Dakota 38 154 Years Ago Today, Govt Carried Out the Largest Mass Execution in US HistoryBy Claire Bernish Historians and attorneys examining the history of this gruesome act by the State say the justification lacked for the execution of these warriors and the United States government did not provide a fair trial. Considering the U.S. history in dealing with those indigenous to the land, that assessment hardly comes as a shock also unsurprising is its lingering trauma on the Dakota people and other Native American Nations to this day. The trials of the Dakota were conducted unfairly in a variety of ways, noted University of Minnesota associate professor, Carol Chomsky. The evidence was sparse, the tribunal was biased, the defendants were unrepresented in unfamiliar proceedings conducted in a foreign language, and authority for convening the tribunal was lacking. More fundamentally, neither the Military Commission nor the reviewing authorities recognized that they were dealing with the aftermath of a war fought with a sovereign nation and that the men who surrendered were entitled to treatment in accordance with that status. For six weeks during the late summer of 1862, a war raged between members of the Dakota nation and the U.S. military in southern Minnesota, largely due to broken treaty promises and particularly over promises of sufficient food and supplies for the Indigenous peoples. Many Dakota, however, chose not to participate in the battle, instead, either staying away or protecting white settlers from their enraged brethren. According to one albeit biased website on the history of the war: There were a number of factors which contributed to the Dakota Uprising in 1862. Life was changing for the Dakota as both fur-bearing and game animals, upon which they depended, were getting scarce. It is likely that the Dakota had expected that they would be able to live off the proceeds from selling their land to the U.S. government, via the treaties of 1851 and 1858, but it was not working out that way. In fact, the government had broken a number of promises, but appeared to be playing favorites with those willing to bend to its specific goals, as another source on the topic reported: Of course the situation looked particularly grim from the Dakota perspective, as the government had corralled the populace into a specific area, and settlers continued to flood the previously sparsely populated area. Taoyateduta, or Little Crow Mdewakanton Dakota penned a letter to Galbraith that year, cautioning what might be on the horizon should their situation not be alleviated: We have waited a long time. The money is ours but we cannot get it. We have no food but here these stores are filled with food. We ask that you, the agent, make some arrangement so we can get food from the stores, or else we may take our own way to keep ourselves from starving. When men are hungry, they help themselves. Fighting shortly ensued and all told, hundreds of Dakota, settlers, and U.S. soldiers died over the course of the war and hundreds of Dakota warriors were arrested and sentenced to death, primarily for killing civilians not involved in fighting. President Abraham Lincoln ultimately spared the lives of the majority of the accused except for 38 men. An utterly gruesome description of the public hanging appeared in the New York Times shortly after it occurred, stating, as cited by the Minnesota Star Tribune, Their caps were now drawn over their eyes, and the halter placed about their necks. Several of them feeling uncomfortable, made severe efforts to loosen the rope, and some, after the most dreadful contortions, partially succeeded. The signal to cut the rope was three taps of the drum. All things being ready, the first tap was given, when the poor wretches made such frantic efforts to grasp each others hands, that it was agony to behold them. Each one shouted out his name, that his comrades might know he was there. The second tap resounded on the air. The vast multitude were breathless with the awful surroundings of this solemn occasion. Again the doleful tap breaks on the stillness of the scene. Click! goes the sharp ax, and the descending platform leaves the bodies of thirty-eight human beings dangling in the air. To commemorate that startling event and to attempt to begin a collective recovery of the historical grief associated with it and generally the actions of settlers and the U.S. government against Indigenous Americans 38 people each year ride on horseback across North Dakota and Minnesota to Mankato. The past is really, really traumatic, said Sarah Weston, member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and co-director of Dakota 38, a film chronicling and discussing the ride. But were going to reach our hand out and say that we forgive. Because when youre not in a forgiveness place, youre linked to that person or that trauma for the rest of your life, all day long. And so by forgiving were no longer linked to that. This year, some of the riders left directly from encampments opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Missouri River in North Dakota where scabs have been picked once again for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who are currently in a desperate race to protect their drinking water supply. Also unshockingly, that battle more than a century and a half later also concerns broken treaties and promises from a government seemingly callous to anything but its own interests. Remembering this lurid and wholly unjustified public killing the mass execution of 38 people is absolutely imperative in presenting a more accurate depiction of the bloody and ghastly history of this country straight. Without the knowledge of whats actually occurred over time, there can be no way for us all to move forward from a place of understanding to ensure such atrocities will not repeat in a new and potentially equally horrific manner. If we dont learn the lessons of history, were doomed to repeat them but if we never know the actual history, such preventive measures are impossible. The full version of Dakota 38 can be seen below: Claire Bernish writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared. Yes, devastating destruction between the Americans who broke all treaties with the American Natives yet carried out military maneuvers to intentionally disrupt and harm Natives, yet, the Sandhill Massacre which murdered children, women, old folks and men, anywhere from 550 to 1000 in Colorado a few years later was, in fact, the largest mass execution in American history. This was 38 men hanged. The Sandhill Massacre was as many as 1000 shot dead. Several very brave Americans tried to stop the Sandhill Massacre. Its a story well worth researching. I think you mean Sand Creek out by Hugo Colorado. Black Kettle was chief, and they even flew an American flag. 40 years ago when I was last out there you could still see the holes they dug in the dry creek bed to get away. Oddly enough, maybe not, they had just made peace, and were on there way to the reservation. Yes, thank you. And, its even more upsetting than the fact they were flying the US flag the morning of the slaughter because you are so right that 2-3 of their number had just met with several highly placed Union officers on a peace mission, and, the head of the Union troops out of Denver and the Head of the Colorado territory had it in for the American Natives anyway, both literally saying The only good Indian is a Dead Indian. No one was ever sanctioned for the slaughter, and one of the primary opponents of the slaughter, the Provost of Colorado, was gunned down in Denver the same day the leader of the slaughter had his hearing in Denver. One of the Union soldiers marched down to the encampment to engage in the confrontation was a great uncle, and he married the dead Provosts widow. The Union soldiers were not told they would be killing the unarmed American Natives until they arrived, half frozen. Some refused to shoot or kill, but were traumatized by watching the slaughter. The only good indian is a dead indian. Satan speaks. That was the reason they were slaughtered. Hillarys Great Great Grandfather was the Indian Agent at Redwood Falls. A member of the well connected Rodham family from Virginia? An absolutely wonderful film spreading healing and peace in the face of barbarism and greed. Peace. 