The Plains Indian Wars of the nineteenth century garnered enduring fame
for certain Indian leaders, their names echoing powerfully even today:
Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Red Cloud. Just as significant but less often
mentioned is Taoyateduta, known to whites as Little Crow, the reluctant
leader of Dakota warriors during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, the
opening salvo of the U.S.-Indian Wars.
In this carefully researched biography of the Dakota leader, the first
ever written for children, author Gwenyth Swain presents a compelling
portrait of the leader, warrior, and politician at the center of the
Dakota War of 1862.
Beginning with Taoyateduta's childhood along the Mississippi River near
present-day St. Paul, this biography explores his life in the Big Woods,
his wanderings west from the Mdewakanton Dakota's traditional home, his
leadership of his people when they were forced to sign over their land
to white settlers, and his role during the war of 1862. Hemmed in on a
narrow reservation, frustrated by broken treaties, angered by dishonest
agents and traders, and nearly starved because of crop failures and late
annuity payments, Dakota Indians attacked white settlers living on the
Indians' former homelands in southwestern Minnesota. Taoyateduta agreed
to lead the battles, knowing that the U.S. government's response would
be swift and terrible. In retribution for the thirty-eight-day war,
thirty-eight Dakota men were hanged, thousands were imprisoned, and the
Dakota people were expelled from the state.
Taoyateduta's story brings to life the painful experience of the Dakota
as they lost their land and their livelihood--and as some chose to adopt
white ways while others fought back, with disastrous consequences.
Little Crow: Leader of the Dakota offers a clear and accessible account
of both the man who led the Dakota into war and the causes behind that
wrenching conflict.
