What Does Justice Look Like?: The Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland

by Waziyatawin Angela Wilson

During the past 150 years, the majority of Minnesotans have not acknowledged the immense and ongoing harms suffered by the Dakota People ever since their homelands were invaded over 200 years ago. Many Dakota people say that the wounds incurred have never healed, and it is clear that the genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass executions, death marches, broken treaties, and land theft; have not been made right. The Dakota People paid and continue to pay the ultimate price for Minnesota's statehood. This book explores how we can embark on a path of transformation on the way to respectful coexistence with those whose ancestral homeland this is. Doing justice is central to this process. Without justice, many Dakota say, healing and transformation on both sides cannot occur, and good, authentic relations cannot develop between our Peoples. Written by Wahpetunwan Dakota scholar and activist Waziyatawin of Pezihutazizi Otunwe, What Does Justice Look Like? offers an opportunity now and for future generations to learn the long-untold history and what it has meant for the Dakota People. On that basis, the book offers the further opportunity to explore what we can do between us as Peoples to reverse the patterns of genocide and oppression, and instead to do justice with a depth of good faith, commitment, and action that would be genuinely new for Native and non-Native relations.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Indigenous, Social Justice, Justice, Native American, Activism

176 pages, Hardcover

First published September 9, 2008

About the author

Waziyatawin is Wahpetunwan Dakota from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village) in southwestern Minnesota. She received her Ph.D. in American history from Cornell University in 2000 and earned tenure and an associate professorship in the history department at Arizona State University where she taught for seven years. She also held the Indigenous Peoples Research Chair in the Indigenous Governance Program at UVic. Her interests include projects centering on Indigenous decolonization strategies such as truth-telling and reparative justice, Indigenous women and resistance, the recovery of Indigenous knowledge, and the development of liberation ideology in Indigenous communities. She is a compelling speaker and is often invited to give talks and interviews, appearing on many radio and television programs.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is under 200 pages, but was one of the most difficult reads for me. I had to take breaks to process the layers of grief contained here. I went into this with an acknowledgement of western, white consumer/capitalist culture as unsustainable. I know there is a cost in life to all of our privilege. I was even aware of some of the tactics employed in breaking our indigenous people (e.g. indian boarding schools). But I was still surprised by the arguments laid out here, in particular that the acts taken by our government & citizens against our indigenous people would meet our criteria today for "genocide."

I don't think this book is about forcing shame or guilt on white readers. Rather, the goal is for us to acknowledging the true sources of our wealth, and their fundamental incompatibility with our self-image, ethics and values. Who among us would willingly endorse genocide as a strategy for personal profit? Who can say "I am glad that indigenous peoples and lands are exploited to make my life today comfortable"? Personally, I cannot; yet this genocide is exactly what we we are celebrating when we participate in a society that defines wealth via unsustainable extraction and hoarding of resources.

This book contains some practical steps that can be taken to move our world in a new direction, even at an individual level. Please read it. At the very least, you will find perspectives rarely encountered in our colonial lives.

[Ai Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible and frankly absolutely required reading for all people living in Minnesota, both non-Native and Native, Dakota and non-Dakota, and frankly the latter chapters are required reading for anyone living in a settler state. Visionary and also wholly possible, it's a challenge to Minnesotans to look an alternate future in the face. Just so powerful and a critical read, and I'm ashamed it took me this long to get to it.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good choice for folks who are in Dakota territory, specifically in Minnesota, and curious about landback but not yet familiar with the full history that makes reparations and land return so necessary. While Waziyatawin discusses models that will be relevant for those seeking to engage in restorative justice and land return in other places, much of the history presented is really specific to the state of Minnesota. A lot of the text is also dedicated to laying out an argument for why acts of reparation are needed; so good if you're new to the topic but if you're already on board with the project it may feel a little repetitive.

[Julie Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be essential reading for every Minnesotan.

