Sans Arc

[ladonna]

The Sans Arc, also called the Itazipacola or Itazipco, are a subdivision of the Lakota people. The name is derived from French and means, "Without bows." They live in the Cheyenne River Reservation.
The true meaning of Itazipacola means "no markings" this referred to the fact that the Itazipco were so generous they did not mark their arrows that would tell who killed the buffalo (etc.) that way everyone could share the meat. This is why when the creator wanted to give the pipe to the Lakota the White Buffalo Woman "Wopi" brought it to the Itazipco because they would always be willing to share it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans_Arcs

Spotted Eagle
Circling Bear
Elk Head
Black Hawk

[ladonna]

ITAZIPCO-(Without Bows). Again history has adopted the French form of this Lakota proper name and (Sans Arc) is used to identify this band. Itazipco leaders signing the treaty were:

The One that has Neither Horn
Red Plume
Yellow Hawk
No Horn

[tatanka]

I didn't know it was the Sans Arc who first received the sacred cannupa from the White Buffalo Calf Woman. Ladonna, your posts are invaluable to this forum. So much information.

[ladonna]

yes it was this band that were honored to recieve the pipe.

I wanted to put information on all the bands but with some bands there is not alot written.

Did you know Sitting Bull's mother came from this band

[tatanka]

I didn't know that. His father would be Hunkpapa?

[ladonna]

yes, Jumping Bull was Hunkpapa

The Elk Head family took care of the pipe in the past

[tatanka]

Didn't the pipe pass to the Looking Horse family thru a daughter?

[ladonna]

The pipe was held by women in the past as it sould be

[kingsleybray]

The Sans Arcs, 1850-1870
by Kingsley M. Bray

In 1850 Thaddeus Culbertson observed that the Sans Arc (Itazipcho, or Without Bows) division of the Teton Lakota, consisted of three bands:

1. Sans Arc proper chief: Crow Feather
2. Minisa chief: Lazy Bear
3. Ham Eaters chief: Medicine Man

This is probably a new Crow Feather II, son to the first who was active in the period 1815-40.

At this time the Sans Arcs were rated at about 1000 people, one of the smaller of the seven Teton tribal divisions. Their hunting range was to the north and east of the Black Hills, extending east to the Missouri River. They claimed the same lands as the Miniconjou. By this period they also enjoyed a close link to the Hunkpapa, often hunting and travelling with Hunkpapa hosts in the country north of Grand River. I detect a pattern of generational shifts across the period 1750-1875, with the Sans Arcs alternately enjoying their prime relationship with:
a) the Miniconjou, frames 1750-85; 1815-45.
b) the Hunkpapa, frames 1785-1815; 1845+.
I wonder if this is connected to the succession of Calf Pipe Keepers, reflecting the affiliations, marriages, etc. of individual Keepers. My provisional list of Keepers' dates for this period is as follows:

Elk Head I, ca. 1815-46 (noted by Catlin, 1832; Nicollet, 1839; death noted in ---- winter count)
Hollow Horn, 1846-76/7 (noted by Gen. Harney, 1855)
Elk Head II, 1877-1915



During the period 1850-80 up to eight bands made up the Sans Arc tribe (chiefs as period 1865-80):


1. Itazipco-hca, Sans Arc Proper
2. Minisa, Red Water (Black Hawk?)
3. Sina-luta-oin, Red Cloth Ear-ring (Black Eagle)
4. Woluta-yuta, Ham Eaters (Blue Coat)
5. Mazpegnake, Metal Hair Ornaments (Brown Thunder)
6. Tatanka-cesli, Bull Dung (Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Looks Up)
7. Siksicela, Bad Ones (Elk Head, Martin Charger)
8. Tiyopa-ocannumpa, Pipe at Door

A number of Sans Arc bands are listed by Josephine Waggoner, but not reported elsewhere, as follows:
Waggoner list KMB transl. Remarks
Wipasabyote Many Black-Topped Tipis ?Miniconjou
Sunka-yutesni Eat No Dogs Miniconjou
Tiyopa-sa-yuha Owns Red Door ?=Pipe at Door
Lejeglatkan Drink Own Urine Miniconjou 1850
Oohe-nompa Two Kettle
Owesica ?Bad Wound

