Ramsey County History – Spring 1999: “The Dakota Perspective: ‘We Have Been Cheated So Often’”

The Dakota Perspective: “We Have Been Cheated So Often”

Author: Mark Diedrich

Before white Minnesotans organized Minnesota as a territory in 1849, the Native American population of the region consisted mainly of Dakota, who had been living in the area of Lake Mille Lacs since the 1600s. One division of these Dakota, called the Mantantons migrated southward to the vicinity of the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. Later they were joined by the Mdewakantons, who established themselves above the Falls of St. Anthony. By the early 1800s, these two tribes had come together and shared the same hunting ground and warred constantly with the Ojibwe. The author then summarizes events involving white settlement in the nineteenth century, treaties with the U.S. government with the Dakota’s associated dependence on annuities, and the decrease of game locally. The article concludes with a brief analysis of the causes of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, the subsequent forcible expulsion of the Dakota from the region, and the abrogation of the treaties by the U.S. Congress.

PDF of Diedrich article