Mahaska (Native American leader) Mahaska (Native American leader) Mahaska (archaic Ioway "Maxúshga" pronounced ; contemporary "Maxúhga"), or White Cloud, (1784–1834) was a chief of the Native American Iowa tribe. His son, also named Mahaska, was better known as Francis White Cloud. Mahaska was born into the Iowa tribe. He became chief at an early age after killing several enemy Sioux to avenge his father's death by them. Later Mahaska killed a French trader in an argument; he was arrested and imprisoned in St. Louis, Missouri. After he escaped, he led a raid against the Osage. Afterward, he decided that his father's death was finally
Spirit Lake Tribe treaty with the United States that established a reservation for Dakotas who had not been forcibly relocated to Crow Creek Reservation in what is now called South Dakota. The name "Devils Lake" is a calque of the Dakota phrase "mni wak’áŋ" (literally: spirit water), which is also reflected in the names of the Spirit Lake Tribe and the nearby town of Minnewaukan. The Dakota called the lake "mni wak’áŋ chante", which separately translate as "mni" (water), "wak’áŋ" (literally "pure source" but often translated as "spirit" or "sacred"), and "chante" (heart). European-American settlers misconstrued this name to mean "Bad Spirit Lake",