[Karen Kohoutek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very inspiring and clearly reasoned book about justice for Indigenous peoples, specific to Minnesota, which is what I was looking for, since that's the state where I grew up, and where the Indigenous history is everywhere, but obviously glossed-over and falsified. The point of view here is perhaps idealistic, especially when read in the Trump era, since the author may have overestimated white Minnesotans' moral maturity, and underestimated their capacity for denial. But I really liked the idea of at least removing peoples' ignorance, despite their pushback, to get them in a position where they can't pretend they don't know that they have a history of genocide, and a present that continues to oppress Indigenous people. In compelling, easy-to-follow prose, she lays out arguments so logical, there's really no disputing them, unless one is really invested in not seeing the reality: which, sadly, so many people are.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am ashamed to say that I do not know enough about the history of Native Americans here in Minnesota. I have walked through Fort Snelling and visited the Alexander Ramsey house without considering their roles in the genocide of Native peoples..... Before discussing the book I want to begin on a positive note: Peggy Flanagan (Ojibwe: Gizhiiwewidamookwe) born September 22, 1979 is an American politician and Native American activist serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of Minnesota since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Flanagan served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. Flanagan was elected lieutenant governor in 2018 and reelected in 2022, both times as Tim Walz's running mate, becoming the first woman of color elected to statewide office in Minnesota, and the *******highest-ranking Native American woman in elected office in the nation.****** Flanagan is an advocate for indigenous peoples' rights. While a legislator, she sponsored the creation of a task force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Later, she sponsored a mandate for tribal consultation in state affairs and as lieutenant governor created the nation's first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office. She and Governor Walz have been making efforts to improve the lives of Native people here. Beginning with the children of Minnesota: Legislation passed in 2023: Data Sharing with Tribal Nations, Dedicated American Indian Education Coordinator, American Indian Culture and Language Classes Required, Shared Time Enrollment, American Indian Education Aid , Indigenous Peoples Day, Indigenous Education For All Students, American Indian Mascots Prohibited, Tribal Regalia at Graduation Ceremonies, Sacred Tobacco Allowed, Embed Indigenous Education in Academic Standards, Ethnic Studies, Minnesota Indian Teacher Training Program, American Indian Education Aid, American Indian Parent Advisory Committees. Exact information about this legislation can be found at the Minnesota Department of Education, Office of American Indian Education - title: American Indian Legislation passed in 2023. Minnesota Indian Affairs Council - Established in 1963 as the first council of its type in the U.S., the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC) is the official liaison between Tribal Nations in Minnesota and the state of Minnesota. MIAC is mandated to make recommendations on legislation that is important to tribal governments and American Indian people and improve services between the state and American Indian communities. Marijuana Revenue Under Minnesota’s new adult-use cannabis legislation, Minnesota-based tribal nations can legally begin selling marijuana for recreational use before commercial dispensaries are licensed this coming year. Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act - . The law adds to the Indian Child Welfare Act and provides protections for tribal sovereignty in cases related to children. The law will help keep Indigenous families together and make sure that Indigenous children are raised with a strong connection to their culture. Ms. Flanagan has been active in the restoration and expansion of the Minneapolis American Indian Center here on Franklin Ave. ( Near my previous home ). LEECH LAKE, Minn. — A Native American tribe in northern Minnesota celebrated with state leaders Wednesday the return of nearly 12,000 acres of land. In June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that 11,778 acres of Chippewa National Forest land would be transferred back to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.
The move was part of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act signed into law in 2020, which reverses a land seizure by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1940s.. The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa has restored more than 28,000 acres of land to tribal ownership through an agreement with the nonprofit Conservation Fund. The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa is a federally recognized tribe located in northeastern Minnesota. In 2020, the nonprofit Conservation Fund bought the land as part of a larger purchase from PotlatchDeltic with the intent of returning it to the 3,600-member Ojibwe band. ........ It will never be enough, but I am happy about the progress being made. ******** Minnesota is the home of the largest mass execution in American history!! The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota collectively known as the Santee Sioux. It began on August 18, 1862, when the Dakota, who were facing starvation and displacement, attacked white settlements at the Lower Sioux Agency along the Minnesota River valley in southwest Minnesota. The war lasted for five weeks and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of settlers and the displacement of thousands more. In the aftermath, the Dakota people were exiled from their homelands, forcibly sent to reservations in the Dakotas and Nebraska, and the State of Minnesota confiscated and sold all their remaining land in the state. By 3 November, the military commission had held trials of 392 Dakota men, with as many as 42 tried in a single day. Not surprisingly, given the socially explosive conditions under which the trials took place, by 7 November the verdicts were in. The military commission announced that 303 Dakota prisoners had been convicted of murder and rape and were sentenced to death. When the death sentences were made public, Henry Whipple, the Episcopal bishop of Minnesota and a reformer of U.S. Indian policy, responded by publishing an open letter. He also went to Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1862 to urge Lincoln to proceed with leniency. On the other hand, General Pope and Minnesota Senator Morton S. Wilkinson warned Lincoln that the white population opposed leniency. Governor Ramsey warned Lincoln that, unless all 303 Dakota were executed, "[P]rivate revenge would on all this border take the place of official judgment on these Indians." In the end, Lincoln commuted the death sentences of 264 prisoners and allowed the execution of 39 men. However, "[on] December 23, [Lincoln] suspended the execution of one of the condemned men [...] after [General] Sibley telegraphed that new information led him to doubt the prisoner's guilt." Thus, the number of condemned men was reduced to the final 38. The execution was public, on a square platform designed to drop from under the condemned. The gallows was built around the outside of the square with up to ten nooses per side. After the regimental surgeons pronounced the men dead, they were buried en masse in an unfrozen sand bar of the Minnesota River. Despite having a large guard force posted at the grave-site, all of the bodies were exhumed and taken away the first night. Such is Minnesota's contribution to the largest genocide in history. European Colonizers Killed So Many Native Americans that It Changed the Global Climate!!! This article covers a study done about a global climate change in the 1500s. !!!!!European settlers killed 56 million indigenous people over about 100 years in South, Central and North America!!!!, causing large swaths of farmland to be abandoned and reforested, researchers at University College London, or UCL, estimate. The increase in trees and vegetation across an area the size of France resulted in a massive decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, according to the study. Report via CNN. American Manifest Destiny: The 19th-century belief that the United States was destined by God to expand its territory across the entire North American continent. This ideology justified the westward expansion of the U.S. and the displacement of Native American and other non-European populations, rooted in the idea of American exceptionalism and the mission to spread democracy and capitalism. Hitler used the superiority of the Aryan race and we used GOD. ***** Waziyatawin Angela Wilson's account of the treatment of her people, primarily here in Minnesota, is heartbreaking, but only an infinitesimal part of the story. I have read extensively about the Holocaust. It is time to read more about genocide at home. Kristi & Abby Tabby Childless Cat Lady

