Decolonizing the 1862 Death Marches

In November of 1862, approximately 2,100 Dakota men, and women, and children were forcibly moved in two groups from the Lower Sioux Agency to concentration camps at either Fort Snelling or Mankato, events which marked the first phase of expulsion of the Dakota people from their homeland of Minisota Makoce (Land Where the Waters Reflect the Skies). Here, Wilson examines existing accounts regarding these removals from a critical perspective within the broader framework of colonialism. Furthermore, she will discuss the necessity of truth telling and remembering in commemoration of the removals to the achievement of healing and restoration of well-being among Dakota people.