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Post by Dietmar on Mar 26, 2012 11:17:24 GMT -5
The most prominent Wazhazha (Wajaje) leader in the 1860s and 1870s was Red Leaf. We had a discussion about him a while ago, the information is still online: www.american-tribes.com/Lakota/BIO/RedLeaf.htmRed Leaf, 1872 Red Leaf led the Wazhazhas after the death of his older brother Conquering Bear in 1854. Another brother of him was Long Chin. Red Leaf is an enigma, like a friend of mine always says. There´s not much information about him. In Royal Hassrick´s book "The Sioux" we find that Red Leaf was married to Long Woman. Later, as we have stated here earlier, he had a much younger wife called Fight All The Time. Hassrick also stated that his father was called Fall, although I have been told that Red Leaf´s name was handed down from his father, who was called also Red Leaf. However, any information on Red Leaf is appreciated. Thanks.
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Post by miller7513 on Mar 26, 2012 17:13:01 GMT -5
Dietmar the age of this Red Leaf is 42 yrs old (b in 1845) Red Leaf, Husband, Age 72 the 7 is a 4 Fight all the Time, Wife, 30 Look Good, Daughter, 8 Little Girl, Daughter, 6 Foot Son, 2 LaDeane
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Post by writespretty on Apr 17, 2012 11:04:17 GMT -5
From "The Saga of Ponca Land" by Adeline S. Gnirk Published in 1979 by Gregory Times-Advocate
Page 40
"Death Takes No Holiday"
"Thomas Red Leaf, an Indian Chief from the Sully Flats, was a frequent visitor at the home of the Ellstons near Herrick, South Dakota. They discussed many incidents or amusing stories during the course of their visit. On this occasion Chief Red Leaf related a story concerning Mr. Summers and his nephew who lived near Chamberlain, South Dakota."
"As Chief Red Leaf recalled, the Summers men had been disputing the location of their new homesite. The nephew came over to the cabin of Chief Red Leaf on the Sully Flats and prevailed upon him to haul two loads of logs to the site he, the nephew, had chosen. In a few days Chief Red Leaf appeared with a load of logs to the designated spot. The uncle was surprised and asked Red Leaf why he came there with the logs. Red Leaf answered 'to build your house.' Uncle Summers exploded in anger and accosted his nephew. The argument waxed hot, both men going for their guns. The uncle ran toward the nearby bank, turned to look back and shot. Simultaneously the nephew shot as his uncle jumped and rolled into the ditch. The uncle was found dead and the nephew was mortally wounded. The dying nephew begged Red Leaf to load him in his wagon and take him home. Red Leaf acquiesced and drove to Chamberlain. Tenderly his people took their nephew from the wagon and laid him on blankets where he soon expired. Red Leaf was amazed to see them cry and exclaimed, 'I didn't think white men cried!'"
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Post by kingsleybray on Apr 29, 2012 5:25:28 GMT -5
Dietmar, like you I am very interested in the Red Leaf family. I was taken with your observation that the father of Red Leaf (and so of his full-brother Scatteting Bear killed in the Grattan fight 1854) was also called Red Leaf. Have you more details on this and other areas of the family background. It looks to me that this family was very widely connected to other prominent tiwahe lines. Victor Douville, in his 'History of Sicangu Tiyospayes', formerly accessible on the Rosebud Sioux tribal webiste, indicated that the first chief of the Wazhazha band, once it emerged as an independent group through Lakota-Ponca intermarriage, was Red Leaf I. Victor also stated that it was in 1769, a very definite date, that the Wazhazhas were first welcomed into the Sichangu (Brule) tribal circle. So this Red Leaf, or Red Leaf I, is likely to have been born very roughly about 1725. The generations would point to his grandson being the later Red Leaf (II or III?) who became the father of Scattering Bear et al. Waxpesha is listed in Fletcher & La Flesche THE OMAHA TRIBE, as a clan name in the Wazhazhe clan of the Ponca tribe. The name was considered untranslatable, I suggest because it was actually a Lakota name (Wahpe-sha, Red Leaf) that was acquired during the intermarriage phase in the 1760s. Ponca people have confirmed me to me though that it does mean Red Leaf.
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Post by Dietmar on May 12, 2012 7:33:29 GMT -5
Kingsley,
I got the info about Red Leaf´s father bearing the same name in a conversation with a Lakota friend, but I don´t have any more sources to offer right now other than Victor Douville´s site you also mentioned. I keep an eye open though.
As you mentioned earlier (http://www.american-tribes.com/Lakota/BIO/RedLeaf.htm), Red Leaf often let others do the talking for him and stayed back. Quick Bear was one of his major spokesmen, he went to Washington for him in 1870, together with Spotted Tail. These three seem to have been very close, if I remember correctly Spotted Tail´s mother was a relative of Red Leaf.
In newspaper articles from around the 1870s, Red Leaf´s importance as a Lakota leader is plain to see. The New York Times mentioned him as the "the Indian who led the attack at the Fort Phil. Kearny massacre" (NY Times, April 28th, 1870).
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Post by Dietmar on May 12, 2012 8:20:26 GMT -5
In the Annual Report of the Department of the Interior (part 2, page 268) of 1867 we find a list of Sioux bands at the Upper Platte Agency, among them Red Leaf´s Wazhazhas: Wah-jah-geh Brúles.- Chiefs, Red Leaf, Black Horn, Lancer, and Pretty Voice Crow; number, 100 lodges.
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Post by kingsleybray on May 12, 2012 8:38:38 GMT -5
According to a report by Agt Twiss, Red Leaf and Scattering Bear were brothers (by implication full-brothers, sharing both parents), their half-brother was Long Chin, and their cousin was Spotted Tail.
