Event Date(s):
Oct 11 2012 - 6:30pm to Oct 12 2012 - 12:00am
Location
Metropolitan State University
MN
United States
See map: Google Maps
The Year of the Dakota: Remembering, Truth Telling, and Honoring Conference
Oceti Sakowin Omniciye OSO (Seven Fire Summit) is co-sponsoring “The Year of the Dakota: Remembering, Truth Telling, and Honoring” conference Thursday, Oct. 11 (beginning at 6:30 PM) and Friday, October 12 at Metropolitan State University. This event kicks off a Sesquicentennial Commemoration of:
- the Dakota-U.S. War,
- the forced march of the women and children to the concentration camp at Fort Snelling, and
- the mass hanging of 38 prisoners of war who were the brave heroes of the Dakota Oyate.
Keynote Guest Speaker is Dr. Chris Mato Nunpa, retired Associate Professor of Indigenous Nations & Dakota Studies (INDS) at Southwest Minnesota State University, and Dakota Leader and activist. The conference also features other Dakota Elders and Dakota scholars familiar with the history and culture of the Dakota Oyate (People) speaking about the beauties and wonder of being Dakota and the “hidden” Minnesota history of the Dakota Genocide, broken treaties, land theft, and the extermination and diaspora of the Dakota.
The conference is the first step, as the organization works with State Representative Susan Allen on a formal request that Governor Dayton declare 2013 “The Year of the Dakota” to mark the anniversary of the Dakotas’ forced removal from their homelands and the genocidal campaigns conducted by former Minnesota Governor Henry Sibley and General Alfred Sully, leader of Calvary fighting troops during the Dakota conflict of 1862.
OSO will be working throughout 2013 to assure that Dakota history is part of the educational curriculum in area schools and will be holding an International Tribunal, accusing Ramsey and Sibley of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, scheduled for November 2013. Further activities are planned, as the remembering must not end with the 2012 Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the Dakota-U.S. War.
Free conference registration for students and members of the Dakota but you must register; all other participants may register for $25.00 (credit cards only). Please go to http://www.sevenfiressummit.org “Events” and then “Present Events." Students and Dakota must first call 612-659-7226 to receive the code that will allow you to register for free.
The Oceti Sakowin Omniciye (Seven Fires Summit) is a non-profit educational organization working on behalf of the Dakota people. Our mission is to reveal the true history of the Dakota and the State of Minnesota – a history marked by acts of genocide, theft, and broken treaties. Our educational efforts focus on exposing the State-sponsored atrocities surrounding the Dakota/U.S. War of 1862. Often overlooked, the State's genocidal efforts remain historical fact. Indeed, in September of 1862, Governor Alexander Ramsey (second governor of the State of Minnesota) openly declared, "The Sioux Indians of Minnesota must
be exterminated or driven beyond the borders of the state."
We believe the State's legacy of injustice is perpetuated by their refusal to acknowledge and atone for atrocities committed against the Dakota Nation. Justice should be served through official State acknowledgement, land recovery, and the indictment of Governors Sibley and Ramsey for crimes against humanity. Until the Dakota receive just compensation for the slaughter of
their ancestors and theft of their home, they cannot begin the long process of healing.
Event Organization:
Oceti Sakowin Omniciye OSO (Seven Fire Summit)
