Blue Earth River - Native American History

Blue Earth River Watershed

The Land of the Dakota

Prehistoric Agricultural Villages

Blue Earth Clay

Ho-Chunk in Winnebago

Sibley Park: War of 1862 

Land of Memories 

Oiyuwege/ Traverse des Sioux 

Bdote

The Land of the Dakota

Minnesota's First People The footprint of the Dakota people, past and present, is evident throughout Minnesota. Mni Sota Makoce, the land of cloudy waters, has been the homeland of the Dakota for hundreds of years. According to the Bdewakantonwan Dakota creation story, Dakota people and life began in Minnesota, and despite a tumultuous history, they continue to claim this land as their home ( Mnopedia.org ) .

History excerpt from Dakota Wicohan Pre-Contact The Dakota are the keepers of the eastern door to the greater D/L/Nakota Nation. The Dakota are comprised of four bands; Mdewakanton, Sissetonwan, Wahpetonwan, and Wahpekute. Located in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, the Dakota have lived for countless generations along the wooded shores of the region’s lakes and rivers.They harvested wild rice, maple sugar, and cultivated gardens. They were semi-nomadic people, spending most of the year in villages populated with Bark Long Houses. The Dakota social-stratification was based upon a matrilineal structure. Social order was maintained through a complex set of kinship laws and a tiospaye (village clan) system. Each village was autonomous and had its own chief. The village chiefs voted democratically for a “Speaker of the Nation”, who would represent the People in all formal settings.

Contact & Treaties In the early 1600’s, French fur traders started trade negotiations with the Dakota. Throughout the following century trade production increased drastically, with fur trading becoming the primary occupation of Dakota people. With the influx of Europeans, a booming fur industry, and an increase of guns in the area, food sources became strained. Hostile competition became regular between the Anishinaabe (a neighboring tribe) and Dakota.Throughout the 1700’s missionaires increased their presence throughout the region. The British became the dominant Europeans in the area, negotiating a number or treaties with the Dakota. The Dakota language alphabet is created. through the work of the missionaries.By the early 1800’s, the United States of America started to negotiate treaties with the Dakota nation, in hopes to garnish land and remove the local indigenous population away from the growing European community.In 1851, with diminished food resources, increased hostilities, and outright deception the Dakota chiefs have little choice but to sign a treaty ceding all land in Minnesota except for 2 strips of land on both sides of the Minnesota River.

Dakota War of 1862 After the Treaty of 1851, the Dakota are restricted to a reservation along the Minnesota River. The United States creates two primary agencies to administer control and assimilate Dakota people, these are the Upper Sioux and Lower Sioux Agencies.The Untied States breaches the terms of the treaty, failing to provide food and services promised. Local traders refuse to give out food from their stores. With rampant disease, failing crops and starvation threatening, Dakota people revolt against the United States of America.

The War of 1862 begins. Chief Taoyateduta becomes head war chief. Villages are split on the war. A group of Christian converts object to the war, helping local farmers escape attack. Others join the war effort and start attacking local towns and the regional military post, Ft Ridgely. After two months of fighting, the Dakota begin to lose the war. Thousands of non-combatants (women, children, elders) begin to flee Minnesota.The war ends on December 26th, 1862 with the largest mass hanging in US history. 38 Dakota warriors are executed in Mankato, MN. The state of Minnesota proclaims all Dakota people illegal within its boundaries.

Today There are 4 Federally-recognized Dakota communities in Minnesota: Prairie Island, Lower Sioux, Upper Sioux, and Shakopee and 1 non-Federally recognized community, Mendota. There are about 4,000 Dakota people in Minnesota, with only an estimated 8 fluent speakers remaining. With a long history of systemic oppression and government assimilation policies, including boarding schools and the Indian Relocation Act, Dakota leaders and activists have to address a plethora of issues in the communities: Violence, substance abuse, alcohol, drop out rates, suicide rates, incarceration rates, etc.

The effects of The War of 1862 are still felt today: Thousands of Dakota still remain as refugees. The language and culture, deemed wrong and illegal, was not encouraged for four generations. In 2002, Dakota Wicoh’an, in response to the critical state of Dakota language, forms. It is a regional non-profit, headquartered in Granite Falls, working throughout all Dakota communities in Minnesota on the grounds of language revitalization and cultural rejuvenation.

Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota -  https://shop.mnhs.org/products/mni-sota-makoce 

Prehistoric Agricultural Villages

According to archeological research, a large late prehistoric period agricultural village site was located on the on intermediate terraces of the Minnesota and Blue Earth rivers (near present-day Mankato, shown above). Large Cambria villages were largely confined to the Minnesota River valley and Oneota villages to the Blue Earth River valley. Small campsites and special activity sites from this period are scattered throughout the region, but especially on former Woodland sites on the islands and peninsulas of moderate to large-size lakes. Some deeply buried Late Prehistoric period sites could also be present in the Minnesota River valley (Anfinson 1987).

Blue Earth Clay

The Blue Earth River was named for a blue clay that is found high in its banks.  The Native Americans of this area, called the blue clay “mah-ko-tah” or “mah-kah-to.” The name of the City of Mankato is derived from this word. According to the  Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia , … a bluish green earth that was used by the Sisseton Dakota as a pigment, found in a shaley layer of the rock bluff of this stream about three miles from its mouth.” In the 19 th  century, geographer Joseph Nicollet found cavities from which the clay had been dug by native americans in this region, who used it as body paint for ceremonies. 

Some of the only samples of “mah-ko-tah” are in the Chemistry and Geology Department of Minnesota State University and the Blue Earth County Historical Society Museum, both in Mankato.  It is more blue-green than blue, almost an aqua blue color, and somewhat darker when it is damp.  MSU researchers analyzed it and believe it to be a mineral called Illite.

