Ishtakhaba (

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 ...

: Ištáȟba), also known as Chief Sleepy Eyes, was a Native American chief of the Sisseton Dakota tribe. He became chief sometime between 1822 and 1825, receiving a commission from the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

as chief in 1824, and remained chief until his death in 1860. His band, known as the Swan Lake or Little Rock Band, hunted "in southwestern Minnesota and southeastern Dakota ... between Swan Lake and

Coteau des Prairies The Coteau des Prairies is a plateau approximately 200 miles in length and 100 miles in width (320 by 160 km), rising from the prairie flatlands in eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa in the United States. ...

," until forced to move to reservation land near the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It rises in southwestern ...

in the wake of the 1857

Spirit Lake Massacre The Spirit Lake Massacre (March 8–12, 1857) was an attack by a ''Wahpekute'' band of Santee Sioux on scattered Iowa frontier settlements during a severe winter. Suffering a shortage of food, the renegade chief Inkpaduta (Scarlet Point) led 14 ...

. Ishtabkhaba tried to promote peace with whites in and around the state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He was a signer of at least four treaties 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 ...

government, including the

Treaty of Traverse des Sioux The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux () was signed on July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux in Minnesota Territory between the United States government and the Dakota people, Upper Dakota Sioux bands. In this land cession treaty, the Sisseton and Wahpe ...

, and met with President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1824. Chief Sleepy Eyes was known for his friendships with "explorers, traders, missionaries and government officials". However, his nephew, who also bore the name "Sleepy Eyes," was involved in the 1862 Sioux Uprising.

Legacy

According to

Warren Upham Warren Upham (March 8, 1850 – January 29, 1934) was an American geologist, archaeologist, and librarian who is best known for his studies of glacial Lake Agassiz. Biography Warren Upham was born in Amherst, New Hampshire and attended Dartmout ...

, "'Sleepy Eyes died in

Roberts County, South Dakota Roberts County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,280. Its county seat is Sisseton. The county was named either for S. G. Roberts of Fargo, North Dakota, or for Solomon Robar, an early ...

, but many years after his death his remains were disinterred and relocated to

Sleepy Eye, Minnesota Sleepy Eye is a small city in rural Brown County, Minnesota, Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The city is named after a famed local Dakota (tribe), Dakota chief from the 1800s. The population was 3,599 at the 2010 United States Census, ...

, where they were buried under a monument erected by the citizens.'" The monument, close to the railway station, bears this inscription beneath the portrait of the chief in

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

sculpture: 'Ish-tak-ha-ba, Sleepy Eye, Always a Friend of the Whites. Died 1860.'" In 1852, Sleepy Eye helped select the site which became today's

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The ...

. He advised traders not to build in low lying land near the Minnesota River, because it flooded, and suggested "the bluff" of Mankato's "present day Front Street" for a trading post instead. A historical marker has been erected near the site which served as his main village between 1857 and 1859, at Sleepy Eye Lake "(then called Pretty Water By The Big Trees, ''Minnewashte Chanhatonka'')." His

ceremonial pipe A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe (tobacco), smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremo ...

was returned to the city of Sleepy Eye by his "fourth great-granddaughter" in 2011.

References

External links

*
Painting of Chief Sleepy EyesWWII B-26 Martin Marauder named after him by Co-Pilot Joseph Farrell. On Find a Grave Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishtakhata 1780s births 1859 deaths People from Brown County, Minnesota People from Roberts County, South Dakota Native American history of Minnesota Native American leaders Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate people Year of birth unknown 19th-century Native American people