Inkpaduta: Dakota Leader

by Paul N. Beck

Leader of the Santee Sioux, Inkpaduta (1815–79) participated in some of the most decisive battles of the northern Great Plains, including Custer’s defeat at the Little Bighorn. But the attack in 1857 on forty white settlers known as the Spirit Lake Massacre gave Inkpaduta the reputation of being the most brutal of all the Sioux leaders. Paul N. Beck now challenges a century and a half of bias to reassess the life and legacy of this important Dakota leader. In the most complete biography of Inkpaduta ever written, Beck draws on Indian agents’ correspondence, journals, and other sources to paint a broader picture of the whole person, showing him to have been not only a courageous warrior but also a dedicated family man and tribal leader who got along reasonably well with whites for most of his life. Beck sheds new light on many poorly understood aspects of Inkpaduta’s life, including his journeys in the American West after the Spirit Lake Massacre. Beck reexamines Euro-American attitudes toward Indians and the stereotypes that shaped nineteenth-century writing, showing how they persisted in portrayals of Inkpaduta well into the twentieth century, even after more generous appreciations of American Indian cultures had become commonplace. Long considered a villain whose passion was murdering white settlers, Inkpaduta is here restored to more human dimensions. Dakota Leader shatters the myths that surrounded his life for too long and provides the most extensive reassessment of this leader’s life to date.

212 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2008

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beck writes with the authority of a scholar without alienating the casual reader of history. As one reviewer noted the sexual violence is referenced rather than explicit. But then too the reaction to the event is written the same way. Newspapers as far as Chicago were calling for the “ extermination” of native populations in papers. There will always remain mystery within a history that relies upon oral evidence. But the fact is that this event was a tipping point for settlers and native people alike.

[Steve B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being from Northwest Iowa I have heard the story of the 'Spirit Lake Massacre ' of 1857 committed by Inkpaduta and his Dakota warriors. The story is usually told only from a very biased white viewpoint. But, when we were traveling to Minneapolis we stopped at the Nicollet County Historical Society and I picked up Beck's book on the life of Inkpaduta. Beck does an outstanding job of research and gives an excellent perspective, not only on Inkpaduta, but the entire Sioux - White conflict in Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakota. He does not cast blame but shows the reader the facts and let's the reader draw their own opinion. Well written and for those who want a well thought, well reasoned and well researched book on native Americans and the conflict with white expansion, this is worth the time.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for the book club and one book one Sioux County. I read part of it before, but I read it altogether this weekend.

It’s a history, but it’s one that’s hard to both write and understand because so few records exist about inkpaduta’s life. However, I think the book does a good job at showing how the history of inkpaduta has been written and maybe misunderstood. He shows how earlier historians portrayed him and how those stories lived on, even without evidence.

Of course, he does try to explain what might have led in Padua to lead this massacre. I am sympathetic to those events… Starvation, disease, the murder of his brother or brother-in-law or cousin… Forgetting the relationship right now. However, I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around the utter violence of the massacre. It’s just so brutal.

I actually think both this book and the Abbie Gardner memoir downplay the sexual violence.

I do think the myth of inkpaduta is interesting to examine. It’s sort of like the myth of Custer and the battle of Little Bighorn… They take on such prominence.

I know I will not remember lots from this book… There’s a lot of details about who moved where when, who was trading with whom, who had beef with whom. That was hard for me to follow. That’s not a criticism of the author… More criticism with me in my attention. I guess I was more interested in the big themes.

I actually thought the author sort of downplayed the kidnappings and captivity. I’d really like to know more about that… Why he thinks he Pudu that kept Abby Gardner alive, if they were really valued for ransom.

[Kim Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book for the Hull IA Public Library book club. It is one of three books being read for this year's One Book One Sioux County, all about the Spirit Lake Conflict/Massacre.

The book was definitely written by an academician/historian, not a novel writer. He made pains to argue, based on his sources, that the portrayal of Inkpaduta as a totally evil white hater did not reflect the man's full history. As horrible as the slaughter at Spirit Lake and Springfield (Jackson, MO) were, they are more understandable when read in the context of how the Dakotas of that area had been treated. My conclusion was this: "People who are persecuted and desperate are capable of very evil acts."

[Jesika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally someone wrote an accurate version of the history of this Sioux Warrior