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book is incredible. Waziyatawin articulates the nuts and bolts of how imperialism and colonization work more clearly than I have ever seen. This should be required reading definitely for every Minnesotan, and worthwhile for others as well just because it’s SO well-stated. I highlighted just about every page. This is definitely heavy at times, but overall I was so inspired by Waziyatawin’s calls to imagine a different future. I am still digesting this book and I know I will be re-reading it again.

[Molly Budke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little enough has changed in the 10 years since this book was written, so it's still very timely. Waziyatawin skillfully argues within an academic structure without losing or apologizing for any of her anger. This book is a necessary read for all minnesotans, especially those who want to have conversations about reparations but don't know where to start.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite historians. Waz rocks! I alway use Waz's writings in my courses.

[Drick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes the case for land reparations for the Dakota people of Minnesota based on the history of colonization and oppression of the Dakota. At the heart of the book is the 1862 handing of 18 Dakota who were captured in a battle between white settlers and Dakota warriors near Mankato. Following the hanging hundreds of men, women and children were held in a concentration camp at Fort Snelling located just south of the current Twin Cities. Using the UN definition of genocide, the author makes the case that the Dakota suffered genocide in multiple ways and so like the Jews after the Holocaust (a reference she makes several times) the state and whites of Minnesota should pay reparations to the Dakota. She advocates not money but land reparations so that people who choose to may seek to re-establish the language, traditions, and culture of their ancestors.

