Mnisota An Indigenous Place: Its Land and its First Nations. Exploring the importance of land from a native perspective

WORKSHOP FACILITOR The U.S. Dakota War Ramona Kitto Stately Isanyati, Dakota • Treaties and Events leading up to the Dakota War

• Treaty of 1805 - negotiated by Zebulon Pike - 2 cents an acre

• The initial 1805 treaty ceded 100,000 acres of land to build a military post. Even though Zebulon Pike was only able to acquire two signatures, the treaty was ratified by congress and those two signatures represented the will and agreement of the entire nation. At that time the Dakota population was estimated anywhere between 35,000 and 21,675 people.

• Additional treaties signed in 1830 and 1837 Traverse Des Sioux 1851

• Ceded all remaining Dakota land claims except a 20 mile long strip of land bordering the Minnesota river from Lake Traverse to the Yellow Medicine and from Yellow Medicine to the Little Rock stream. Treaty of 1858

•The Dakota are forced to sell half of the remaining land.

•Widespread starvation

•1853 Sibley and Ramsey are investigated for fraudulant dealings in regards to the coersive tactics used to get the treaties signed but they were never charged. These men are Minnesota heroes. The U.S Dakota War

In response to:

• Loss of land • Broken promises • Policies that forced cultural change • Starving families • Delinquent annuities The U.S. Dakota War

• Six Week attacks

• August 17, 1862 - five settlers killed in Acton • August 18, 1862 Attacks on Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies, ambush at Redwood Ferry • August 19, 1862 First attack on New Ulm • August 20, 1862 First Attack on • August 22, 1862 Main attack on Fort Ridgely • August 23, 1862 Second attack on New Ulm • September 2, 1862 • September 3, 1862 Skirmish at Acton and attack on Fort Abercrombie • September 4, 1862 Attacks on Forest City and Hutchinson • September 6, 1862 Second attack on Fort Abercrombie • September 23, 1862 • September 26, 1862 Surrender of Captives at Camp Release Aftermath

• 500 settlers killed • The U.S. Army under General Henry Sibley defeat the Dakota in six weeks • Over 6,000 Dakota refugees flee to and Canada and 2,000 are taken prisoner and the systematic “gender segregation”.

“The Sioux Indians of Minnesota must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the State.”

Alexander Ramsey 6 days later….

• A five man military tribunal is set up to conduct trials of 392 Dakotas. 307 received death sentences. • Later, all but 38 were commuted to life. • None of the prisoners was represented by a defense attorney and there were no provisions for an appeal of any kind.

Where were the keepers of the constitution when they tried the Dakota? Marion Pease Satterlee's "Outbreak and Massacre by the Dakota Indians in Minnesota in 1862," described as "Marion P. Satterlee's Minute Account of the Outbreak, with Exact Locations Names of All Victims, Prisoners at Camp Release, Refugees at Fort Ridgely, etc. Complete List of Indians killed in battle and those hung, and those pardoned at Rock Island, Iowa." Mazadidi - Walks on Iron • From November 7 to November 13, 1862 more than 1700 Dakota women, children and elders are forced by Army troops to march 150 miles from Lower Sioux, (present day Morton) to a concentration camp on the river flats below Fort Snelling in Minneapolis. As many as 200 died or were killed during the march or while incarcerated over the ensuing cold winter months. Pazahiyayewin She radiates in her path like the sun On December 26, 1862 thirty eight Dakota men are hanged in front of a crown of 3,000 in Mankato. It remains the largest mass execution in U.S. History. Exterminate…..

• Governor Alexander Ramsey’s plan to exterminate the Dakota were further implemented by a bounty placed on Dakota scalps. This amount of money would have purchased a 35 acres homestead. The policy of eradication and removal was almost complete. The surviving prisoners were put on steamboats and sent “to a location beyond Minnesota’s boundaries.” Steamboat Florence Mural by Two Bulls in the Community Center, Santee Sioux Tribe, NE. The late Clifford (Popeye) Johnson – Santee Dakota describing to Reuben W. Kitto how Dakotas were exiled from Minnesota. Photo taken by the late Rick Kitto in 1986. As Dakota Descendants, how do we endure and continue to live with the knowledge of what happened to our ancestors?

• We endure by Remembering the 38- Mankato Education Day

• We endure by Dakota Prisoners Memorial at Davenport to touch the earth of our ancestors whose bodies are still there in unmarked graves.

• We endure by learning our past, reclaiming our idenity and walking with positivity into the future. The Dakota Commemorative

Learning our stories Dakota Commemorative March Telling our stories

Healing through our art Francis J. Yellow, Minnesota Nice Oyakepelo •We endure “by acknowledging and telling the truth about what happened in the State of Minnesota. This is our healing journey. The healing initially happens on a personal level, beginning with our own tears. But those tears are our medicine and given to us by the creator. Once the healing begins, it acts like a pebble thrown into a still pond. The effects go from our own personal awareness to our families and loved ones. Hopefully, te truth telling will have positive effects on everyone.” Iupseyusewin, Dakota . April 16, 2007 Healing through a new view of education