeiciya.
Isáŋyathi hokšína waŋ katáiyeičiya.
Santee boy a shot-himself.
A Santee boy shot himself.

This year’s entry depicts a figure hold a discharged gun above a fort/cabin.

1895
Wanbdiduta ta.
Waŋbdí Dúta t’Á.
Eagle Red died.
Red Eagle died.

This year’s entry depicts a red bird, eagle, above a fort/cabin.

1896
Mazakan narma kdi.
Mázakȟaŋ NaȟmÁ akdí.
Metal-With-Energy To-Conceal-One’s-Own return.
Hides His Gun returned.

This year’s entry depicts a figure above a fort/cabin with a name glyph of a gun above his head.

1897
Canteya ta.
Čhaŋtéya t’Á.
His-Heart died.
His Heart died.

This year’s entry depicts a figure above a fort/cabin with a name glyph that resembles a leaf with stem, but could be a heart.

1898
Sunkahanska ta.
Šuŋká Haŋská t’Á.
Dog Long died.
Long Dog died.

This year’s entry depicts a figure above a fort/cabin with a name glyph of a dog with an elongated body.

1899
Iyansana ta.
Iŋyáŋšana t’Á.
Stone-Red-[familiar-diminutive] died.
Red Stone died.

The use of “-la,” or “na,” as a suffix, as with a person’s name, indicate a feeling of closeness or affection. The usage here indicates that the person was a beloved figure.

This year’s entry depicts a figure wearing a wapȟégnakA (a type of headwear, usually us quilled slat with feathers and/or plumes) above a fort/cabin with a name glyph of a red circular/oblong shape, probably a “stone,” indicating the name. The figure appears to be wounded, but the entry’s accompanying text indicates that he died (of natural causes) as opposed to being killed. Perhaps he died of natural causes which was somehow related to his old injury.

1900
Ia taninwin ta.
Iyá Taníyaŋ Wiŋ t’Á.
Voice Visible Woman died.
Visible Voice Woman died.

This year’s entry depicts a long haired figure (unplaited hair in pictography generally means this is a woman) above a fort/cabin with a name glyph representative of her voice above her head.

1901
Icabs·inte maza ta.
Ičhápsite Máza t’Á.
Whip metal died.
Iron Whip died.

This year’s entry depicts a figure set left and above a fort/cabin with a name glyph of a horse quirt which appears to be a gray color, definitely not black, which might support the interpretation of the image as that of iron.

1902
Sihawoheyun wan tawiciu kte.
Sihá Wóheyuŋ waŋ tȟawíŋ ičhíu kté.
Foot Bundle a his-wife with kill.
Bundle Foot and his wife were killed.

This year’s entry depicts two figures above a fort/cabin. The left figure appears to have a head wound.

1903
Wamanusicas·a wan ktepi.
Wamánuŋ šičá waŋ ktépi.
To-steal-things bad a kill-they.
They killed a thief.

This year’s entry depicts a lone figure above a fort/cabin wearing a hat with half his body blackened, indicating severe injury. In general, traders or white men are depicted with hats, but in the post-reservation era, native men took to wearing not just non-native clothing, but also hats; he does not have long hair. This figure could well be a white thief who was killed, or a native thief also wearing a hat who was killed. The text accompanying this year’s entry doesn’t indicate either possibility.

1904
Wapahasapa ta.
Wapȟáha Sápa t’Á.
Warbonnet Black died.
Black Warbonnet died.

This year’s entry depicts a figure wearing a warbonnet above a fort/cabin.

1905
Hanbziateyapi.
Háŋpa Zí atéyapi.
Moccasin Yellow for-whom-they-have-for-a-father.
They have Yellow Moccasins for their agent.

This year’s entry depicts a “beefalo” (a bison-cow mix) above a fort/cabin, which possibly represents that Yellow Moccasins is a mixed blood.

1906
Cetanwakinwa ta.
Čhetáŋ Wakhúwa t’Á.
Hawk To-Hunt/Chase died.
Chasing Hawk died.

This year’s entry depicts a figure above a fort/cabin with a name glyph of a bird of prey with its legs extended to pluck its target.

1907
Wanbdiwakan kataiyeiciya.
Waŋbdí Wakȟáŋ katáiyeičiya.
Eagle With-Energy shot-himself.
Holy Eagle shot himself.

This year’s entry depicts an eagle atop a fort/cabin, a rifle points at the eagle.

1908
Sisseton mazaska icupi.
Sisíthuŋwaŋ mázaska kičhúpi.
Sisíthuŋwaŋ metal-white [silver] to-restore-something-to-someone-them.
The Sisíthuŋwaŋ received a payment due to them.

This year’s entry depicts a circle above a fort/cabin. The outline of the circle is deliberately heavy and is one of the blackest things appearing on the winter count. A lighter circle of gray is painted within the darker one. This represents a silver dollar, or mázaska.

