HISTORY

The Rest of the Story

Here at Prairie Island, we speak the Dakota (dah-KO-tah) dialect. There are other communities of Dakota speakers in Minnesota at the Upper Sioux Reservation near Granite Falls, the Lower Sioux Reservation near Morton, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Community at Prior Lake.

Minnesota - Mini Sota Makoce - is the homeland of the Mdewakanton.

Mini (mi-NEE) means "water" in the Dakota dialect.

Sota (SHO-tah) means "cloudy, cloud-like, or tinted."

Makoce (mah-KO-chay) is translated as "land" or "earth."

Thus Mini Sota Makoce can be translated as the "Land of Clouded Waters."

Many of the place names in Minnesota are the original Dakota names or Dakota names translated into English.

The City of Red Wing is named after the Dakota leader Hupahu Sa (hu-PAH-hu-shah) - "Red Wing," whose village was located where the city now stands. The city of Winona derives its name from the Dakota word Winona (wee-NO-nah), which is a name given to a daughter if she is the first-born child. The city of Minnetonka gets its name from the Dakota words mini (mi-NEE) - "water," and tanka (TAHN-kah) meaning "big." Thus mini tanka means "Big Water".

Prairie Island Family poses for postcard photo, ca. 1902

"Indian John" Smith July 1930

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Our Prairie Island Mdewakanton historical perspective Booklets are available upon request, from our Communications Department.

Click on the booklet cover to view the PDF version.

During the 1800's as the new American republic expanded westward, the Dakota living in what is now Minnesota negotiated a series of treaties with the United States government, transferring title to virtually all of their land to the United States. We know this land today as the southern half of Minnesota. Only a small area was reserved for the Dakota to use in perpetuity - in other words, their "reservation." The original Dakota reservation in Minnesota was on the banks of the Minnesota River. The United States agreed to provide supplies and other assistance to the Dakota as payment for the land.

When the supplies promised in the treaty were not delivered, and the Dakota people were starving, violence erupted. The Dakota Uprising of 1862 caused terrible suffering for innocent people on both sides of the conflict. Some of the Dakota fled to Canada, where their descendants still live. After the fighting stopped, most of the Dakota remaining in Minnesota were confined, and then forced into exile. They were deported to Crow Creek, South Dakota and later moved to Santee, Nebraska. They longed to return to the woods, rivers and prairies of their homeland. Traveling in small groups, often walking at night and hiding in the woods along the rivers, many of the Mdewakanton families made the dangerous journey back to their birthplace. Some of them returned here to Tinta Wita (TEEN-tah-WEE-tah) - Prairie Island.

For years after their return, our ancestors led a difficult and uncertain existence. In the late 1880's our presence at Prairie Island was formally recognized by the United States government and a new reservation was established. In the 1930's Prairie Island became an incorporated community. In accordance with the Wheeler-Howard Act of f1934, also known as the Indian Reorganization Act, a new form of government was created and a tribal constitution was written. Under this constitution, the Prairie Island Indian Community is governed by an elected Tribal Council.

Prairie Island Indian Community • 5636 Sturgeon Lake Road • Welch, Minnesota • 55089 • 1-800-554-5473