Post by ephriam on May 18, 2014 17:54:28 GMT -5
Special thanks to Jack McDermott who shared this article, originally published in the Chicago Tribune. I am curious now about who the original author was, writing from Omaha, Nebraska in June 1875. The writer demonstrated a broad knowledge of the Lakota. Any guesses? I am particularly interested in his comment that the Cheyenne and Arapaho had a bitter political split in 1844. I am not familiar with this incident.
OMAHA, June 12. – Now that Red Cloud, and Spotted Tall, and American Horse, and Sitting Bull, with his three-knived war-club and his new rifle from the President, have hied [sic.] them back to the land from which they came, the public is beginning to inquire, “Who are these Sioux, anyhow? And who are these people that would defy the nation and exclude the American people from a portion of its own domain? Where do they come from? What is their history? And how many do they number?"
from the country bordering on the Upper Mississippi River, whence they were driven by the Chippewas into Southern and Western Minnesota – “the land of the Dakotas” –from which latter locality they crossed the Missouri River, driving before them the Pawnees, Cheyenne, Arapahoes, Crows, and Snakes or Shoshones. In the year 1832, the Sioux and Cheyennes, fighting for possession of the country, had a great battle on the Chug River, 35 miles south of the present site of Fort Laramie, at which large numbers were killed on both sides. After the fight, an understanding between the contending forces was arrived at, resulting in the cession to the Sioux of the territory lying north of the Platte River, and the retention by the Cheyennes of the country south thereof. The Cheyennes and Arapahoes then became associated together, and lived in comparative harmony til 1844, when, a social feud breaking out among them, 140 lodges (or wigwams) of the Cheyennes and 60 of the Arapahoes went north and assimilated with the Sioux. In 1841, a similar feud had broken out in the Sioux camps, when 175 lodges of Sioux went south, and ranged with the Cheyennes in the Valley of the Republican River, in Nebraska and Kansas, and were called
– a name which they hold to this day. A lodge is estimated by these Indians at six persons, two of them warriors. These seceding northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes and southern Sioux have, from 1841 to the present time, been, continually changing as parties have joined their respective bands from the parent tribes, or have left them to return to their old affiliations. For a while in 1869, the northern Arapahoes became estranged from their Sioux relatives, and made overtures to the eastern Shoshones, or Snakes, to join them on their reservation in the Wind River Valley, and to form an alliance with them, offensive and defensive, against the Sioux; but Washakie, the Chief of the Shoshones, or Snakes, fearing treachery upon the part of the Arapahoes, refused to listen to their propositions, and they remained with Sioux, with whom they are now in perfect harmony. The Sioux are at constant war with the Pawnees, Utes, Crows, Snakes, and Arickarees.
The Brules consist of Red [Leaf]’s band, which numbers 780 persons; of Iron Shell’s band, of 240; and Spotted Tail’s band, of 1,200. The Ogallallahs consist of Red Cloud’s band of 600; of Man-Afraid-of-his-Horse’s band, of 960; of the Kiocsias or Cut-Offs, under Pawnee-Killer, Bull Bear, and Little Wound, numbering 600; and the Loafers, numbering 180. From this it appears that Red Cloud has a following partly of Brules and partly of Ogallallahs, which form a division of themselves known as “the Mixed Brules and Ogallallahs.” The Oyochpas, under Standing Bull and Red Dog, number 750. These Indians are governed by the same laws as the Ogallallahs, and have the same society or order of “Warriors of the White Sash,” and are indeed Ogallallahs; but they band by themselves, and have a distinctive name of their own. The Yanctonnais number 2,500; and the Minneconjoux, under Lone Horn, Roman Nose, and White Bull, are 3,000 strong. The Minneconjoux have an organization or “Society of Warriors of the Brave Heart,” which controls the tribe. The Sans Arcs, under Scabby Bull, Yellow Horse, and Four Crows, number 5,400. They have few horses, and are poor warriors. The Uncpapas number 4,800, under Grabbing Bear, Seven Strokes, and Weasel Eagle. These Indians are poor in horses, but are good warriors. The Blackfeet number 4,200; the Two Kettles, 1,200; the Santees, 987; and the Cut-Heads, 900. The northern Cheyennes, under Medicine Man of the Cheyennes, number 1,800; and the northern Arapahoes, under Friday and Medicine Man of the Arapahoes, number 900. Total of Sioux. 28,297. Total of Sioux, Arapahoes, and Cheyennes, 31,197. These Indians, including the Arapahoes and Cheyennes, winter in the country.
where timber and game are found in abundance and upon the streams flowing into the Yellowstone and Little Missouri Rivers. Red Cloud is not a hereditary Chief, but a successful soldier, who has achieved retainers by prowess in battle and by force of character; American Horse succeeded to his Chieftainship by inheritance; while Spotted Tail did not, but was appointed to his position by Gen. Harney, ten years ago. The power of the Chiefs, except in their own villages, is limited, and the tribes over which they preside are mostly governed by societies of warriors, such as “The Society of the White Sash,” or “The Society of the Brave Heart.” These societies make the laws for their tribes, and decide on war or peace. Their decisions are mandatory, and they are indeed the chief rulers of their respective tribes, and, through general councils, of the entire Sioux Nation. Sitting Bull spoke truly when he said here, while en route to Washington, that neither Red Cloud nor Spotted Tail, nor any of the party, had any power whatever to conclude a treaty; that any treaty which they might attempt to make would be rejected by their nation; and that the treaty must be made in their own country,
in conned with Commissioners sent to that country by their Great Father, the President.