1909
Iyakcunipi ta.
IyÁ Kičhúŋnipi t’Á.
To-Speak To-Desist-Something-They died.
They Stop Talking died.

This year’s entry depicts a figure above a fort/cabin. Bold lines radiate out from in front of the figure, representing talking loudly or out loud to others, then nothing.

1910
Tonkasitominiduta ta.
Tȟáŋka Sitómniyaŋ Dúta t’Á.
Big All-Over-In-Every-Direction Red died.
Big Red All Over died.

This probably refers to Átaya Dúta (lit. “Entire Red”), or Red All Over, an Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna man on Standing Rock who took his journey around this time.

This year’s entry depicts a figure above a fort/cabin. A name glyph of a red circle appears above the figure, which might represent the figure’s name.

1911
There is no text for this entry.

This is the final entry on the Chandler-Pohrt Winter Count to feature a pictograph. This year’s entry depicts a figure wearing a trailer headdress and an ermine adorned warshirt. A name glyph appears with the figure resembling a horse. This may refer to Chief White Horse who resided at Spirit Lake and who took his journey.

The Iron Hawk Winter Count entry recalls Spotted Horse taking his journey this year[112].

1912
There is no text for this year’s entry, nor the following seven.

This year’s entry depicts a green square. The square, or divided square, has been used to represent farming in Plains Indian pictography. It stands to reason then that this year was a farming year, or a good farming year.

1913-19
These years all have the same simple line demarcating the years. This could reflect the feelings that they’ve entered a time when nothing happens. The line could also represent allotments, fractionization of the reservations, or the division of the reservations when they were opened up for sale to non-natives.

END NOTES
__________

[1] Innis, Ben. "The Heritage of Bloody Knife." In Bloody Knife: Custer's Favorite Scout, 9-12. Revised ed. Bismarck, ND: Smokey Water Press, 1994.

[2] Gayton, Mrs. Henry and Mr. Jim. "Region Three, Sioux County." Interview by Larry Sprunk for the State Historical Society of North Dakota. June 17, 1974.

[3] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[4] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 366.

[5] Howard, James H. "Yanktonai Ethnohistory And The John K. Bear Winter Count." Plains Anthropologist 21, no. 73, Part 2 (1976): 46.

[6] Ibid. Pp. 37 & 54.

[7] Hyde, George E. "Indian Paradise." In Spotted Tail's Folk: A History of the Brule Sioux, 25. Norman, Oklahoma: University Of Oklahoma Press, 1961.

[8] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[9] Chardon, F.A. Chardon's Journal At Fort Clark, 1834-1839. Edited by Annie Heloise Abel. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, NB: University Of Nebraska Press, 1997. 123.

[10] Higgenbotham, N.A. "The Wind-Roan Bear Winter Count." Plains Anthropologist 26, no. 91 (1981): 20.

[11] Robinson, Doane. A History Of The Dakota Or Sioux Indians. Reprint (1904) ed. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Ross & Haines, 1956. 85-87.

[12] Denig, Edwin Thompson. "Of The Sioux." In Five Indian Tribes Of The Upper Missouri: Sioux, Arikaras, Assiniboines, Crees, And Crows, edited by John C. Ewers, 32-34. Norman, Oklahoma: University Of Oklahoma Press, 1961.

[13] Howard, James H. "Yanktonai Ethnohistory And The John K. Bear Winter Count." Plains Anthropologist 21, no. 73, Part 2 (1976): 48.

[14] Ibid. P. 50.

[15] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Anthropological Papers Bulletin 173, no. 61 (1960): 375.

[16] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[17] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Anthropological Papers Bulletin 173, no. 61 (1960): 376-377.

[18] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[19] Ibid.

[20] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[21] Lakota-English Dictionary. Compiled by Rev. Eugene Buechel. Edited by Rev. Paul Manhart. Pine Ridge, SD: Red Cloud Indian School, 1983.

[22] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 379.

[23] Praus, Alexis A. The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. Bulletin No. 44. Fredericksburg, Virginia: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Riverby Books, 1962. 16.

[24] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 379.

[27] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[28] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 379-380.

[29] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[30] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 380.

[31] Ibid. P. 381

[32] Ibid.

[33] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 381.

[34] Welch, Col. A.B. "Red Tomahawk, ‘Sitting Bull was my friend, I killed him like this..’" Welch Dakota Papers. April 14, 2012. Accessed January 6, 2016. http://www.welchdakotapapers.com.

[35] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[36] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 381 & 382.

[37] Map Of The Missouri From Its Mouth To Three Forks, Montana, Plat LIII. Washington D.C.: Missouri River Commission, 1895.

[38] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 382.

[39] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[40] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 383.

[41] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[42] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[43] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 384.

