Taoyateduta (1810?–July 3, 1863) was a chief of the Mdewakanton Sioux tribe. His name means "His Red Nation," but he became known as Little Crow because of his father's name Cetanwakuwa or "Charging Hawk" which was mistranslated to visiting whites.

Taoyateduta was born at the Indian settlement of Kaposia, near what is modern-day St. Paul, Minnesota. His father died in 1846 after accidentally discharging a gun. Tribal leadership was disputed between Taoyateduta and his brother, finally ending in a scuffle that saw Taoyateduta shot in the wrists. However, he took control of the tribe by 1849, the year Minnesota became a state.

In 1851, the United States began negotiating a treaty with Sioux tribes in the state. The chief agreed to move his people to land put aside along the Minnesota River to the west. However, when the treaty was ratified by the United States Senate, the paragraph setting aside this land was removed. The tribe was forced to negotiate a new treaty, under threat of forcible removal to the Dakotas, this time only granting land on one side of the river.

Stress built in his community and Taoyateduta was no longer accepted as speaker for the tribe. In 1862, some Sioux tribesmen began the Sioux Uprising by killing some white settlers. Taoyateduta was pushed to lead the Minnesota tribes through the conflict and reluctantly agreed. However, about a month later, he was forced to flee the area as his forces weakened. He fled to Canada for a while, but later returned to Minnesota.

While out picking berries one day with his son, the pair was discovered by a farmer near Hutchinson, Minnesota. The farmer fired a gun at the two, seriously wounding Taoyateduta. He died in the afternoon.

References

• Anderson, Gary Clayton (1986) Little Crow, spokesman for the Sioux. Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press.
• Carley, Kenneth (2001) The Dakota War of 1862. Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press.
• Clodfelter, Micheal (1998) The Dakota War: The United States Army Versus the Sioux, 1862-1865. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.
• Nix, Jacob (1994) The Sioux Uprising in Minnesota, 1862: Jacob Nix's Eyewitness History. Gretchen Steinhauser, Don Heinrich Tolzmann & Eberhard Reichmann, trans. Don Heinrich Tolzmann, ed. Indianapolis: Max Kade German-American Center, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis and Indiana German Heritage Society, Inc.
• Schultz, Duane (1992) Over the Earth I Come: The Great Sioux Uprising of 1862. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Swain, Gwenyth (2004) Little Crow: Leader of the Dakota. Saint Paul, MN, Borealis Books.
• Tolzmann, Don Heinrich, ed. (2002) German pioneer accounts of the great Sioux Uprising of 1862. Milford, Ohio: Little Miami Pub. Co.

External links

• Little Crow Trail

1863 deaths | Native American leaders | Murdered Native Americans | People from Minnesota | Sioux

Little Crow | Pequeño Cuervo | Taoyateduta | Little Crow