Mdewakanton


The Mdewakanton or Mdewakantonwan are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti Dakota. Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota. Together with the Wahpekute, they form the so-called Upper Council of the Dakota or Santee Sioux. Today their descendants are members of federally recognized tribes in Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska of the United States, and First Nations in Manitoba, Canada.

History

Tradition has it that the Mdewakanton were the leading tribe of Očhéthi Šakówiŋ. Their Siouan-speaking ancestors may have migrated to the upper Midwest from further south and east. Over the years they migrated up through present-day Ohio and into Wisconsin. Seven Sioux tribes formed an alliance, which they called Oceti Sakowin or Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, consisting of the four tribes of the Eastern Dakota, two tribes of the Western Dakota, as well as the largest group, the Lakota. Facing competition from the Ojibwe and other Great Lakes Native American Algonquian-speaking tribes in the 1600s, the Santee moved further west into present-day Minnesota.
In 1687 Greysolon du Lhut recorded his visit to the "great village of the Nadouecioux, called Izatys". It was described as being on the southwestern shore of the eponymous Mde Wakan , now called Mille Lacs Lake, in north central Minnesota. Originally the term Santee was applied only to the Mdewakanton and later also to the closely related and allied Wahpekute.. Soon European settlers applied the name to all the tribes of the Eastern Dakota.
In the fall of 1837, the Mdewakantonwan negotiated a deal with the U.S. government under an "Indian Removal" treaty, whereby they were promised nearly one million dollars for all their lands east of the Mississippi River, including all islands in the river. Dwindling populations of game due to the American fur trade and the threat of starvation were motivators to the Mdewakanton to sign the treaty. Payment for the land was not received in one lump sum. Instead, the treaty stated that US$300,000 would be invested by the government and that the Mdewakanton would receive "annually, forever, an income of not less than five percent...a portion of said interest, not exceeding one third, to be applied in such manner as the President may direct." This discretionary fund worth $5,000 a year proved to be one of the most controversial parts of the treaty, as the government insisted that it had been allocated for educational programs for the Mdewakanton, but spent very little of the money over a period of fifteen years.

US reservations with Mdewakanton descendants

The Mdewakantonwan traditionally consisted of decentralized villages led by different leaders and today, they maintain separate reservations with their own tribal government. In the United States, the Mdewakanton are counted among other Dakota and Yankton-Yanktonai bands as the Dakota:

South Dakota

Some Mdewakanton in Minnesota live among Ojibwe people on the Mille Lacs Reservation as Mille Lacs Band of Mdewakanton Dakota, forming one of the historical bands that were amalgamated to become the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

Nebraska

In Canada, the Mdewakanton live with members of other Dakota and Yanktonai band governments as Dakota peoples:

Manitoba

Some may live also within the White Bear First Nations, which consists mostly of members of the Plains Cree, Western Saulteaux and Assiniboine.

Historic tribes of the Mdewakanton

  • Wakpaatonwedan division. They had their village on Rice creek, Minnesota. In 1858 it comprised the following bands: Kiyuksa, Ohanhanska, Tacanhpisapa, Anoginajin, Tintaotonwe, and Oyateshicha.
  • * real Wakpaatonwedan
  • * Kiyuska, led by a succession of chiefs with the name Wapasha
  • * Oyateshicha
  • * Tintaotonwe. A former Mdewakanton Sioux band. The village was situated on lower Minnesota River and was once the residence of Wabasha, the Kiyuksa chief, until he removed with most of his warriors, leaving a few families under his son, Takopepeshene, Dauntless, who became a dependent of Shakopee, the neighboring chief of Taoapa.
  • * Ohanhanska
  • ** Tacanhpisapa
  • ** Anoginajin
  • Matantonwan division. One of the two early primary divisions of the Mdewakanton Sioux. They are mentioned as residing at the mouth of the Minnesota River in 1685. To this division belonged in 1858 the Khemnichan, Kapozha, Maghayuteshni, Makhpiyamaza, Kheyataotonwe, and Tintaotonwe bands. All these are now on Santee res., Nebr.
  • * real Matantonwan
  • * Pinisha or Pinichon
  • * Kaposia or Kapozha kodozapuwa, led by famous chief Taoyateduta
  • * Khemnichan or Weakaote
  • * Magayuteshni
  • * Mahpiyamaza or Makhpiyamaza
  • * Mahpiyawichasta
  • * Kheyataotonwe or Kay-yah-ta Otonwa
  • * Reyata otonwe or Reyata Otonwa
  • * Taoapa
Only the Kiyuska, Pinisha, Reyata otonwe/Reyata Otonwa and real Matantonwan bands survive as organized groups today.

General references