03. What is the history of the Dakota in Minnesota before and after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862?

 
The Dakota have lived in the area now known as Minnesota for centuries. The Dakota are part of the larger Dakota nation, which includes the Lakota and Nakota and extends westward to Montana.
 
Up to the establishment of Fort Snelling (completed in 1825), Dakota interaction with Europeans and European-Americans was primarily through the fur trade. The Dakota lived much as they did in the previous centuries, following a seasonal cycle of hunting, fishing and planting.
 
The original Dakota Reservation in the Minnesota Territory was established by treaty in 1851. The treaty set aside a 10-mile wide strip of land on both sides of the Minnesota River as the permanent home of the Dakota. This reservation life greatly affected traditional Dakota ways.  Some Dakota assimilated under government pressure and influence, while others resisted change.
 
After the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, the United States Congress abrogated or nullified all treaties, and most of the Dakota were exiled to new lands along the Missouri River and in North and South Dakota. Dakota communities were reestablished in Minnesota in their current locations by acts of Congress in 1886.
 
On these new reservations and in newly-formed communities in Minnesota, the Dakota built new lives under rules established by the United States. Today the Dakota live on and off reservations throughout Minnesota, the Upper Midwest and Canada.
 
The Dakota who live in Minnesota are comprised of the Lower Bands: the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute; and the Upper Bands: the Sisseton and Wahpeton. The Dakota who now live in eastern North and South Dakota are the Nakota, comprised of the Yankton and Yanktonai. The Lakota tribes west of the Missouri River in Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas and Montana include the Hunkpapa, Sihasapas, Itazipchos, Minneconjous, Oglalas, Sichangu and Oohenonpaas.
 
The four federally recognized Dakota tribal governments in Minnesota are:
 
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Prior Lake.
Prairie Island Indian Community, Welch.
Lower Sioux Indian Community, Morton.
Upper Sioux Community, Granite Falls.
 
The Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community in Mendota is a non-federally recognized tribe.
 
For more information about federally recognized tribal organizations in Minnesota, visit www.sos.state.mn.us.
 
In Canada, the Dakota settled in a number of Reserves: Whitecap Dakota, Wahpeton Dakota, Standing Buffalo Dakota, Carry the Kettle, Wood Mountain, Birdtail Sioux, Sioux Valley Dakota, Canupawakpa Dakota, Dakota Tipi and Dakota Plains Wahpeton.  For a complete listing of Dakota reserves and communities, go to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.