In 1855 Harney noted two main Sans Arc chiefs, Crow Feather II and Hollow Horn - the latter the Calf Pipe Keeper until Elk Head assumed the keepership in 1877. The Sans Arc chiefs recognized by Harney in 1856 were:
1. Crow Feather II 6. Red-Tailed Eagle II (Burnt Face)
2. Big Brain 7. Black Magpie
3. Grass Dog 8. The Wear Out
4. Yellow Hawk I 9. The One That Leaves Alone
5. Bull Man 10. The High One

Hayden, ca. 1857, tabulated two Sans Arc bands, the Minisa, rated at 80 lodges and led by Crazy Heart; and the Plenty Horses (not subsequently noted), 75 lodges, led by Crow Feather. The Minisa were more identified with the eastern end of the Sans Arc range, within the mainstem Missouri valley; while the nickname Plenty Horses indicates a more westerly distribution, with access to the horse trade region south and west of the Black Hills. This band therefore had closer links, through Upper Miniconjou relatives, to Southern Teton trade partners.

Crow Feather died in 1858. His son was then eighteen years old, and although his father's certificates and papers were bequeathed to Crow Feather III, he was not recognized as a chief until October 1865, when he signed the Fort Sully treaty.

During the period 1856-65 the Northern Teton bands were polarised into anti- and pro-U.S. factions. In summer 1858 the Northern Tetons were angry at news of the Yankton land cession, and the Sans Arcs in particular were said to be "in open hostility to the U.S." (CoIA AR 1858: SDHC XXVII, p. 245). In fall 1860 Agent Twiss reported from the Upper Platte that the Sans Arcs and the Hunkpapas, although their chiefs and headmen remained in favour of the U.S. alliance, were controlled by young men - probably chapters of the Strong Heart society. In 1862 (ibid p. 299) "the portion of the Sans Arcs who were opposed to intercourse with the Government" assassinated Hunkpapa head chief Bear Ribs. The alternating year pattern is strongly suggestive of a warrior society - surely the Strong Hearts - being elected to police duties on a one-year on, one-year off basis.

It may be that the last four Shirt Wearers recognized by the Sans Arcs:
 Black Eagle Scarlet Cloth Earring band born 1829
 Blue Coat Ham Eaters band
 Looks Up Bull Dung band
 Elk Head Siksicela band born ca. 1825
were seated at this time (Sun Dance 1860?). None of these men was a Harney chief or later associated with the agency, suggesting an alternative non-treaty leadership. Perhaps the 1858 death of Crow Feather II contributed to this situation.

Among the Sans Arc (and Hunkpapa) these factional divisions were mapped onto the existing west-east band dichotomy outlined above. We can detect ideological shifts by families and perhaps tiyospayes, however. Thus the keepership of the Calf Pipe ran in a family within the Minisa band, at the eastern, or pro-US end of the Sans Arc distribution. In 1832 and 1839 Elk Head (Keeper 6: ca. 1810-ca. 1850) had been named as a Sans Arc chief, and was doubtless the contemporary Keeper. In 1855 Harney noted Hollow Horn (Keeper 7: ca. 1846-77) as the next chief in this dynasty, but he is absent from the ten Sans Arc leaders recognized by Harney the following year. This suggests that Hollow Horn was disenchanted with the tribal council's bid to appease Harney. Elk Head lived in the Siksicela band (married-in?) when he was made a Shirt Wearer (1860's?). Conversely Crow Feather III, after being made a chief in 1865, gradually switched allegiance to the eastern, pro-US bands.

