MINNEAPOLIS — Prayers and grit kept a team of Dakota riders going through two snowstorms and long, frigid days on horses this month, through South Dakota and southern Minnesota to reach Mankato on Dec. 26 — to mark the 160th anniversary of the largest mass execution in American history, and honor the 38 of their ancestors killed on that day in 1862.
Every December since 2005, riders have traveled 330 miles on horseback from Lower Brule, South Dakota, to Mankato. The journey retraces steps of the riders' ancestors forced out of Minnesota and onto a reservation in South Dakota, following the executions in Mankato and a deadly winter in a concentration camp at Fort Snelling.
In Mankato on Monday morning, hundreds of people cheered the riders' arrival, and listened as the names of the executed were read — the 38 killed on Dec. 26, 1862, and two others later captured and hanged, known as the Dakota 38+2.
"I felt the ancestors protected us, and were with us all the way" said rider Andrea Eastman, reflecting on the journey through blizzards and deadly cold.
Asked how he managed to keep going through the punishing conditions, rider Darrian Rencounter pointed to his thick black snow pants. "These!" he said.
Spiritual leader Jim Miller initiated the ride in 2005.
"He had a dream and he prayed," said Todd Finney, Miller's nephew and now one of the organizers of the ride. "And someone forgotten by society started a movement."
Seventeen years later, the ride has attracted attention from the public, the media and powerful officials. And while this iteration of the ride is coming to an end, Finney said, the work to remember and honor the Dakota 38+2 is just beginning.
Celebrated arrival
The procession rode into Mankato just after 10 a.m. Monday. Hundreds of people gathered to watch as the horses — manes fluffy from the wind, chips of ice and snow caked on their haunches — carried the riders north on Riverfront Drive to Reconciliation Park.
A man fanned sweet smoke from a bundle of sage across the crowd of all ages gathered in Reconciliation Park. A woman yelled to clear the street as the riders drew near.
"As we come this way, more people gather," Eastman said. "By the end of the ride, we have like 100 riders."
The riders were joined by two runners just after 10 a.m. The runners had set off from Fort Snelling at midnight, and teams of two ran a relay through the night, down U.S. 169 to Mankato.
"This is good medicine," said Delilah Rouse of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, looking around the park, hearing the drums and singing, and seeing so many people gathered.
She remembered being angry when she learned about the executions, how hard it felt to get her white classmates to care about their shared history.
"We carry this stuff with us," Rouse said.
The crowd gathered Monday made carrying the burden of history a little less lonely, she said.
Shifting the burden
For those who grew up hearing about their ancestors' executions, and their families' forcible removal from Minnesota, Monday's ceremony was painful.
"I heard the stories when I was little," said Josette Peltier, a descendent of those executed in 1862. "It still hurts to this day."
The crowd gathered in Mankato included indigenous and white Minnesotans. Peltier said it was time for the descendants of immigrants to Minnesota — those whose arrival pushed the government to remove Dakota people — to share the burden of history.
Finney contrasted the welcome in Mankato on Monday — with riders cheered by hundreds, escorted by police and celebrated by the governor — against the first ride, where riders recalled being shot at and looked on with hostility by law enforcement. That wasn't that long ago, Finney said, that was 2005.
He feels hopeful that people in power are finally beginning to account for the past.
The work to come
"As governor of Minnesota, I stand here today to say today I'm deeply sorry," Gov. Tim Walz told the crowd in Mankato Monday. He apologized for the executions and the removal of riders' ancestors, and for so much done since the state of Minnesota was established on indigenous land.
"Saying we're sorry from the people of Minnesota is the very least we can do," Walz said. "What are we going to do going forward?"
Teaching indigenous history in Minnesota schools is a start, Walz and state Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, said.
"Remember the horrors of 160 years ago, and make sure it never happens again," Kunesh said.
Watching the riders come in, high school history teacher Sarah Han of St. Paul said she was committed to teaching about the execution in her classes. She wants to make sure her students have a full picture of President Abraham Lincoln, she said. Yes, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation — but just days earlier, he signed orders to execute the 38+2 Dakota warriors, after reviewing the cases of 300 men sentenced to death following the U.S.-Dakota war.
"History has become all about critical thinking, giving students the tools to find out the truth," Han said.
Ethnic studies is required for some schools in Minnesota, and the Legislature is likely to consider a bill this session to make the requirement statewide.
The ceremonies in Reconciliation Park, growing larger each Dec. 26, have been important for Joanna Meyer of Mankato. She is moved by the riders' determination. Every year has been a reminder of history and a reminder of forgiveness, Meyer said. She worries if this ride ends, those lessons could slip away.
"It's hard to see the last one," Meyer said.
"For this ride, it's the last," rider Eastman said. "But we'll be coming again. Stay tuned!" she said with a grin.
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