Editorial: Resentment festers 150 years after the Dakota War

Monday, August 13, 2012  

"One hundred fifty years ago this week, five Acton Township white settlers were murdered by four Santee Dakota young men. The war that would transform Minnesota had begun.

Before it ended six weeks later, hundreds of settlers and untold numbers of Dakota would be dead. The Dakota bands that took up arms were vanquished, becoming either fugitives or captives. Before 1862 was over, Mankato would be the site of the largest mass hanging in U.S. history.

And before the first anniversary of what would be called the Dakota War, most Dakota people would be banished from Minnesota to what are still some of the most impoverished places in the United States.

That's a simple retelling of a complex story that will be featured on the pages of this newspaper and its website beginning today and for the next five days. Seldom does history claim so much space in a daily news report. But seldom is history as important as the Dakota War is to Minnesota so poorly known and understood."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Dakota War story can aid the healing (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/12)

Also Today:
A man lost in history (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/12)
Why Little Crow? (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/12)