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Most members of the Mendota
Mdewakanton Dakota Community can trace their ancestors back to
Mendota, MN in the 1700's. The French-Canadian fur traders migrated
to Minnesota and settled in Mendota. Joseph M. Nicollet said,
"The Mdewakanton people considered the mouth of the Minnesota
River to be the middle of all things—the exact center of
the earth."
In the old world, the Mdewakanton
people and fur traders lived in peace. This lasted through the
1700's and into the early 1800's. Many fur traders married Dakota
women.
The signing of treaties and
creation of reservations caused many hardships for the Dakota
people. The harsh winter of 1861, combined with broken promises
and delays in the delivery of annuity goods, brought about the
Sioux (Dakota) uprising of 1862 which lasted two weeks. Three
hundred ninety-two (392) Dakota men were imprisoned and scheduled
for execution. Thanks to President Lincoln's intervention only
38 of the original 392 were mass hung in Mankato, MN on December
26, 1862. The frightened Minnesotans were dissatisfied and demanded
that all the Dakota Indians be banished from the State.
Many of our ancestors were
shipped to Crow Creek in South Dakota and eventually relocated
to the Santee Reservation near Niobrara, Nebraska.
In the late 1860's, small
groups of Dakota people began returning to Minnesota. They rejoined
those who had stayed, "the Friendlies" who had
helped the white settlers. There were an estimated 75 Dakota people
residing in Mendota.
The General Allotment Act
of 1887 was an attempt to "civilize" the Indians. The
Dakota were forbidden to speak their native tongue or conduct
their religious ceremonies. Children were taken from their parents
and sent to boarding schools. Our grandparents and great-grandparents
were denied their heritage.
It wasn't until the Freedom
of Religion Act in 1973 that the Dakota people were finally allowed
to practice their religion freely.
See also Dakota
Families of Mendota.
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