Desktop Schools Popup

Select a School

The Land We’re On

Dakota Land Acknowledgement

We want to acknowledge that District 196 resides within Mni Sota Makoce -  the homeland of the Dakota People, the eastern nation of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). This land has been the Dakota People's home for every generation since their creation at Bdote and Bde Wákhaŋ.

 

Mni Sota Makoce- the land where waters reflect the skies - is Dakota land

 

Mni Sota is also the home of the Anishinaabe and many other Indigenous Peoples who have and do contribute to the overall foundation of this region.  

We encourage all members of the District 196 community to join us in learning more about the people, contributions, sovereignty and treaty rights of the Dakota and Anishinaabe People. District 196 will continue to strengthen our relationship with Mni Sota’s eleven sovereign nations and Indigenous communities, families and students. 

What is a land acknowledgement?

Native Governance Center

Indigenous land acknowledgment is an effort to recognize the Indigenous past, present, and future of a particular location and to understand our own place within that relationship. Usually, land acknowledgments take the form of written and/or verbal statements. 
 

Background on District 196’s Acknowledgement

Mni Sota Makoce is the birthplace of the Dakota people. The Dakota creation stories cite specifically Bdote (the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers at Fort Snelling) and Bde Wákhaŋ (Spirit Lake - now known as Lake Mille Lacs) as the locations where the Dakota people first came to being on this land. 

District 196’s intention is to ensure our community understands the land we teach our youth is the ancestral land of the Dakota people and will continue to be their homeland with much spiritual, cultural, and linguistic significance.  

In addition to the Dakota people, District 196 acknowledges the Anishinaabe and their people’s connection to this region. The Anishinaabe’s original homeland was on the east coast of North America near what is now known as Maine/New England.  Following the sacred migis shell along the St. Lawrence River, the Anishinaabe traveled to the land where “food grows on water” (Manoomin/wild rice), leading the people to the Great Lakes region where they settled in territories now known as Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Canada.  

As a District, we will 

  1. Honor and respect the land, water and air that our schools reside upon. 
  2. Continue to receive feedback & guidance from our Native American Parent Advisory Council and the Tribal Nations Education Committee on how to better serve our Native American students and families.
  3. Continue to strengthen our commitment to the academic and cultural needs of our Native American students.
     

Using the land acknowledgement

District 196 Staff & Teachers: please feel free to use this statement within your school communities. Our hope is for this statement to be read at district meetings, events, for Indigenous Peoples Day, at all high school graduation ceremonies and more.  

We ask that each school community display this statement and include it in printed and electronic publications where applicable. 

Please understand that the intention for land acknowledgement statements are for non-Indigenous staff, students and community members to read. Our Indigenous students & families should not be held responsible for reading this statement in your school community. 

This website will be continually updated with information, events, and teacher & family resources. 

If you have any questions, please contact District 196’s American Indian Education Coordinator: Lisa.Turgeon@district196.org
 

Indigenous Land Acknowledgements, Dr. Anton Treuer, Bemidji State University

Other resources

Land Acknowledgments


Dakota Oyate

From the Dakota Wicohan: The Dakota are the keepers of the eastern door to the greater D/L/Nakota Nation.

The Dakota are comprised of four bands:

  • Mdewakanton: The Spirit Lake People
  • Sissetonwan: People of the Fish Village(s)
  • Wahpetonwan: The People Dwelling Among the Leaves
  • Wahpekute: The Shooters Among the Leaves People

Today, in Mni Sota, there are 4 Federally-recognized Dakota communities and 1 non-Federally recognized community:

 

Why Treaties Matter

 

Dakhota Iapi / The Dakota Language

 

Online Dakota Language Resources

What Dakota Language words do you know?

  • Dakota: Friend or Ally
  • Oyate: The People
  • Mni: Water
  • Tanka: Big
  • Ȟaȟá: Curling/Ribbon like
  • Sota: Cloud
  • Mato: Bear
  • Mde/Bde: Lake
  • Makhá: Earth or Bank (as in land around a lake)
  • To: Blue
  • Ska: White
  • Mni Sóta Makọce: land where the waters reflect the skies 
  • Oceti Ṡakowiŋ: Seven Council Fires; refers to the larger confederation of Dakọta tribes
  • Bdote: Confluence of 2 Rivers
  • Bde Wákhaŋ: Spirit Lake (Lake Mille Lacs)

 

There are no resources or collections to display