Near Churchill in Chippewa County, Minnesota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Dakotas at Lac qui Parle

Lac qui Parle Mission

Photographed by Connor Olson, June 29, 2021

1. Dakotas at Lac qui Parle Marker

Inscription. Tokanne (Mary Little Crow Renville) (1789-1840) was born a Kaposia Bdewakantuŋwan toward the end of the 18th century when tribes throughout the Midwest were actively developing kinship alliances via marriage into the Canadian fur trade community. Tokanne married Joseph Renville, who established a fur post, Fort Renville, at Lac qui Parle, making this place a second home for her Bdewakantuŋwan kin like Little Crow. Mary Tokanne was the first Dakota Christian. She died here in 1840 in her log-cabin home four and a half years after she and Joseph brought Christian missionaries to Lac qui Parle. At the time of her death, John Renville the youngest of her nine children, was nine years old. He grew up to be the first ordained Dakota pastor.

Joseph Renville (1779-1846) was raised a traditional Kaposia Bdewakantuŋwan by his mother and was later educated in French, business, and the Catholic faith in Canada by his father, whom he later replaced in the fur trade. Joseph sought a wife among his mother's people, marrying Mary Tokanne, and beginning to trade on the Upper Mississippi. In 1819, Renville

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followed fur trade opportunities west to the Upper Minnesota River, eventually establishing Fort Renville at Lac qui parle by the 1820s. His fluency in Dakota and western cultures benefited Renville and his relatives until the fur trade began declining. Renville brought Christian missionaries and their western lifeways to the region to help his relatives adapt. He died here, professing Christ, in 1846.

Anpetutokeça (c.1819–1869) a Wahpetunwan, was a member of Joseph Renville's soldiers' lodge. After the Treaty of 1858 and the death of his wife, he married a white woman, Roseanne. In 1862, known by the English name, John Otherday , Aŋpetutokeça was the leader of a band of Wahpetuŋwan on the Upper Reservation who farmed for subsistence, but did not belong to a Christian church. Otherday led Roseanne and 60 other settler refugees to safety in the 1862 War, then joined Sibley's army as a Scout, fighting alongside white soldiers at Wood Lake. He died of tuberculosis at Fort Wadsworth, Dakota Territory in 1869.

Tatidutawin (1803-1888) was a practitioner of herbal and spiritual medicine in the Wahpetu

Photographed by Connor Olson, June 29, 2021

2. Dakotas at Lac qui Parle Marker

Marker can be seen to the left

waŋ community here. She married Chatka, a Bdewakantuŋwan of the Little Crow family, who was a soldier for Joseph Renville. Tatidutawin, baptized Catherine in 1837, was the second Dakota Christian, following her sister-in-law Mary Tokanne Renville. Catherine was literate in Dakota and all four of her children learned Dakota and English. She moved to the Upper Sioux Reservation in 1854 where she and her son, Towaniteton Lorenzo Lawrence allied with the Peace Party in 1862. Catherine died in 1888 and is buried at Ascension, Sisseton, South Dakota.

Mazakutemani (C1806-1885) was a Wahpetunwaŋ soldier in Joseph Renville's soldiers' lodge when the missionaries arrived at Lac qui parle in 1835. He said that he was the first Dakota man to take up farming and put on white men's clothes. He took the name Little Paul Mazakutemani. By the 1850s, he had distinguished himself as the speaker for the Wahpetuŋwaŋ who were seeking permanent residence in Mni Sota Makoçe. Mazakutemani was the first President of the Hazlewood Republic and was the speaker for the Peace Party which opposed the U.S. Dakota

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War of 1862. He died at Long Hollow, Sisseton Reservation, in 1885.

Waŋbdiokiya (c.1803–1899), Paul Mazakutemani's brother, was a leader in the Wahpetuŋwaŋ Sacred Medicine Dance Society, and a soldier for his cousin Joseph Renville. He was one of the first Dakota men to become literate in Dakota and was the first employed to teach Dakota people to read and write Dakota. In 1854 he moved his village to the Upper Agency, where his wife and children were church members. Still living by traditional spiritual ways when the war broke out, in 1862 Waŋbdiokiya took his family to Canada rather than take sides in the conflict. Later, Waŋbdiokiya became a Christian, taking the English name Stephen Eagle Help. He died in Manitoba in 1899.

Towaniteton (C1822-1897) a Wahpetuŋwaŋ, and son of Tatidutawiŋ was baptized Lorenzo Lawrence and spent a year in Ohio in 1842-43 studying English and agriculture. When he returned, Lorenzo supported his cousin Little Crow's bid to take over leadership of the Kaposia band. In 1854, Lorenzo moved to the Hazlewood Republic on the Upper Reservation and became the first Dakota citizen of the State of Minnesota. In the 1862 War, Lorenzo helped 17 captives escape. He became a Federal Scout and was a founder of the Brown Earth Dakota Community. Lorenzo died on the Sisseton and Wahpeton Reservation in South Dakota 1897.

Anawangmani (c.1813–1891) a Wahpetuŋwan, was the first Dakota man to become a Christian and was baptized Simon Anawangmani in 1841. His choice made him an outcast among his own people. He later became a leader among the Upper Dakota who sought to remain on their homelands via farming. He signed the Treaty of 1851, became an elder in the Presbyterian church, a leader in the Hazlewood Republic, and a member of the Peace Party during the 1862 war. Simon settled on the Sisseton and Wahpeton Reservation where he was ordained a pastor in 1866. He died in 1891 and is buried at Goodwill.

Taoyateduta, or Little Crow (c.1810-1863) is best known for his last role, as the Bdewakantuŋwan Dakota leader who agreed to lead the pro-war Dakotas in the U.S. Dakota War of 1862. The Kaposia- born future chief was a soldier in his uncle Joseph Renville's lodge when the missionaries began teaching the soldiers to read Dakota at Lac qui Parle the winter of 1835. Decades of marriage between Kaposia and Wahpetu waŋ people made all the Dakota people profiled on this panel kin. Taoyateduta was killed near Hutchinson, Minnesota, in 1863, and his remains were ultimately buried at Flandreau, South Dakota.

Erected by Minnesota Historical Society.

Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Religion & Religious Structures • Wars, US Indian. A significant historical year for this entry is 1819.

Location. 45° 1.424′ N, 95° 52.095′ W. Memorial is near Churchill, Minnesota, in Chippewa County. It can be reached from 140th Avenue Northwest (County Road 32) near 1st Street West (County Road 13). Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: Watson MN 56295, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in Southwest Minnesota. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Corn Belt, and on the Great Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Missionaries at Lac qui Parle (here, next to this marker); Acculturation & Autonomy (a few steps from this marker); The ABCFM (a few steps from this marker); Huggins Cabin (a few steps from this marker); Williamson Cabin (a few steps from this marker); The Dakota (within shouting distance of this marker); Lac qui Parle Mission (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Riggs & Pettijohn Cabins (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Churchill.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 12, 2021. It was originally submitted on July 11, 2021, by Connor Olson of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 796 times since then and 89 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 11, 2021, by Connor Olson of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. • Mark Hilton was the editor who published this page.