Post by ephriam on Jan 5, 2014 15:36:01 GMT -5
The Wakan community was located on the Pine Ridge Reservation at the mouth of Wounded Knee Creek where it empties into the White River.
The people who made up this community appear to have originally been mostly Minneconjou who may have intermarried with the northern Oglala (Oyukpe). Both He Dog and Black Moccasin considered the Wakan to be a part of the Oyukpe. The band appears to have existed before settling on Pine Ridge, as evidenced by the grouping of names in the Red Hawk art ledger. If the events of several members of the community are indicative of the whole group, they suggest that the Wakan were with the non-treaty bands during the Great Sioux War of 1876-77 (several mention being at the Little Bighorn) and then surrendered at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies in the spring of 1877. They fled to Canada with the mass exodus during the winter of 1877-78 and were among the surrenders at Fort Keogh about 1880. They were probably part of the transfers to Standing Rock in 1881 though only a few of the families can yet be identified in the Sitting Bull Surrender Census.
The members of this community first appear in the records at Pine Ridge in 1885. During the Ghost Dance troubles, the band does not appear to have been involved with the dance; in fact, several members served in the Indian scouts and Indian police during this period. Crazy Thunder persuaded one of the Ghost Dance bands to come in, based on his previous relationships with the non-treaty bands.
Day School No. 12 was established here in 1892, initially in “log buildings with low lying dirt roofs, poorly lighted and worse ventilated, and wholly unfit for school purposes,” one inspector noted. A new school was built about 1893. The Episcopalians established St. Mark’s church just to the north of the school and in 1901, the Jesuits started St. Peter’s Mission just south. Based on the names in the nearby cemeteries, part of the families within the Wakan were Catholic (Crazy Thunder, Swallow, Tibbitts, and Yellow Bear) while others were Episcopalian (No Braid, Loves War, Big Turnip, White Butterfly, Twiss). The Steele family are represented in both.
Two lists of the Wakan tiyospaye families are known. The first is from the 1890 Pine Ridge Agency census, which enumerates 21 families with 85 individuals. The second is a 1936 list of 31 families and 163 people, with an accompanying map showing the locations of their homes and the outline of the tiyospaye extent. The Wakan community is also marked on a map of all tiyospaye at Pine Ridge, perhaps created in the 1920s or early 1930s. The BLM allotment lists starting in 1910 also provide insight as to who lived in the area.
While the details are still being worked out, it appears that by 1890, the Wakan band consisted of several extended families including No Braid (c1828-1911) and his four sons. The wife of Francis Runs Against (c1853-1934) is believed to have been a daughter of No Braid. Other families included Austin Red Hawk (c1856-1928), Crazy Thunder (c1855-1927), Lone Elk (for whom the school was later named), Feather on Head (c1831-1905) and several of his grown children, and Loves War. The families of Flying Hawk, Kicking Bear and Black Fox may have joined this group in the early 1890s. By 1936, additional marriages brought new families into the community. For example, Richard Afraid of Hawk married a daughter of Lone Elk and they chose to live here. Big Turnip also married into this group.
I am still trying to tie this tiyospaye further back into the mid-19th century and am hoping that oral histories from these families will help this summer when I visit Pine Ridge again. I have seen the name of the Sans Arc headman Standing Holy Cow mentioned as a possible connection, but still searching. Any additional information would be very helpful. Thanks!
1890 List (heads of household):
Runs Against --
Red Hawk Jr.
