The permit that Dakota Indians protesting in Minneapolis were given — but didn’t ask for — expires this afternoon. The two dozen or so protesters erected two teepees and a couple of modern-day tents Tuesday in a bid to reclaim land for the Dakota. But the showdown on the abandoned federal land near Minnehaha Park was put off when federal officials issued a four-day permit.

Mona Smith has 3 photo albums of the Coldwater occupation posted to her gallery. And on her Allies YouTube page she has two videos of the occupation:

Here’s the press release posted to the MINN-IND email list:

Reclaim Camp Coldwater! Support the B’Dote Defenders!

Please Forward Widely:

On Tuesday September 2nd, Members of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) of the Dakota Oyate reoccupied Coldwater Spring and the surrounding land. The Coldwater Spring site is an abandoned property of the defunct Bureau of Mines. As Dakota people who consider the spring as essential to our spiritual lifeway and the surrounding land as a part of our homeland of Bdote, we believe that we will be better stewards of the land than either the United States or the State of Minnesota has been. This is evidenced in the fact that the site is littered with dilapidated structures and the soil is polluted from the former Bureau of Mines.

We launched the reclamation of this sacred site with four days of ceremonies to celebrate the seasonal transition from summer to fall. While we did not ask for a permit for the four days, the property manager Robert Hanson has given us one. Despite our permit and the ceremonies that are happening on site, we have experienced heavy surveillance by Homeland Security, Hennepin County Sheriffs, and riot-police from various police agencies.

The four-day permit is due to expire tomorrow, September 5th at 3:00 pm. We will be holding a press conference on September 5th at 2:00 pm at Coldwater Spring. We invite all people to come at this time and show support for the Dakota people and our rights to both land and life.

As Dakota people, we have both a legal and a moral right to the spring and the surrounding land. We are calling on the Department of the Interior to fully restore Dakota rights to the land and to conduct a clean-up of the site, including removing dilapidated structures and restoring the land to its previously pristine condition.

We intend to make use of the site as was meant for Dakota and other Native Nations. We intend to conduct ceremonies as have been previously done at this sacred site. We intend to establish a youth camp and a space for cultural teaching, including transmission of the Dakota language. And we intend to establish gardens to distribute traditional foods to our elders once a clean-up of the site has occurred.

Directions to Camp Coldwater: From Highway 55, turn east at 54th Street and then turn right (south) on the frontage road. Proceed one block to the Bureau of Mines front gate. Go through the gate and continue heading south one more block.

For further information, contact Jim Anderson (612-910-0730), Chris Mato Nunpa (320-981-0206), or Waziyatawin (320-444-5643).

For information on support and supplies, contact Diane Elliott (651-983-6363)

The photo on the left is from when I visited again in June. (Click to enlarge.)

In today’s Strib: Permit delays Dakota fight for Coldwater Spring site.

Organizers said they don’t plan to leave after the permit expires, and that’s when a confrontation could come. They said they will maintain the occupation until Dakota rights to the land are fully restored and the federal government cleans up toxic waste on the 28-acre site.

Here are the press releases that were posted to the MINN-IND email list:

CAMP COLDWATER, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA—On Tuesday, September 2, members of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) of the Dakota Oyate are reclaiming Coldwater Spring and the surrounding land.  As the Original People of Minisota Makoce (Land Where the Waters Reflect the Skies), Dakota people are claiming their inherent right to their sacred sites as well as the rights preserved in the Treaty of 1805.

According to the original treaty that Zebulon Pike negotiated with the Dakota in 1805, “The United States promise on their part to permit the Sioux the pass, repass, hunt or make other uses of the said districts, as they have formerly done, without any other exception, but those specified in article first.”  The “Sioux Nation,” (including the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota Peoples) thus maintain these rights in the ceded territory, which includes the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, covering an estimated 155,000 acres.  Yet, the United States government did not fulfill even the meager terms of the treaty, a payment of approximately a penny an acre, to the Dakota people.  This calls into the question the legitimacy of the United States government and the State of Minnesota to occupy this land base.

Dakota people will launch the reclamation of Coldwater Spring with four days of ceremonies.  They then plan to maintain an occupation of the site until Dakota rights to the land are fully restored and the federal government conducts a clean-up of the site, removing the toxic structures and restoring the land its previously pristine condition.

For further information, contact Jim Anderson (612-910-0730), Chris Mato Nunpa (320-981-0206), or Waziyatawin (320-444-5643).

