Читать книгу Lost Worlds of 1863. Relocation and Removal of American Indians in the Central Rockies and the Greater Southwest онлайн

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Apart from making some limited attempts to keep the Confederacy from allying with the Native Americans of the Indian Territory (Oklahoma), the only Indian matter that drew Lincoln’s attention away from the Civil War was the Minnesota rebellion of Santee Sioux (also known as the Eastern Dakotas) in the summer of 1862. The insurrection began when several starving and hungry Sioux killed several hundred white settlers ostensibly because the government had failed its treaty responsibilities to provide the Natives with annuities and rations. Corruption in the Indian system was the main reason for the Sioux’s plight. Monies earmarked for Indian care had been funneled to Minnesota from its congressmen and ended up in the pockets of Indian agents and contractors. Corruption at the higher levels of the Indian system had worked its way down throughout the entire bureaucratic network.⁶⁷

Sioux testimony, like that of Wabasha, a Dakota leader, suggested that the war was caused by crooked traders who took advantage of his people. According to Wabasha, the traders first tricked a small faction of his people to sign an agreement in which the Sioux agreed to sell land on the north side of the Minnesota River in exchange for “horses, guns, blankets, and other articles.” As Wabasha continues, “By the result of this paper signed without my consent or knowledge, the traders obtained possession of all the money coming from the sale of land … and also half of our annuity for the year 1862.” Soon after he learned that a war party had been formed by Little Six’s band and fighting had commenced. “I got on my horse and rode up to the store,” Wabasha said, and “I saw that the traders were already killed.”⁶⁸