Little Crow: Spokesman For The Sioux Review

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(More customer reviews)Gary C. Anderson is an expert on Dakota/Sioux history. His doctoral dissertation, published under the title "Kinsmen of Another Kind," discussed Dakota/White relations from the 17th to the 19th century. In "Through Dakota Eyes," Anderson collected dozens of Indian narratives concerning the 1862 Dakota uprising in Southeastern Minnesota. This book, "Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux," finds Anderson delving deep into the archives in order to present a better picture of that enigmatic Dakota chief Taoyateduta, known to history as Little Crow.
The main thesis of Anderson's "Kinsmen of Another Kind" was the importance of kinship ties within the Dakota tribes as well as with outsiders. Traders formed kinship ties with the Dakota because the ties allowed the traders to use the Dakotas to gather furs for them. Dakotas benefited from kinship ties because the ties involved gift giving. Whites had to give gifts to the Dakotas if they wanted to maintain trade and relations. As more and more whites moved into the region, kinship ties slowly disintegrated because whites no longer needed to deal with the Dakotas on an equal basis. It is important to understand these kinship ties when reading "Little Crow," as Anderson again makes these relationships central to his study.
Anderson begins his biographical analysis of Little Crow with an overview of Dakota culture. According to Anderson, it is impossible to understand anything about Little Crow's life and actions unless we understand his cultural underpinnings. Anderson discusses hunting, gift giving, medicine sacks and medicine societies, Dakota religion, and the role of a chief in Dakota society (chiefs, according to Anderson, held little actual power over the warriors; it was the position of speaker that held greater power, something Little Crow found out when he led the Dakota warriors during the 1862 uprising).
Little Crow's life is truly fascinating. Anderson discusses in great depth the role of Little Crow's grandfather and father in their relations with the Americans at Fort Snelling. Little Crow's grandfather and father took an accommodationist stance towards white encroachment on Dakota lands, trying to toe the fine line between keeping the Dakota people happy while dealing with the whites. Anderson argues that Little Crow, despite the bad reputation he earned due to the uprising, was an accommodationist just like his father and grandfather. Time and time again, Little Crow worked with the white Indian agents and soldiers to try and benefit his people. Little Crow was intimately involved in signing several treaties with the government, worked hard to placate the government after the Inkpaduta affair of 1857, and tried to prevent war in 1862. That Little Crow failed in his dealings with the government and failed to stop the uprising is certainly a tragedy, but should not overshadow his attempts to do the right thing for his people. Ultimately, no Dakota leader could have prevented the coming doom.
Little Crow is best known for the destructive war against whites in 1862. Anderson covers the war and its aftermath in succinct detail. Actually, this may be the best account of the war I have read. Anderson discusses Little Crow's failure to successfully organize his warriors, his failure to gain support with mixed-blood and Upper Agency Indians, and his failure to form an Indian alliance during his exile in North Dakota and Canada. When Little Crow returned to Minnesota in 1863, he knew his time was short. Little Crow died from a gunshot wound while picking berries with his son. Little Crow's remains, horribly mutilated by angry whites, ended up on display at the Minnesota Historical Society until the 1970's, when they were finally given a proper burial.
Anderson claims that Little Crow was an opportunist, a scheming sort of politician who always helped out because he wanted to elevate his own position within Dakota society. Anderson cites as evidence newspaper interviews with Little Crow which revealed Little Crow's propensity for pithy statements and his need for constant attention. That Little Crow had a knack for oratory should come as no surprise; he was a chief, and chiefs constantly debated issues with other leaders in the tribe. But is Little Crow a politician? I don't think so, at least not in the way we perceive the term. Is it possible that newspaper and other white accounts of the time framed Little Crow in terms whites understood? After all, documents show that many whites had no real conception about the true nature of Indians in the 19th century. White relations with Indians were based on a fundamental set of assumptions, most of them racist and false. To paint Little Crow as a sort of Huey Long type teeters dangerously close to error. After all, Dakota culture emphasized communitarian values, not the sort of individualistic elevation Anderson says Little Crow sought.
Anderson ends the book with an appendix discussing Little Crow's genealogy. This section is the most difficult part of the book due to the intricate relationships within Indian families and tribes. Terms like "father" and "cousin" do not carry the same connotation in Indian culture as they do in ours. A father's brothers can all be "fathers" to an Indian, and "cousins" are even more convoluted. A genealogical chart of Little Crow's family at the back of the book makes a medieval royal house look like a nuclear family. These genealogies are necessary to back up Anderson's claim that kinship is central to tribal life.
This is a scholarly book that manages to entertain while it teaches. It is definitely a must have for those seeking a deeper understanding of the Dakota tribes, or for those interested in the Minnesota uprising of 1862. If you don't come away with some sense of admiration for Little Crow, despite his failures, you did not read the same book I did.

