On this day, Sept. 23, 1805, history books tell us “Pike’s Treaty” was signed, the first time Dakota people ceded lands to the U.S. government in what is now Minnesota. It covered 100,000 acres, including what are now the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as well as Fort Snelling.
The problem is, it wasn’t a treaty at all. It wasn’t negotiated on behalf of the U.S. government. Most Dakota leaders did not agree to it.
The City of Minneapolis has released the first part of a new report on Native American history in the Minneapolis area. It focuses on Native American history here prior to the arrival of Europeans and the conflicts that arose immediately after.
The second part of the report is scheduled for release July 1. It will focus on the history of Native American in Minneapolis in the 20th Century. A second public hearing will be scheduled to get comments on that draft. Watch the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation website for details. Continue reading
Efforts to tell the 13,000 year history of Native Americans in what is now Minneapolis took another step forward, with researchers releasing a draft chapter.
Researchers from Two Pines Resource Group are still doing interviews and collecting information, but the project is on a short timeline. They are looking for information on the places, spaces, people and history important to Native peoples in the area. This includes sacred places, information on culture and arts, language revitalization, politics and activism, religious organizations, and Native American “firsts,” such as the first elected officials. All that and more will be included in their study.
The city held a public meeting Tuesday, April 12, at the Minneapolis American Indian Center to continue getting community feedback. (We wrote about this research effort in an earlier blog.)
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