RESPONSES TO STATEHOOD: USER'S GUIDE

The Minnesota Humanities Center’s Responses to Statehood pages are a place for the state’s indigenous peoples to tell Minnesota about the impact of statehood on their peoples.  The focal point of these pages is the academic presentation by Wayzawatin, Ph.D.  Wayzawatin provides a trenchant analysis of the devastating impact that European settlement had on the Dakota people.  The responses to statehood page introduces the project and sets the stage for the presentation that follows. 

Wayzawatin tells the story through a series of chapters organized around specific themes (settlement and resettlement, war and aftermath, genocide, boarding schools, etc.).  Beginning Oct. 6, 2008, a new chapter will be released each week on the video library page (link to video library page).  The schedule for release of chapters is also available on the video library page. On the resources page, you will find additional information about the topics covered in the presentation. 

The Responses to Statehood web pages also include presentations from other indigenous peoples from the state of Minnesota.  Their stories are organized around the themes in Wayzawatin’s presentation.  The statehood voices page provides information about the other people speaking on the page.  You will find their videos on the video library page and they will be added in conjunction with chapters of Wayzawatin’s presentation.

It is the hope of the Humanities Center, and those involved in the project, that these pages provide the opportunity to increase knowledge about the complete history of the state of Minnesota.  Quite often the stories of indigenous peoples is left off the master narrative of the founding of the state and its history.  It is important that all Minnesotans understand these stories to understand how the state was founded and so that we are empowered to decide what sort of state we want in the future. 

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This project funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities
and The Saint Paul Foundation.