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33-551: The Lake Traverse Reservation and its boundaries were established by the Lake Traverse Treaty of 1867 . From 1884 until the 1913, the tribal government was based upon the concept of the Soldier's Lodge. Due to external pressures from federal Indian agents and religious missionaries , as well as internal turmoil, in 1913 the tribe created an advisory committee. It served as the basis of government until 1946. In 1934

66-657: A Dakota language program in 2005. Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of the position of Indian agent in the Nonintercourse Act of 1793, a revision of the original 1790 law. This required land sales by or from Indians to be federally licensed and permitted. The legislation also authorized

99-523: A settlement at Acton , Meeker County , as the beginning of the conflict. A young aki-ci-ta reportedly stole eggs from a settler, leading to a confrontation in which five white men were killed. Soon violent conflicts erupted elsewhere around the region. Initially the Dakota had victories at the Battle of Redwood Ferry , their assault on New Ulm , and the Battle of Birch Coulee , as well as minor losses at

132-548: The Battle of Fort Ridgely , where the European-Americans incurred high losses but won a victory. Sisseton-Wahpeton bands did not participate in the killing of settler families that defined the early conflicts. A majority of the 4,000 members of the two northern tribes opposed the fighting. A large number of Sisseton and Wahpeton had adopted both subsistence farming and Christianity, and had both moral objections and strong reasons of self-interest for keeping peace with

165-855: The Indian Wars broke out to the south and west, ending finally with the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 and the defeat of the Sioux. In 1866, the War Department , which then supervised the Indian agents and reservations, appointed Gabriel Renville 1824–1892, chief scout for General Sibley, as head chief of the Sisseton-Wahpeton bands. In 1867 he was appointed Chief for life by members of the Sissetowan band. In 1904

198-693: The "most hated of the traders". He was alleged to have said of the Dakota, "Let them eat grass." The validity of that quotation is now disputed. In the summer of 1862, eastern bands of the Dakota people were living in a small reservation along the southern bank of the Minnesota River. Their crops had failed and the area had been overhunted, and they were starving. In a meeting at the Upper Sioux Agency on August 4, US Indian Agent Thomas Galbraith directed that only some food be released to

231-571: The 1870s, due to president Grant's Peace Policy , the average Indian agent was primarily nominated by various Christian denominations due to the increase in civilization reforms to Indian-white affairs, especially over land. Part of the Christian message of reform, carried out by the Indian agents, demonstrated the pervasive thought of Indian land ownership of the late 19th century: civilization can only be possible when Indians cease communal living in favor of private ownership. Many citizens still held

264-511: The Canada–US border. Some bands, such as the Sisseton and Wahpeton, were hesitant to give up so much, yet reluctantly did so; the federal government had shown during the 1832 Black Hawk War a willingness to fight when the Indian parties were hesitant to negotiate. Included in the treaty stipulations was a monetary amount of $ 1,665,000 in cash and annuities, with reservations to be established at

297-560: The Dakota from the warehouse, as annuity supplies and payments had been delayed by the American Civil War and a government preoccupied with the Northern Virginia Campaign , which threatened the safety of the capital, Washington D.C. Andrew Myrick had stores at both Yellow Medicine (also known as the Upper Sioux Agency ) and Redwood ( Lower Sioux Agency ). After Galbraith decided against issuing more of

330-516: The President to "appoint such persons, from time to time, as temporary agents to reside among the Indians," and guide them into acculturation of American society by changing their agricultural practices and domestic activities. Eventually, the U.S. government ceased using the word "temporary" in the Indian agent's job title. From the close of the 18th century to nearly 1869, Congress maintained

363-430: The Sioux. At a summit to resolve the matter, Dakota leaders asked trader Andrew Myrick to back their cause. His answer to them was reportedly insulting. His statement outraged the Dakota people. The day before, August 16, annuity monies arrived at St. Paul, Minnesota for distribution and were sent to Fort Ridgely on the 17th, but by then it was too late. Historians note actions by four Dakota aki-ci-ta (warriors) at

