Ms. Swenson talks about Dakota life in Canada.
They’ve held onto their traditions
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DL: So, do you stay in touch with the Canadian Dakota at all?
LS: Yes. I remember when I first learned to drive, I would drive my grandmother up to Canada to visit her relatives.
DL: Did they ever regret having to go up there? Did they ever want to come back?
LS: Well, when you go up there, they’ve held onto their traditions. They’ve got their original names, they use their Indian name. They’ve held onto more of the language and the culture. Right now there’s probably a little over 10,000 Dakotas, Mdewakantons from this community in Canada. They live on probably, oh, maybe five Sioux reservations from this area.
DL: So you have quite a large family north of here, too.
LS: Yes.
DL: I suppose they were able to handle their language and their ways in a way that was more… they could preserve it better.
Oral History- Interview |
Narrator LaVonne Swenson Interviewer Deborah Locke made in Morton, Lower Sioux Community, MN |
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Citation: Minnesota Historical Society. U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. They’ve held onto their traditions April 23, 2024. http://www.usdakotawar.org/node/1133
Viewpoints: All viewpoints expressed on this website are those of the contributors, and are not representative of the Minnesota Historical Society.