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REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE:

Members of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) of the Dakota Oyate have reoccupied Coldwater Spring and the surrounding land. We are launching the reclamation of this sacred site within our homeland of Bdote with four days of ceremonies.  We plan to maintain an occupation of the site until Dakota rights to the land are fully restored and the federal government conducts a clean-up of the site, removing the toxic structures and restoring the land its previously pristine condition.

The Coldwater Spring site is an abandoned property of the defunct Bureau of Mines. As Dakota people who consider the spring to contain the water spirit Unktehi, consider the spring and surrounding land as essential to our spiritual lifeway, and consider the land within our homeland of Bdote we believe that we will be better stewards of the land than either the United States or the State of Minnesota has been. This is evidenced in the fact that the site is littered with toxic structures and the soil is polluted from the former Bureau of Mines.

Our intention is to make use of the site as was meant for Dakota and other Native Nations. We intend to conduct ceremonies as have been previously done. We also intend to establish a space for cultural teachings to be transmitted, including the Dakota language. And we hope to establish traditional gardens and a youth camp once the federal government conducts a clean-up of the site.

- We are requesting assistance from Native Warriors and Veterens to maintain the occupation.

-We are calling on support from our Native youth to help out with security.

- We are requesting assistance from Drum Groups.

- We are requesting a show of solidarity from supporters at the site on Tusday 9/2, at 2:30 pm

- We are requesting supplies including: dry foods, walkie-talkies, batteries, firewood, toilet paper, hardware/tools, medicines, tobacco, sage, cedar, sweetgrass, money, volunteers, support

For further information, contact Jim Anderson (612-910-0730), Chris Mato Nunpa (320-981-0206), or Waziyatawin (320-444-5643).

For information on support and supplies, contact Diane Elliott (651-983-6363)

My initial impression wasn’t good. The MNHS marker for Fort Ridgely (left center photo) at the entrance paints a one-sided view:

When the Sioux Uprising began in 1862, Fort Ridgely assumed great importance as the only military post in the valley and a vital defense point against the Indians.

Likewise, the Fort Ridgely State Monument in the center of the grounds:

… the Sioux indians of the Upper Minnesota river, in violation of their treaties, broke into open rebellion, and within a few days thereafter, massacred about one thousand citizens…

But given that the monument was erected in 1896 and the MNHS marker in 1971, it’s not surprising. 

These two large markers (above) near the flagpole tell a more balanced story of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.

And once inside the visitor’s center, a much more complete picture of the war emerges.

I thought these war-related storyboards were well done but the story was incomplete… nothing about trials of the captured Indians, the mass execution at Mankato, the forced march of 1800 women and children to the concentration camp at Fort Snelling, nor the ethnic cleansing of the Dakota from the state. However…

this display told the story of how Henry Sibley and others pursued the fleeing Dakota into the western Dakotas and slaughtered them.

The MNHS has a page on its website about Fort Ridgely but there’s very little information there, just three short paragraphs of text. There’s no link but digging deeper into the MNHS website, I found a ‘media room’ set of pages on Fort Ridgely that has more information… but still, nothing close to what’s at the historic site itself.

Yesterday after I visited the MNHS roadside historical marker on the Sandy Lake Tragedy (blogged here), I drove about a mile north on Hwy 65 to the town of Libby, MN and the entrance to the Sandy Lake Recreation Area. Near the dam is the Mikwendaagoziwag Memorial, constructed by Ojibwe Tribes in 2001, commemorating the Sandy Lake Tragedy (’Wisconsin Death March”).

The sign below the memorial (right photo) reads:

The Memorial on this glacial mound remembers about 400 Ojibwe Indians who died and thousands of others who suffered during what is known as the Sandy Lake Tragedy. Constructed by Ojibwe Tribes from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, the Memorial was completed in 2001. It is a sacred remembrance of the many sufferings endured to preserve the Ojibwe’s homelands and way of life.

Mikwendaagoziwag means “we remember them” in the Ojibwe language. At least 400 grandfather stones are embedded in the Memorial to represent those who died.

The tragedy unfolded when U.S. government officials attempted to illegally relocate a number of Ojibwe Bands from their homes in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan to northern Minnesota. In late autumn of 1850, thousands of Ojibwes had assembled at Sandy Lake for their annual treaty annuity payments. As the Ojibwe waited nearly six weeks for the payments, they suffered from illness, hunger and exposure. Many died from dysentery and measles. The promised annuities were never fully paid and, after the last of the meager provisions were distributed on December 2, the Ojibwes began an arduous journey home. Harsh winter conditions had already set in, and many more died along the way.

