Eagle Woman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eagle Woman
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| Waŋblí Ayútepiwiŋ | |
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| Born |
Eagle Woman That All Look At
1820 Two Kettles lodge near the Missouri River
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| Died | December 18, 1888 Cannonball Ranch
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| Other names | Matilda Galpin |
| Known for | Peacekeeping, first woman recognized as a chief of the Sioux, first woman to sign a treaty with the U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Honoré Picotte, Charles Galpin |
| Parent(s) | Two Lance, Rosy Light of Dawn |
Eagle Woman That All Look At (Lakota: Waŋblí Ayútepiwiŋ, also known as Matilda Picotte Galpin; 1820 – December 18, 1888) was an important Lakota leader. She was a diplomat, trader, and translator. She worked hard to help solve problems between white settlers, the United States government, and the Sioux people. She is known as the only woman recognized as a chief among the Sioux.
Eagle Woman first worked for peace. Later, when the Sioux were moved to reservations, she helped them adjust to new ways of life. She also gave supplies to the Sioux when the U.S. government did not provide enough food. She helped leaders go to sign the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. She was the first woman to sign a treaty with the United States government in 1882.
She also won a local business challenge. Government officials tried to close her trading post to create their own business. Eagle Woman continued to help her community. She was even chosen by the U.S. government to visit Washington, D.C. in 1872.
Eagle Woman and her daughter Louise started the first day school at Standing Rock Indian Reservation. She kept helping her people until she died in 1888. In 2010, she was honored in the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Eagle Woman was born in 1820 near the Missouri River. This was about 45 miles south of where Pierre, South Dakota is today. Her father, Chief Two Lance, was a respected leader of the "peace-seeking" Two Kettles Tribe. Her mother, Rosy Light of Dawn, was from the Hunkpapa tribe.
She was the youngest of eight children. Her father's example greatly influenced her future leadership. She grew up in what is now western South Dakota. She had little contact with white culture back then. Her father died in 1833, and her mother died of smallpox in 1837.
In 1838, Eagle Woman married Honoré Picotte. He was a Canadian fur trader and a top agent for the American Fur Company. He worked at Fort Pierre. Marriages like this often helped both sides. Native women gained access to goods, and traders improved their business with tribes. Eagle Woman had two daughters with Picotte. In 1848, Picotte retired and moved away.
Working for Peace
In 1850, Eagle Woman married Charles Galpin. He was also a trader and worked with Picotte. They had two more daughters and three sons. All their children received a European education.
Eagle Woman often spoke out against any kind of cruelty. She did this whether it was done by white people or Native Americans.
In 1854, tensions were rising between settlers and tribes. Eagle Woman and Charles Galpin ran successful trading businesses. They also helped solve many conflicts in the area. Both of them sometimes acted as translators. However, much of their peacekeeping came from Eagle Woman's strong reputation.
The family lived in Fort Benton, Montana for a while starting in 1860. Eagle Woman's son, William, died there in August. The family traveled back towards their home for his burial. On the way, they met some Santee Sioux warriors. These warriors had recently been in a difficult conflict. One warrior recognized Eagle Woman and let them pass. She told them she had gifts for a local lodge and was burying her son. The Galpins later helped free some captives from the Santee.
In 1865, she protected a wounded white soldier with her shawl. He had been shot with three arrows. In 1866, she began traveling alone to negotiate peace. She spoke at Sioux meetings along the Little Missouri River.
Father Pierre-Jean De Smet sought out Eagle Woman in 1868. He knew she had great influence among her people. He wanted her to help convince Sitting Bull to move his people to a reservation. The Galpins and De Smet traveled with other Sioux to Sitting Bull's camp. Eagle Woman later said she had to persuade Sitting Bull's people not to harm De Smet. Even though Sitting Bull did not agree to move, he sent other leaders to sign the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868.
This treaty created the Great Sioux Reservation. Eagle Woman's family moved with the tribes to their new land. They set up a new trading post at Grand River. Charles Galpin was appointed as an agency interpreter for their help in the negotiations. Eagle Woman, who had always worked for peace, now focused on helping her people adjust to their new life.
Life on the Reservation
Moving to the reservation meant Charles Galpin had to become an independent trader. He needed new supplies for his business. The family traveled to St. Louis to get supplies and pick up their daughter Lulu from school. In St. Louis, De Smet introduced Eagle Woman to William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman was in charge of carrying out the treaty with the Sioux.
On the reservation, Eagle Woman opened a trading post. She became known for her kindness and her efforts to help the tribes be independent. She involved her whole family in her work. The government wanted the Sioux to farm on land that was not good for farming. This was a new and confusing way of life for people of the plains. The government also did not provide all the help it promised in the treaty. So, the Galpins gave goods for free to those who needed them.
She continued to work for peace. She would solve conflicts in person and alone. She also refused to trade in firearms or ammunition. Once, a large group of 5,000 angry people gathered at the agency office. They were upset about a man being hurt for killing a cow. Eagle Woman walked to meet the crowd at dawn. She told them they were "not brave to come here to kill a half-dozen white men!" She contacted the military and arranged a "feast of reconciliation." She also gave gifts to those who felt most wronged.
