Aftermath of Dakota War 1862

Thursday, October 31, 2019  

RAPID CITY – As the Black Hills Powwow was winding down earlier this month, a special presentation took place at the Journey Museum regarding the events leading up to the Dakota War of 1862, or Sioux Uprising of 1862, and its aftermath.

Representative Tamara St. John of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) presented the “History of the Dakota and the Dakota Conflict of 1862” to a crowd of nearly fifty people, mostly non-Native Americans interested in this part of their local and regional history.

Through several slides, the historian and genealogist was able to outline the events leading up to the conflict which has been described as both a war and uprising. But as St. John described it during her presentation, this was a conflict which happened as a result of starvation. Starvation which occurred as a result of faulty Indian policy, corrupt government officials, and persons interested in both genocide and assimilation of American Indians.

During the hour-long presentation, the South Dakota State Representative was able to take the audience through a brief history of her people, through a lens represented by the fact that she is directly related to persons of the Dakota 38+2. This infamous hanging of individuals found responsible for the uprising and their participation in the ‘war’ (many of which were hung for ambiguous reasons) is known as being the largest mass hanging in American history.

Prior to becoming a state representative and historian for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, St. John was a stay at home mom who became interested in her tribe’s history through her interest in genealogy. It was during her research into familial records that she began to make the connections to the 1862 conflict. This time period for St. John’s family was only two or three generations back. This is a personal story for the tribal member.

“For the aftermath of the 1862 war, I had already done a great deal of research on Whitestone Hill,” she said. “Where I came about doing any of this in such an extensive manner was through genealogy. I was home, researching, doing genealogy, and when you study your family line, it forces you to understand history, culture, language.”

It was during the Wolfchild lawsuit when St. John was contacted to do genealogy. This is when she began to study families “into old Minnesota” at an intense level and covering several family lines, as it pertained to the lawsuit. This is when she was able to track the legislation of the time period. This is the era which she calls the movement of her people, from Minnesota to their current location in South Dakota and North Dakota.

“It had become this extensive project where I had developed a huge, personal archives. The tribe got ahold of me at one point and I’ve been with them ever since,” she said. This happened prior to the 2012 150th anniversary of the tragic events in Minnesota. She was adamant about making this anniversary not be a celebration, or referred to a celebratory event. This research had assisted in the Minnesota Historical Society’s exhibit for this commemoration.

This research led to the discovery and exposure of many crimes against Dakota people during period leading up to the 1862 uprising, this included crimes committed by Gov. Alexander Ramsey. “He called for the extermination of the Sioux,” she said. “We were tasked with telling the truth. And how do you do that? That’s probably why they wanted to work with me.”

Part of the joy of doing this type of work was discovering more than lineage and relationships. This telling of the stories of the individuals of the time period and discovering their place in society was a driving factor in her research of the time period. “I never even knew that I could love somebody so much that probably could not even have imagined me. I’m walking on ground where they lived or stood.”

Contact Richie Richards at richie4175@gmail.com

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today

'I could not afford to hang men for votes': Largest mass hanging in America (October 9, 2019)