Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

Traveling Exhibition Spends Full Month at Red Lake

Red Lake Nation Plays Key Role in Development of Smithsonian’s Test Exhibit

Early last December, about 50 people attended the Opening Celebration of “Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations at Seven Clan Casino and Event Center in Red Lake.

The exhibit spent two weeks at the Event Center before moving to the Red Lake Criminal Justice Complex thereby spending the full month of December at Red Lake Nation. Red Lake was the fourth venue for the exhibit, the first being hosted by White Earth, then the Becker County Historical Society, followed by Shared Vision of Bemidji.

The program for the celebration began at 6:00 PM with Red Lake Tribal Archivist Gary Fuller as the emcee. Fuller coordinated the exhibitions' presence at Red Lake with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of the American Indian early on in the process. He also arranged space for the exhibition along with coordinating volunteers from the Red Lake Political Education Committee (RLPEC).

The evening's program included a welcome by Red Lake Representative Donald May who filled in for the traveling Chairman Floyd Jourdain, Jr. "Treaties are agreements between self-governing, or sovereign, nations," began May. “Native Nations existed long before the formation of the United States. European powers recognized the sovereign status of Native Nations when they made treaties with us, as did the United States. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution recognizes Indian Tribes as distinct sovereign entities on par with foreign nations."

"The history of Indian treaties is the history of all Minnesotans and all Americans," said Annamarie Hill, Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC). "Even now, states, Native nations, and the federal government continue to engage on a government-to-government basis every day, making in effect new treaties, building upon those made many years ago. We cannot have a complete understanding of what it means to be Americans without knowing about these relationships, whether we are Native Americans or not."

Mathew Brandt, Vice-President, Minnesota Humanities Center spoke on the importance of education on treaties. “In order to create the vibrant Minnesota of the future we need to understand the importance of the agreements (the treaties) between the sovereign Indian nations and the United States,” said Brandt. “Understanding these treaties is important now...it affects how we live-and will shape the future. The Minnesota Humanities Center is honored and excited to be a partner in this important program.”

About the Exhibition

“Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations” is a new traveling exhibition that explores the Native nations in Minnesota and their history of treaty making with the United States.

In August 2010, a resolution creating a unique partnership of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Minnesota Humanities Center, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. was approved unanimously by the tribes residing in Minnesota and made it possible for the exhibition to be developed as an educational tool for Minnesota audiences.

The exhibition includes 20 free standing banners with evocative text, historical and contemporary photographs and maps, and a 10-minute video titled, “A Day in the Life of the Minnesota Tribal Nations.”

This exhibit reveals how Dakota and Ojibwe treaties with the U.S. government affected the lands and life-ways of the Indigenous peoples of the place we now call Minnesota, and explains why these binding agreements between nations still matter today. It is meant to share important cultural information with all Minnesotans, that they may better understand the true circumstances surrounding Minnesota land, its use, and even the treatment of the land’s Indigenous peoples today.

Following its close at Red Lake, the exhibition began a statewide tour throughout 2012 to reservations and other venues under the auspices of the Minnesota Humanities Center, its partner, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. (See schedule at end of story)

The project is funded in part with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with a vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008, and The Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation.

How It Began: Red Lake Plays Key Role

Visit To Red Lake by Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian Kevin Gover (Pawnee) in July 2010 Was Genesis of Exhibit

As director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., Kevin Gover visited with Red Lake tribal leaders at the Red Lake Tribal Headquarters to present his ideas and to hear feedback on the museum's current work and upcoming projects, particularly regarding education and the Museums upcoming exhibition on treaties.

Gover had just wrapped up a tour of American Indian communities in Minnesota, where he was asking for advice on how to tell difficult stories in an accurate and compelling way. Minnesota would be a testing ground for a new Smithsonian exhibit about the controversial topic of treaties.

Gover said he hoped to bring the new traveling exhibit about American Indian treaties to Minnesota in 2012 -- in time for the 150th anniversary of the Dakota Conflict.

Since the museum opened in 2004, it has shied away from exhibiting difficult Native American topics. “We knew the time would come when we’d have to tell the whole story,” Gover said. “There will be some who don’t want to hear it, but we think it’s time. This treaties exhibit will be our first venture into telling that difficult story.”

“It’s encouraging to hear that in the educational institutions in America, the indigenous people will finally be able to tell their story,” said Red Lake Chairman Floyd Jourdain, Jr. “The stamp of approval from the Smithsonian carries a lot of weight. For Minnesota to be on the forefront of it, I think all tribes are excited about that.”

In the past Indian people have been represented by anthropologists. With the establishment of the NMAI, historical subjects like treaties differently than other institutions because the museum, itself, is controlled by American Indians, and because it is part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has enormous credibility.

“If we put materials into a classroom and we say it happened this way, it’s accepted as being true,” Gover said. “We want to start getting kids used to the idea that Indian treaties are no different than U.S. treaties and that they’re alive and enforceable."

"When people read history they’d think this was a vast wasteland with no one living here, a vast emptiness wilderness, we need to change that misconception," said Gover.

"In the Americas there were 2000 different languages," said Jourdain. "Europeans thought we are two-dimensional, either pagans or magic. But all the things that happened elsewhere was happening here as well, we had politicians and mathematicians. We’ve been told lies about history, non-Indians should be angry about that too. We need to educate. If those who make decisions knew history it would make tribal governing easier."

Gover commented that a visit to Red Lake was essential because of Red Lake's unique status and sovereignty. "You can't talk about treaties without talking about Red Lake," said Gover. "Indians throughout the country know about Red Lake. It’s just a place I’ve always wanted to see for myself. It very much meets my expectations. The treaty history here is distinct from the others.”

"Indian treaties are no different from any other kind of treaty, they are alive, they are enforceable," Gover concluded. "We sometimes wildly underestimate as to what our ancestors were up against...they were skilled negotiators in spite of the disadvantages in language, culture, land definitions, but they were successful, we are still here. A tragic story but a story of trimuph, our ancestors gave us the opportunity to live."

Why Treaties Matter: 2012 Travel Itinerary

Jan. 2 – 31: Nicollet County Historical Society, St. Peter

Feb. 8 – March 7: Carver County Historical Society, Waconia

March 1 – 31: Native American Community Development Institute, Minneapolis

March 23 – April 22: School Dist. 196 Native American Parent Advisory Committee, Rosemount

May 1 – 30: Historic Fort Snelling, St. Paul

June 8 – July 7: Goodhue County Historical Society, Red Wing

July 1 – 31: Minnesota Valley History Center & Dakota Wicohan, Morton

July 16 – Aug. 15: Mayo Clinic, Rochester

Aug. 23 – Sept. 22: Ramsey County Historical Society, St. Paul

Oct. 1 – 31: Winona County Historical Society, Winona

Nov. 8 – Dec. 15: Carlton County Historical Society, Cloquet

Additional Host Sites Dates to Be Announced

Bois Forte Heritage and Cultural Museum, Tower

Fond du Lac Reservation, Cloquet

Grand Portage Reservation, Grand Portage

Upper Sioux Community, Granite Falls

 

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