The Canadian Sioux

1. Traditional Sioux Culture

1 1 TRADITIONAL SIOUX CULTURE Before embarking upon the description of Canadian Sioux culture during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as in the present, it is important to review their ancestral culture as it existed before their flight to Canada. In this I will draw heavily on earlier papers (Howard 1960a, 1966a, 1979, 1980). Although the Sioux have been known to scholars for more than three hundred years, surprisingly little has been done to collect origin legends and traditional histories from the various divisions of the tribe. Williamson (1851:247) states that the Sioux claimed to have resided near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers for several generations , and before that to have lived at Mille Lacs. Riggs is quoted as saying that most of the Sioux with whom he conversed could trace their history no further back than to Mille Lacs, but added that all their traditions indicated they came from the northeast and had been moving southwest, implying an origin north of the Great Lakes (Hodge 1907:376). Most present-day scholars would agree in assigning an eastern locale, probably the Great Lakes area, to the Sioux prior to their arrival in Minnesota. The first published mention of the Sioux was by the French explorer Jean Nicolet in 1640 (Thwaites 1918:229, 231). The first actual meeting between Europeans and the Sioux, however, occurred twenty years later, and took place in what is today northwestern Wisconsin or eastern Minnesota. The principals were the French explorers Pierre Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers, and a group of Santee Sioux. The explorers, who had spent a miserable winter of near 2 THE CANADIAN SIOUX starvation in the vicinity, were visited by eight Santee ambassadors, each accompanied by two women laden with wild rice and corn. The explorers feasted, smoked, and counciled with the Santees for eight days (Radisson 1943:207–209). At this period Sioux territory embraced what is now the southern two-thirds of Minnesota with adjacent parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota. Sioux economy was based upon hunting, fishing, and the gathering of lake and forest products , supplemented by some limited horticulture, especially by those bands not having easy access to wild rice. Partly as a result of pressure from the Ojibwas, who had been armed by the French, and partly because of the attractions it offered in terms of abundant bison and other game, some of the Sioux began a movement westward. By 1750 the westernmost groups had begun to cross the Missouri and filter into the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Until after the War of 1812, most of the Eastern Sioux were allies of the British. Beginning in 1815 they entered into a series of treaties with the United States government. In 1862 the shabby treatment that the Eastern or Santee bands had received from the government, coupled with the depletion of game by white settlers, led these groups to what has come to be called the Minnesota Uprising. Defeated by government forces, many of the Santees sought refuge in Canada, while others fled west to the Middle and Western Sioux bands. A few Santees were allowed to stay, or later filtered back into Minnesota. Trouble between the Yanktonai band of Middle Sioux and the United States followed, and later the Teton or Western Sioux bands also became involved. These “Sioux wars” culminated in the campaign in which Lt. Col. George A. Custer and his command were annihilated. This last campaign led to the flight of some Tetons, mainly Sitting Bull’s band of Hunkpapas, to Canada, although all but a few ultimately returned to the United States. In 1890 the last conflict occurred in connection with the attempt by the U.S. government to suppress the Ghost Dance religion. Since then the Sioux have been at peace. Still proud of their military tradition, the tribe furnished many soldiers for both World Wars and those in the United States for the Korean and Viet Nam conflicts as well. Traditional Sioux Culture 3 The name Dakhóta is said to mean ‘allies’. According to tradition, the Dakota or Sioux were divided into seven bands or “council fires,” commonly referred to as the Ochéthi Šakówiŋ ‘seven fireplaces.’ These are the Mdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute, Sisíthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ, Iháŋkthuŋwaŋ, Iháŋkthuŋwa...