University Lutheran Church of Hope

“Map of Minnesota Territory,” by J. H. Young (1856)

Treaty, and parcel research for:

601 13th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414

Eurpoean Treatment Report

“Little Crow's Village on the Mississippi,” watercolor by Seth Eastman (c. 1846-1848)

The ultimate aim of a Dakota life, stripped of accessories, was quite simple: One must obey kinship rules; one must be a good relative. No Dakota who has participated in that life will dispute that. In the last analysis every other consideration was secondary—property, personal ambition, glory, good times, life itself. Without that aim and the constant struggle to attain it, the people would no longer be Dakotas in truth. They would no longer even be human. To be a good Dakota, then, was to be humanized, civilized. And to be civilized was to keep the rules imposed by kinship for achieving civility, good manners, and a sense of responsibility towards every individual dealt with.

— Aŋpétu Wašté Wiŋ (Beautiful Day Woman, Ella Cara Deloria) | Speaking of Indians (1944)

A Dakota Place

Mni Sota Makoce

“Third president, 1801–1809,” oil painting by Mather Brown, 1786

Settler Colonialism

The Treaty Period

Coerce.

“Commerce is the great engine by which we are to coerce them, and not war.”

Thomas Jefferson to Merriwether Lewis (1808)

“Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War,” by Charles Fenderich (1838)

Power.

“You have passed through some of our great Towns. Many more remain to be seen. You have seen enough to be aware of the power of the nation. This power will in no event be exerted to do you evil. It will always be used to protect you and defend you. To do this more effectively, your Father desires to place the great river between you and the Whites.”

Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett to Dakota treaty delegates (1837)

Photog r aph of Iron Cloud by unknown artist (date unknown)

Uneasy.

“We understood by our Father [Poinsett] that our great Father [the President] wanted to buy our lands. You would not pay us our price. I have not had a good night’s rest. My mind has been occupied in thinking about the price you offer. I hope it will satisfy our people. I feel very uneasy about divvying up these lands as you would not give us our price.”

Dakota delegate Mau~pu-ab-mab-zab (Iron Cloud) to Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett (1837)

Detail of “The Sioux chiefs before Secretary Noble,” by T. De Thulstrup (1891)

Money.

“I think you love money.”

Dakota delegate Tah-chunk-wash-taa (Good Road) to Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett (1837)

“Sioux Delegation” in Washington, D.C. by unknown artist (1891)

Home.

“We never dreamt of selling you our lands until your Agent, our Father, invited us to come and visit our Great Father. The land that we give up tp you is the best that we have, we hope you will allow us to hunt on it. When I got on board of the big boat to come here, I had a full heart. It is now very light. We were told that we should be absent about sixty days. We want to go home.”

Dakota delegate Mare-pu-ab-nasiah (Standing Cloud) to Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett (1837)

Signature of Commissioner of Indian Affairs T. Hartley Crawford (1840)

Property.

“Common property and civilization cannot co-exist…. At the foundation of the whole social system lies individuality of property. It is, perhaps, nine times in ten the stimulus that manhood first feels. It has produced the energy, industry, and enterprise that distinguish the civilized world, and contributes more largely to the good morals of men than those are willing to acknowledge who have not looked somewhat closely at their fellow beings.”

Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs' T. Hartley Crawford to Secretary of War H. Joel Poinsett (1838)