In the Dakota tradition of naming to mark life passages, Hakadah was later named Ohye S'a (Dakota: "always wins"). He had three older brothers (John, David, and James) and an older sister Mary. During the Dakota War of 1862, Ohye S'a was separated from his father Wak-anhdi Ota and siblings, and they were thought to have died. His maternal grandmother Stands Sacred (Wakho Inzio Wio) and her family took the boy with them as they fled from the warfare into North Dakota and Manitoba, Canada.[5]Fifteen years later Ohyesa was reunited with his father and oldest brother John in South Dakota. The father had converted to Christianity, after which he took the name of Jacob Eastman. John also converted and took the surname Eastman. The Eastman family established a homestead in Dakota Territory.

When Ohiyesa accepted Christianity, he took the name Charles Alexander Eastman.