Chris Mato Nunpa: A historic document for Year of the Dakota

Thursday, January 10, 2013  

"Friday, December 14, 2012, the Minneapolis City Council passed a resolution titled “The Year of the Dakota: Remembering, Honoring and Truth-Telling,” which year began on December 26, 2012 through December 26, 2013. The Resolution contained such terms and phrases as: “Genocide” “Bounties” “Concentration Camps” “Forced Marches” “Mass Hangings” “Forcible Removals” etc. In my 72 “winters,” I had never seen a white governmental entity at any level – federal, state, or local – use such Truth-Telling terms in one of their official documents.

For me, it was “historic” to hear such Truth-Telling as contained in that Resolution. One Native college instructor called the document “monumental.”

This wonderful break-through event, the passing of the Resolution by the Minneapolis City Council, occurred as the Dakota People of Minnesota, along with their allies and supporters, are commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Dakota-U.S. War of 1862. We say “Dakota-U.S. War of 1862” because it was the Dakota who declared war on the Wasicu (the Dakota word for the white man). The Dakota wished to drive the invaders and the land-stealers out of the Minnesota River valley. This decision by our Dakota leaders to declare war turned out to be disastrous."

Get the Story:
Chris Mato Nunpa: A Historic and Monumental Resolution Regarding the Year of the Dakota (Indian Country Today 1/10)