…author Mary Wingerd describes the relationships between indians and whites in the 200 years before statehood and the early years of statehood.

[...]]]> Mary Lethert Wingerd, author of North Country: The Making of Minnesota, was interviewed on yesterday’s Midday program on MPR: How the land of the Dakota and Ojibwe became the State of Minnesota.

…author Mary Wingerd describes the relationships between indians and whites in the 200 years before statehood and the early years of statehood.

But with the Sesquicentennial of the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862 less than two years away, I’ll post occasional items as they seem warranted.

To really keep up-to-date, however, historian Bruce White’s Minnesota History [...]]]> This blog has been dormant for over a year, as funding for the project ended when the MN Sesquicentennial (blog) ended.

But with the Sesquicentennial of the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862 less than two years away, I’ll post occasional items as they seem warranted.

To really keep up-to-date, however, historian Bruce White’s Minnesota History blog is the one to watch. Bruce is quoted in  today’s Strib, in a column by Nick Coleman titled: Fort Snelling is state’s cradle — and stain.

In this bloody cradle, Minnesota was born. And we’ve been trying to ignore it ever since. Hardly anything was said about Minnesota’s tragic Indian history during the limp observance of the state’s 150th birthday two years ago. And with the 2012 sesquicentennial of the Dakota Conflict coming up, reality is still hard to confront.

…

“Is history entertainment, or can it deal with the hard stuff,” asks St. Paul historian Bruce White, an expert on Indian treaties and a critic of the dumbing-down of history. “People died at Fort Snelling [probably a couple hundred in the 'squaw camp' alone, he notes]. There really isn’t a benign story to Fort Snelling. The historical society is afraid of controversy. It wants to tell a safe, happy story to kids. They have some radical decisions to make about the interpretation of the fort if they’re going to be able to tell the whole story. They’ve been vacillating for years.”

Bruce is one of the state’s most respected historians and has written extensively about Native Americans.

I’ve added the RSS feed of his blog to the lower right sidebar here.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Bruce!

(The quarterly apparently doesn’t make PDFs of its articles available on its web [...]]]> The current issue (winter 2008-09) of Minnesota History, the quarterly of the Minnesota Historical Society, arrived in the mail today. It contains a 14-page article titled Survival at Crow Creek, 1863—1866 by Colette A. Hyman, a professor of history at Winona State University.

(The quarterly apparently doesn’t make PDFs of its articles available on its web site but individual issues can be ordered for $5.  See the order page for the Winter 2008-09 (61:4) issue.)

  
Here are photo snapshots of the first 4 pages. Click to enlarge as they’re somewhat readable.

I found it interesting that Professor Hyman used terms like “genocidal attacks,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “genocidal policies and actions” early in her article. The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) deserves credit for publishing a piece in which those terms are used to describe the state’s treat of the Dakota, particularly in the aftermath of the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862.

Professor Hyman also refers to the concentration / internment camp at Fort Snelling as a “disease-ridden enclosure” and the accompanying photograph of the camp  has the caption, “Tipis of the captive Dakota in a fenced enclosure on the Minnesota River just below Fort Snelling, 1862-63.”

I’ll contact her to see if she’ll comment here about those terms, as well as the larger article and the book she’s working on, tentatively titled Dakota Women in Exile.

They call it YourVoices and Laura Waterman Wittstock is one of the bloggers. Her first blog post was Dec. 16 and is titled Obama and the Indians.

So now that [...]]]> Today’s Strib: A town square for the 21st century – A new series of blogs on our website taps into the collective wisdom of the community.

They call it YourVoices and Laura Waterman Wittstock is one of the bloggers. Her first blog post was Dec. 16 and is titled Obama and the Indians.

So now that the election is over and Obama has visited more Indian reservations than any presidential candidate since probably Bobbie Kennedy, what will happen to elevate the issues and visibility of America’s smallest minority? Well, yesterday Obama appointed Wizipan Garriot as First Americans Public Liaison – a new position in the Obama transition team. Obama has underscored a "nation to nation" new relationship with tribes.

