In 1958, 96-year-old Joseph Gourneau, father of Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribal chairman and historian Pat Gourneau, was interviewed by Bob Cory of the Minot Daily News. Joseph was one of the last generations born to follow the buffalo.
Cory wrote, "One wonders if any other man in this part of the country is alive who witnessed and took part in these hunting expeditions. The hunts took his people across northern North Dakota from the Pembina River into what is now Montana, and as far west as Fort Benton on the Missouri and the Milk River along the Canadian border. His memory extends to an era when countless buffalo trampled the Souris valley on their annual migrations."
As a boy, Joseph camped on the Souris River at “the wintering place,” near the mouth of Wintering River, south of present-day Towner, North Dakota. The camp was a strategic move to get a head start over the Red River hunters, as the herds were disappearing from their former range.
The hunters carried buffalo-hide tipis but also built log cabins with clay chimneys at the Wintering Place.
Among the visitors was a group of Dakota people, including young Ohiyesa, later known as Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman. His family had fled Minnesota after the 1862 conflict. Though the two tribes were longtime rivals, peace prevailed between their camps.
However, on January 1, the situation changed.
Dr. Eastman recalled, "In the middle of the night, there was a firing of guns throughout their village. Some thought they were under attack and rushed to help, only to be told it was the celebration of the new year!"
The following day, the Dakota people were invited to join in the French Chippewa tradition of celebrating the new year.
Dr. Eastman described attending a dance in a log house: "I thought it was the dizziest thing I ever saw. One man sat in a corner, sawing away at a stringed board, stamping the floor with his foot and shouting. When he called out, the dancers moved faster. The men danced with women — something we Indians never do — and when the man shouted, they swung the women around."
Dr. Eastman recalled watching a skilled old dancer, an elder with long curly hair and a fox-skin cap. After his performance, the old man invited the Dakota chief to join him. The two shared a drink, and afterward, the children were sent back to camp.
Thus, the Dakota visitors were introduced to the Red River Jig.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- 2021-December 31, 2024. Idahgo Manipi: Clay County at 150. Exhibit, Hjemkomst Heritage Center, Moorhead Minnesota. Lise Erdrich, content consultant to Clay County Historical Society.
- 1902. Indian Boyhood. Charles Alexander Eastman, introduction by David Reed Miler (1991). Bison Books edition, University of Nebraska Press. Original publication date 1902.
- 2021-December 31, 2024. Clay County at 150. Exhibit, Hjemkomst Heritage Center, Moorhead Minnesota. Dakota, Ojibwe and Metis consultants: Kade Ferris, Gwen Westerman, Frankie Jackson, Glenn Wasicuna, Lise Erdrich. Indigenous history, cultural concepts and language applications, Dakota-Ojibwe Relations, 1870 Chippewa-Sioux Peace Treaty, images and primary source material.
- 1958, date indecipherable. Tumbling Around These Prairies column by Bob Cory, Minot Daily News. Interview and correspondence with Patrick Gourneau. and Joseph "Kish-ke-mun-ishiw" Gourneau.
