What is "wanata"

Wa-na-ta ( Dakota: Wánataŋ which translates as One who charges, or Charger) was a chief of the Yanktonai, a tribe of the Dakota. Chief Wa-na-ta, also known as Wanata and Wanataan I, was born around 1795. The Yanktonai were located near the St. Peter River, which is today known as the Minnesota River, in present day Minnesota. The Yanktonai were said to have a population between five and six thousand individuals with 1,300 warriors. Wanata was a very influential chief, as evidenced by his ability to lead his tribes' 1,300 warriors into battle.

At age 18, Wanata was accustomed to the ways of war and fought under his father Red Thunder (then the chief of the Yanktonai) against the Americans in the War of 1812. Wanata was recruited by British Colonel Robert Dickson whom convinced him to join him in battle at Fort Sandusky. During this battle, Wanata charged Fort Sandusky and was wounded, but earned himself the nickname “Charger.”

After the war, Wanata sided with the Americans and even helped influence trade on the Missouri River. He was murdered by his own tribesmen who were upset with his leadership in 1848.

In 1882, A. R. Fulton, author of "The Red Men of Iowa" reported: "One of the greatest men of the Sioux nation ever known to the whites was Wa-na-ta, a chief of the Yankton branch of that nation, who flourished during the first half of the present century. He distinguished himself as a warrior at the age of eighteen, when he fought under his father against the Americans. He was one of a band of savages collected from the Northwest by Colonel Dixon during the War of 1812, and was wounded in an engagement at Sandusky. After that war he professed friendship toward the United States. He devoted himself to the business of uniting and more thoroughly organizing the several tribes or bands of his nation, and in maintaining both aggressive and defensive warfare against the neighboring tribes, and especially the Chippewas and Iowas. From the position of chief of the Yanktons he rose to be recognized as the grand chief of the Sioux nation.