Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota

Foreword

Ma®piya Mani Wiå | Okise Maza | Hotain | Íbi | Wakiåyaå Zi Sapa | Ta Íuåka Wakiåyaå Ohitika | Apsid Mani | Wiåyaå Waßte | Íbo | Kahuåhuåza Wiå | Pte Ho | Winuna | Bahuå | Akicita Ohitaka | Hokßida Waßte | Ta Íina Sapa Wiå | Upi | Tahaåpa Sna | Mni Sna | Psapsa | Wambdi Ska | Maza Waßicuåa | Tate | He®aka Cuwi Maza | Ota Kuteda | Wicaå®pi To Wiå | Ho Sna Wiå | Maza Ka¥a | Hupahu | Aåpa | Hiåhaå | Bopaåna | Caåku Ka¥a | Waßteßte | Ma®piya Mani Wiå | Okise Maza | Hotain | Íbi | Wakiåyaå Zi Sapa | Ta Íuåka Wakiåyaå Ohitika | Apsid Mani | Wiåyaå Waßte | Íbo | Kahuåhuåza Wiå | Pte Ho | Winuna | Bahuå | Akicita Ohitaka| Hokßida Waßte | Ta Íina Sapa Wiå | Upi | Tahaåpa Sna | Mni Sna | Psapsa| Wambdi Ska | Maza Waßicuåa | Tate | He®aka Cuwi Maza | Ota Kuteda| Wicaå®pi To Wiå | Ho Sna Wiå | Maza Ka¥a | Hupahu | Aåpa | Hiåhaå| Bopaåna | Caåku Ka¥a | Waßteßte | Ma®piya Mani Wiå | Okise Maza | Hotain | Íbi | Wakiåyaå Zi Sapa | Ta Íuåka Wakiåyaå Ohitika | Apsid Mani | Wiåyaå Waßte | Íbo | Kahuåhuåza Wiå | Pte Ho | Winuna | Bahuå| Akicita Ohitaka | Hokßida Waßte | Ta Íina Sapa Wiå | Upi | Tahaåpa Sna| Mni Sna | Psapsa | Wambdi Ska | Maza Waßicuåa | Tate | He®aka Cuwi Maza | Ota Kuteda | Wicaå®pi To Wiå | Ho Sna Wiå | Maza Ka¥a | Hupahu | Aåpa | Hiåhaå | Bopaåna | Caåku Ka¥a | Waßteßte | Ma®piya Mani Wiå | Okise Maza | Hotain | Íbi | Wakiåyaå Zi Sapa | Ta Íuåka Wakiåyaå Ohitika | Apsid Mani | Wiåyaå Waßte | Íbo | Kahuåhuåza Wiå | Pte Ho| Winuna | Bahuå | Akicita Ohitaka | Hokßida Waßte | Ta Íina Sapa Wiå| Upi | Tahaåpa Sna | Mni Sna | Psapsa | Wambdi Ska | Maza Waßicuåa | Tate | He®aka Cuwi Maza | Ota Kuteda | Wicaå®pi To Wiå | Ho Sna Wiå| Maza Ka¥a | Hupahu | Aåpa | Hiåhaå | Bopaåna | Caåku Ka¥a | Waßteßte M y father, He®aka Cuwi Maza, said, “It’s hard to be an Indian.” At the time, I agreed with him but I didn’t really know why. Now, decades later, working with researchers, writers, and interviewees and looking into myself for Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota, I can see the meaning come into focus. While working on this project, we were asked by people of all ages the one question that has become so familiar to us: “Why didn’t the schools teach us about Dakota people?” The response to this question could not be a simplistic one. The answers are many and varied. But the most important and certainly the best answer we have as Dakota people is “Thank you.” Thank you for asking that one question that will open up decades, generations of stories, information, answers, and ideas that we have to share with the world. Some know the brutal history of the Dakota people. Some know dates, places, and events. Others delight in dazzling us with misspelled, misinterpreted Dakota words and names: Shakopee. Owatonna. Chaska. Winona. Although we can appreciate what has been written about us, it does not go far enough. It does not capture Dakota thought or feeling. As Dakota people we are honorable. We listen. We were told not to be who we are and we listened. We settled in every city, town, village, and hamlet imaginable. We are accountants, doctors, athletes, teachers, lawyers, professors, and journalists. In Mni Sota Makoce , know that the next time you land at Minneapolis­–St. Paul International Airport, your plane could be guided in by a world-renowned championship powwow dancer in the fancy dance category. We are everywhere. We were told not to speak our language and we listened. Now, in 2012, we are told that our language is on the verge of extinction. Somebody else told us we were “Sioux,” and we said, “Yes, sir, we are Sioux.” Somebody else came along and said, “No, you are Dakota,” and we said, “We are Dakota.” Others along the way said we are Aboriginal, Natives, Indians, Native Americans, Native Canadians. We listened politely to these things, knowing that we are ikce wicaßta, meaning “common man.” Foreword vii WestermanWhite.indd 7 7/16/12 8:31 AM viii foreword Are we the only nation in this world that allows our language to be misspelled , misinterpreted...