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Government officials and missionaries wanted all Siouxmen to become self-sufficient farmers, wear pants, and cut their hair.The Indians, confronted by a land-hungry white population and a lossof hunting grounds, sought to exchange title to their homeland forannuities of cash and food, schools and teachers, and farms andagricultural knowledge.By 1862 the Sioux realized that theirextensive kinship network and religion were in jeopardy and that thegovernment would not fulfill its promises.With their way of life endangered, the Sioux turned to LittleCrow to lead them in a war for self-preservation, a war that LittleCrow had tried to avoid during most of his adult life.Within a year,the Sioux had been evicted from Minnesota, Little Crow was dead, and away of life had vanished.Through his life-his biography-the complexinterrelationship of Indian and white can be studied and, in somemeasure, understood.

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Over the Earth I Come: The Great Sioux Uprising of 1862 Review

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(More customer reviews)In "Over the Earth I Come," military historian Duane Schultz writes a popular history of the infamous Dakota uprising of 1862. The title of the book comes from a Dakota chant of defiance, a fitting title for a book that describes the efforts of a people to cast off the heavy chains of hopelessness, starvation, and general depravation forged through contact with the American government and its Indian agents.
Schultz writes a gripping account of all aspects of the uprising and the aftereffects of the rebellion. The author weaves narratives of survivors with political and military events of the uprising into a seamless and compelling account of this unfortunate incident in American history. According to Schultz, some 500 to 2000 whites died in the uprising, many of them German settlers unaware of the danger they faced from the angry Dakotas. Hundreds of Dakotas died as well in the futile military campaigns launched against Fort Ridgley, New Ulm, and at the battle of Birch Coulee. The uprising was a tragedy for everyone involved, from the white women and children who died in astonishingly brutal ways, to the Indians who lost their freedom and lands as a result of the uprising, to President Abraham Lincoln who signed a death warrant for 38 Dakotas (Lincoln lessened the tragedy somewhat by commuting some 264 death sentences). Schultz conveys the tragedy with a heartfelt eloquence that brings tears to your eyes.
Early in the book, Schultz examines the causes of the uprising. Was the uprising inevitable? Schultz's answer is a resounding NO! The Dakotas rebelled against the government agents and white settlers due to starvation, a tardy annuity payment, and poor treatment by Indian agents and German settlers. Cultural factors also played a role, as the government played Indians off against each other by rewarding Indians who played by the rules (those who adopted white culture and farming methods), and withholding supplies from "blanket" Indians (those who refused to adopt an alien culture in order to preserve their ancient way of life). The Indians who refused to adopt white culture watched their converted kin collect supplies and food from government warehouses anytime they needed it, while the blanket Indians collected their food on a set schedule. The blanket Indians eventually formed a soldier's lodge and planned military action against the whites. A harmless incident over some eggs on a white farm escalated into the murder of a family of whites, and the war was on.
Schultz spends much time discussing Little Crow, the leader of the uprising. Little Crow, who initially opposed the uprising, eventually changed his mind and supported the revolt, a decision that doomed Little Crow and his people. After discussing Schultz's presentation of Little Crow with a friend, he asked if Schultz relied on the "noble savage" stereotype while discussing Little Crow. I don't think that is the case here, as Little Crow appears as a politically astute politician, saddened over the deaths of white children and white women while generally making the best of a situation rapidly spiraling beyond his control.
In a move sure to bring about howls of protest from the politically correct crowd who believe Indians can do no wrong, Schultz provides graphic details of the slaughter and torture of white settlers caught in the uprising. Through the use of narrative accounts, we see Indian braves on a murder spree of shocking proportions. Indians dashed the heads of children against trees, dropped rocks on people's heads, and tore limbs from still living children. Indians shook hands in a gesture of "friendship" with whites, and then shot them when they turned their backs. The list of atrocities goes on and on. As bad as these descriptions are, there are many worse ones found in this book. It is understandable that whites howled for blood when the uprising came to an end.
At the same time, Schultz shows us the many Indians disgusted at the behavior of their fellow Indians. Just as people sheltered Jews during World War II, some Indians risked life and limb to protect innocent whites. These Indian men and women were truly saviors to many. But in keeping with the theme of tragedy, Schultz explains how a few innocent Indians died on the gallows; one of them was Chaska, an Indian who protected Sarah Wakefield, a white woman taken captive early in the uprising. Despite Sarah's protestations (or perhaps because of them; whites were not interested in letting any Indian off the hook), Chaska ended up on the gallows.
As a popular history, "Over the Earth I Come" does have its limitations. For example, in his discussion on the causes of the uprising, Schultz completely fails to mention the Spirit Lake massacre in 1857 and the withholding of annuity funds by the government in order to force the Indians to do what the government told them to do. Both of these events contributed to the uprising, and discussing them is essential in understanding the events that followed.
"Over the Earth I Come" is an excellent, well written introduction to this troubling event in American history. The book has all the trappings of a novel: dramatic battles, perilous escapes, mind blowing ironies and "what-ifs," and touching stories of human kindness. Schultz conveys the multiple tragedies of this sad event with great sympathy and understanding.