The visits of Indian delegations to Washington – even such men as Red Cloud and Spotted Tall – do not seem, as a general rule, to impress them forcibly with the great wealth and commercial strength of the American people; but when these Chiefs, some years ago, attended Cooper Institute, in New York City, and noticed before them the sea of upturned faces, and then slipped quietly down and out into the streets, to find that the passing crowds there were in no wise diminished in numbers by the presence of the crowd within, they began for the first time to think that the whites are in number as the grains of sand upon the seashore, the leaves upon the trees of the forest, or the blades of grass upon the prairies. And when they have come into the ir own country, and would tell their people of this thing that they have seen, then do their tribes turn upon them, and say to them that they have taken bad medicine from the white man; that they can no longer see straight; and that they lie, for they talk not the truth! Thus is it that these Chiefs are in danger of losing their influence with their people, and, in order to retain that influence and to save their reputations, they
[The Jasper Weekly Courier (Indiana), July 02, 1875, p. 3]
THE SIOUX.
----
A Nation of Some Thirty Thousand. People — The Country They Now Inhabit — Where They Came From — The Twelve Bands Into Which They Are Divided — The Nation Really Hated, Not by Chiefs but by Societies of Warriors. ----
[Special Correspondent of the Chicago Tribune].
OMAHA, June 12. – Now that Red Cloud, and Spotted Tall, and American Horse, and Sitting Bull, with his three-knived war-club and his new rifle from the President, have hied [sic.] them back to the land from which they came, the public is beginning to inquire, “Who are these Sioux, anyhow? And who are these people that would defy the nation and exclude the American people from a portion of its own domain? Where do they come from? What is their history? And how many do they number?"
THE SIOUX NATION
consists of 28,300 people divided into
twelve tribes, connected by blood-relationship,
and all of which speak the same
language. With them are allied, by association and intermarriage, 2,700 Northern Cheyenne and Arapahoes, relatives of
the Southern Cheyennes and Arapahoes
of Southern Kansas and Northern Texas.
Of these 31,000 Sioux and affiliating tribes,
10,000 are able-bodied warriors, well
mounted on Indian ponies of great endurance, and partially armed with repeating and breech-loading arm, obtained from white traders, from the Government
as presents, on the war-path, or in trade
with Northern Indians, who in turn procured them from British traders beyond
our northern boundary. They occupy the country bounded on the north by the 46th
degree of north latitude, on the south by
the northern boundary line of the State
of Nebraska, on the east by the Missouri
River, and on the west by the 10th degree
of longitude west from Greenwich – embracing an area of 40,570 square miles, or
25,964,000 acres of land, especially set
aside for them as the Sioux Reservation
by the treaty of 1868; and, by authority
granted them in the same treaty, they
roam and hunt over the country from the
Platte River on the south to the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers on the north,
and from the Missouri River on the east to the summit of the Big Horn Mountains on the west.
THE SIOUX CAME ORIGINALLY
from the country bordering on the Upper Mississippi River, whence they were driven by the Chippewas into Southern and Western Minnesota – “the land of the Dakotas” –from which latter locality they crossed the Missouri River, driving before them the Pawnees, Cheyenne, Arapahoes, Crows, and Snakes or Shoshones. In the year 1832, the Sioux and Cheyennes, fighting for possession of the country, had a great battle on the Chug River, 35 miles south of the present site of Fort Laramie, at which large numbers were killed on both sides. After the fight, an understanding between the contending forces was arrived at, resulting in the cession to the Sioux of the territory lying north of the Platte River, and the retention by the Cheyennes of the country south thereof. The Cheyennes and Arapahoes then became associated together, and lived in comparative harmony til 1844, when, a social feud breaking out among them, 140 lodges (or wigwams) of the Cheyennes and 60 of the Arapahoes went north and assimilated with the Sioux. In 1841, a similar feud had broken out in the Sioux camps, when 175 lodges of Sioux went south, and ranged with the Cheyennes in the Valley of the Republican River, in Nebraska and Kansas, and were called
“CUT-OFFS,”
– a name which they hold to this day. A lodge is estimated by these Indians at six persons, two of them warriors. These seceding northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes and southern Sioux have, from 1841 to the present time, been, continually changing as parties have joined their respective bands from the parent tribes, or have left them to return to their old affiliations. For a while in 1869, the northern Arapahoes became estranged from their Sioux relatives, and made overtures to the eastern Shoshones, or Snakes, to join them on their reservation in the Wind River Valley, and to form an alliance with them, offensive and defensive, against the Sioux; but Washakie, the Chief of the Shoshones, or Snakes, fearing treachery upon the part of the Arapahoes, refused to listen to their propositions, and they remained with Sioux, with whom they are now in perfect harmony. The Sioux are at constant war with the Pawnees, Utes, Crows, Snakes, and Arickarees.
