Kaposia or Kapozha was a seasonal and migratory Dakota settlement, also known as "Little Crow's village," once located on the east side of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

in present-day

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

. The Kaposia band of Mdewakanton Dakota was established in the late 18th century and led by a succession of chiefs known as Little Crow or "Petit Corbeau." After a flood in 1826, the band moved to the west side of the river, about nine miles below Fort Snelling.

History

Kaposia translates to "light," "light footed" or "not encumbered with much baggage." Many historians believe that the name infers that the people were traveling "light." Others have speculated that its name was in reference to the band's championship at the game of

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

Location in early 19th century

On May 1, 1767, British explorer Jonathan Carver attended an "annual council" of eight bands of Dakota, "possibly at or near a village that would become Kaposia," on the eastern side of the river two miles south of Wakan Tipi in St. Paul. By 1775, all Mdewakanton bands had established "more or less permanent summer villages." The Kaposia band is believed to have taken residence in the St. Paul area under Chief Cetanwakanmani (c.1769–1833), grandfather of Taoyateduta Little Crow. American explorer Lieutenant

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first ...

visited Kaposia during his 1805–1806 expedition to locate the source of the

. Historian Edward J. Lettermann suggests that Kaposia may have been located on what was then an "island," two miles long and up to one mile wide, between Pigs Eye Lake and the Mississippi from this time until the early 1820s. The location was referred to as "The Grand Marais," also by Major Thomas Forsyth, who visited Kaposia in 1819. Sometime between 1819 and 1823, Cetanwakanmani moved the village to present-day downtown St. Paul near the mouth of Phalen Creek. After the river flooded in 1826, the Kaposia band moved to the west side of the Mississippi River, north of today's downtown South St. Paul.National Park Servic
National Park Service – Kaposia
/ref> Although there is some uncertainty regarding the exact date, the village most likely moved to the west bank by 1833.

Economy

Woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

was an important trade in Kaposia. Kaposia village was well known for making

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

s, which were made by hollowing pine trees with

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

s and

adze An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in ha ...

. Other items they carved included cradles, dishes,

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and ladles. The village always had cornfields and vegetable gardens nearby, which were cultivated by the women in the band.

Battle of Kaposia

It was the camp the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

attacked in 1842 that named Battle Creek in St. Paul.

Land cession treaties

With the signing of the 1837 land cession treaty with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Chief Big Thunder Little Crow and other Mdewakanton Dakota leaders relinquished their claims to all land east of the Mississippi River. In 1851, Taoyateduta Little Crow was the first Mdewakanton Dakota signatory to the Treaty of Mendota with the United States. As a result of the land cessions, all Dakota were forced to move to a reservation on either side of the Minnesota River. The people of Kaposia moved to the proximity of the Redwood Agency, also known as the Lower Sioux Agency.

Last days of Kaposia

Colonel Seth Eastman painted Kaposia below the southern bluffs of Mounds Park. In 1851, 23-year-old artist Frank Blackwell Mayer, made a large number of sketches of life in Kaposia village. In 1854, when Little Crow III visited Washington, DC, he observed

John Mix Stanley John Mix Stanley (January 17, 1814 – April 10, 1872) was an artist-explorer, an American painter of landscapes, and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American portraits and tribal life. Born in the Finger Lakes region of New York, he st ...

in his studio arcade. In ''Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux,'' historian Gary Clayton Anderson writes:

Coincidentally, Stanley was just then finishing a landscape of Kaposia, complete with bark and hide lodges, women dressing. hides, and men carrying canoes to the river. Little Crow was delighted and gazed for a long time at the scene, pointing to familiar sights. But Stanley had also completed a painting of the burial ground near Kaposia, and this picture produced in the chief a more sullen mood. He looked for a long time at the depiction of the dead being mounted on scaffolds, then raised his hands above his head, clasped them, and stalked out of the room. No one watching his reaction even attempted to fathom what had been racing through his mind. No doubt he lamented the fact that he would never again return to that village so poignantly portrayed by Stanley.

Notable people

Azayamankawin Azayamankawin (), also known as Hazaiyankawin, Betsey St. Clair, Old Bets, or Old Betz, was one of the most photographed Native Americans in the United States, Native American women of the 19th century. She was a Mdewakanton, Mdewakanton Dakota wo ...

, entrepreneur from Kaposia known as "Old Bets" * Jacob Fahlström, Methodist preacher first converted at Kaposia mission * Joseph Renville, mixed-blood fur trader born at Kaposia * Snana, teacher later known as Maggie Brass who studied with Reverend Dr. Thomas Smith Williamson at Kaposia mission school * Taoyateduta, chief of Kaposia band from 1846 * Wowinape, raised in Kaposia village from 1846

Visiting

Today there is a historic site marker for Kaposia along North Concord street in South St. Paul. Kaposia Park is situated where the settlement used to exist, and is open to the public.