Natawista Iksina (born c. 1825, Alberta, Canada – died March 1893, Stand Off, Alberta, Canada), also spelled Natawista Iksana, Natoyist-Siksina', or Natúyi-tsíxina, was a Kainah interpreter and diplomat.[1] Her father, Two Suns, was a Kainah leader. Her name was alternatively translated "Medicine Snake Woman" [2] or "Holy Snake."[3]
She was married to Alexander Culbertson, chief trader of Fort Union. Natawista and Culbertson were first married in Fort Union in 1840, when Natawista was 15 years old and Culbertson was 30 years old. They later participated in a Roman Catholic marriage ceremony in 1858 in Peoria, Illinois.[4] The couple had five children.[5]
References
edit- ^ Mary E. Virginia. "Natawista". In Carole A. Barrett; Harvey Markowitz (eds.). American Indian Biographies. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press. pp. 336–337.
- ^ "Natawista Iksina (Medicine Snake Woman)". Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (US National Park Service). Retrieved October 12, 2020.
- ^ Wischmann, Lesley (2004). Frontier Diplomats: Alexander Culbertson and Natoyist-Siksima' among the Blackfeet. University of Oklahoma Press.
- ^ Schemm, Mildred Walker (January 1952). "The Major's Lady: Natawista". The Montana Magazine of History. 2 (1): 6.
- ^ Gage, Sarah. "Haunted by Memory - Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (U.S. Nationjal Park Service)". Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
Sources
edit- Agonito, Joseph (2016). Brave hearts : Indian women of the Plains. Guilford, Connecticut: TwoDot press. ISBN 9781493019052. OCLC 942839131.
- Barbour, Barton H. (2001). Fort Union and the upper Missouri fur trade (Red River Books ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806134984. OCLC 55064790.
- Wischmann, Lesley. (2000). Frontier Diplomats: The Life and Times of Alexander Culbertson and Natoyist-Siksinaʼ. Spokane, WA: The Arthur H. Clark Company. ISBN 0870622897. OCLC 247585422.
- Wischmann, Lesley. (2004). Frontier diplomats : Alexander Culbertson and Natoyist-Siksina' among the Blackfeet. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806136073. OCLC 53289877.
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