Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is comprised primarily of descendents of the Mdewakantonwan and Wakpekute bands of the Isanti division of the Great Sioux Nation. They refer to themselves as Dakota, meaning friend or ally. The Isanti are comprised of four bands that lived on the eastern side of the Great Sioux Nation: Mdewakanton or People of Spirit Lake, Wakpekute or Leaf Shooters, Wahpetons or People of the Leaves, and Sisseton or People of the Swamp. They were a river-plains people who did some farming and buffalo hunting.
Chief Little Crow (1810-1863) spent much of his life in Minnesota, where he was the head of a Santee band. Little Crow, a bold and passionate orator, established himself as a spokesman for his people. After becoming chief, around 1834, he sought justice for his people, but also tried to maintain relations with non-Indians. In 1862, he led the fight, now known as the Minnesota Santee Conflict, protesting starvation and the loss of promised land payments from the federal government. Little Crow was killed the following year.