Although no one is saying what this means, it is a step never taken before. There are now seven American Indians on the transition team: John Echohawk, Keith Harper, Robert Anderson, Mary Smith, Mary McNeil, and Yvette Robideaux.

See the album of 13 photos or this slideshow [...]]]> I took photos and captured the audio of speakers at last Friday’s press conference at Coldwater Spring. See these two articles in the Strib for more info:

• Strib, Sept. 5: Occupation of park site expected to end today 
• Strib, Sept. 6: Dakota leave Coldwater Spring site after four days

See the album of 13 photos or this slideshow (audio below):

It’s all about Warren Nelson, artistic director of the Big Top Chautauqua, and how his musical theater production of ‘Old Minnesota: Song of the North Star’ includes our sad legacy of treatment of Native American Minnesotans. [...]]]> In today’s Strib, Nick Coleman has a column titled: Nothingburger celebration will go down easy with State Fair spice.

It’s all about Warren Nelson, artistic director of the Big Top Chautauqua, and how his musical theater production of ‘Old Minnesota: Song of the North Star’ includes our sad legacy of treatment of Native American Minnesotans. The musical will be performed thrice daily at the MN State Fair this year.

Called “Old Minnesota: Song of the North Star,” Nelson’s show offers a rich selection of Minnesota stories, from the beginnings of the state through the world wars up to modern times, with an orchestra, stunning audiovisuals and attention paid to the history of the fair, too. Mostly rollicking, the show also deals frankly with painful episodes in state history, including the wresting of the land from Native Americans and the war of 1862 that ended with the banishment of the Dakota Sioux and 38 hangings at Mankato on the Minnesota River.

Since 1986, Nelson has been the artistic director of the Big Top Chautauqua near Bayfield, Wis. In “Old Minnesota,” he explores the Indian tragedy with a poignant song called “Little Crow’s Flute” that reflects on the state seal — which was reversed to show an Indian riding into the sunset, rather than the dawn, as was originally intended:

“Statehood will soon seal their fate,” the son g goes: “Beside the home river, they hung 38.”

Nelson decided to confront that legacy of loss when he watched an Indian ceremony marking the anniversary of the forced removal of the Dakota from their homeland. In just a few minutes in a State Fair musical, Nelson might make Minnesotans give more thought to the Indian story of the state than we usually get in a year, even during a sesqui-whatever.

"Stephen asks former Green Party vice presidential candidate and Native American activist Winona LaDuke what it’s like to be an oppressed elitist."

Minnesota marks 150 years of statehood this year, but not everyone is celebrating. American Indian tribes in Minnesota were here long before the state was. For many Indians, the history they remember is [...]]]>
MPR reporter Tom Robertson aired a piece yesterday titled: American Indians prefer to reflect on their own history.

Minnesota marks 150 years of statehood this year, but not everyone is celebrating. American Indian tribes in Minnesota were here long before the state was. For many Indians, the history they remember is one of repression, broken promises and loss of culture.

Seventy-four-year-old Peter Strong is an Ojibwe elder from the Red Lake Indian Reservation. Strong says many of his friends and family are indifferent to Minnesota’s sesquicentennial. He’s more interested in reflecting on the history of his tribe and his own family.

Griff Wigley, project leader of the commission’s Native American outreach component, said the commission has attempted ”to [...]]]>
There’s an article by Rob Capriccioso in the June 6th edition of Indian Country Today titled Minnesota genocide wounds fester: 150th birthday celebration prompts protests, education efforts. It includes quotes from Waziyatawin, Tom Dahlheimer, Leonard Wabasha, and yours truly.

Griff Wigley, project leader of the commission’s Native American outreach component, said the commission has attempted ”to engage the greater citizenry of Minnesota to take a look at these things and to open their eyes.” In that effort, he’s started a blog that notes Native history and news, which is linked to from the commission’s Web site. ”There are a lot of people out there like me who are willing to have their eyes opened,” Wigley said. ”Many more things can be done that will have an impact on the education of the public.”