| Čhetáŋ Sápa (Black Hawk) | |
| Birth Name: | Chetan Sapa (Black Hawk) |
| Birth Date: | c. 1832 |
| Birth Place: | South Dakota |
| Death Date: | c. 1890 |
| Death Place: | Unknown |
| Nationality: | Sans Arc, Lakota |
Čhetáŋ Sápa (Black Hawk) (c. 1832 c. 1890) was a medicine man and member of the Sans Arc or Itázipčho band of the Lakota people.[1] He is most known for a series of 76 drawings that were later bound into a ledger book that depicts scenes of Lakota life and rituals. The ledger drawings were commissioned by William Edward Canton, a federal "Indian trader" at the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Black Hawk's drawings were drawn between 1880-1881. Today they are known as one of the most complete visual records of Lakota cosmology, ritual and daily life.[2]
Knowledge of the Sioux Indians was first recorded by the French explorer Jean Nicolet in 1640.[3] Originally the Sioux occupied the region that is now Minnesota; however, they moved west in the 18th century to avoid conflict with neighboring tribes who had been armed by French fur traders. There are 7 sub tribes within the Great Sioux Nation. They are often referred to as the 7 council fires. One such sub tribe the Teton Sioux is also known as the Lakota people. The Lakota are then divided into 7 additional tribes which includes the Sans Arc or Itázipčho tribe. In 1868 the Fort Leramie Treaty situated the Lakota people on a large reservation predominately spanning over parts of South Dakota and North Dakota. A series of wars occurred between the U.S. government and the Lakota people during the 1870s. Following the U.S. government's victory, in an attempt to further control the Lakota, the government split the Great Sioux Reservation into smaller reservations. In 1889 the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was formed. A reservation census record shows that Black Hawk and his family lived in the Cherry Creek district of the reservation.
The earliest known record of Black Hawk dates to 1880 when he appears in a collection of census records. In 1868, Article 10 of the Treaty of Fort Laramie stipulated that extensive records of Indians be taken. Documents at the National Archives, Central Plans Region, in Kansas City show evidence of Black Hawk's existence throughout the 1880s. An annuity and goods disbursement record from September 1880 lists Black Hawk as a member of the Sans Arc band.
In these same records, Black Hawk is said to have 4 family members. Based on the items that appear in the log (livestock, stove, bedstead) Black Hawk probably lived in a log cabin with his family. He is thought to have been married to a woman called Hollow Horn Woman and was a spiritual leader in his community. The titled of Black Hawk's ledger book given to it by William Edward Caton reads "CHIEF MEDICINE MAN OF THE SIOUX".
. Spirit Beings and Sun Dancers: Black Hawk's Vision of the Lakota World. George Braziller in association with the New York State Historical Association. 2000. 0-8076-1465-3. Cooperstown, NY. 13. Janet Catherine Berlo.