The outer circle of plaques on the Memorial commemorates the 19 Ojibwe Bands whose treaty annuities were to be paid at Sandy Lake in 1850. Today, these 19 Bands are succeeded by the 12 federally-recognized Ojibwe Tribes who built this Memorial and are commemorated by the inner circle of plaques.

I paid a visit to the site yesterday, first stopping at a roadside rest with two Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) road markers.

The roadside rest is on Hwy 65, about 15 miles north of McGregor, a mile south of Libby (image on the right is a screenshot with an arrow pointing to the approximate location. See the live Google map here.)

The left and center photos are two sides of the same marker sign. Together, it reads:

“Tell him I blame him for the children we have lost” - Aish-ke-bo-go-ko-zhe (Flat Mouth), December 3, 1850

In late 1850, some 400 Ojibwe Indians perished because of the government’s attempt to relocate them from their homes in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan to Minnesota west of the Mississippi River. The tragedy unfolded at Sandy Lake where thousands of Ojibwes suffered from illness, hunger and exposure. It continued as the Lake Superior Ojibwe made a difficult journey home.

In the 1840’s, Minnesota politicians began pressuring the U.S. government to remove Ojibwe people from lands the government claimed they had ceded, or given up, in 1837 and 1842 treaties. Territorial governor Alexander Ramsey and others claimed they were acting to “ensure the security and tranquility of white settlements.” But their true motivation was economic. If Indians were moved from Wisconsin and Upper Michigan onto unceded lands in Minnesota, local traders could supply the annuity goods the Government had promised to provide to the Ojibwe under the treaties, and they could trade with the Ojibwe themselves. Minnesotans could also build Indian agencies and schools in return for government funding and jobs.

From the outset, the Lake Superior Ojibwe vigorously opposed removal. They pointed to the promises made at the treaty negotiations that they could remain on ceded lands. Knowing that the Ojibwe would not consent to removal, government officials devised a plan to entice the Ojibwe to Sandy Lake, hoping that they would simply remain here and abandon their homelands in Wisconsin and Michigan.

In 1850, the Ojibwe were told to arrive at Sandy Lake no later than October 25th where their treaty annuities-cash, food and other goods promised in exchange for the land cessions-would be waiting for them. In prior years, these annuities for the Lake Superior Ojibwe had been distributed at La Pointe on Madeline Island in Lake Suprior, a traditional hub of Ojibwe culture and a more accessible location.

By November 10th, some 4,000 Ojibwe had arrived. They were ill prepared for what they faced at Sandy Lake. The promised annuities were not waiting for them, and the last of the limited provisions that were available were not distributed until December 2nd after harsh winter conditions had set in. While they waited the nearly six weeks, they lacked adequate food and shelter. Over 150 died from dysentery caused by spoiled government provisions and from measles. Demonstrating their steadfast desire to remain in their homelands, the Ojibwe began an arduous winter’s journey home on December 3rd. As many as 250 others died along the way. On the same day, Aish-ke-bo-go-ko-zhe, the Ojibwe leader also known as Flat Mouth, sent word to Ramsey that he held him personally at fault for the broken promises that resulted in suffering and death.

As word of the Sandy Lake disaster spread, so did opposition to the government’s removal policy. Non-Indian settlers-including missionaries, newspaper editors, legislators, and local citizens-voiced their support for the Ojibwe. Ojibwe leaders traveled to Washington to secure guarantees that annuities would be distributed at La Pointe and that the Ojibwe could remain in their homelands. In 1852, the U.S. government abandoned its efforts to remove the Ojibwe. And in 1854, Congress passed a law authorizing that future Ojibwe treaties would instead provide for permanent reservations in areas the Ojibwe traditionally occupied.

Erected by the Minnesota Historical Society 2001

From my other readings, this seems to be a fair summary of what happened. But the second sign detailing the miles traveled by the various bands is titled “The Ojibwe’s Sandy Lake Journey.”  That seems to be a watered-down title, especially when the other name for the tragedy is the ‘Wisconsin Death March.’ I learned about that name by doing a Google search of the MNHS web site. The only reference I could find on their site was a 2006 prize-winning paper:

This year’s theme was “Triumph and Tragedy,” and the winner is Jacob Nelson, an eleventh grader who wrote his paper for a post-secondary enrollment options class in Minnesota history at Saint Paul College.  His essay, “Stained by the Blood of Our Children: The Ojibwa’s Triumph over Bureaucracy following the Sandy Lake Tragedy,” investigates the events and aftermath of what came to be known as the Wisconsin Death March.