[44] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[45] Praus, Alexis A. The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. Bulletin No. 44. Fredericksburg, Virginia: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Riverby Books, 1962. 18.

[46] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 384.

[47] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[48] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[49] Praus, Alexis A. The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. Bulletin No. 44. Fredericksburg, Virginia: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Riverby Books, 1962. 19.

[50] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 385.

[51] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[52] Ibid.

[53] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[54] Wooley, David L., and Joseph D. Horse Capture. "Joseph No Two Horns: He Nupa Wanica."American Indian Art Magazine 18, no. 3 (1993): 32-43.

[55] Praus, Alexis A. The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. Bulletin No. 44. Fredericksburg, Virginia: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Riverby Books, 1962. 19.

[56] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[57] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[58] Higgenbotham, N.A. "The Wind-Roan Bear Winter Count." Plains Anthropologist 26, no. 91 (1981): 24.

[59] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 388.

[60] No Two Horns. “No Two Horns Winter Count.” State Historical Society of North Dakota.

[61] Higgenbotham, N.A. "The Wind-Roan Bear Winter Count." Plains Anthropologist 26, no. 91 (1981): 24.

[62] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[63] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[64] Vestal, Stanley. "The Captive White Woman." In Sitting Bull: Champion Of The Sioux, A Biography, 64. 1st ed. Norman, OK: University Of Oklahoma Press, 1989.

[65] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[66] Howard, James H. "The British Museum Winter Count." British Museum Occasional Paper, No. 4 (1979): 66.

[67] No Two Horns. “No Two Horns Winter Count.” State Historical Society of North Dakota.

[68] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[69] Ibid.

[70] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 391.

[71] Vestal, Stanley. Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. 267.

[72] Howard, James H. "Yanktonai Ethnohistory And The John K. Bear Winter Count." Plains Anthropologist 21, no. 73, Part 2 (1976): 55.

[73] New Lakota Dictionary. Compiled by Jan Ullrich. Bloomington, IN: Lakota Language Consortium, 2nd Edition, 2011.

[74] Goodhouse, Dakota. "Solar Eclipse Remembered As Fire Cloud." The First Scout. October 24, 2014. http://thefirstscout.blogspot.com.

[75] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[76] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[77] Praus, Alexis A. The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. Bulletin No. 44. Fredericksburg, Virginia: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Riverby Books, 1962. 21.

[78] Vestal, Stanley. Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. 268.

[79] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[80] Praus, Alexis A. The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. Bulletin No. 44. Fredericksburg, Virginia: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Riverby Books, 1962. 21.

[81] Sundstrom, Jessie Y., and Rebecca Halfred. “Translation of the Iron Hawk Winter Count.” Unpublished manuscript, 1988.

[82] Mallory, Garrick. "Lone Dog's Winter Count." In Picture-Writing Of The American Indians, 286-287. Reprint (2012) ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 2012.

[83] Mallory, Garrick. "Time - Winter Counts." In Pictographs of the North American Indians, Annual Reports No. 4, 127. Washington DC: Bureau Of American Ethnology, 1886.

[84] Vestal, Stanley. Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull. 1st Bison Book Edition ed. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. 268.

[85] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[86] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[87] Praus, Alexis A. The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. Bulletin No. 44. Fredericksburg, Virginia: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Riverby Books, 1962. 22.

[88] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[89] Ibid.

[90] Ibid.

[91] Ibid.

[92] Howard, James H. "Dakota Winter Counts As A Source Of Plains History." Smithsonian Institution, Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin 173, Anthropological Papers, no. 61 (1960): 396.

[93] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[94] Ibid.

[95] Ibid.

[96] Ibid.

[97] Larson, Robert. "The Canadian Exile." In Gall: Lakota War Chief, 170-173. 1st ed. Norman, Oklahoma: University Of Oklahoma Press, 2007.

[98] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[99] High Dog. "High Dog Winter Count." State Historical Society of North Dakota, Interview by Rev. Aaron Beede. 1912.

[100] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[101] Primeau, Tom. "Standing Rock: Heads Of Families By Bands 1885." Primeau. May 1, 1999. Accessed December 28, 2015. http://www.primeau.org.

[102] Praus, Alexis A. The Sioux, 1798-1922: A Dakota Winter Count. Bulletin No. 44. Fredericksburg, Virginia: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Riverby Books, 1962. 24.

[103] Medicine Bear. “Medicine Bear Winter Count.” The Hood Museum of Art, Cat. 117.

[104] Ibid.

[105] Ibid.

[106] Ibid.

[107] Ibid.

[108] Ibid.

[109] Ibid.

[110] Ibid.

[111] Bullhead, Francis. "Letter To The Editor." Sioux County Pioneer, 1910.

[112] Sundstrom, Jessie Y., and Rebecca Halfred. “Translation of the Iron Hawk Winter Count.” Unpublished manuscript, 1988.
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