THE TWELVE TRIBES
of the Sioux are the Brules, the Ogallallahs, the mixed Brules and Ogallallahs,
the Yanctonnais, the Minneconjoux, the Uncpapas, the Sans Arcs, the
Oyochpas, the Blackfeet, the Two Kettles, the Cut-Heads, and the Santees. These tribes are again divided into bands, which embrace at times many shifting members from the
several grand divisions of the Sioux, after
the fashion of the Cut-Offs, the Cheyennes, and the Arapahoes.The Brules consist of Red [Leaf]’s band, which numbers 780 persons; of Iron Shell’s band, of 240; and Spotted Tail’s band, of 1,200. The Ogallallahs consist of Red Cloud’s band of 600; of Man-Afraid-of-his-Horse’s band, of 960; of the Kiocsias or Cut-Offs, under Pawnee-Killer, Bull Bear, and Little Wound, numbering 600; and the Loafers, numbering 180. From this it appears that Red Cloud has a following partly of Brules and partly of Ogallallahs, which form a division of themselves known as “the Mixed Brules and Ogallallahs.” The Oyochpas, under Standing Bull and Red Dog, number 750. These Indians are governed by the same laws as the Ogallallahs, and have the same society or order of “Warriors of the White Sash,” and are indeed Ogallallahs; but they band by themselves, and have a distinctive name of their own. The Yanctonnais number 2,500; and the Minneconjoux, under Lone Horn, Roman Nose, and White Bull, are 3,000 strong. The Minneconjoux have an organization or “Society of Warriors of the Brave Heart,” which controls the tribe. The Sans Arcs, under Scabby Bull, Yellow Horse, and Four Crows, number 5,400. They have few horses, and are poor warriors. The Uncpapas number 4,800, under Grabbing Bear, Seven Strokes, and Weasel Eagle. These Indians are poor in horses, but are good warriors. The Blackfeet number 4,200; the Two Kettles, 1,200; the Santees, 987; and the Cut-Heads, 900. The northern Cheyennes, under Medicine Man of the Cheyennes, number 1,800; and the northern Arapahoes, under Friday and Medicine Man of the Arapahoes, number 900. Total of Sioux. 28,297. Total of Sioux, Arapahoes, and Cheyennes, 31,197. These Indians, including the Arapahoes and Cheyennes, winter in the country.
AROUND THE BLACK HILLS,
where timber and game are found in abundance and upon the streams flowing into the Yellowstone and Little Missouri Rivers. Red Cloud is not a hereditary Chief, but a successful soldier, who has achieved retainers by prowess in battle and by force of character; American Horse succeeded to his Chieftainship by inheritance; while Spotted Tail did not, but was appointed to his position by Gen. Harney, ten years ago. The power of the Chiefs, except in their own villages, is limited, and the tribes over which they preside are mostly governed by societies of warriors, such as “The Society of the White Sash,” or “The Society of the Brave Heart.” These societies make the laws for their tribes, and decide on war or peace. Their decisions are mandatory, and they are indeed the chief rulers of their respective tribes, and, through general councils, of the entire Sioux Nation. Sitting Bull spoke truly when he said here, while en route to Washington, that neither Red Cloud nor Spotted Tail, nor any of the party, had any power whatever to conclude a treaty; that any treaty which they might attempt to make would be rejected by their nation; and that the treaty must be made in their own country,
BY THEIR OWN PEOPLE
in conned with Commissioners sent to that country by their Great Father, the President.
The visits of Indian delegations to Washington – even such men as Red Cloud and Spotted Tall – do not seem, as a general rule, to impress them forcibly with the great wealth and commercial strength of the American people; but when these Chiefs, some years ago, attended Cooper Institute, in New York City, and noticed before them the sea of upturned faces, and then slipped quietly down and out into the streets, to find that the passing crowds there were in no wise diminished in numbers by the presence of the crowd within, they began for the first time to think that the whites are in number as the grains of sand upon the seashore, the leaves upon the trees of the forest, or the blades of grass upon the prairies. And when they have come into the ir own country, and would tell their people of this thing that they have seen, then do their tribes turn upon them, and say to them that they have taken bad medicine from the white man; that they can no longer see straight; and that they lie, for they talk not the truth! Thus is it that these Chiefs are in danger of losing their influence with their people, and, in order to retain that influence and to save their reputations, they
DARE NOT TELL THEIR NATION
that which, by direct ocular demonstration, they actually know to be the fact.
And thus these Sioux, as a body, do not
believe, and will not believe that the
whites are as powerful as themselves. They think their prowess compelled the
Government of the United States to evacuate and abandon the military posts of Fort Reno, Fort C. F. Smith, and Fort
Phil Kearny, in the Powder River country in 1869, under the treaty of 1868. To
them ignorance is bliss, in that they recognize not the certain doom that awaits
them; for their land is coveted by the
whites, who are already standing upon
their borders and exclaiming in regard to this people, “Why cumber they the
ground?”[The Jasper Weekly Courier (Indiana), July 02, 1875, p. 3]