Ho-Chunk in Winnebago

The City of Winnebago was named after the  Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Indians , who were moved to a reservation nearby in the 1850s from a location further north near  Long Prairie .

The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago or Hoocągra (referred to as Hotúŋe in the neighboring indegenous  Iowa-Otoe language ), are a  Siouan -speaking  Native American  people whose historic territory includes parts of  Wisconsin ,   Minnesota ,  Iowa , and  Illinois . Today, Ho-Chunk people are enrolled in two  federally recognized tribes , the  Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin  and the  Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska . Learn more about the Ho-Chunk nation and people by visiting the Ho-Chunk nation  website .

You can visit the Winnebago Area Museum to learn more about the three Indian cultures who lived in the area.

Sources and for more information:  Ho-Chunk Nation  Ho-Chunk and Blue Earth  Ho-Chunk and Long Prairie   Winnebago Area Museum 

Sibley Park: War of 1862 

Excerpt from Dakota Wicohan After the Treaty of 1851, the Dakota were restricted to a reservation along the Minnesota River. The United States created two primary agencies to administer control and assimilate Dakota people: the Upper Sioux and Lower Sioux Agencies. The Untied States breached the terms of the treaty, failing to provide food and services promised. Local traders refuse to give out food from their stores.

With rampant disease, failing crops and starvation threatening, Dakota people revolted against the United States of America. The War of 1862 begins. Chief Taoyateduta becomes head war chief. Villages are split on the war. A group of Christian converts object to the war, helping local farmers escape attack. Others join the war effort and start attacking local towns and the regional military post, Ft Ridgely.

After two months of fighting, the Dakota begin to lose the war. Thousands of non-combatants (women, children, elders) begin to flee Minnesota.The war ends on December 26th, 1862 with the largest mass hanging in US history. 38 Dakota warriors are executed in Mankato, MN. The state of Minnesota proclaims all Dakota people illegal within its boundaries.

Thousands of Dakota flee to Canada seeking political asylum. Any remaining Dakota are arrested.1,200 women and children are forced marched 120 miles to a concentration camp built at Ft. Snelling, near St. Paul MN. Hundreds die in the camp from starvation and disease. The remaining survivors are shipped by boat to the Crow Creek reservation in South Dakota.The refugees in Canada settle throughout the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Countless other families migrate to South Dakota and intermingle with the western Lakota bands. A handful of Dakota families remain in Minnesota, protected by local white farmers and missionaries. These are the families that objected to the war and chose to adopt European standards of living.In 1889, the federal government grants land allotments to the descendents of these remaining families. These land allotments are the foundations of today’s Dakota reservations.

 Source:   Dakota Wicohan - https://dakotawicohan.org/dakota-of-minnesota-history/

Land of Memories 

At the confluence of the Blue Earth and Minnesota River in Land of Memories Park, the Mahkato Mdewakanton Association hosts the annual Mahkato Wacipi. The Waicipi is "a gathering of nations to celebrate and honor traditions and ancestors; to reconcile and build bridges between all nations through education, storytelling, and sharing Dakota Indian culture." The vision: "In the spirit of reconciliation, Mahkato Mdewakanton Association is committed to healing and enriching the experiences of Dakota and non-Dakota communities through the preservation and sharing of Dakota history, traditions and culture."

Source: Mahkato Wacipi -  https://www.mahkatowacipi.org/ 

Oiyuwege/ Traverse des Sioux 

 Sources:  Traverse des Sioux Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IWXOpVLt_0

Minnesota Historical Society -  https://www.mnhs.org/traversedessioux 

Historical Marker Database -  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=79309 

Bdote

Gathering near mni-water Waterways have been important to the Dakota as a means of travel, sustenance, fishing, and swimming; people have always gathered near water. Cloudy waters identifies the mighty Minnesota River and is namesake to our state. One Dakota translation of the Minnesota River is within the word, pronounced Mini–so–tah Wahk–pah. It means “slightly cloudy river” due to its turbulence.

Different bodies of water have served multiple purposes, including the marshes, ponds, creeks, and lakes that are a source of wild rice. Year-round, springs provide access to water, and often times are locations of winter camps. And birch bark and dug-out canoes traversing across lakes and up and down rivers enable trade and allow people to meet. Villages gathered around water, including the village of Chief Istahba, or Sleepy Eye, who camped near the Cottonwood River; Cloudman's village on Bde Maka Ska; and Little Crow's at Kaposia, which is in South St. Paul.

Confluences also have been important; they are where waterways of two separate origins meet together as one. They have synonymously served as gatherings sites of different peoples, but people, all the same.

The confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers at Mendota has long been significant to the Dakota people. Oral history identifies it as the origin of the Dakota people themselves and the center of the universe. Mendota, or Bdote, meaning the confluence of two rivers, has been an important site for the Dakota, French  fur traders , and American soldiers, including those who built  Fort Snelling , the first fort in the area, staking claim to the lands of Minnesota.ff

What is Bdote? Bdote is a Dakota word that generally means "where two waters come together." The bdote where Haha Tanka (river of the waterfall) or Wakpa Tanka (big river), called the Mississippi River in English, and the Mnisota Wakpa (Minnesota River) come together is central to Dakota spirituality and history.

The term 'bdote' sometimes is used as a name for the larger area surrounding the bdote of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers.

According to the origin stories of the Bdewakantunwan Dadkota (one of the Seven Fires of the Dakota Oyate), the point where the rivers come together here, the Bdote, is the center of the earth. It is, we are taught by the Bdewakantunwan, where the Dakota people began.

Source:

Excerpt from Bdote Memory Map  https://bdotememorymap.org/