We are the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota. Our ancestors have lived in the lands around Mdote — the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers — from time immemorial. Our connection to makhóčhe (the land) runs deep, woven through our traditions, our language, and our shared commitment to preserving our cultural identity.
French explorers first encountered and describe Dakota people living between MdéWakáŋ (Mille Lacs) and Mdóte (the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers) in the 1660s.
In 1805, Zebulon Pike and Četáŋ Wakúwa Máni of Kap’óža village signed the first treaty between the U.S. and the Dakota people. From 1812 to 1825, Mendota village, St. Peters Indian Agency, and Fort Snelling were established at Mdote. Dakota people began moving from Kap’óža to Mendota to take part in the fur trade and support the traders and government officials employed at Fort Snelling and St. Paul.
In 1851, the Mdewakanton and Wapekute tribes of the Dakota signed the Treaty of Mendota, ceding all their land in Minnesota. Most Mdewakanton people were forced to relocate from the Twin Cities area to the Lower Sioux Agency or Redwood Agency. However, the U.S. government failed to uphold treaty terms. Payments arrived late or not at all, and by 1862, many Dakota people were on the brink of starvation. This led to the U.S.-Dakota War on August 17, 1862. Following surrender, 38 Dakota men were executed by hanging.
Most of the Dakota people were exiled from Minnesota. By 1899, fewer than 1,000 Dakota people remained in their Minnesota homeland.
In the 1880s, the U.S. government purchased land in Minnesota for the remaining
Dakota families at Morton, Welch, and Prior Lake. However, the government refused to
purchase land for the Mdewakanton Dakota people who chose to remain in Mendota village, a community became known as the Mendota Indians by the end of the nineteenth century.
In the 1930s, three Minnesota Dakota communities received federal recognition under the Indian Reorganization Act: the Lower Sioux Indian Community, the Upper Sioux Indian Community, and the Prairie Island Indian Community. In 1969, the Dakota community at Prior Lake was re-organized as the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Indian Community and received federal recognition. However, Mendota remained unrecognized.
Despite its lack of federal recognition and a federal land base, the Mendota Mdewakantons continued to live and interact as a distinct, cohesive community throughout the twentieth century.
In 1996, they established a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to help fund their community cultural activities. From 1998 to 2001, they took part in the fight to protect Coldwater Spring (Mní Ówe Sní) and Pilot Knob (Oȟéyawahe) from urban development. To this day, we remain committed to defending our land and passing on our Dakota culture to future generations.