A Google search on the phrase “Wisconsin Death March” brings up this 1987 paper titled,  Wisconsin Death March: Explaining The Extremes in Old Northwest Indian Removal by James A. Clifton, then a Professor of Anthropology and History at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. (There are 12 web pages there.)

Also, in the book Chippewa Treaty Rights by Ronald N. Satz, see Chapter 4, titled The removal order and the Wisconsin death march (PDF), pp. 51-59.

Like the phrases ‘concentration camp’ and ‘ethnic cleansing,’  the phrase ‘death march’ has such an associated horror with it that, as Americans — as Minnesotans — we can’t imagine that our government would have ever perpetuated it on a group of people. But all three have happened in Minnesota. And the more that state leaders and organizations like the MNHS help citizens to learn the truth, the more likely the healing will occur.

Yesterday I stopped by the Thompson Hill Travel Information Center/rest stop that overlooks Duluth and noticed this ‘Welcome to Minnesota’ marker erected by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1987. (This sign is replicated at state borders in several places around the state.) It reads:

Known to her citizens as the North Star State or the Gopher State, Minnesota has never claimed to be the Land of giants.  But two famous American giants do hail from Minnesota.  The giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan cut the pine forest to the north that helped build America’s towns and cities, and the Jolly Green Giant towers over the south’s lush corn, vegetable, and soybean fields, part of the midwest’s fertile farm belt.

Like its neighbors, the thirty-second state grew as a collection of small farm communities, many settled by immigrants from Scandinavia and Germany.  Two of the nation’s favorite fictional small towns — Sinclair Lewis’s Gopher Prairie and Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon — reflect that heritage.  But the vast forests, the huge open pit iron ore mines, and the busy shipping lanes of Lake Superior attracted different settlers with different skills and made Minnesota a state of surprising diversity.

Best known for its 15,000 lakes.  Minnesota has some 65 towns with the word “lake” in their names, not counting those whose names mean “lake” or “water” in the Chippewa or Dakota Indian languages.  There are also 13 “falls,” 10 “rivers,” 5 “rapids,” and a smattering of “isles,” “bays,” and “beaches.”  Even the state name itself means “sky colored water” in Dakota.  The mighty Mississippi River starts as a small stream flowing out of Minnesota’s Lake Itasca, and a Minneapolis waterfall called Minnehaha inspired “the song of Hiawatha,” even though Longfellow never actually visited the falls his poem made known to every schoolchild.

Minnesotans are proud of their state’s natural beauty and are leaders in resource conservation and concern for the quality of life.

It’s too bad that our state’s Native American history is mentioned only in the context of water-related names. It would seem that instead of using the fictional goofballs Paul Bunyan and Jolly Green Giant to let people know about our forested north and farm-belt south, the sign could have informed people about the Ojibwe and Dakota who initially thrived in those regions… and then a bit about the sad legacy of what happened to them as immigrants arrived.

I know these signs serve a ‘rah rah/we’re a great state’ purpose but there’s plenty of that already by the Minnesota Office of Tourism. The Minnesota Historical Society should model our strength of character by doing a little more truth-telling on these historical markers.

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.

In the fall of 2002, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) (with financial support from the Blandin Foundation) did a six part series on the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 titled, Minnesota’s Uncivil War. The content is still available, including some audio:

Part 1: The remnants of war
Part 2: “Let them eat grass”
Part 3: Broken promises lead to war
Part 4: Hundreds of settlers die in attacks
Part 5: Execution and expulsion
Part 6: The Dakota - still a divided people

See the photo gallery and three supplemental stories:

• Exiled at Crow Creek
• A woman of contradiction 
• What should we call it?

Minnesota-based author/historian John ‘Jack’ Koblas gave a slide presentation at the Northfield Historical Society last night on Let them Eat Grass, his three-volume history of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.

One of the three new goals is:

Support the Self-Determination of Native Nations. Goal: By 2018, all 23 Native nations in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota are exercising self-determination and actively rebuilding the infrastructure of nationhood.