Inkpaduta (Iŋkpáduta)

Iŋkpáduta: "Red End," "Red Cap," or "Scarlet Point" was a war chief of the Wahpekute Santee Dakota and was involved in the 1857 Spirit Lake Massacre and the U.S.-Dakota War. Inkpaduta and his band were not included in treaty negotiations for Dakota land in 1851 and refused to recognize the treaty restrictions. In 1852, a white trader killed Inkpaduta's older brother and nine of his family; and Inkpaduta succeeded his brother as chief. He told the U.S. Army of the murders, but little was done to bring the killer, Henry Lott, to justice. In the winter of 1857 Inkpaduta led his starving band into Iowa and launched a series of raids on white settlers in the Spirit Lake area whereby 38 people were killed. The European Americans called this the Spirit Lake Massacre. Later, after participating in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, Inkpaduta's forces withdrew and he left with survivors to the western Great Plains. He eventually fought alongside Sitting Bull and other Lakota in the Battle of Little Bighorn against George Armstrong Custer and left with survivors to Canada following the battle.