Cloud Man (

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...

: ; – 1862/1863) was a

chief. The child of French and

Mdewakanton 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 W� ...

parents, he founded the agricultural community Ḣeyate Otuŋwe on the shores of

Bde Maka Ska Bde Maka Ska (, previously named Lake Calhoun, its former official designation) is the largest lake in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and part of the city's Chain of Lakes. Surrounded by city park land and circled by bike and walking ...

in 1829 after being trapped in a snowstorm for three days. The village was seen by white settlers as a progressive step towards assimilation, yet members of the community maintained a distinctly Dakota way of life. The community was abandoned in 1839 and Cloud Man's band moved along the Minnesota River to join the Hazelwood Republic. During the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862, Cloud Man was interned at

Pike Island Pike Island (Dakota: ''Wita Tanka'') is an island at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in the southwestern-most part of Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The island is managed as part of Fort Snelling State Park an ...

where he died.

Life

Cloud Man was born a member of the

around 1780 in a village from

Mendota, Minnesota Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The name is derived from the Dakota language, meaning "mouth or junction of one river with another. The population was 198 at the 2010 census. History The town was one of the first ...

, on the southern side of the Minnesota River. His father was French and his mother was Mdewakanton, reportedly the granddaughter of a Mdewakanton chief who met

Louis Hennepin Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M. baptized Antoine, (; 12 May 1626 – 5 December 1704) was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollet order (French: ''Récollets'') and an explorer of the interior of North Amer ...

during his mission to explore

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

in the late 1670s and early 1680s. Indian agent

Lawrence Taliaferro Lawrence Taliaferro ( ; February 28, 1794 – January 22, 1871) was a United States Army officer who served as an Indian agent at Fort Snelling, Minnesota from 1820 through 1839. He was also part of the famous African American slave Dred Scott's s ...

at one point tried to convince him to begin a non-nomadic lifestyle at

. During a hunting trip on the plains near the Missouri River, Cloud Man and his party were trapped by a snowstorm and were forced to wrap themselves in blankets and lie on the ground, waiting for the snow to pass. Members of the party were cut off from one another, buried separately beneath snowdrifts with some small quantities of dried buffalo meat on which to subsist. Cloud Man recounted to missionary Samuel W. Pond that he would periodically dig to the surface of the snow to try and find his fellow hunters, only to be greeted with more gales of snow. When the storm subsided after almost three days, he emerged from the snow and called for the other members of his party, finding both that every one had survived the storm and that they were not far from an Indian camp. Cloud Man spent some of his time during the storm reflecting on Taliaferro's proposal and after returning home to Black Dog village, visited him at Fort Snelling for advice on establishing an agricultural community. Military officials at the fort responded favorably to Cloud Man's plan and provided assistance in the form of tools and seeds. He returned to Black Dog village and convinced several families to move to the banks of Bde Maka Ska with him.

Ḣeyate Otuŋwe

Sioux Village, Lake Calhoun, near Fort Snelling

The agricultural colony Ḣeyate Otuŋwe was established in August 1829 on the shores of Bde Maka Ska on the present-day site of

Lakewood Cemetery Lakewood Cemetery is a large private, non-sectarian cemetery located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is located at 3600 Hennepin Avenue at the southern end of the Uptown area. It is noted for its chapel which is on the National R ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. He was elected chief of the community at approximately thirty-five years old and Ḣeyate Otuŋwe began to grow corn and potatoes. Taliaferro and other white settlers in the area, such as Pond and his fellow missionary brother Gideon H. who came to live in the village, viewed Ḣeyate Otuŋwe as an experiment in "civilized life" for the Dakota, with Taliaferro referring to the community as "my little Colony of Sioux agriculturalists." Katherine Beane argues that what Taliferro viewed as a "progressive" move towards assimilation into European customs represented a step towards independence for a Cloud Man's band at a time when traditional Dakota practices faced existential challenges from white settlers encroaching into historically Dakota spaces. Beane suggests that in establishing Ḣeyate Otuŋwe, Cloud Man never " to forsake his identity as a Dakota man" and that "The change in subsistence patterns did not make the people of this village any less Dakota." Members of Ḣeyate Otuŋwe shared some of the corn they grew with members of other Dakota villages, prompting Taliaferro to give a speech to the village in September 1835, instructing them to cease the practice as counter to their self-interests; they did not. Cloud Man also traveled to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1837 as part of a Dakota delegation and spoke to leaders of the Sauk and

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...

tribes regarding recent fighting between the two groups. As of 1839, the community had a population of 207 people: 54 women, 72 men, and 81 children. Ḣeyate Otuŋwe was abandoned that year as Cloud Man feared retaliation from nearby members of the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, following a recent Dakota–Ojibwe war. Cloud Man and his band moved to the shores of the Minnesota River, close to Bloomington, Minnesota. In 1851, Cloud Man moved with his band up the Minnesota River to near

Yellow Medicine County Yellow Medicine County is a county in the State of Minnesota. Its eastern border is formed by the Minnesota River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,528. Its county seat is Granite Falls. The Upper Sioux Indian Reservation, related ...

where they joined a community of agricultural Indians, the Hazelwood Republic. During the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862, he was interned at the

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

where he died during the winter of 1862–1863. The spot of his death and burial was near the place of his birth. In 2019, the Bde Maka Ska Public Art Project, commemorating the history of Ḣeyate Otuŋwe, was completed.

Family

According to Thomas Hughes, Cloud Man had seven children, five sons and two daughters, including Hushes the Night, Stands Like a Spirit, and David Weston, who took on the chieftainship after Cloud Man's death.

Charles Eastman Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 – January 8, 1939) was an American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was the first Native American to be certified in Western medicine and was "one of the most prolific authors and speaker ...

, a descendant of Cloud Man, wrote in 1927 that Cloud Man had five children, three daughters and two sons. Hughes reported that only Weston was still living as of 1906. Cloud Man was also the brother-in-law of Red Bird.

Notes

References

Cited