A Thrilling Narrative of Indian Captivity, 2012
“Treat all men alike.... give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who is born a free man should be contented when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. Let me be a free man...free to travel... free to stop...free to work...free to choose my own teachers...free to follow the religion of my Fathers...free to think and talk and act for myself.”
― Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
1. The Establishment of the state of Minnesota as we know it today:
The story that often gets told regarding the settlement of the American frontier is, as the author Mary Lethert Winger termed it, a "benign narrative of immigration, settlement, and cultural exchange." She goes on to call the conflict "Minnesota's Civil War." The state of Minnesota was founded on this conflict. It was one of the first instances in which the U.S. government encountered a group of Native Americans that were powerful enough to challenge its expansion and thereby force it and its citizens to fight for the territory they were inhabiting. Further, through the violence and injustice committed on both sides, the war established a deep mistrust between the Dakota nation and the non-native citizens of Minnesota.
2. Little Crow & Dakota resilience:
Throughout his life, Little Crow sought to live in a way that would bring honor to his people. He knew the price of going to war, and he made the choice to lead his people to what he assumed was going to be their deaths, because he knew it was his only option. As the Dakota increasingly assert their sovereignty and emphasize their history, Little Crow stands as an example of Dakota pride and loyalty in the face of injustice.
"There are descendants there, still living in Mankato from 1862. I met a woman there who is the granddaughter of the man that cut that rope, and she met us there at the hanging site and we just held each other and cried. It was very healing for her, and for me also."
--Pamela Halverson, Lower Sioux, Oral History Project Participant, through the Minnesota Historical Society