Mdewakanton-Cedar Herald Index

The Mdewakanton or Mdewakantonwan (also spelled Mdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ and currently pronounced Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ) are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota (Sioux). Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake (Dakota: Mde Wákhaŋ/Bde Wákhaŋ, Spirit/Mystic Lake) in central Minnesota. Together with the Wahpekute (Waȟpékhute – "Shooters Among the Trees"), they form the so-called Upper Council of the Dakota or Santee Sioux (Isáŋyáthi – "Knife Makers"). 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 ("The Seven Council Fires"), consisting of the four tribes of the Eastern Dakota, two tribes of the Western Dakota, as well as the largest group, the Lakota (often referred to as Teton, derived from Thítȟuŋwaŋ – "Dwellers of the Plains"). 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.

Mdewakanton

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 [Lake Mystery/Holy], 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. (As it was a nomadic group, it was not identified by the suffixes of thuŋwaŋ – "settlers," or towan – "village"). Soon European settlers applied the name to all the tribes of the Eastern Dakota.

Mdewakanton

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.

Mdewakanton

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

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe on Crow Creek Indian Reservation (Mdewakanton, Yankton, some Lower Yanktonai or Hunkpatina) Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe on Flandreau Indian Reservation (Mdewakanton, Wahpekute, Wahpeton)

Minnesota

Upper Sioux Community – Pejuhutazizi Oyate on Upper Sioux Indian Reservation (Pezihutazizi in Dakota) (Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdewakanton) Lower Sioux Indian Community on Lower Sioux Indian Reservation (Mdewankanton Tribal Reservation) (Mdewakanton, Wahpekute) Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (also known as: Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community or Shakopee Tribe) on Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservation (Mdewakanton, Wahpekute) Prairie Island Indian Community on Prairie Island Indian Community (Tinta Winta in Dakota) (Mdewakanton, Wahpekute) Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community (Mdewakanton-only community, is not federally recognized, but they are seeking recognition from the US Department of the Interior)

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.