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Wood Mountain

Biographies


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  Anokan San Mato
(Bear with Grey Sides/Bokas)

    Anokan San Mato was better known in the Wood Mountain community as Bokas. He was a member of the Lakota band and lived both at Moose Jaw and Wood Mountain.

    Although the Lakota lost many of their horses due to starvation in the late 1870s, by the 1890's Bokas had a herd of nearly 100 head. In 1893 when settlers at Moose Jaw protested the presence of Lakota ponies in the vicinity of the city, Bokas moved his horses to open range at Wood Mountain. He and his wife,  Mahpiya Giwin (Brown Cloud) lived in an adobe home in a deep coulee just north of the NWMP Post.
In 1911 Bokas took up residence on reserve land.

Anokan San Mato with son Opi

     Many of the Lakota felt he had too many horses, so he was asked to sell some of them or leave the reserve.
He stayed on the reserve until 1918, when his wife died. At that time he took his horses and moved to Poplar, Montana.


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