Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life by David Treuer
Authors: David Treuer
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before dying—directed at his soup—were the same sentiments expressed by the Ojibwe chiefs he treated with so fairly: “The nourishment is palatable.”
The Mille Lacs Band went back to the table again in 1855 and signed another treaty with the government, trying to salvage what it could of its rights and sovereignty. The band members were guaranteed 60,000 acres at the southern end of Mille Lacs Lake. But while they were assured a homeland on the southern portion of the lake, the north half was opened to logging—and the loggers weren’t necessarily willing to stop at the reservation boundary. Then 1862 arrived.
To the south of Mille Lacs, along the Minnesota River, the old dividing line between Dakota and Ojibwe tribes, the former enemies of the Ojibwe were experiencing similar difficulties. More and more white settlers were creeping into the fertile Minnesota River valley with the encouragement of the U.S. government. Just as to the north loggers were claiming more and more forest, farmers were squatting in larger numbers in Dakota territory. The Dakota were facing starvation. The promises made by the U.S. government regarding treaty annuities and food had proved empty. There is some disagreement about whether the conflict was a spontaneous development or a strategic decision. Either way, the Dakota, having had enough and realizing that the United States was tied up in a war with the Confederacy, which the Union might very well lose, decided it was time to kick all the whites out of their territories. Such was the situation when, on August 17, 1862, a Dakota foraging party attacked a farm near Acton, Minnesota. Three men and two women were killed.
The Dakota quickly convened their leaders, who decided that the settlers and the U.S. Army would be sure to come down on them. So they went on the offensive, with the Dakota chief Little Crow in the lead. The next day, August 18, a party of Dakota warriors attacked the Lower Sioux Indian Agency near Redwood Falls, killed all those present, and took control of the agency. A relief party had been sent from Fort Ridgely. The Dakota surprised them and killed them all. Attacks continued over the next week. Fort Ridgely was besieged and the settlement of New Ulm was attacked. New Ulm was so badly burned that the residents who survived the attack fled. The Dakota killed all the men they encountered—settlers and soldiers alike—and took the women and children captive. General Sibley sallied forth from Fort Snelling at the head of a contingent of 1,400 soldiers. They chased Little Crow up the Minnesota River and a standoff ensued. Meanwhile, some Ojibwe bands, mostly Pillager Band warriors from Leech Lake, decided to lend support to the Dakota and swept down from the north.
But not all Dakota or Ojibwe thought war was a good idea. Some Dakota near Shakopee didn’t fight, and many protected their white neighbors. Likewise, the Ojibwe at Mille Lacs decided that they would not join the Pillagers. What’s more, they refused to let the Pillagers pass through their territories and sent them back north, thereby protecting their neighbors. The Dakota and Ojibwe who refused to fight might have done so out of neighborliness and out of self-interest, feeling that their relatives would be defeated and judgment would be harsh. They were, and it was.
When the conflict was over, between 400 and 800 whites were dead, along with many more Dakota. It was the largest loss of civilian life as the result of a “foreign attack” on U.S. soil until the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Three hundred Dakota warriors were sentenced to death. Eventually thirty-eight were hanged at Mankato, in what was the largest mass execution in the history of the United States. In the wake of the conflict the U.S. government abrogated all of its treaty obligations to the Dakota in Minnesota, and a conflict that began because of hardship led the Dakota to a century of the most abject
The Mille Lacs Band went back to the table again in 1855 and signed another treaty with the government, trying to salvage what it could of its rights and sovereignty. The band members were guaranteed 60,000 acres at the southern end of Mille Lacs Lake. But while they were assured a homeland on the southern portion of the lake, the north half was opened to logging—and the loggers weren’t necessarily willing to stop at the reservation boundary. Then 1862 arrived.
To the south of Mille Lacs, along the Minnesota River, the old dividing line between Dakota and Ojibwe tribes, the former enemies of the Ojibwe were experiencing similar difficulties. More and more white settlers were creeping into the fertile Minnesota River valley with the encouragement of the U.S. government. Just as to the north loggers were claiming more and more forest, farmers were squatting in larger numbers in Dakota territory. The Dakota were facing starvation. The promises made by the U.S. government regarding treaty annuities and food had proved empty. There is some disagreement about whether the conflict was a spontaneous development or a strategic decision. Either way, the Dakota, having had enough and realizing that the United States was tied up in a war with the Confederacy, which the Union might very well lose, decided it was time to kick all the whites out of their territories. Such was the situation when, on August 17, 1862, a Dakota foraging party attacked a farm near Acton, Minnesota. Three men and two women were killed.
The Dakota quickly convened their leaders, who decided that the settlers and the U.S. Army would be sure to come down on them. So they went on the offensive, with the Dakota chief Little Crow in the lead. The next day, August 18, a party of Dakota warriors attacked the Lower Sioux Indian Agency near Redwood Falls, killed all those present, and took control of the agency. A relief party had been sent from Fort Ridgely. The Dakota surprised them and killed them all. Attacks continued over the next week. Fort Ridgely was besieged and the settlement of New Ulm was attacked. New Ulm was so badly burned that the residents who survived the attack fled. The Dakota killed all the men they encountered—settlers and soldiers alike—and took the women and children captive. General Sibley sallied forth from Fort Snelling at the head of a contingent of 1,400 soldiers. They chased Little Crow up the Minnesota River and a standoff ensued. Meanwhile, some Ojibwe bands, mostly Pillager Band warriors from Leech Lake, decided to lend support to the Dakota and swept down from the north.
But not all Dakota or Ojibwe thought war was a good idea. Some Dakota near Shakopee didn’t fight, and many protected their white neighbors. Likewise, the Ojibwe at Mille Lacs decided that they would not join the Pillagers. What’s more, they refused to let the Pillagers pass through their territories and sent them back north, thereby protecting their neighbors. The Dakota and Ojibwe who refused to fight might have done so out of neighborliness and out of self-interest, feeling that their relatives would be defeated and judgment would be harsh. They were, and it was.
When the conflict was over, between 400 and 800 whites were dead, along with many more Dakota. It was the largest loss of civilian life as the result of a “foreign attack” on U.S. soil until the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Three hundred Dakota warriors were sentenced to death. Eventually thirty-eight were hanged at Mankato, in what was the largest mass execution in the history of the United States. In the wake of the conflict the U.S. government abrogated all of its treaty obligations to the Dakota in Minnesota, and a conflict that began because of hardship led the Dakota to a century of the most abject
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