A small Sans Arc faction, stated to be only 26 lodges in 1865, continued to accept annuities after the crisis of 1862 (when 'hostile' Sans Arc warriors assassinated Bear Ribs, the Hunkpapa leader of the Teton peace faction). In September 1862 the friendly Yanktonai and Teton gathered at Fort Pierre, the Sans Arcs being represented by Yellow Hawk I and Red-Tailed Eagle II. The former was married to Julia Deloria/Des Lauriers, the daughter of a Frenchman and a Dakota woman. Charger (born ca. 1833), of the Siksicela band of Sans Arcs, was a leading man in this camp, a co-founder of the Fool Soldiers, a pro-U.S. akicita force drawn from the Sans Arc and Two Kettle 'friendly' contingent.

At Fort Sully, October 11, 1865, the treaty commission met the Sans Arcs in council. Two chiefs were present, Red Tailed Eagle and Dog Grass [Grass Dog in Harney list of chiefs], plus several warriors. They said that in their camp, i.e. the main 'friendly' camp of Sans Arcs, were present Big Head and Yellow Hawk. Crow Feather was dead and his son was not yet a chief. Of the Harney chiefs, Bull Man, Black Magpie, The Wear Out, The One that Leaves Alone, and High One, are not mentioned at all. They mention one unnamed chief (Yellow Hawk?) who started out with them, but who had to turn back because his horse was injured. Therefore it looks as if most of the unnamed chiefs are to be identified with the 'hostile' faction in 1865. They also state that the Sans Arcs had six bands, but also mention eight "head chiefs", plus another fourteen "soldiers" who were counted among the (total of twenty-two) chiefs. Since Harney recognized ten chiefs, including the late Crow Feather II, it may be that one more of the Harney chiefs had died too, resulting in the eight chiefs mentioned.

Also present on October 11 were the following warriors:

Afraid of Bear (head soldier) (man of this name in lodge next but one to Burnt Face 1871, so probably Red-Tailed Eagle's head soldier)
Black Dog (soldier) (man of this name in Black Hawk's band 1875)
Bull Eagle (soldier)
Black Woodpecker (warrior)
Crow Eagle (warrior: Oglala who lives with Sans Arcs)

On October 20, three chiefs signed the treaty:
1. Red-Tailed Eagle
2. Yellow Hawk (now present)
3. Fool Dog.

Red-Tailed Eagle stated that he represented 26 lodges of Sans Arcs that accepted annuities under the 1851 Treaty, and that among them were eight soldiers then present. It looks as if the above three chiefs were all headmen of a single band, which I suggest is the Sans Arc proper band. Possibly Fool Dog is the same man as Dog Grass. Six (nb. not eight) "chief soldiers" also signed (note they do not overlap with the warriors present on the 11th):
Bear's Heart
Afraid of Nothing (man of this name in Hurts Himself's band 1875; man of this name also in Straight Head's band, 1876 Reg.)
Nine (man of this name in Black Eagle's band, Red Cloth Earrings, 1875)
Bear's Ears (Yellow Hawk I's son)
Black Hoop
Bird Necklace (Yellow Hawk's band)

Later Crow Feather III [born ca. 1840] arrived and, now noted as a chief, he participated in the council of October 28. With him were Gray Hair [born 1816, rated chief 1875], Red Hair, Eagle Shield, and Black Bear (status undefined), all of whom added their marks to the treaty.

Winter 1865-66, 20 lodges of Sans Arcs camped near Fort Sully.

On June 7, 1866 45 Sans Arc lodges were at Fort Sully for new talks with the treaty commission, chief Yellow Hawk. Note, however, that when substantive talks opened on June 11, Burnt Face and Yellow Hawk both spoke for the Sans Arcs. On June 21 the commission met more chiefs at Fort Rice, including three lodges of Sans Arcs, chief Angry Heart.

Winter 1866-67, 38 lodges of Sans Arcs camped near Dirt Lodges above old Fort Sully. This would be the Peoria Bottom location later settled by the Yellow Hawk tiyospaye. Several Sans Arc leaders went to Washington early in 1867, inc. Yellow Hawk, Red-Tailed Eagle and Charger. Yellow Hawk and Red-Tailed Eagle were at Fort Sully June 1867. Burnt Face (aka Red-Tailed Eagle) was at Fort Sully in March, 1868, indicating that his band had wintered 1867-68 nearby, as did key 'friendly' players such as Grass (Sihasapa), Iron Horn (Miniconjou), and Long Mandan (Two Kettle). Most of these bands planted at Little Bend in May 1868.

