Dakota in Exile: The Untold Stories of Captives in the Aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota War

by Linda M. Clemmons

Robert Hopkins was a man caught between two worlds. As a member of the Dakota Nation, he was unfairly imprisoned, accused of taking up arms against U.S. soldiers when war broke out with the Dakota in 1862. However, as a Christian convert who was also a preacher, Hopkins’s allegiance was often questioned by many of his fellow Dakota as well. Without a doubt, being a convert—and a favorite of the missionaries—had its privileges. Hopkins learned to read and write in an anglicized form of Dakota, and when facing legal allegations, he and several high-ranking missionaries wrote impassioned letters in his defense. Ultimately, he was among the 300-some Dakota spared from hanging by President Lincoln, imprisoned instead at Camp Kearney in Davenport, Iowa, for several years. His wife, Sarah, and their children, meanwhile, were forced onto the barren Crow Creek reservation in Dakota Territory with the rest of the Dakota women, children, and elderly. In both places, the Dakota were treated as novelties, displayed for curious residents like zoo animals.

Historian Linda Clemmons examines the surviving letters from Robert and Sarah; other Dakota language sources; and letters from missionaries, newspaper accounts, and federal documents. She blends both the personal and the historical to complicate our understanding of the development of the Midwest, while also serving as a testament to the resilience of the Dakota and other indigenous peoples who have lived in this region from time immemorial.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2019

Reviews

[Soozee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, written solely from the perspective of the Dakota Indian tribe. I certainly learned a lot about the 1862 Dakota-US war and the tragic aftermath. Clearly there were a lot of actions to be thoroughly ashamed about, and it is right that people should be aware that such atrocities were perpetrated by the US government officials.

The book is well written, although there is a little repetition in parts. It cleverly has a family at the core, but portrays much wider events as well as how they affected the family itself.

At the end I was rather dismayed to learn that not only were the tribes wanting the return of desecrated bodies of ancestors - which is part of their culture and totally understandable - but also they want artefacts returning. It seems to me that after 150 years, it is time to accept that the plains full of bison to hunt have gone, their life as it was has irrevocably changed and the tribes should be looking how they can integrate and take their place within the modern United States.

Books like this should help America to accept and acknowledge guilt for past crimes, but also help the the tribes to find their own place in the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and the University of Iowa Press for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another genocide to be racked with guilt over. What frontier America did to the Dakota tribe was savage, uncivilized extermination. It must have been extremely difficult for Linda M Clemmons to research the painful past of her ancestors; her book covers 1862-1869 and incalculable suffering. The Dakota were harassed, humiliated, raped, dehumanized in the press and at large, separated from their loved ones, subjected to starvation, cruelty and deadly illnesses, lied to and about, dragged away to uninhabitable lands, enslaved and ultimately annihilated with overwhelming military force and firepower. And then after they were dead, their bodies were desecrated. I don't understand how these "God-fearing" frontier people could live with themselves.

The hysteria surrounding and obscuring the genocide, mistrials, executions, and exile of the Dakotans is nauseating in its similarity to what keeps happening again and again the world over. The irony of the Americans ridiculing the Dakotans as inferior and unintelligent, as the Indians learn English, reading, writing, and are bilingual. Despite President Lincoln's clemency (his executive order reduced the number of hangings from 303 to 39) and the so-called restitution offered survivors in 1891, this book is profoundly depressing. "The only offense of which many of them appear to have been guilty, is that of being Sioux Indians."

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history tracing the fate of multiple groups of Dakota from the infamous execution of 1862 to multiple prison camps and reservations through 1869. Clemmons is an excellent historian of Minnesota, Dakota, and missionary history, and she documents the complex interactions between various groups of white people and the Dakota. Her sources include dozens and dozens of newly translated Dakota letters, as well as the papers and documents of all the major figures, besides being attuned to the latest historiography including that by American Indian scholars themselves.

This closing paragraph from the Preface encapsulates the importance of this book:

"The conflicted history of words and names reflects the larger struggle over how to remember and how to discuss the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. For Dakota, this book will likely reopen the wounds that remain into the present day. Likewise, many Euro-Americans who have lived in this region for generations may experience discomfort about the actions of their ancestors. Despite the extensive descriptions of suffering, I hope that both Dakota and non-Dakota readers will follow this story to the end. The Dakota's experiences need to be told to and acknowledged by all Americans, because their treatment after 1862 provides an example of the painful history of Native American encounters with the U.S. government, settlers, and missionaries. Unfortunately, the Dakota's story is just one of many" (xvii).

I also highly recommend Clemmons first book, Conflicted Mission: Faith, Disputes, and Deception on the Dakota Frontier, and am looking forward to reading Unrepentant Dakota Woman: Angelique Renville and the Struggle for Indigenous Identity, 1845-1876

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book portrays stories from the Dakota War of 1862 from a familial perspective that has been lacking in multiple other publications surrounding this piece of history.
I think this book did a great job of addressing multiple issues that have been "untold stories" for too long.
Frankly, I'm livid that Lincoln gets this reputation as being Honest Abe and a "do-good" human in American History when he signed execution orders for the largest execution at the hands of the US government EVER. Yes, he granted clemency to the majority of the Dakota people in the original order, but as a lawyer, he would have 100% known that all of the trials were total shit to begin with.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the University of Iowa Press for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kate T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a mix between a history textbook and a novel. Very Informative.