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396-464: The US Congress). The influx of white settlers, the desire for more land by the federal government, along with its failure to pay the total of the promised annuities, the pressure to conform to Christianized ways, loss of hunting and fishing land, and the overall discontent of the Dakota bands would be the catalysts leading to the plains Indian Wars , which spanned the next 30 years. In August 1862

429-557: The Upper Agency near Granite Falls, Minnesota and another at the Lower Agency near Redwood Falls, Minnesota , stretching from 20 miles in width to about 70 miles in length. The Upper Sioux had territory that contained some of their old villages and was more familiar in term of hunting and fishing. The Lower Agency location required the displacement of many Sioux from their traditional woodland areas and did not satisfy them. At

462-482: The activities of Indian agents in poor esteem, calling the agents themselves "unprincipled opportunists" and people of low quality. When Theodore Roosevelt reached the presidency at the turn of the 20th century (1901–1909), the Indian agents that remained on the government payroll were all replaced by school superintendents. Individuals who have served as Indian agents include the following: Andrew Myrick Andrew J. Myrick (May 28, 1832 – August 18, 1862)

495-504: The agents in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Their wish had been granted when in 1869 the bureau created the civilian-controlled Board of Indian Commissioners . The board "never more deeply felt, that Indian agents should be appointed solely for merit and fitness for their work   ... and should be retained in the service when they prove themselves to be efficient and helpful by their character and moral influence." This civilian run board

528-437: The annuity food, he turned to the store owners and workers and asked them what they were intending to do. Myrick tried to broker a deal with the bands of the Dakota in which the traders were to be paid directly with the federal annuity payments, once those delayed payments arrived, in exchange for the traders extending credit to the Dakota. On August 18, 1862 Chief Little Crow led his warriors against U.S. settlements, beginning

561-469: The authority to both issue and revoke commercial trading licenses. In 1849, the Bureau of Indian Affairs decided to place the position of Indian agent under civilian jurisdiction. This came at a time when many white Americans saw the role of Indian agent as largely inefficient and dishonest in monetary and severalty dealings with various Indian tribes. By 1850, many citizens had been calling for reform of

594-562: The day after Christmas in Mankato, Minnesota , in the largest mass execution in United States history. Efforts were undertaken to revoke the treaties, abolish the reservation, and expel remaining Dakota people from Minnesota entirely. Bounties of $ 25 were put on any Dakota found within the boundaries, with the exception of 208 families of Mdewakanton, who were considered "friendly". Soon after, additional conflicts in what were known as

627-567: The federal government authorized an inter-tribal boarding school , the Wahpeton Indian School , to be located off-reservation in Wahpeton, North Dakota . Opened in 1908, it was run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was the last government-established boarding school to open, as well as one of the last to operate. In 1993, nearly two decades since tribes had been taking back control of their children's education, this school

660-657: The federal government urged the tribe to adopt the provisions of the Wheeler-Howard Act , also known as the Indian Reorganization Act . By 1946 the tribe had reorganized, establishing the current system of bylaws and elected tribal government at Agency Village . It gained self-government again as the federally recognized Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe. The authority was based in the Lake Traverse Treaty of 1867. From 1946 to 2002,

693-631: The federally recognized tribe was known as the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe . For a brief period in 1994, they identified as the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Nation. During their 2002 tribal general elections, they approved a measure changing the name to Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate , the latter word in the Dakota language meaning "people or nation". The current enrollment of the tribe is approximately 12,000 members spread among seven districts located across

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726-438: The job of Indian agent. Despite its deeply felt convictions that its Indian agents were appointed and removed on merit, the civilian Board of Commissioners was frequently deemed corrupt, portrayed derogatorily in print and propaganda, and inadvertently assumed the scapegoat for the perceived inefficiency of Indian-White affairs: the Indian agent. By the late 19th century, the job title of Indian agent began to change slightly in

