History of Survivance: Upper Midwest 19th-Century Native American Narratives

Burial Mounds

Large burial mound at White Bear Lake, Minnesota

This image may not be reproduced for any reason without the express written consent of the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society.

The largest of nine American Indian burial mounds in the vicinity of Shady Lane and Lake Avenue along the shore of White Bear Lake prior to its demolition in April of 1889.

White Bear Lake Area Historical Society, PO Box 10543, White Bear Lake, MN 55110; http://www.whitebearhistory.org

http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/ref/collection/white/id/10

http://54.245.164.12:3000/mdl/items/wbl00003.tif

White Bear Lake Area Historical Society

Minnesota Digital Library

The tenure of the lands up the Upper Midwest by the Dakota (the eastern branch of the Lakota people, frequently also called Sioux) and Anishinaabe (also known as Ojibwe, Ojibwa and Chippewa) peoples can be archaeologically dated to a minimum of 11,300 years ago. Dakota oral histories describe an even longer occupation, starting with the gift of the land by the Creator in illo tempore. Anishinaabe oral history relates a prophecy where the people were told to move West, “to where the food grows on water.” Archaeological evidence indicates this was approximately 500 years ago. Regardless, the people themselves are, of course, still here.
What is perhaps so astonishing about the non-Native version of the history of Native America is that it essentially starts and ends with the colonization of the Upper Midwest by Europeans, a period of only a few centuries. Dakota and Anishinaabe traditions and culture are far older than that, and endure to this day.

History of Survivance: Upper Midwest 19th-Century Native American Narratives

Ancient Legacies

Ancient Legacies