Mitakuye Oyasin: We Are All Related

Mitakuye Oyasin: We Are All Related. . , Mitakuye Oyasin: We Are All Related, Environmental impacts have greatly shaped the land you see around you., As you walk the paths around Fort Snelling, look for changes in each season. See how interconnected animals, birds, and humans are to each other. Notice the gifts they give to one another., , This imagery uses the Dakota artistic form to reflect relationships between plants and animals. These connections are significant to the riverine site of Bdote., In Dakota philosophy, there is a concept called Mitakuye Oyasin. This is a way of life based upon the interconnectedness of all life. Animals, plants, water, and earth are not viewed as lesser than human beings. Instead, we understand them as our equals. Each has an essential contribution to make in the world. As such, we treat them as relatives, with respect and reciprocity. , –Erin Genia, , Erin Genia (Sissiton-Wahpeton Oyate/Odawa) created the five concrete stencils along the trail. A multidisciplinary artist, educator, and community organizer, Erin specializes in Native American and Indigenous arts and culture., , Travelers across time saw different landscapes, Look out to the forested river valley below. These forests grew long after the construction of Fort Snelling. Maj. Stephen H. Long described grasslands along these bluffs in 1817., Before the 1800s, 31.5 million acres of deciduous forest covered Mni Sota Makoce., Seth Eastman, The Prairie Back of Fort Snelling, 1846-48, , Seasonal Dakota Villages, For 10,000 years, you'd likely paddle past seasonal woodland camps of Native people, including Dakotas and Ojibwe, along the shore., Seth Eastman, Little Crow's Village on the Mississippi, 1846-48, Dakota people have lived for centuries along the shores of this region's lakes and rivers. They protected the land and its resources by moving with the seasons., Little Crow's village, Kap'oza, was a seasonal village. Mdewakanton Dakota people moved there because it was close to Wakpa Taŋka, the Mississippi River. They relied on the river as a source of food and as a transportation route., , Omníčiye, On May 4, 1863, Dakota people imprisoned at the concentration camp near Fort Snelling were exiled from Minnesota. Every May since 2017, Dakota people have come together at Historic Fort Snelling, located at Bdote, for Dakhóta Omníčiye (Gathering). It is a time to return home, to remember ancestors, and to share community teachings and stories.,

A concentration camp is a place were people are imprisoned not because they committed any crimes but simply because of who they are. For many the word summons images of World War II and the Holocaust. However, concentration camps have existed throughout history in many places around the world, including the United States.

, Cansayapi Youth teaching Dakota language at Dakhóta Omníčiye, 2017. Photo by MNHS