The 1868 treaty was signed at Fort Rice by four Sans Arc leaders:

1. One that has Neither Horn
2. Red Plume (i.e. Red-Tailed Eagle II)
3. Yellow Hawk
4. No Horn.

In July 1869 46 Sans Arc lodges were enrolled at Cheyenne River, including chief Burnt Face (Red-Tailed Eagle); 5 lodges were at Grand River Agency. In August 1869 Col. Stanley reported that one-third of the Sans Arcs was “peaceable”, equivalent to ca. 65 lodges; the remaining two-thirds (130 lodges) were “hostile”. In November 1869 Crow Feather and 20 lodges were at Grand River Agency, and issued 7 days' rations on Nov. 5. In November 1871 90 Sans Arc lodges were tallied at Cheyenne River Agency, including Burnt Face and Fool Dog. (Note that Fool Dog was tallied as a Sans Arc headman, with 5 lodges, at Spotted Tail Agency, winter 1873-74.) This means that, assuming a total Sans Arc population of 195 lodges (as in 1870), in excess of 100 Sans Arc lodges were elsewhere. In September 1871 the Grand River agent reported that 120 lodges of Sans Arcs were then (visiting) at his agency. In 1873 Grand River (now removed to Standing Rock) continued to report the presence of visiting Sans Arcs.

After 1868 Yellow Hawk's tiyospaye was at Peoria Bottom. Note that Harney had had some warehouses and cabins erected at Peoria Bottom during the winter of 1868-69, intending to locate an agency there. When this plan was scrapped, Yellow Hawk was given one of the cabins, which was still standing in 1951. Yellow Hawk died ca. 1870, to be succeeded by his son Yellow Hawk II (born ca. 1844), who was supported by his younger brother Bear Ears. This tiyospaye was successfully missionised by the Riggs mission which established itself at Oahe, farming successfully. They formed the core of the 'progressive' faction of Sans Arcs

[ephriam]

Kingsley:

I wonder about the leaders of the Bull Dung band of Sans Arc. You have listed three headmen: Spotted Eagle, Red Bear and Looks Up.

This is based on two pieces of evidence. Spotted Eagle and Red Bear are mentioned in the Sept. 1876 letter (which you recently shared) in which these two men are referred to as leaders of the Buffalo Bull Dung Band. You wondered whether this was a reference to the specific Sans Arc tiyospaye or perhaps a generic term intended to refer to the Sans Arc in general. The assignment of Looks Up to this band is based on a 1931 interview with Afraid of Enemy in the Mekeel field notes.

I should point out however that in 1880, Spotted Eagle and Red Bear surrendered together at Fort Keogh with a large number of Sans Arc. Meanwhile, Looks Up appears to have surrendered at Fort Buford with Circle Bear. I am working from the assumption that the various Lakota bands surrendered together as bands during the 1880-81 period. But here we have an instance where Looks Up is not with Spotted Eagle and Red Bear.

Second: Spotted Eagle and Red Bear were transferred with a group of Sans Arc to the Cheyenne River Agency late in the summer of 1881 while the other Sans Arc remained at Standing Rock, including Looks Up. In fact, he is the only one of these three leaders who appears in the Sitting Bull Surrender Census. Looks Up was later transferred to Cheyenne River with the remaining Sans Arc in the spring of 1882. Here is a second instance where these three leaders and their followers are not acting together.

Also, I learned recently from a contact at Cheyenne River who found a probate record for the family of Looks Up that he and his wife had three children, one of whom was Afraid of Enemy, the same man mentioned above who was interviewed in 1931. Interestingly, Afraid of Enemy stated that his father was Brule and that his mother was Sans Arc. This would suggest that Looks Up was born a Brule, married into the Sans Arc and lived with his wife's people where he gained sufficient influence to be named shirtwearer for his tiyospaye.

