A pilgrimage to the highest point in He Sapa (Black Hills) to welcome back the Wakinyan Oyate (Thunder Beings). Photo by Jeremy Vance / Native Sun News
Harney, to the Lakota, was an ‘annoying insect’
By Delphine Red Shirt In Iron Shell’s Winter Count which began in 1807, General Harney’s Council on March 18, 1856 is mentioned. This was the year that many red flannel tobacco ties were used. They called him “Pitin-ska or “white beard” or “white mustache” as mentioned in Lone Dog’s Winter Count that is maintained at the Smithsonian. These Winter Counts reflect our history as a people. Earlier in 1855, Brig. General William Harney, whom the Lakota named Wica-yajipa or Hornet, encountered Little Thunder’s (Brule) oyate north of the Platte River (near Lewellen, Neb.) and proceeded to attack them. Little Thunder’s village consisted of 41 tipis and was peaceful. There, Little Thunder told Harney or Wica-yajipa that his people did not want to fight. Ignoring Little Thunder, Wica-yajipa or Harney ordered his men to fire on Little Thunder’s village. Wica-yajipa later reported that 86 people were killed by his men, and none of the 86 were warriors. Wica-yajipa’s name comes from this incident because after he killed the 86, he took 70 women and children from Little Thunder’s oyate, in chains to Fort Laramie, along with five wounded. The people say, he used these 70 Brule women and children as hostages. In No Ear’s Winter Count this is recorded as “Wicayajipa wa aksija,” indicating that “Harney refused to release them.” At the time of his actions, he came under criticism by the federal government, but Wica-yajipa dismissed the Office of Indian Affairs, as he believed that only military intervention could contain the “Sioux” people. He took his Brule prisoners, mostly women and children to Fort Laramie and then went to Fort Pierre to order the “Sioux” to meet with him in October of 1855. It was then that he called for the council on March 18, 1856 that Iron Shell reports in his winter count. Wica-yajipa’s or Harney’s main concern was protecting the road that connected Fort Pierre and Fort Laramie. In negotiating with the “Sioux” people, Harney ordered the delegations to select “head” chiefs that the military could talk to. What he failed to understand was that traditionally our people did not recognize a few “head” chiefs or “sub-chiefs.”
Delphine Red Shirt. Photo by Rich Luhr / Flickr
This was not the way we politically organized ourselves. What he was attempting to force was a way that the military could identify a few “head” chiefs that they could negotiate with. Further, what he didn’t understand was that the heading “Sioux” could not contain the “Lakota”, “Nakota” and “Dakota” peoples as a single unit; what made the Lakota the greatest warriors, was the individual freedom each had to choose the leader he wanted to serve. It was no wonder, that the Oglala warriors did not attend Wica-yajipa’s council at Fort Pierre. Who was this Hornet, Wica-yajipa keeping women and children hostage (wa aksija)? Why was he trying to impose a system of identifying only a few “head” chiefs that the government would negotiate with? This was Harney’s plan to impose change as more white settlers came into the area, to make it easier to find out who the “head” chiefs were and to contain them. President Franklin Pierce did not agree with Harney or Wica-yajipa’s plan at Fort Pierre. Harney or Wica-yajipa tried to submit a “treaty” using “head” chiefs sanctioned by the military, but the president did not react in his favor and did not submit his “treaty” to the Senate for consideration. Anyone studying military history between the “Sioux” and the U.S. military knows that Harney or Wica-yajipa’s ambitious plan was killed by the Senate and House of Representatives after he forcibly (by keeping the women and children hostage) sought change for military expediency. Even his own government did not support him. In military history, after his plan died, Wica-yajipa did not play any significant role, but served a minor role as a member of a commission dealing with the “Sioux” and other less important roles and finally as an escort when the time came to settle on the “Great Sioux Reservation” as stipulated in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty on land that included the territory that is now the present state of South Dakota, west of the Missouri River.
A view of Harney Peak in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Photo from BHrock / Wikipedia
This is the history that surrounds the name “Harney” that is associated with the peak and the individual, Brevet Brig. General William Harney. The Lakota name “Wica-yajipa” is accounted for in Lakota Winter Counts and the most telling of the Winter Counts maintained at the Smithsonian is one kept by Rosebud that shows for the winter 1855-56, a bearded military man joining hands with a Lakota woman (smaller in stature than the tall military man) and the caption reads “Putinska captured women and children and made peace.” The note beneath the caption reads “In this count the Lakota is clearly a woman, who would not have been authorized to handle such an issue.” This could mean that the “peace” was forced through taking women and children as hostages to force the men to react. What stands out is the capture of women and children in that winter in all the Lakota Winter Counts. Is this the proud history that is preserved in the name of the public for “Harney” Peak? Until the name is changed to its rightful name, Hinhan Kaga (hinhan meaning “owl” and kaga meaning “to make”) a name that reflects a beautiful place that many people love, He Sapa, we Lakota will remember how we recall in our history, the individual whose name is on this peak. Wica-yajipa, wica is “man” and yajipa is “stings or bites” what we call an annoying insect or a hornet. (Delphine Red Shirt can be reached at redshirtphd@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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