190 THE SIOUAN INDIANS [eth. ass. 15 



of tlie great foiifederacy <if tlu! plains. Jii lOtl tin- Fieiidi vnyagcurs 

 met tlie Potawatomi Indiana flyiug from a nation called Nadawessi 

 (enemies); and tlie I'rencbnien ad()]ited the, alien name for the wailike 

 prairie tribes. By ICioS the Jesuits had learned of the existence of 

 thirty Dakota villages west-nortlnvest from the Potawatomi mission St 

 Michel; and in KkS'J they recorded the presence of tribes apparently 

 representing the Dakota coulederacy on the upper Mississii){)i, near 

 the mouth of the St Croix. According to Croghan's Uistoiy of Western 

 Pennsylvania, the "Sue" Indians occupied the country southwest of 

 Lake Suiieiior about 1759; and Dr T. S. Williamson, "the father of the 

 Dakota mission." states that the Dakota must have resided about the 

 confluence of the Mississippi and the Minnesota or St Peters for at 

 least two hundred years prior to 1860. 



According to traditions collected by Dorsey, the Teton took posses- 

 sion of tlu' P>la('k Uills region, which had previously been occupied l)y 

 the Crow Indians, long before white men came; and the Yankton 

 and Yaiiktoniiai, which were found on the !\lissouri by J^ewis and Clark, 

 ■were not long removed from the region about Minnesota river. In 1SC2 

 the Santee and other Dakota tribes united in a formidable outbreak 

 in -which more than 1,000 whites were massacred or slain in battle. 

 Through this outbreak and the consequent governmental action toward 

 the control and settlement of the tribes, much was learned concerning 

 the characteristics of the people, and various Indian leaders became 

 known; Spotted Tail, lied Cloud, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, American 

 Horse, and Even-his-horse-isfeared (commonly miscalled ]\Ianafraidof- 

 his-horses) were among the famous Dakota chiefs and warriors, nota- 

 ble representatives of a passing race, whose names are prominent in 

 the history of the country. Other outbreaks occurred, the last of note 

 resulting from the ghost-dance fantasy in 1890-91, which fortunately 

 was quickly suppressed. Yet, -with slight interruptions, the Dakota 

 tribes in the United States were steadily gathered on reservations. 

 Some 800 or more still roam the prairies north of the international 

 boundary, but the great body of the confederacy, numbering nearly 

 28,000, are donii(;iled on reservations (already noted) in ^Minnesota, 

 Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. 



The separation of the Asiniboin from the Wazikute gens of the 

 Yauktonai apparently occurred before the middle of the seventeenth 

 century, since the Jesuit relation of 1658 distinguishes between the 

 Poualak or Guerrieis (undoubtedly the Dakota ]iroper) and the Assini- 

 poualak or Guerriers de pierre. The Asiniboin are undoubtedly the 

 Essanape (Essanajii or Assinapi) who were next to the Makatapi 

 (Dakota) in the WalamOlum record of the Lenni-Lenape or Delaware. 

 In 1080 Hennepin located the Asiniboin northeast of the Issati (Isau- 

 yati or Santee) who were on Knife lake (Minnesota); and the Jesuit 

 map of 1081 placed them on Lake ofthe-Woods, then called "L. Assi- 

 nei)0ualacs.'' La Hontan claimed to have visiteil the Eokoio (Arikara) 