Although not certain, my suggestion would be that the mothers of Red Leaf et al. and of Spotted Tail were 'sisters'.
Spotted Tail in 1855 belonged to the same sub-band of Wazhazhas (26 lodges, approx. one-third of the whole Wazhazha band at that time) as his cousins, according to information given by his father to Lt. GK Warren. After his return fromdetention in Fts Leavenworth and Kearney (Sept. 1856)Spotted Tail shifted his affiliation to the Southern Brules.
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Post by Dietmar on May 12, 2012 8:54:24 GMT -5
In the Second Annual Report of the United States Board of Indian Commissioners to the Secretary of the Interior for the year 1870 (page 65), Red Leaf stated in a private conference with Red Cloud and the commissioners, that he has five children: "Red Cloud says he has six grown children, and Red Leaf had five, all grown; and neither of them had grandchildren"
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Post by ephriam on Dec 28, 2021 11:04:55 GMT -5
Good morning! Still trying to figure out when the prominent Wažáže headman Red Leaf died. We know that he and his band shifted from the the Red Cloud Agency to the Spotted Tail Agency in April 1877. He and Red Leaf Jr. are recorded in the Spotted Tail Agency census for May and Dec. 1877. When the Rosebud reservation was established in 1878, Red Leaf and his tiyospaye are there, ultimately settling in the Black Pipe Creek area on the western edge of the reservation.
The old man Red Leaf does not appear in the Rosebud census for 1887, though there is a younger Red Leaf (born ca. 1845) listed among the "Waziahziah", perhaps Red Leaf Jr. This may be the same younger Red Leaf who returned from Canada, spending time at Standing Rock in 1881 before being transferred back to Rosebud in 1882.
Though the elderly Red Leaf is not shown in the 1887 census, he may have still been alive at this time. In 1891, as the new boundary between the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservation was being established, some Wažáže families now found themselves on the Pine Ridge side of the new administrative border. A list of families who were being transferred to Pine Ridge included two older men named Red Leaf: one was a Brule, age 79. The other was a Wažáže age 80. I assume this last individual is our man. There was no census taken at Pine Ridge in 1891, but an elderly Red Leaf does appear in the census records from 1892 to 1894 (though erroneously listed as a woman in the 1893 document). This individual might be either of the elder Red Leaf's listed in the 1891 boundary change document. Of special interest. this elderly Red Leaf is listed in the 1892-94 census records as the head of the family which includes Few Tail's widow and children after he was killed by cowboys in 1891. The Few Tail's family appears in the 1895 census but without Red Leaf, suggesting he died during 1894-95 period. But is this prominent Wažáže leader? The search continues...
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Post by jhafnor on Jan 19, 2022 17:16:39 GMT -5
Hello experts. I am deeply puzzled by the mystery of how prominent the Wazhazha (Wažáže) were in the 1850s, seemingly almost an 8th council fire of the Lakota, to then their slow decline until presently one would be hard pressed to find many Lakota who identify as Wazhaza. Your thoughts? I do in fact know one person who at least partially identifies as Wazhazha, that being my cultural advisor to the just-published historical novel Lakota Cowboy. He is Jhon (not John) Goes In Center, a great-grandchild of Chief Lip (Pute). On a unrelated note, some years ago Kingsley Bray was uncommonly generous in helping me trace the Lakota characters in the above book. At that time I promised him a gift copy, which I'd like to send. Would appreciate any help in finding such a mailing address to Manchester, UK. I can be reached privately at 970-443-5211 or jhafnor@aol.com.
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Post by nukemm33 on Mar 4, 2024 16:13:37 GMT -5
Good morning! Still trying to figure out when the prominent Wažáže headman Red Leaf died. We know that he and his band shifted from the the Red Cloud Agency to the Spotted Tail Agency in April 1877. He and Red Leaf Jr. are recorded in the Spotted Tail Agency census for May and Dec. 1877. When the Rosebud reservation was established in 1878, Red Leaf and his tiyospaye are there, ultimately settling in the Black Pipe Creek area on the western edge of the reservation. The old man Red Leaf does not appear in the Rosebud census for 1887, though there is a younger Red Leaf (born ca. 1845) listed among the "Waziahziah", perhaps Red Leaf Jr. This may be the same younger Red Leaf who returned from Canada, spending time at Standing Rock in 1881 before being transferred back to Rosebud in 1882. Though the elderly Red Leaf is not shown in the 1887 census, he may have still been alive at this time. In 1891, as the new boundary between the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservation was being established, some Wažáže families now found themselves on the Pine Ridge side of the new administrative border. A list of families who were being transferred to Pine Ridge included two older men named Red Leaf: one was a Brule, age 79. The other was a Wažáže age 80. I assume this last individual is our man. There was no census taken at Pine Ridge in 1891, but an elderly Red Leaf does appear in the census records from 1892 to 1894 (though erroneously listed as a woman in the 1893 document). This individual might be either of the elder Red Leaf's listed in the 1891 boundary change document. Of special interest. this elderly Red Leaf is listed in the 1892-94 census records as the head of the family which includes Few Tail's widow and children after he was killed by cowboys in 1891. The Few Tail's family appears in the 1895 census but without Red Leaf, suggesting he died during 1894-95 period. But is this prominent Wažáže leader? The search continues... Hi Ephraim, Do you know if the Few Tails mentioned above are still mixed with the daughters of Fast Thunder, as now corrected? I ask because I'm trying to clarify that there is no link between Few Tails and Fast Thunder, being that Fast Thunder's wives Julia Location and Jennie Wounded Horse family members of mine.
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