One of the white men Eagle Woman saved that day was Lieutenant William Harmon. He later married her daughter Lulu. Eagle Woman traveled with Lulu to Chicago to get a wedding dress. Sadly, Charles Galpin became ill and died on November 30, 1869. This meant Eagle Woman and her children took over the trading post. She became the first Sioux businesswoman in the area. She continued to be generous. Lulu and Harmon were married in July 1870.
Delegation to Washington
In 1872, the U.S. government chose Eagle Woman for an important task. She was to select a group of leaders, bring them to Washington, D.C., and translate for them. They traveled by river and then by train, arriving in Washington on September 15.
The trip was supposed to be about the Treaty of Fort Laramie. But it was also meant to show the Sioux how powerful and advanced white society was. The group spent two weeks visiting places like the local arsenal and naval yard. They also met with General Sherman, the Secretary of the Interior, and President Ulysses S. Grant. They returned home by the end of October.
Business Challenges
In 1873, the agency at Grand River moved to Standing Rock because of floods. Eagle Woman moved her trading post there too. The next year, the government tried to stop other traders in the Sioux reservation area. They wanted only one company to trade, run by Orvil L. Grant, the President's brother. This affected Eagle Woman's son-in-law, Harmon, who was trading. Grant's company tried hard to put Eagle Woman out of business, but she was very strong and calm.
Officials thought Eagle Woman's store was a front for Harmon's goods. Harmon had sold his extra goods to her after his business was shut down. The local commissioner tried to close her store. But an uprising over the deaths of two white soldiers stopped him. Eagle Woman herself helped solve this dispute. Harmon also wrote to a congressman to support her.
When ordered again to close her business, Eagle Woman refused. She said she was an Indian and had the right to trade with her people to support her family. The agent was replaced because he failed to close her store. Eagle Woman also ignored commands from the new agent. The commander of Fort Yates and the local US Marshall also refused to close her store. Within months, the political group trying to stop Eagle Woman's business failed.
By 1876, Eagle Woman had made the Indian agent her ally. They worked together to start the first Catholic day school in the area. Books and supplies were provided, and her daughter Louise was hired as the teacher.
Gold Rush and Treaties
The Black Hills Gold Rush started in 1874. People found gold in lands that belonged to the Sioux, including the Black Hills. This was against the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Thousands of miners came to the area, leading to more violence.
During this time, Eagle Woman continued to help her people. In 1875, she led the Grand River delegation to a meeting. Most of them were unarmed. She met with Indian commissioners, along with other Lakota leaders like Red Cloud and Spotted Tail. The meeting did not solve anything. Negotiations almost turned violent, but Eagle Woman helped prevent it.
After this meeting, Eagle Woman was recognized as a chief. This was for her bravery in saving the lives of the Black Hills commission. Lakota historian LaDonna Brave Bull Allard says she was "the only female Sioux chief."
The Great Sioux War of 1876 began because people kept violating Sioux ownership of the Black Hills. Eagle Woman did not take part in later negotiations. She did not support the "Sell or Starve" policies. These policies cut off government food to the Sioux until they gave up the Black Hills. This led to new treaties in October, which created the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. After this loss, she again helped the tribes adapt to reservation life.
Eagle Woman did not support the founding of the reservation and did not sign the 1876 treaty. However, she did sign an 1882 treaty. This treaty set aside land for schools, changed reservation borders, and adjusted government workers and food supplies. Her signature was recorded as "Matilda Galpin, her x mark. Seal." She was the only woman to sign among the chiefs and headmen of the Sioux. This made her the first woman to sign a treaty with the United States.
Later Life and Legacy
I desire to introduce to your kind consideration the brave Sitting Bull. Since Sitting Bull has been at this agency, we have cultivated very kindly relations and feelings, and I believe that he is going to remain quiet and induce his followers to be quiet and obedient while in the hands of the authorities. His whole future will depend upon his conduct the next six months. Please impress him with this.
Your affectionate mother
Eagle Woman spent her final years at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. She was with friends, her daughters, and grandchildren. She met briefly with Sitting Bull in 1881 after he surrendered. He was being held by the government at Fort Randall. She wrote to her stepson, Charles Picotte, asking him to look after Sitting Bull.
On December 18, 1888, Eagle Woman died at her daughter Alma's home. This was the Cannonball Ranch in what is now Morton County, North Dakota. She died surrounded by her daughters.
Eagle Woman was buried next to Charles Galpin at the Fort Yates cemetery. In the mid-20th century, her remains were moved by the Army Corps of Engineers. This was due to the building of Lake Oahe.
Alma continued her mother's kindness to both white and Native people in the area. Over a thousand people attended Alma's funeral.
Eagle Woman was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2010. She was honored for her efforts to find peaceful solutions between Native American and white societies.
The Bismarck Tribune called her "the most noted Indian woman of all the western Indian nations," after Sakakawea.
In 2016, the location of her former grave site was part of the discussions during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
See Also
In Spanish: Eagle Woman para niños
