Dr. Canku compares the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 to current events.
Things to think about:
How does the U.S. government think about warfare?
I would compare it to what's happening to the United States
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Audio Chapters
DL: One of the places we list for comment is New Ulm. And the reason we do that is we have done interviews in New Ulm as well, with the descendants of the farmers from the 1860s who were killed.
CC: Yes.
DL: You mentioned the horror of women and children who marched and who died, the way they were treated, and disease and the hunger...
CC: Yes.
DL: And the German descendants remembered their family members who were on the farms and did not speak English, did not necessarily understand that they had pushed the Dakota away by coming here.
CC: Yes.
DL: They weren't all fully aware of the implications.
CC: That's correct.
DL: Of their moving here.
CC: That's correct.
DL: And many of them died at the hands of Dakota.
CC: Yes.
DL: What would you say to them today? They too are sad for their family members who were shot, or stabbed or tomahawked or whatever. What would you say to them, and do you think that there's a chance that the Dakota of today could reconcile with those Germans from New Ulm who have vivid memories of what happened?
CC: I would compare it to what's happening to the United States in the countries that we're involved in war – like Afghanistan, Iraq, in those places where we are doing the same thing to those people. And are we going to be feeling sorry for those people? Every day we have news coverage of innocents, women and children being bombed and killed. And we're making a tremendous amount of enemies. And are we willing to turn the other cheek, and say slap me on this side because I killed your women and children? Or, are we going to justify it and say "Well, it was a state of war." ......
Oral History- Interview |
Narrator Dr. Clifford Canku Interviewer Deborah Locke made at Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, MN |
Friday, June 10, 2011
Citation: Minnesota Historical Society. U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. I would compare it to what's happening to the United States April 17, 2024. http://www.usdakotawar.org/node/1027
Viewpoints: All viewpoints expressed on this website are those of the contributors, and are not representative of the Minnesota Historical Society.
