Oracle Online

“One thousand seven hundred of our ancestors were forced to march 150 miles across the lower Sioux area around Redwood Falls, to the concentration camp here [at Fort Snelling],” said Professor of Native American and Dakota History Chris Mato Nunpa of Southwest Minnesota State University. “Our ancestors,” as Dr. Mato Nunpa said, is in reference to the 1,700 Dakota people who were forced to march on Nov. 7, 1862.

“There were two concentration camps: one for the women and children, and one for the men,” Dr. Mato Nunpa.

The march was the result of the Dakota peoples’ surrender to the U.S. army at the end of the U.S.-Dakota War. The Dakota’s website, www.dakota-march.50megs.com, explains how the group expected to be treated humanely as prisoners of war. This was not the case.

The Dakota men were put on trial as war criminals and had to be judged before a five-man military tribunal. Up to 40 cases were tried per day, with many of them taking only a few minutes to complete. The end of the trials brought about the condemnation of 307 men to death, and only 16 men sentenced to prison.

After the trials, the women and children were separated from the condemned men, and were forced to walk to Fort Snelling for imprisonment. The march took place during a typical harsh Minnesota winter.

“A lot of women and grandmothers were murdered along the way. They were shot, bayoneted, beaten to death. Hundreds more were murdered here [Fort Snelling],” Dr. Mato Nunpa said.

According to the Dakota website, the marchers endured white townspeople throwing numerous items at them as they marched through the many towns on their way to the prison, including rotten food, rocks, sticks and even boiling water.

“The United States government committed acts of genocide [against the Dakota people],” Dr. Mato Nunpa said. “Minnesota put bounties on Dakotas. They wanted to get rid of these people. They wanted to exterminate them.”

Dr. Mato Nunpa also felt it was appropriate to compare Minnesota’s founding men, Ramsey and Sibley, to Adolph Hitler.

“The perpetrators of genocide want to suppress it, they want to keep it silent,” said Dr. Mato Nunpa.

Fast-forward to 2006. The Dakota men, women and children of the United States and Canada have come together for one week, beginning on Nov. 7 to honor those of 1862 who were brought to concentration camps in Mankato and Fort Snelling. Much of the group consists of descendents of the original people who were forced to walk one week, from the Lower Sioux Agency to the camps.

This is the third march to commemorate the Dakota genocide that took place in Minnesota. The march has occurred every two years since it began in 2002.

As stated on the Dakota peoples’ website, “The marchers follow a close approximation of the roughly 150-mile route taken by the original marchers.”

To conclude the march, the participants gathered in a circle around a fire. They stood quietly as an elderly woman hammered stakes into the ground.

A Dakota man at the back of the crowd wept silently as the woman pounded the stakes into the cold earth. A single tear could be seen rolling down his cheek. Emotions were running strong for many present.

Each stake had tied to it a nametag of a Dakota member who died on the march to the camps. As she hit them into the ground, she read off the name to the audience who would then say in unity, “hau,” (pronounced “how”), it is a statement of affirmation and was used to acknowledge the deceased Dakota. It can mean hello or yes.

The stakes were arranged in a circle near the fire.

Once all the stakes were set into the ground, descendants of those Dakota who had been killed were encouraged to enter into the circle to honor their relatives.

While inside, the family members slowly walked clockwise to form a circle. With sad, tender expressions on their faces, each person stopped to touch every stake to honor those who had died.

Those in attendance without ancestors from the 1862 massacre stayed outside of the circle and remained silent in honor of their fallen Dakota.

The first Dakota Commemorative March (2002) drew a moderate crowd of followers on opening day, roughly 50. When the march concluded six days later, participation increased to several hundred, according to the Dakota website.

This year’s march drew fewer followers, but an organizer for the event, Angela Wilson, still said she was very pleased with the turnout, which was about 50 people.

The event was supported by the many Native American groups around the nation, including Hamline’s own Native American Student Association (NASA). Food and lodging was provided for the marchers. The only requirement of the people on the march, according to the Dakota website, was to bring a sleeping bag and make sure transportation was planned ahead to go to and from the march.

Organizers like Wilson agree this march is very spiritual event and is an effective way to honor the tragedy that befell the Dakota whose lives were stolen from them.

“It’s time that Minnesota recognizes its history of genocide and ethnic cleansing in an attempt to work toward justice for the Dakota people,” Wilson said.

“It’s a horrible story, but it needs to be told,” Dr. Mato Nunpa said. “People are still carrying so much grief.”

For more information about the Dakota people, or for information about the Dakota Commemorative March, visit their website, www.dakota-march.50megs.com.