It is also interesting to note that Looks Up's father's father was a Brule and that his wife was a Sans Arc. This is only one instance within the Bull Dung band but perhaps they had closer alliances with the Brule as opposed to the Minneconjou and Hunkpapa alliances evident among the other Sans Arc tiyospaye.

ephriam

[ephriam]

One more thought.

Red Bear and Looks Up appear to have surrendered together at the Spotted Tail Agency in the spring of 1877 (both of their names appear in the Spotted Tail Agency census for June 1877). I think Spotted Eagle was in Canada already by this time.

Presumably Red Bear and Looks Up slipped away from the agency and went to Canada together later that fall.

So if all three of these individuals are leaders within the same tiyospaye, does the 1880-81 surrenders and transfers suggest that there might have been a split in the band? Perhaps over the issue of surrendering?

ephriam

[ephriam]

I made a mistake above in my interpretation of the movements of Looks Up, Spotted Eagle and Red Bear.

I have not yet found a list of the Sans Arc who surrendered at Fort Buford in 1880 with Circle Bear but had assumed that everyone listed with him at Standing Rock in 1881 had surrendered with him. A closer look at the Standing Rock records however reveals that is not accurate.

In June-July 1881, Father Stephan (agent at Standing Rock) reported that about 147 or 176 Sans Arc had surrendered at Fort Buford (Circle Bear) and that 357 Sans Arc had surrendered at Fort Keogh (Spotted Eagle).

When Spotted Eagle was being fed at Standing Rock, the issue vouchers for July to Aug. 1881 show that he had 402 people. Spotted Eagle was transferred to the Cheyenne River Agency in the late summer or fall of 1881 with only 139 people. The remainder of the Sans Arc formerly with Spotted Eagle were then listed under Circle Bear's band. The issue list for Circle Bear's band shows 105 people for July-August 1881; then 369 people for Aug to November 1881, showing the influx of Sans Arc that had been with Spotted Eagle.

This means that we cannot yet say where Looks Up and Red Bear surrendered. They may very well have surrendered with Spotted Eagle at Fort Keogh, with the rest of the Bull Dung band. All we know for certain is that Spotted Eagle and Red Bear were both transferred to Cheyenne River in fall of 1881 while Looks Up remained behind at Standing Rock, not joining his Sans Arc relatives at Cheyenne River until the following spring.

[kingsleybray]

Ephriam

I'm not ignoring your response to my posting - just been away for a few days then very busy. Thanks for all this great data. I will be thinking more about the Sans Arcs right along.

Last year at Kansas City National Archives I saw a document from Cheyenne River dated 1882. I don't have a copy, and my reference (I have it in full) is'nt in front of me now, but it was some sort of tally from which rationing was calculated. It certainly included the 1881-82 surrenders transferred from Standing Rock, because I remember Elk Head on it. As I recall it wasn't broken down by band, but contiguous names clearly belonged together socially - what I mean is that this wasn't an alphabetic or otherwise socially arbitrary listing. It was on huge pieces of paper, hence perhaps my tardiness in trying to order a copy! But perhaps it's time . . . I'll try to post the full details on here over the weekend

Thanks

Kingsley

Kingsley

[ephriam]

Kingsley:

Thank you for all the notes regarding the successive headmen named Crow Feather among the Sans Arc.

Crow Feather was a delegate to Washington, D.C. in 1870. An article in the New York Times (June 11, 1870) described the delegation enroute and mentioned that Crow Feather was head chief of the Sans Arc "and the chief who carries what is called by them the God Almighty pipe of the Sioux Indians. The pipe is over one hundred years old, and has never been undressed since its adoption as a sacred object."

This would seem to suggest that Crow Feather was a keeper of the Sacred Pipe. However, his name does not appear in any of the lists of keepers. Did the newspaper just get it wrong?

ephriam

[kingsleybray]

Thanks Ephriam - yes I saw the same NYT report and asked myself the same questions. At the moment I think the latter is probably right - the newspaper got it wrong. Still lots of questions and few answers on Sans Arc tiyoshpaye and families.

Kingsley