MY GOAL WAS SIMPLE—to write a piece honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day. My focus, I initially decided, would be on Taopi, a member of the Little Crow Band of the Mdewakanton Dakota Tribe. Taopi is perhaps best known in Faribault, where he lived for a while and is buried. A small Mower County town near the Iowa border also honors him in name. But my writing expanded beyond Taopi.
Recently I visited Taopi’s gravesite at Maple Lawn Cemetery. My interest piqued. I wanted to learn more about this Dakota leader and his importance in my community and in Minnesota history. His place in history connects to the US-Dakota War of 1862, a war all too familiar to me. My native Redwood County, where the Lower Sioux Agency was located, centered that deadly, short-lived conflict between white people and Native Peoples.
Now, viewing this war through a lens not tinted primarily by a white perspective, I understand the injustices. Decades ago, when I wrote a high school term paper on the war, I admittedly wrote a biased, unbalanced report based on biased, unbalanced research sources.
With time and maturity came the realization of the great injustices done, first when the US government acquired Indigenous Peoples’ land at a seemingly low cost and then failed to honor those treaties. The treaties opened nearly 24 million acres to white settlers. It was the Natives, the original inhabitants of this land, who found themselves cheated of government annuities, starving, pushed off their land and confined to strips of land along the Minnesota River. That includes the Wahpekute, a small band of the Dakota who lived in south central Minnesota, including the Faribault area. I live just below a Faribault city park called Wapacuta.
At the time of the US-Dakota War of 1862, Taopi was in the thick of all of it as a “farmer Indian,” the name tagged to Native Peoples who opted to farm, adapting the ways of the white man in occupation, dress and sometimes religion. He lived near the Lower Sioux Agency, relocated to a reservation there following the Treaty of Mendota in 1851. Those who continued with their hunting and fishing culture were known as “blanket Indians.” Taopi assuredly felt the animosity of his own people for the lifestyle and other choices he made.
I can only imagine the pressure Indigenous Peoples experienced as white settlers moved into the area. The change, at times, had to feel overwhelming. Life would never be the same. Long-time homelands were lost, tradition and culture endangered. And so Taopi and others adapted, likely accepting that change was inevitable.
But one thing that remained constant with Taopi was his focus on peace. He opposed the war and was a leader in the Dakota Peace Party. He is credited with saving the lives of many.
Yet, at war’s end, Taopi found himself caught—disliked by his peoples, who considered him a traitor, and disliked by whites holding a deep animosity toward any Native person. In Faribault, though, he had a friend in Bishop Henry Whipple, a strong advocate for First Peoples, and in town founder Alexander Faribault. Eventually, Taopi and other Natives moved onto land owned by Alexander Faribault, living under his protection on a bluff overlooking the Straight River. Taopi died in 1869. In 1895, the Indigenous Peoples of Faribault were displaced once again, moved to the Lower Sioux Reservation. They had always existed on the fringes in Faribault, never fully-accepted by most residents while under the protection of the bishop and town founder.
And so that is a brief look at Taopi, whose gravesite I visited. His presence remains visible elsewhere in Faribault. He’s featured in an exhibit at the Rice County Historical Society Museum. A “Fathers of Faribault” portrait of Taopi, Bishop Whipple and Alexander Faribault by Dana Hanson hangs at Buckham Memorial Library. Just a block to the north, that same artwork graces an historic-themed bench. Taopi was, most assuredly, a man of importance in local and state history. I will remember him primarily as a man of peace in a time when peace was decidedly elusive.
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© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Sources: The First Cathedral, an Episcopal Community for Mission by Benjamin Ives Scott and Robert Neslund; the Minnesota Historical Society website; and the Rice County Historical Society Museum’s Taopi display.
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Important to learn true history, painful but necessary. Our book club will discuss Killers of the Flower Moon this Thursday. Another excruciating revelation. A different nation of indigenous people who experienced brutal injustice. Pervasive throughout our “land of the free”. I never learned about these histories in school.
Thanks for sharing about that book, one which I must now read. I learned about Indigenous Peoples in school, but always from a “white” perspective. I am surprised by how many people in Minnesota are unaware of the US-Dakota War of 1862.
I just finished the book “Crow Mary” by by Kathleen Grissom and it was a very interesting look at the life of, obviously, a Crow woman who married a white man in the 19th century. While it is fiction, it is based on the life of a the real Crow Mary and the author was guided by relatives of this woman so I felt that she had tried to relay an accurate story. I find this culture so resilient and strong and shudder to think about what we as a country have done to them and their culture and beliefs. Thanks for sharing this today.
Another book I need to read. Thanks for the recommendation. And, yes, I agree about the atrocities and also about the strength. It’s good that all of us are becoming more aware.
I find the bits of Native and Indigenous history that we’re learning now fascinating, but also so sad and tragic. Thank you for the interesting essay. I really enjoyed it.
You’re welcome, Michelle. We all need to continue reading, learning…and caring.
Really great post. It’s nice to learn something new about Faribault, even at my advanced age! Perfect for Indigenous People’s Day. I hope local teachers will share this with their students.
Thank you, Sherri. As I understand, the state requires to spend at least one hour today covering the topic of Indigenous Peoples. We can all continue to learn, no matter our age.
We just finished reading the book “38 Nooses, Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier’s End,” a fascinating book about the Dakota war of 1862 written by Scott W Berg. While Taopi is not mentioned in the book it is an unbiased and detailed account of the events and leading people involved in the conflict, including Bishop Whipple.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I will add it to my list of books to read. It’s good to hear from you!
So important to learn and share their real stories. The more we learn and the more we share, we return a tiny bit of power and pride to these magnificent first peoples who had to endure so much
That’s a wonderful way of viewing the learning and sharing of stories, Beth.
I had not heard this story before. Thank-you for sharing this bit of important and tragic history. That must have been a terrible place to be in for Taopi, to want to keep peace and try to hold on to his traditional values. I’m so glad that more people are becoming aware of the history of our country through the eyes of those who were nearly destroyed. To know their story is to see their strength. And hopefully, we can learn to do both, hold our values and keep the peace.
I can only imagine the challenges Taopi and others faced. And, yes, we all need to learn and grow and make this world a better place.
This was very interesting Audrey. Thank you for this information. I appreciate you writing about it.
You’re welcome, Valerie.