DANGEROUS BY RACHAEL CAS SIDY T


wo unsolved Native mysteries lie in the heart of Washington, D.C. in a quiet cemetery along the banks of the Anacostia River. Their resting place is the Congressional Cemetery,


founded in 1807, about two miles behind the Capitol, for representatives from around the country who could not be transported home for interment. Contrary to its name, it holds very few Members of Congress among its 55,000 burials, but does include 36 American Indian leaders. These Native diplomats and tribal leaders


had come to the nation’s capital to fight for rights, negotiate treaties or settle debts owed to them. Most of the interred succumbed to disease. But two of the cemetery’s Indian resi- dents died under mysterious circumstances, possibly homicide. These two cases remain unsolved, reminding us that Washington, D.C. was not a friendly environment for the Native leaders who made the long and dangerous journey to the nation’s capital. One of these mysteries involves Scarlet


Crow (Kan Ya Tu Duta) of the Wahpeton Sis- seton Sioux Tribe. Scarlet Crow arrived in D.C. as part of a Dakota delegation. They came to sign a treaty that Scarlet Crow adamantly op- posed. On Feb. 24, 1867, he disappeared from the barracks where his delegation was staying. His fellow tribesmen were immediately con- cerned. They requested an official search. The Indian Bureau placed an ad in the lost-and- found section of the Washington Chronicle containing his description and a reward for information leading to his return.


42 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER 2013


MISSIONS: INDIAN DIPLOMATS AND FOUL PLAY IN THE NATION’S CAPITOL


COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.


PHOTO COURTESY NATIONAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHIVES.


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