Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2021
Charles (Chuck) Weldon was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1874. He was part Dakota Indian. He was adopted by David Crocker Weldon and Marie-Rose Moran from New Prague. David was born in August 1837 in Michigan. He died April 3, 1903, in Hastings, Minnesota. His mother was born Aug. 14, 1851, in Minnesota, and died Sept. 11, 1924, in Minnesota.
On Oct. 15, 1918, in Hennepin County, Chuck married Minnie Josephine Otherday. Minnie was born in a tioti July 24, 1877, on the north side of the Minnesota River in Tínṫa Otuŋwe. Her parents were Oyatekokepa Jacob Otherday, and Hapstiŋna Makaakaŋiwaŋkewiŋ Black Flute Lucy Otherday. Minnie was a direct descendant of Dakota that once reigned supreme in the Minnesota Valley and are still here today. Her grandmother was the sister of Dakota leader Ṡakpe II, whom the city of Shakopee was named.
Chuck and Minnie lived with other Dakota on 18 acres in 1871, directly across the Minnesota River. On this land, the Mdewakaŋtoŋwaŋ, the Spirit Lake People, lived, not far from what used to be Tínṫa Otuŋwe. They caught fish and turtles with spears and hooks, caught the mink, muskrats, and beavers along the shore, the cranberries grown in profusion in the lowlands, and the wild rice which was plentiful on the lakes on the valley floor.
Charles and Minnie lived on the bottomland of the Minnesota River. Chuck and his family moved to Shakopee and lived on the north side of the Minnesota River. He was a clam fisherman who plied the Minnesota River and made fishing his chief pursuit.
They had four sons and a daughter, all born in the east part of Shakopee. The daughter was Elizabeth Rose Lizzie, who married Bernard Howard Vig, and their son, Charles Richard Vig spent eight years as the chairperson of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.
Chuck was married four times. One wife died, two were divorced from him, and his surviving spouse was Juanita Sue, a Wisconsin Chippewa. Chuck Weldon’s household included children from the several marriages.
According to the Belle Plaine Herald, in the beginning of January 1936, Charlie died of heart failure down by the Minnesota River.
Charles Chuck Weldon had gone down onto the river ice that morning and was suddenly stricken with a heart attack.
His family carried him up the riverbank, and he died in a few minutes.
Chuck was buried Jan. 5, 1936, in Belle Plaine, Minnesota.
For more information about Charles Chuck Weldon and Tínṫa Otuŋwe, visit Hoċokata Ti [ho-cho-kah-tah-tee] the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s (SMSC) cultural center and gathering space. The public exhibit, “Mdewakanton: Dwellers of the Spirit Lake,” enhance the knowledge and understanding of the Mdewakanton Dakota people and their history. Hoċokata Ti is at 2300 Tiwahe Circle, Shakopee, MN 55379. (952) 233-9151.