The Dakota Nation
The Oceti Sakowin Oyate is composed of seven major nations: they are the People of the Seven Council Fires. The seven nations are Wahpekute, Wahpetunwan, Sisistunwan, Bdwakantunwan, Ihanktunwan, Ihanktunwanna, and Titunwan.1 Often they are referred to by non-Native people as the Sioux Nation. The three main dialects spoken by the Oceti Sakowin Oyate are Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota.2 Those of the Dakota lineage were the primary Native people that lived and interacted with others who lived in western Illinois and eastern Iowa. The Oceti Sakowin was a very strong and resourceful nation, although as Europeans and Americans entered their territory, disease killed many members of the community. The Dakota also had conflicts with neighboring nations. But it was the continual push from Americans into their land and the failed promises of broken treaties that severely damaged their presence in the Midwest.3
Mendota from Fort Snelling
There are many primary sources, including Native oral traditions, documenting the life of the Oceti Sakowin people.4 One of the most prominent non-Native painters and writers to engage with the Dakota in the nineteenth century was a man by the name of Seth Eastman. Much of his work focused on the realism of how people lived, unlike his contemporaries who focused on romanticism.5 Eastman depicted parts of Dakota culture from the Medicine Dance to the Worship of the Sun. He also painted many images of everyday people, like women dressing a buffalo skin or the doctors making medicine. Some of his paintings are still hung in the capital in Minnesota.6
As Americans began setting policy and pushing west, other nations such as the Ojibwe, Sauk, and Meskwaki were pushed into Dakota land creating a rivalry between nations that often led to warfare. After the Sauk and Meskwaki moved west after ceding their lands of northwestern Illinois, fighting resulted over hunting grounds. Due to rising conflict the U.S. government held a treaty in 1825 known as the Treaty of Prairie du Chien.7 The United States had no way to police the tenets of that treaty. The goal was to divide land up so that nations had legal hunting grounds, but the treaty was ineffective. It was not until after 1830 that many Nations ceded more land over to the U.S.
Gathering Wild Rice
Over time the fur trade became less profitable and was a less viable subsistence practice for the Dakota nation. Lawrence Taliaferro, Indian agent near Fort Snelling from 1819 to 1839 was one of the main diplomats who interacted with the Dakota nation. He helped pressure the Dakota and the Ojibwe nations to cede land to the U.S. government in exchange for money and supplies. This led to the first major cession of land by the Dakota nation in 1837 where they gave large plots of land which was used for timber. This treaty was devastating to the Dakota. They were already struggling due to the fur trade becoming less profitable, but once they were pressured to leave their lands, their economic health was majorly injured. What hurt them also, was that the money and supplies they were offered were not paid in full and were often paid late.8
After years of not being paid in full, Little Crow, a leader of a Dakota tribe, led an expedition to gather food in order for his people to avoid starvation. This would eventually lead to more battles that would become the Dakota War of 1862. The last major battle was the Battle of Wood Lake. After the Dakota people surrendered, 307 people were sentenced to death in a sham court where they had no legal representation.9 Abraham Lincoln reduced the number of men to be killed to 38. This is the largest single execution in American history.10
Hunting Buffalo in the Winter
Although the U.S. forced the Dakota to be removed from Minnesota after the War of 1862, many eventually returned, living in and around the Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies and the southwest portion of the state. There are also Dakota communities in Nebraska, South and North Dakota, and Canada. Dakota culture has been resilient, despite the continued attempts of the U.S. government to assimilate Dakota people, and the Dakota language is still spoken and taught, including in programs at the University of Minnesota.11
By Dan Springsteen
1 National Museum of the American Indian. “Oceti Sakowin.” Accessed May 26, 2021. https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/plains-belonging-nation/oceti-sakowin
2 Ibid.
3 Gibbon, Guy, The Dakota and Lakota Nations. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.
4 Many oral histories can be found online at the Minnesota Historical Society’s digital research collections hub: https://search.mnhs.org/
5 MNOPEDIA. “Eastman, Seth (1808–1875).” Accessed May 26, 2021. https://www.mnopedia.org/person/eastman-seth-1808-1875
6 Minnesota Digital Library, “Seth Eastman: Depictions of Native American Life.” Accessed May 26, 2021. https://mndigital.org/projects/primary-source-sets/seth-eastman-depictions-native-american-life
7 Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. “Multinational Treaties at Prairie Du Chien.” Treaties Matter. Accessed May 26, 2021. https://treatiesmatter.org/treaties/land/1825-1830-Multinational
8 Kappler, Charles Joseph. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol. 2, Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904, 442.
First Image: Eastman, Seth. "Mendota from Fort Snelling" Digital Image. MNHS. 1848. Accessed May, 2021.
Second Image: Eastman, Seth. "Gathering Wild Rice" Digital Image. Artsmia. 1849. Accessed May, 2021.
Third Image: Eastman, Seth "Hunting Buffalo in the Winter" Digital Image. Mndigital. 1850. Accessed May, 2021.