Dakota Journal P.O. Box 183
P.O. Box 31 Waubay, SD 57273
Flandreau, SD 57028 December 12, 2007
FAX: 605/573-2684
editor@dakotajournal.net
Letter To The Editor:
This is in response to the book “Uprising” by Minnesota State Representative, Dean Urdahl. Dakota writers have written about this subject from the beginning. There is the collection of Dakota letters from the concentration camps, the published work of Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman and many contemporary Dakota writers. It is a disappointment that Euro-America continues to deny the Dakota perspective of the life and death struggle for survival and justice by the Dakota Oyate in 1862.
In 1862, 1,700 primarily women and children were forced-marched from Morton, Minnesota to a concentration camp located at Fort Snelling. Minnesota needs to acknowledge this terrible history by officially designating the path of the Dakota march as a memorial.
The Sesquicentennial Celebration of 150 years of Minnesota statehood that is planned for 2008 is based on duplicity of land theft and the genocide of the Dakota Oyate. Many editorials have been published by the Minneapolis Star Tribune written by Euro-Americans. Some of these editorials suggest that the Dakota today harbor racial hatred which does nothing more than justify the actions of Euro-American immigrants in 1862. Contemporary Dakota understand that racial hatred is corrosive, doing little to educate, invite dialogue or resolve difficult issues.
This is a moral issue that is why there are human rights groups at watch around the world. It is one of the reasons why organizations like the United Nations are needed to protect the human rights of people. The United States and Minnesota must be held accountable for America’s fundamental policies that should promote human rights, liberty and justice for all. These ideals did not apply equally to the Dakota in 1862.
Gabrielle Tateyuskanskan
A Member of the Oak Lake Writers
Co-Coordinator Dakota Commemorative March
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