Minnesota Genocide Wounds Fester
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Minnesotans who expected to have a happy 150th state birthday celebration this year have had their party crashed by several vocal American Indian activists and advocates.
Many have transformed the ongoing statewide event into a backdrop for recognition of historical travesties committed by Europeans against tribes and individual Indians in the state.
Protests involving nooses have sprung up at the state Capitol, angry letter-writing campaigns have ensued, and some Natives have been arrested as a result of their educational efforts.
“What does it mean when Minnesotans continue to celebrate what they gained as a consequence of genocide, ethnic cleansing, policies of extermination, policies of forced removal, mass hangings and bounties?” asked Waziyatawin, a Dakota woman from the Upper Sioux reservation. “It’s a question that most Minnesotans really have not wanted to ask.”
Waziyatawin, who was arrested in May after protesting a celebration event at the state Capitol, changed her name from “Angela Wilson” last summer because she feels that the traditional naming process in the U.S. is just another way Indians have been colonized. Her Dakota name translates to “woman of the north.” She will begin teaching on indigenous governance issues at the University of Victoria in July and has previously taught at Arizona State University.
Minnesota, which contains 11 tribal nations, is the historic home of the hangings at Mankato of 38 Indians for their part in the Dakota War of 1862. The event, according to Minnesota historians, remains the largest mass execution in U.S. history. In 1863, many Dakotas were forcibly removed from the state, and a massive incarceration of Dakota men ultimately prevented some of the Indian population from reproducing.
Waziyatawin and others believe that many Americans today don’t realize that Indians are still paying the costs of these devastating actions. Most Dakota Indians don’t live on the historical homelands and have lost some of their traditional culture and even language. Ojibwes in the state have fared somewhat better, but have still experienced many of the negative effects of colonization.
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Members of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission recently acknowledged ethnocide and genocide against American Indians living in Minnesota during the state’s early history. The commission, appointed by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, has overseen the celebrations recognizing Minnesota’s 150th anniversary of statehood.
“Minnesotans pride themselves today on living in a state that is forward-thinking and compassionate,” according to a statement on the commission’s Web site. “We have become a haven for refugees from countries where genocide still occurs. We recoil at the holocausts of World War I and II, and the more recent acts of savagery in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
“Yet we remain either unaware of or unable to look at our own history and acknowledge the painful wounds of ethnocide and genocide right here in Minnesota. We have a very hard time acknowledging that the pain remains and that it has affected much of our history thru to the present day.”
Waziyatawin believes the statement is a nod in the right direction, but at the same time thinks it’s impossible to make up for genocide in the context of a statewide birthday party.
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.”
Wigley [Griff Wigley, member of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission] said some state legislators are currently exploring the possibility of sponsoring bills that would formally apologize for the sins of the past. Some in the state have also eyed with enthusiasm the April passage of a Colorado Legislature resolution comparing the deaths of millions of American Indians after colonization to the Holocaust.
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Whether a state or national apology happens anytime soon, Waziyatawin and others agree that there’s a dire need for more education about the historical genocide committed toward Natives.
“We’re the ones who have the moral high ground here,” Waziyatawin said. “We’re trying to engage in truth-telling.”
(Posted on June 6, 2008)
Comments
Someone should elaborate on how Lincoln emancipated some 39 ? Sioux after the Mancato uprising .
Posted by at 6:12 PM on June 6
Why didn’t you call it genocide when the Ojibwe stole the Lake Mille Lacs area from your Dakota people, Angela Wilson?
Posted by Civilized Neighbor at 6:21 PM on June 6
Given that the overwhelming number of deaths of Native Americans were related to lack of immunity to infectious diseases, and in some areas the great majority of deaths preceded European settlement (as on the NW Coast), that would seem to exclude genocide.
http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html
By 1832, the federal government established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans (The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832).
Posted by at 6:33 PM on June 6
Any white on Indian atrocities claimed by the Indians were the result of white retaliation of unspeakable crimes against innocent whites by Indians.
If the Indians had won the Indian/settler battles, every white in this country would have been either enslaved, tortured to death or killed outright, including women and children.
Since they were smashed into submission for their crimes, they are now trying to instill guilt in whites by declaring themselves helpless victims, banking on the fact whites won’t know the truth because it’s not common knowledge.
And we have a good number of misinformed white do-gooders, who consider themselves pro-white, who argue that to deny that Indians were treated unjustly by whites will mean it will be more difficult to get people to accept our movement.
To them I would like to say that anybody who fails to recognize that whites were fighting for their survival and that their actions mostly were in response to atrocities against them, I don’t want anyone in our movement that thinks like they do, so the loss is not a loss at all. And I don’t care, as they do, to acknowledge my enemies alleged courage and great intelligence. I’m just glad they were defeated or a white genocide would have occurred. And I thank my kinsmen of yesteryear for what they did for me, my family, and friends.
Posted by Robert Kelly at 6:58 PM on June 6
Just like Blacks “are still “paying” the costs for the effects of slavery”, now the Indians have jumped aboard that ever lasting gravy train, to stuff some more “guilt” upon the Whites. Doesn’t work on me. How about you?
Posted by at 9:18 PM on June 6
Maybe the Amerindians will pay us reparations for ethnically cleansing the Vikings that settled near them?
Posted by Mike at 9:48 PM on June 6
As a Minnesotan I can tell you that while many natives are Ok there are plenty of them too self absorbed with racial heritage issues to do much of anything except complain. You cannot prosper if you are carrying around a hundred pounds of resentment. The number one issue for many natives is how to stay sober and employed. Feeding resentment is a short path to hell.
