Have you ever heard of the Dakota War? You probably have not, and that is because it is not
brought up often in history class. Most people in history class tend to learn about the Civil War during
the 1860s curriculum. While the civil war was going on in the eastern hemisphere the Dakota war was
going on in the middle of the country. It was a pretty big war that took place in the early 1860s that was
caused by a handful of reasons such as hunger among the Dakota people, which are Native American
who originated from southern Minnesota people, treaties that were not taken seriously, etc. Layli Long
Soldier is a Native American author whose poem “38” took pride in making her point get across; which is
to inform the readers about a big event in history, the US-Dakota War, that is basically brushed under
the rug.
In the text the “38” Long Soldier is incredibly careful on how she presents herself to the reader.
She purposely states she is going to be punctually correct while she writes. I n the text the sentences will
be created with “care” by using the “rules of writing.” She claims history will be honored within each
sentence will have the appropriate punctuation like “periods or question marks.” Which is a sign that
she wants to be taken seriously and be treated with respect. She wants to lead by example when saying
“the sentence will be respected.” Which is also a method in getting her point across. She tends to speak
with authority, and she is very straight forward. In the text by Long Soldier, it is mainly about the events
that led up to the Dakota War. You can tell that she is targeting English speaking readers and informing
them about what they most likely do not know.
There were multiple causes of the Dakota War. One main being Spurred by starvation resulting
from broken treaties by the US government. After that happened a lot of reckless things started to
happen. Dakota people began attacking American settlements along the Minnesota River Valley in 1862.
The conflict between the two viewed as one of the genocidal efforts to forcibly remove the Dakota from
Minnesota, which also included the internment of hundreds of women, children, and elderly on Pike
Island below Fort Snelling. Racism was also a huge problem when it comes to what the Dakota faced. It
was terrible. Coming from one white settling describing it as “Let them eat grass.” After a group of
Dakota were given the credit for killing a group of white settlers, a war council made the decision to go
to war. After the war, President Lincoln ordered the hanging of thirty – nine Native Americans. He
ordered the hanging because he felt like there was enough evidence to prove that they were guilty of
murder or rape during the uprising.
Treaties were not taken seriously. If you don’t know what treaties are, Treaties are agreements
negotiated between two sovereign nations. A sovereign nation is one that has the right to govern itself.
Americans negotiated with Native Americans and promised treaty payments and provisions would be
delivered in full and on time. Everlasting possession of their reservation lands was promised to the
Dakota and Ojibwe people. The conflict erupted when treaties restricted the lands of the Dakota people
to an area that could no longer sustain them. Promised compensations were slow or non-existent and
the Dakota people feared starvation heading into a brutal Minnesota winter.
The world was in a vastly different state than it is now. Most states were not on the same page
at the time. Now, it is not perfect, but it is much better than it was back then. The laws in Minnesota are
much better and people have rules for their freedom. After the war the government forced most of the
remaining Dakota to leave Minnesota. o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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