Runners from this year’s Little Crow Run, from the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Marshall, Minnesota, back to Flandreau, returned late Wednesday. More than a dozen youth participants, eager to see their final destination, jumped out of support vehicles just north of the First Presbyterian Church and Cemetery and joined the final runner on foot to Little Crow’s gravesite.
At just 16-years-old, Annabeth Cournoyer, of Sioux Falls and the Ponca Tribe, was one of the last to carry the Tate Oyate Duta staff to the finish.
“This was my first year running. I ran probably five times,” she said as she waited for the handoff. “The first day was really hard, but it was easier today. When everyone else was tired, I had to step up, and it made the day go by fast.”
Cournoyer and other participating youth said they wanted to join the event to learn more about the history and culture of the Dakota people.
The run, covered by us for the past two years, is designed to honor and remember Chief Little Crow, or Mdewakanton Dakota Chief Taoyateduta, ending on the day he was killed in 1863.

Chief Little Crow negotiated the Treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota of 1851, which ceded most of the land in present-day Minnesota and Iowa to the United States in exchange for goods and other rights. However, the government never followed through.
Facing severe economic hardship and starvation, Little Crow led the Dakota Uprising of 1862, a five-week war to drive whites from Minnesota. He avoided death during the fighting, but a year later, when he returned, Little Crow was shot and killed near Hutchinson, Minnesota.
His body was scalped, mutilated, and displayed for decades. In 1915, at the request of his grandson, Jesse Wakeman, the remains were removed from the Minnesota State Capitol. In 1941, they were returned to the Wakeman family for burial at the First Presbyterian Church and Cemetery just north of Flandreau.
The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
The run is planned for four years, each year lengthening to include communities significant to Little Crow’s life. It started in Moody County in 2022, expanded this past year with a start in Camden, Minnesota, and this year kicked off in Lower Sioux. Next year, organizers plan to start in Hutchinson, Minnesota, pass through Lower Sioux and Camden, and return to Flandreau.
“My hope is for people to question, ‘Why are we doing this? Who was Little Crow? What did he do? Why is he important?’” said Marilyn Allen, one of the primary organizers of the run. “I want them to be curious so it gives us a reason to have the conversations about what happened to the Dakota people and what ultimately led to us being here in Flandreau.”
Allen said 28 runners participated this year, allowing everyone a chance to rest during the two-day event, and a dozen more helped with race support. She added that this year’s run brought everyone closer, as it included an overnight camp.
“Being able to relax together, set up camp, tear down, have meals together, and tell stories,” she said, “really set this year’s event apart.”
Next year’s event, the final year of the run, will begin on July 1 in Hutchinson, Minnesota. For more information on the run, how to get involved, or support the event, contact Allen at marilyn.allen@fsst.org.