Mni sota makoce The land of the Dakota

Dakota people have an ancient, enduring, intimate relationship with mni sota makoce (mostly today's Minnesota), but the land was systematically seized by the US. The authors utilize Dakota oral history augmented by written records to reveal this relationship before 1862. Dakota genesis; spiritual and historical relationships to specific places, such as Pilot's Knob and the Falls of St. Anthony; Dakota American views of the land; and other elements of Dakota cultural history magnify the study's value. Detailed explication of the treaties that seized Minnesota from the Dakota people emphasizes the perfidiousness of Americans, and analysis of the Dakota's stated positions reveals how the Dakota saw the land and what the treaties meant to them. The narrative concludes with contemporary Dakota who live in mni sota makoce and continue to fight to reclaim, among other sites, Coldwater Spring, the place of their creation. The power of place continues, as do the Dakota people. This is excellent history. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. G. Gagnon Loyola University of New Orleans

Minnesota State University English and humanities professor Westerman and White (We Are at Home: Pictures of the Ojibwe People) conducted intensive research to determine how the Dakota people thrived through the 19th century. Drawing from recorded interactions with Jesuit priests, French explorers like Pierre Le Sueur, and the Dakota themselves, the book examines all aspects of Dakota life. Academic in nature, the book profiles historical figures, deciphers myths, and cites treaties, creating a vivid tapestry of Dakota culture and how it adapted through interactions with settlers. As tensions rise between the Dakota and the Europeans, conflicts escalate, leaving the government struggling to contain the Dakota to "settlements." Despite this, the Dakota continue to "reclaim Minnesota" and preserve their heritage. Though the history of Native Americans is often distilled to their conflicts with pilgrims and pioneers, Westerman and White offer a nuanced portrait of a marginalized people and the land they still call home. 50 b/w illus, 15 color images, 2 maps. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In an account from around 1720, an unknown Frenchman recorded the Dakota belief that the first of their people came from the ground on the prairie between the mouth of the Minnesota River and the Falls of St. Anthony. In April 1754, Dakota chiefs gathered with a French diplomat, Joseph Marin, at a fort along the Mississippi River to complain about incursions by Ojibwe into their territory. One of the chiefs laid before Marin a map of the region and said, "No one could be unaware that from the mouth of the Wisconsin to Leech Lake, these territories belong to us. On all the points and in the little rivers we have had villages. One can still see the marks of our bones which are still there, which are the remains from the Cristinaux and the Sauteux having killed us. But they never can drive us away. These are territories that we hold from no one except the Master of Life who gave them to us. And although we have been at war against all the nations, we never abandoned them." Excerpted from Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota by Gwen Westerman, Bruce White All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.