Little Paul Mazakutemani

Mazakutemani is rendered He Who Shoots as He Walks. He learned to read and write Dakota at Thomas Williamson's mission school in 1835, and on July 29, 1856 he was one of seventeen men who signed the Hazelwood Republic's constitution, a self-governing community of Dakota farmers at Stephen Riggs's mission; he served as its first president until 1860. In 1862 he spoke for the Dakota peace party, writing later that he had told the war party, Deliver up to me the captives. The Republic ended on November 7, 1862, when the remaining Dakota were marched to Fort Snelling.

What the plaque says

Little Paul Mazakutemani 1806-1887 Noted Indian orator, born at Lac Qui Parle. After conversion to Christi- anity, he was President of the Hazel- wood Republic. He participated in rescue of Abbie Gardner in 1857 from hostiles on James River (near Red- field). During War of Outbreak in 1862, he with other friendlies saved lives of many white people at ex- posed points on Minnesota frontier. Erected 1962 by Roberts County and State Historical Societies

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Joseph N. Nicollet Tower and Interpretive Center — 3.2 mi
  A tower on the edge of the Coteau des Prairies honoring the French mapmaker who drew this country in 1838 and 1839 and kept the Dakota names on the map.
• Sica Hollow State Park — 4.9 mi
  Wooded ravines on the edge of the Coteau, on the Lake Traverse Reservation, where the springs run iron-red and the Dakota tell of a good land gone bad.
• Fort Sisseton Historic State Park — 18 mi
  A stone fort on the Coteau des Prairies built to watch the Dakota after 1862, renamed for the Sisseton who scouted for it, restored by the WPA and saved again by a boy who grew up loving it.

More markers nearby

• Two Sisters — 2.0 mi
• Two Companions — 2.0 mi
• Map of Northeast South Dakota — 3.2 mi
• Roberts County / Marshall County — 3.6 mi