759-525: The last minute, the government attached a "traders-paper" rider, which allocated $ 400,000 of the annuities to traders who had claims against the Indians and biracial Indians who would not otherwise share in the benefits, but suffered discrimination in much European-American society. By 1858 Dakota leaders went to Washington D.C. to sign two more treaties, ceding the reservation north of the Minnesota River (whose boundaries had never been approved by

792-478: The position that it was legally responsible for the protection of Indians from non-Indians, and in establishing this responsibility it "continue[d] to deal with Indian tribes by utilizing agents to negotiate treaties under the jurisdiction of the Department of War ." In the 1830s, the primary role of Indian agents was to assist in commercial trading supervision between traders and Indians, while agents possessed

825-706: The reservation. There were 9,894 living on the reservation circa 2004. The tribe's districts are: On July 23, 1851 the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was formed between the United States government, and the (Dakota) Sioux of the Minnesota Territory. The territorial governor, Alexander Ramsey , and Commissioner of Indian Affairs , Luke Lea, instigated the treaty to gain concessions of the rich agricultural lands in Minnesota for European-American settlers. The Sioux ceded large tracts of land, from Iowa north to

858-475: The tribe established a tribal college , Sisseton Wahpeton College , on its Lake Traverse Reservation. The land-grant community college now serves about 250 students, of whom more than 80% are Dakota. Initiated as a technical and vocational institution, the college now also offers associate degrees in academic studies. Through arrangements with four-year colleges, students can transfer to complete bachelor's degrees. The college established Dakota Studies in 1992 and

891-466: The troops there led by Col. Henry Sibley . Small-scale skirmishes continued in the following weeks. Historians estimate total casualties at 800 to more than 1,000 civilians and military, but the exact numbers have never been determined. In the wake of the war, the Dakota were severely punished: a US military court convicted 303 men of war crimes and sentenced them to death. Of the 303, the Army hanged 38 men

924-624: The unrest among eastern Santee bands came to a climax with open combat against settlers in what would be called Dakota War of 1862 , the Dakota Conflict or Sioux Uprising . On August 4, 1862 the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands were able to obtain food and supplies from the Indian agency, but on August 17 the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands were denied. The US Indian Agent and Minnesota State Senator Thomas J. Galbraith refused to distribute supplies without having received payment from

957-482: The wake of the recent attempts to 'civilize' Indians, assimilating them into American culture. Despite the public scorn for the agents, the Indian Office stated that the "chief duty of an agent is to induce his Indian to labor in civilized pursuits. To attain this end every possible influence should be brought to bear, and in proportion as it is attained   ... an agent is successful or unsuccessful." By

990-472: The whites. Dakota aki-ci-ta laid siege to Fort Abercrombie for six weeks and disrupted supply lines and shipping from the north and Canada , as well as couriers heading to St. Cloud and Fort Snelling . Large-scale combat ended on September 26, 1862 when six companies of Minnesota militia and an artillery unit attacked Dakota positions at the Battle of Wood Lake . Three days later, Dakota forces surrendered at Camp Release , where 269 POWs were released to

1023-458: Was a trader , who with his Dakota wife ( Winyangewin /Nancy Myrick), operated stores in southwest Minnesota at two Native American agencies serving the Dakota (referred to as Sioux at the time) near the Minnesota River . In the summer of 1862, when the Dakota were starving because of failed crops and delayed annuity payments, Myrick is noted as refusing to sell them food on credit when they were starving and being described on that account as

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1056-596: Was charged "with responsibility for supervising the disbursement of Indian appropriations" from state and federal governments. However, the United States Army command was extremely dissatisfied of the transfer of the Bureau of Indian Affairs from the Department of War to the Department of the Interior by 1849, so they began to make public complaints about the corruptive nature of the civilian presence in

1089-651: Was chartered under the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, whose Lake Traverse Reservation extends into North Dakota. Since the 1970s, many tribes have educated their children on their reservations, but this school serves continuing needs among students for boarding placement. Renamed the Circle of Nations Wahpeton School, it is funded by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), after receiving tribally controlled grant status under Public Law 100-97 (Indian Education Act of 1988). It serves students in grades 4-8. In 1979

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