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Recognizing the 150th anniversary of the Dakota-U.S. War of 1862 and declaring 2013 the Year of the Dakota.
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WHEREAS, the year 2012 is the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Dakota-U.S. War of 1862 that led to the mass execution of 38 Dakota, the largest in the history of the United States, and the genocide of the Dakota people; and
WHEREAS, much has yet to be learned about issues revolving around land, reparations and restitution, treaties, genocide, suppression of American Indian spirituality and ceremonies, suppression of Indigenous languages, bounties, concentration camps, forced marches, mass executions, and forcible removals; and
WHEREAS, Indigenous women, children and elderly were held in a concentration camp at the base of Fort Snelling, separated from the men, before being exiled to reservations in neighboring states and Canada, and later being stripped of their culture and traditions in boarding schools and subjected to white culture and religions; and
WhEREAS, the complete history of Minnesota must be taught from the perspective of all people that have lived it; Now Therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that every effort must be made to ensure that the Dakota perspective is presented during the year 2013, through discussions at forums, events, symposia, conferences and workshops, to include the complex issues listed above; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Saint Paul works to promote the well-being and growth of the American Indian community, including Dakota People, marking the beginning of future dialogues and efforts to rectify the wrongs that were perpetrated during, and since, the year 1862, a tragic and traumatic event for the Dakota People of Minnesota; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Saint Paul and its Parks and Recreation Department will work with the Dakota Bdote Restoration Consortium to identify, name, and interpret sacred Native American sites at and nearby the sacred Bdote from the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers to Mounds Park; including listing, mapping, identifying Dakota site names in the Great River Passage Plan, and participating in on-going collaborative research to further describe, dually name, publicize, and interpret significant Dakota sites in the Great River Passage Park Implementation; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the year 2013 is hereby designated "The Year of the Dakota: Remembering, Honoring, and Truth-Telling," from the date of passage of this resolution to December 26, 2013.