Post by jazzdog on Apr 16, 2008 2:04:18 GMT -5
Fellow searchers of the truth
If you have not already done so, please find and read the book entitled "Cut Nose: Who Stands on a Cloud" by author Loren Dean Boutin. Mr. Boutin is a longtime historian of the Minnesota Dakota Sioux culture and presently resides in Minnesota.
This book is very important in the grand puzzle of which occurred in those dark days leading up to and following the 1862 events and the immediate fallout that occurred with the Dakota Sioux and specifically the "military tribunals" and the condemned prisoners and the ultimate hangings of the 38 in Mankato. The storyline obviously focuses upon the character of Cut Nose, but also contains much historical information and comments upon the events leading up to the clashes between the Dakota and the settlers and the government. Although we all know that all that has been written regarding our individual anscestors, is yet to be completely written and explained (or corrected, in my mind), Mr. Boutin has done a very good job of documenting much of the circumstances that existed during that trying time in our anscestors' past, of which is a different take upon the events than what we have seen in much of the previous mainstream accounts and books that have been written before. I found Cut Nose to be an informative account of a story of one of the condemn's circumstances........even detailing the later inhumane and repulsive abuse of the bodies and remains of the Sioux that were hanged in Mankato.
Some of the issues raised in the book speak directly to much of the descendants' questions as to what happened to our people once the full thrust of the US government and the State of Minnesota turned upon them during those tumultuous times.
I found some parallels for my own anscestors' plights in the spectre that none other than W.W. Mayo was an alleged graverobber and arrogantly and blatantly used the remains of a deceased Sioux human for material gain.
I have spoken in the past about our quest to try to learn more about our gggrandfather's sudden demise after he was questionably "admitted" to the St. Peter Asylum in 1870. He died within two months of being admitted there and was buried in an unmarked grave under a large white cross in a cemetary not far from the facility. There are so many graves there that are numbered, but not named. Some of you may be familiar with the great efforts of the Hiawatha project. They are producing a movie about the atrocities that were committed at the Indian asylums, specifically at the facility near Canton, SD. I have exteme interest in these matters, as it is a dark secret that has yet to be exposed to the full light of day.
I visited my gggrandfather's gravesite in St. Peter not too long ago. My brother and my friend were there with me. We stood silent, then prayed. We asked for the strength to strive for the truth of what had happened to him, and the others. We stood on the hallowed ground of his final resting place, and yet, we felt an inner need to continue to question and to seek........the truth.
This story is no different than that of so many of you who read this. Our joined quest is right. Our joined effort is just. Our joined energy is strong. Together, and with our sharing, we can all help each other to reach for those unseen hands that reach out to each of us, to help them teach us........what we need to know and learn......what we need to all make our circles complete when we think of where we have all come from.
Mother Earth is a bountiful treasure. She allows us to continue to breathe and to flouish in her abundance. The Great Spirit grants us the ability to think, to know, to imagine and to dream. We need to allow our minds to absorb what these innate signals are telling us all in our own way. The drive, as we all know, is to never forget........but it should be more. We need to know....we need to realize.....we need to hope that the dawn of the day of mankind was opened for all peoples to celebrate life, and death, and to celebrate the rejuvination of reality as it should be celebrated in the context of our lives as we now know them to be. Our anscestors will forever be the foundation for all that we all will ever be. We all need to continue to grasp for those unseen hands of our anscestors which are constantly and presently, reaching out to each of us, to grasp. It is never too late to try.
Keep the faith
Your friend
Jazzdog
If you have not already done so, please find and read the book entitled "Cut Nose: Who Stands on a Cloud" by author Loren Dean Boutin. Mr. Boutin is a longtime historian of the Minnesota Dakota Sioux culture and presently resides in Minnesota.
This book is very important in the grand puzzle of which occurred in those dark days leading up to and following the 1862 events and the immediate fallout that occurred with the Dakota Sioux and specifically the "military tribunals" and the condemned prisoners and the ultimate hangings of the 38 in Mankato. The storyline obviously focuses upon the character of Cut Nose, but also contains much historical information and comments upon the events leading up to the clashes between the Dakota and the settlers and the government. Although we all know that all that has been written regarding our individual anscestors, is yet to be completely written and explained (or corrected, in my mind), Mr. Boutin has done a very good job of documenting much of the circumstances that existed during that trying time in our anscestors' past, of which is a different take upon the events than what we have seen in much of the previous mainstream accounts and books that have been written before. I found Cut Nose to be an informative account of a story of one of the condemn's circumstances........even detailing the later inhumane and repulsive abuse of the bodies and remains of the Sioux that were hanged in Mankato.
Some of the issues raised in the book speak directly to much of the descendants' questions as to what happened to our people once the full thrust of the US government and the State of Minnesota turned upon them during those tumultuous times.
I found some parallels for my own anscestors' plights in the spectre that none other than W.W. Mayo was an alleged graverobber and arrogantly and blatantly used the remains of a deceased Sioux human for material gain.
I have spoken in the past about our quest to try to learn more about our gggrandfather's sudden demise after he was questionably "admitted" to the St. Peter Asylum in 1870. He died within two months of being admitted there and was buried in an unmarked grave under a large white cross in a cemetary not far from the facility. There are so many graves there that are numbered, but not named. Some of you may be familiar with the great efforts of the Hiawatha project. They are producing a movie about the atrocities that were committed at the Indian asylums, specifically at the facility near Canton, SD. I have exteme interest in these matters, as it is a dark secret that has yet to be exposed to the full light of day.
I visited my gggrandfather's gravesite in St. Peter not too long ago. My brother and my friend were there with me. We stood silent, then prayed. We asked for the strength to strive for the truth of what had happened to him, and the others. We stood on the hallowed ground of his final resting place, and yet, we felt an inner need to continue to question and to seek........the truth.
This story is no different than that of so many of you who read this. Our joined quest is right. Our joined effort is just. Our joined energy is strong. Together, and with our sharing, we can all help each other to reach for those unseen hands that reach out to each of us, to help them teach us........what we need to know and learn......what we need to all make our circles complete when we think of where we have all come from.
Mother Earth is a bountiful treasure. She allows us to continue to breathe and to flouish in her abundance. The Great Spirit grants us the ability to think, to know, to imagine and to dream. We need to allow our minds to absorb what these innate signals are telling us all in our own way. The drive, as we all know, is to never forget........but it should be more. We need to know....we need to realize.....we need to hope that the dawn of the day of mankind was opened for all peoples to celebrate life, and death, and to celebrate the rejuvination of reality as it should be celebrated in the context of our lives as we now know them to be. Our anscestors will forever be the foundation for all that we all will ever be. We all need to continue to grasp for those unseen hands of our anscestors which are constantly and presently, reaching out to each of us, to grasp. It is never too late to try.
Keep the faith
Your friend
Jazzdog