Tatanka Mani was a leader of the Mdewakanton Dakota in the upper Mississippi Valley. Euro-American immigrants who met him as they advanced into the region in the early 19th century came to know him and his village as Red Wing.
Early life
Tatanka Mani was born in the mid-18th century. It is likely his Mantanton family lived near the mouth of the Minnesota River. His father, also known as Red Wing, was leader of their group of Mdewakanton, and he followed in his footsteps. As a young Dakota man, Tatanka Mani displayed great skill in hunting and warfare. Followers believed he possessed supernatural power and the ability to foretell the future through dreams—an advantage that led him to many victories over tribal enemies. By the end of the 18th century, he had expanded his leadership beyond the Mantanton to a larger group of Mdewakanton, earning a regional reputation in the process. He was known by French traders in the region due to his prominence.
Leadership
In August 1805, 26-year-old Lieutenant Zebulon Pike led the first United States expedition through the upper Mississippi region and met with seven Mdewakanton leaders. In a treaty they signed on September 23, the Dakota granted land in what became the future Minnesota to the United States for first time. According to Pike's account, le Boeuf qui Marche, was present. War broke out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, creating a problem for Tatanka Mani. The Mdewakanton fighter and his followers had earlier been British allies. To sort out matters, he sent his eldest son to join other Dakota leaders in Washington D.C., where they conferred with the U.S. Secretary of War. Red Wing, meanwhile, joined other leaders and met with Great Britain's representative, and the Mdewakanton agreed to fight for the British. Tatanka Mani is believed to have led a unit of Dakota soldiers to Mackinac Island in Michigan, helping to gain a bloodless victory over the Americans there. Upon returning home, however, he listened to his son's stories of the United States' power. By February 1814, the Red Wing Mdewakanton had decided to offer support to the Americans. A letter from British trader Robert Dickson confirms the defection. At war's end, the victorious United States invited Red Wing to a meeting in St. Louis. On July 19, 1815, he agreed to a treaty as "Tatangamanee, Walking Buffalo", spokesman for the "Sioux of the Lakes".
Later life
During the war, Tatanka Mani had moved his village south, to the foot of He Mni Caŋ in present-day downtown Red Wing, Minnesota. The 300-foot-high riverside promontory was a well known landmark. Growing numbers of whites traveling up the Mississippi stopped at the village, meeting and talking with the aging Mdewakanton leader. In 1825, he took part in important discussions with Ojibwe and United States leaders downriver at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Tatanka Mani died on March 4, 1829, and was succeeded by Wacouta I, his nephew or stepson.