Cane Shield
Breast
Cut Foot
Crazy Thunder
Lone Elk
Good Talk
Bear Scares
Henry Jones
Feather on Head
Charles Plume
Shield
Kills Brave
Loves War
No Braid
Spaola
Crow
Ghost
Hand
Hip
1936 list (heads of household):
Joe Crazy Thunder
James Yellow Bear
Pemican
Leo Biannas
Richard Afraid of Hawk
Lawrence Galligo
Felix Flying Hawk
David Flying Hawk
Willie Mexican
Asay Steele
David Steele
Harry Steele
Andrew Stone
Ollie Ecoffey
John Black Fox
Peter Charging Thunder
Same Loves War
Thomas Twiss
James No Braid
Charles Twiss
James Mesteth
William Swallow
Louis Pablo
William Tibbitts
Anton Stirk
Emiel Tibbitts
Ben Ladeaux
Joseph Crazy Horse
Moses Runs Against
Frank Ghost
Henry Crow
The people who made up this community appear to have originally been mostly Minneconjou who may have intermarried with the northern Oglala (Oyukpe). Both He Dog and Black Moccasin considered the Wakan to be a part of the Oyukpe. The band appears to have existed before settling on Pine Ridge, as evidenced by the grouping of names in the Red Hawk art ledger. If the events of several members of the community are indicative of the whole group, they suggest that the Wakan were with the non-treaty bands during the Great Sioux War of 1876-77 (several mention being at the Little Bighorn) and then surrendered at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies in the spring of 1877. They fled to Canada with the mass exodus during the winter of 1877-78 and were among the surrenders at Fort Keogh about 1880. They were probably part of the transfers to Standing Rock in 1881 though only a few of the families can yet be identified in the Sitting Bull Surrender Census.
The members of this community first appear in the records at Pine Ridge in 1885. During the Ghost Dance troubles, the band does not appear to have been involved with the dance; in fact, several members served in the Indian scouts and Indian police during this period. Crazy Thunder persuaded one of the Ghost Dance bands to come in, based on his previous relationships with the non-treaty bands.
Day School No. 12 was established here in 1892, initially in “log buildings with low lying dirt roofs, poorly lighted and worse ventilated, and wholly unfit for school purposes,” one inspector noted. A new school was built about 1893. The Episcopalians established St. Mark’s church just to the north of the school and in 1901, the Jesuits started St. Peter’s Mission just south. Based on the names in the nearby cemeteries, part of the families within the Wakan were Catholic (Crazy Thunder, Swallow, Tibbitts, and Yellow Bear) while others were Episcopalian (No Braid, Loves War, Big Turnip, White Butterfly, Twiss). The Steele family are represented in both.
Two lists of the Wakan tiyospaye families are known. The first is from the 1890 Pine Ridge Agency census, which enumerates 21 families with 85 individuals. The second is a 1936 list of 31 families and 163 people, with an accompanying map showing the locations of their homes and the outline of the tiyospaye extent. The Wakan community is also marked on a map of all tiyospaye at Pine Ridge, perhaps created in the 1920s or early 1930s. The BLM allotment lists starting in 1910 also provide insight as to who lived in the area.
While the details are still being worked out, it appears that by 1890, the Wakan band consisted of several extended families including No Braid (c1828-1911) and his four sons. The wife of Francis Runs Against (c1853-1934) is believed to have been a daughter of No Braid. Other families included Austin Red Hawk (c1856-1928), Crazy Thunder (c1855-1927), Lone Elk (for whom the school was later named), Feather on Head (c1831-1905) and several of his grown children, and Loves War. The families of Flying Hawk, Kicking Bear and Black Fox may have joined this group in the early 1890s. By 1936, additional marriages brought new families into the community. For example, Richard Afraid of Hawk married a daughter of Lone Elk and they chose to live here. Big Turnip also married into this group.
I am still trying to tie this tiyospaye further back into the mid-19th century and am hoping that oral histories from these families will help this summer when I visit Pine Ridge again. I have seen the name of the Sans Arc headman Standing Holy Cow mentioned as a possible connection, but still searching. Any additional information would be very helpful. Thanks!
1890 List (heads of household):
Runs Against --
Red Hawk Jr.
Cane Shield
Breast
Cut Foot
Crazy Thunder
Lone Elk
Good Talk
Bear Scares
Henry Jones
Feather on Head
Charles Plume
Shield
Kills Brave
Loves War
No Braid
Spaola
Crow
Ghost
Hand
Hip
1936 list (heads of household):
Joe Crazy Thunder
James Yellow Bear
Pemican
Leo Biannas
Richard Afraid of Hawk
Lawrence Galligo
Felix Flying Hawk
David Flying Hawk
Willie Mexican
Asay Steele
David Steele
Harry Steele
Andrew Stone
Ollie Ecoffey
John Black Fox
Peter Charging Thunder
Same Loves War
Thomas Twiss
James No Braid
Charles Twiss
James Mesteth
William Swallow
Louis Pablo
William Tibbitts
Anton Stirk
Emiel Tibbitts
Ben Ladeaux
Joseph Crazy Horse
Moses Runs Against
Frank Ghost
Henry Crow