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Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts Of The Minnesota Indian War Of 1862 Review

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(More customer reviews)Historians discovered many years ago that oral history is a vibrant cornucopia of information. Even better, integrating oral history into traditional modes of inquiry opened up more chances for earning a Ph.D., or getting that career making book contract. In the case of "Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862," oral history is the only game in town. Every selection in the book is an oral story from Indians or mixed-blood Indians about the disastrous uprising that killed hundreds of soldiers, settlers, and Indians. One of the editors of "Through Dakota Eyes" is none other than Gary Clayton Anderson, the premier scholar on Dakota history. As usual, Anderson goes above and beyond the call of duty in researching the narratives, providing background color on the people involved (and also providing information about what happened to these people after the uprising, something I greatly appreciated).
For nearly a century after the uprising, articles and books concerning the 1862 war only used white narratives as sources of information. There is definitely nothing wrong with relying on these narratives; they are invaluable sources of information on the uprising. The white narratives also reveal the tragic dimensions of the conflict, showing how innocent men, women, and children died (or persevered) in especially brutal ways. With the addition of these Indian narratives, however, historians can now go inside the camps and meeting places of the Dakotas intimately involved in the conflict.
The narratives are lumped into distinct categories dealing with different stages of the uprising. Each category then provides a succinct description of that particular phase of the war. With each narrative, the editors provide a small capsule of information on the person telling the story, allowing the reader to understand that person's place in the overall scheme of things. It is recommended to read the endnotes for each narrative, as they provide excellent information on each narrative. Excellent maps and pictures of many of the people involved also help the reader to understand the accounts.
Some of the narratives are more helpful than others. A few are difficult to understand due to poor grammar or contradictory information. Several of the narratives appeared in newspaper articles or as testimony in a case against the government in 1901, and there is a possibility that someone altered or changed them as they saw fit. That does not mean there are not any "WOW!" moments found here. In Cecelia Campbell Stay's account of the attack on the Redwood Agency (also known as the Lower Agency, where the killing began in earnest on August 18th), Cecelia describes seeing the sunlight flashing on the bayonets of Captain Marsh's patrol as they headed to their doom at the ferry crossing. Another narrative, now widely used in accounts of the uprising, comes from Wowinape, the son of Little Crow (the leader of the warring Dakota). Battle narratives allow the reader to feel as though they are at Fort Ridgely, New Ulm, or Birch Coulee as the cannons roar and the bullets fly.
As the editors point out, many of the mixed-blood Indian narratives identify a central tension of the conflict, namely the division between Indians who adopted white modes of civilization (the farmer Indians) and those who stayed true to traditional Indian values (the blanket Indians). Many of the mixed-blood Indians worked closely with whites; they feared the war parties of the traditionals just as much as whites did. As the war began to wind down, it was the mixed-bloods along with some full-blooded Indians who confronted the warring Indians, forcing these hostile forces to turn over their white captives in an effort to make peace with the military forces sweeping into the area.
This is an absolutely essential book for anyone interested in the Minnesota 1862 uprising. Actually, anyone writing a paper on this conflict without using this book as a source could find themselves in hot water. Since the editors graciously organized the narratives in chronological order, there is no reason someone unfamiliar with the conflict and its principal figures would have any difficulty understanding the book. Gary Anderson and Alan Woolworth have made an important contribution to Indian scholarship with this impressive tome.

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This collection of thirty-six narratives presents theDakota Indians' experiences during a conflict previously known chieflyfrom the viewpoints of non-Indians.

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