Posted by mark at 11:23 PM on June 6
“Protests involving nooses have sprung up at the state Capitol…”
Of course whites who brandish nooses get prison terms.
Posted by Madison Grant at 12:06 AM on June 7
“Minnesota, which contains 11 tribal nations, is the historic home of the hangings at Mankato of 38 Indians for their part in the Dakota War of 1862.”
There’s never been an official report on the number of settlers killed, but estimates range from 300 to 800. Historian Don Heinrich Tolzmann says until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it was the highest civilian wartime toll in U.S. history.
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200209/23_steilm_1862-m/part4.shtml
MPR: Hundreds of settlers killed in attacks
Posted by at 5:39 AM on June 7
These people should move on and focus on how they can live the best lives possible today through honest enterprise, not trying to get something for nothing. Throughout history nations have been conquered and radically altered. Should the English demand reparations from France for the Norman Conquest in 1066? No, it’s ludicrous.
Posted by at 2:19 PM on June 7
Most Dakota Indians don’t live on the historical homelands and have lost some of their traditional culture and even language.
Travesty! And to think all they’ve gotten since then is air-conditioning, central heating, polio vaccine, smallpox vaccine, all other vaccines, the internet, the PC, the word processor, the written word, the incandescent light bulb, the engine, the automobile, the wheel, the …
I’ve been to Cherokee, Hopi, Seminole and Navajo reservations in various parts of the country. Infra-structurally, they’re pee-turkey poor and resemble the run down hellholes of most major cities; but they all utilize all the comforts of modern American technology/society that everyone else does. Nobody would stop them from going off the electrical grid, riding horses or making their clothes out of animal hides, like the the ancestors of whose culture they bemoan the loss. They choose not too. Incidentally, I don’t blame them.
I’m a big fan of history (the good with the bad), and I’m generally not in favor of the wholesale slaughter of human beings (definitely a distinguishing factor between me and the Indians of old), but don’t feed me the “we’re still suffering” garbage. Today’s tribesman have benefited from the European takeover of this continent in every way I have.
If their ancestors were really the brave and honorable warriors we romanticize today (I have my doubts, but nonetheless…) they must be spinning in their graves to hear the pathetic whining of their descendants.
Posted by BW Sam at 3:40 PM on June 7
This is just more anti-white, pro-everyone else, insanity in Minnesota. If they truly feared the ‘negative effects of colonization’ they would be taking steps to keep Minnesota from being colonized right now, but they’re not. To them, white colonialism was evil. Now that some whites want to resist their lands being colonized, that’s a great evil too.
If they are going to apologize, shouldn’t indians first apologize for the actions of the 5 civilized tribes in America? They bought and kept thousands of black slaves and an apology is in order there first. If one indian should apologize for the unspeakable actions of their ancestors then they are all equally culpable. Then the blacks should apologize for their role in this ‘genocide’. After all, we couldn’t have built this country and done it all without them. The Minnesota state legislature and Ms Waziyatawin say they believe in apologies. If they truly respect diversity the apologies will be flowing forthwith.
Posted by at 3:46 PM on June 7
Waziyatawin…changed her name from “Angela Wilson” last summer because she feels that the traditional naming process in the U.S. is just another way Indians have been colonized.
It seems every minority is trying to copy Blacks, imitating their crime, anger and resentment. Of course, we reward Blacks for this behavior and wonder why we get more of it.
Posted by Ronduck at 6:24 PM on June 7
Here are some facts about the Minnesota Massacre of 1862:
www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1962/3/1962_3_8.shtml
Posted by Alex at 11:29 AM on June 8
Robert Kelly,
That was an amazing and concise analysis of this issue. I feel like forwarding your view, the right view, of this issue to my radical anti-white professors— the very people who hate us.
PS- You should become an author.
Posted by Joe Wilson at 12:38 PM on June 8
There are winners in history, and there are losers. Native Americans are an example of the latter.
Posted by Greg at 2:56 PM on June 8
I don’t buy into this guilt-tripping towards whites either. They can only do that for so long until eventually, whites no longer care to hear about it.
Posted by at 4:54 PM on June 8
Of course there is no mention of the Dakota Indians abducting and murdering European American men, women and children. I did some research some time ago about the Minnesota Massacre of 1862, and the atrocities committed by the Dakota Indians against European American immigrants was APPALLING.
Posted by Gay Conservative at 8:17 AM on June 9
I attended a small talk by a woman from a NW tribe, who said that her tribe’s “warriors” traditionally sent their unarmed women first into battle to charm their enemies, so that the White men would stop fighting to enjoy the women, on the stop. When the Whites attacked, the squaws moved in, and instead were slain by the White settlers. The warriors didn’t change their tactics (hmmm…) and most of the women were slaughtered over the course of these territorial wars. I could only think that once or twice should have instructed the warriors that they should stop sending in unarmed squaws who apparently lacked the charm to disarm their adversaries. No women, no children,no future. Who is to blame?
Posted by WinniePoohster at 2:31 PM on June 9
Hey greg there are winners and losers in history but the whites sure are losing the future. Affirmative action puts whites on the bottom and last in line for everything. Educational oppuritunity, jobs, promotions, etc, etc. You get the picture. Whites have stopped having children all over the world, because there is no hope for the future. The future is bleak and the government and powerful whites are doing it to us.
Posted by at 6:52 PM on June 10