Content Stats & Analytics for @nativelandnet

Native Land Digital Map
@nativelandnet

71,902 followers

The Upper Sioux Agency State Park will be transferred to the Dakota after nearly 20 years of asking the State to return their ancestral land. The land transfer means that Dakota people will no longer have to pay to access their sacred lands. The area known as Pejuhutazizi Kapi (The Place Where They Dig For Yellow Medicine) is important spiritually and historically. It is both a place of ceremony and the final resting place of Dakota ancestors. When treaty negotiations were being held with the United States, Dakota leaders protected 10 miles on either side of the Minnesota River including Pejuhutazizi Kapi. Although 50 million acres of Dakota lands were released during negotiations, this area remained protected for Dakota people. The Upper Sioux Agency State Park includes the ruins of a federal complex where officers unjustly withheld supplies and treaty rations from Dakota people. Many Dakota people were starved and killed there leading to the painful events of the US-Dakota War of 1862. After the 1862 War the US failed Dakota people by unjustly abrogating their treaty agreements and forcibly exiled Dakota people from the state. After over 150 years many Dakota people still have not returned to their ancestral homelands. Kevin Jensvold, chairman of the Upper Sioux Community explained, “That land is more than just a piece of land. It was a place that was defended and protected by our ancestors. …” “We truly believed that regardless of who controls the land, that it always belonged to our people and always would. And when I say belong, I don't mean as a titled holder, I mean as a relative.” #LandBack #Indigenous #NativeLand