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A glance at the Upper Mississippi River Valley history speaks of Wabasha's band of Mdewakanton Dakota Indians. All of Southeastern Minnesota was Chief Wapasha's territory and the 1851 treaty at Mendota between the Dakota Indians and the United States relieved Wapasha of his territory and virtually opened Southern Minnesota for white settlement.
On tours of Whitewater State Park Interpretive Naturalist Dave Palmquist recites the following written by a poet who witnessed the signing of the treaty at Mendota:
Give way, give way, young warrior,
Thou and thy steed give way- -
Rest not, though lingers on the hills
The red sun's parting ray.
The rocky bluff and prairie land
The white man claims them now,
The symbols of his course are here,
The rifle, axe, and plough.
In 1853, President Millard Fillmore proclaimed the treaty of Mendota and the land of the Mississippi River was opened to settlers. The 1854 Grand Excursion, attended by Fillmore, marked the opening of the West and the wonders of the Mississippi River.
Winona will be celebrating the sesquicentennial of the Grand Excursion on Wednesday June 30 and will begin reconciliation with the Dakota Indians on Saturday, June 26 and Sunday, June 27.
Palmquist is thrilled that community members in Winona took the initiative to begin a reconciliation process with the Dakota Indians. "I feel that we're cheated culturally by what happened and how they were banished," he said. He feels that the removal of the Dakota Indians from the Winona area has left a void and that reconciliation is an opportunity to recover something that was lost when the Dakota left.
"This is a great opportunity for the people of Winona to increase the richness of Winona," he said. "It's such a great opportunity for us all to grow and do some healing."
Palmquist also understands that the reconciliation process won't happen if there aren't changes. "We all need to learn about each other and appreciate each other."
Bill Flesch, pastor emeritus, LCMS, said that the national government broke a number of treaties with the Native Americans and that the government has never apologized.
"What we're doing here is we're initiating (the reconciliation) process and the first step or phase of the process is truth telling," Flesch said. He said that the stories of the Dakota Indians, of mistreatment and broken promises, need to be heard and acknowledged.
"It goes far beyond that in terms of reconciliation," he continued. Reconciliation is really a transformation of the Winona community in openness, acceptance and respect for Native Americans, he said.
The stories of mistreatment and broken promises have been passed down through three generations of Dakota Indians. The pain has been passed down through three generations, Flesch said. "That's how instilled this pain is in these people."
"It's one thing to connect with the Native American in pow-wow and dance and song," Flesch said, "this is another level." He said that it goes as deep as some of the Dakota Indians wanting to move back to Winona and make it their home.
Education is the key to bringing a transformation to fruition, Flesch said. "In working together, Winonans and Dakotas will find the mutual benefit of understanding and helping each other."
The Dakota Homecoming becomes the mechanism that will enable understanding and reconciliation to happen in an organized fashion, Flesch said. "It needs to touch the lives of the people of Winona."
See the Dakota Homecoming event schedule for June 26-27 on page 8B.
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