The book makes a compelling case, and as a native Minnesotan, I learned a history that had been carefully ignored and glossed over. Many of the places and persons mentioned have names that are enshrined in cities and counties, yet were bent in the 1800s on literally exterminating the Dakota; that is the definition of genocide. This book makes a troubling but compelling case for repairing the harm done to our indigenous citizens not only in Minnesota but in many places around the country.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this so much that I ended up ordering my own copy (I was reading a library version). I also convinced a coworker to buy his own copy because of how much I enthused about this book.

I grew up in MN and am several decades old and reading this was the first time I realized that Fort Snelling was a concentration camp, which is pretty appalling. I also didn't know that Fort Snelling is located on a sacred site in Dakota culture, which makes the whole thing another level of horrible.

I was expecting calls for reparations, land back, language education, Dakota sovereignty. I wasn't expecting support for Zionism, and the author's analysis of why the US financially supports Israel is oddly naive. But she is also operating under a moral view of politics in a way that I don't.

I did appreciate how, several times in the text, she explicitly notes how she is presenting her viewpoint as a Dakota person, and was not presenting the viewpoint of Dakota or Indigenous people at large. In fact, she warns readers not to make the assumption that any one person can speak for an entire group of people. That's a really good reminder in general.

[Rachel Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading What Does Justice Look Like with the knowledge in mind that its author, Waziyatawin, is a member of the Upper Sioux Community that I have recently lived on and experienced the tribal atmosphere thereof. So now that I have a bit of knowledge with tribal politics and the dynamics between reservations and their surrounding areas, I thought it would be interesting to read more about it from a radical Dakota woman who I've heard about and who could provide some information about the struggle to retain the Dakota identity when all around it are trying to strip it away.

The trouble with the book is I found Waziyatawin's general thesis to be repetitive and simple-minded. She seems to think that by receiving ancestral Dakota homelands in Minnesota back, Dakota people will be nearly 100 percent better off and all their problems will be solved. This thesis is justified, given Dakota history in Minnesota. And Waziyatawin does go into pretty good detail about all of that, how the government wronged the Dakota people by settling on their lands, imprisoning their people, stripping the of their rights and culture and forcing them to assimilate — all of which have legitimate, tangible effects on Dakota people today.

For instance, the way Dakota people had their lands taken from them and were forced to settle on government-made reservations is a major part of the problems Dakota (and many native communities) experience today. Waziyatawin proposes reclaiming these ancestral lands in two ways: 1) giving back public Minnesota lands to the Dakota, i.e. federal and state parks and public lands; and 2) letting Dakota people take back properties that are forfeited to the state for lack of paying taxes. But she makes it sound as though doing so will return Dakota people to the lifestyles they had prior to European contact, in these little utopian bubbles away from the white eye. The problem is, white people wouldn't just up and leave, no matter how much she seems to want them to; white influence and commerce would still be there despite Dakota people having their own land back.

Plus, just having it be a land return is simplifying the issue. As I said, it is justified, but throwing a bunch of dirt at the Dakota isn't the solution. There are systemic issues built in from when the land was stolen and exploited, specifically, how white people used their quest for land — "manifest destiny" — as a means to abuse and exploit the Dakota more. Waziyatawin also says to really reclaim their way of life, the Dakota need to go back to the way they lived before modern technologies came in, which is absurd. Relinquishing those technologies won't help at all; rather, it will hurt the Dakota more because they will fall behind white society even more than white society has pushed them behind now.

All of these are nice ideas in theory, trying to go back to the way things were before their lives were abruptly changed forever, but the book is generally naive and idealistic as a whole. The proposals would be ridiculously complicated in the nature of anything becoming policy — and with an already complex relationship between tribal, state and federal governments, it seems impossible to make Waziyatawin's proposals real. The whole book severely underestimates the bureaucracy required to accomplish any of this, with or without a revolution. Similarly, addressing these reparations, her ideas are much more complex than she seems to understand, but she doesn't even attempt to lay out a plan at all, just vapid hopes on how things should be. But you can't just be radical for the sake of speaking out and spreading the word; you have to have a legitimate, quality plan to change things.

However, What Does Justice Look Like does right is raise many interesting questions about the philosophical and ethical nature of racism, human behavior and instincts. Its history into the oppressors and the oppressed raises questions about why white people acted certain ways, besides the obvious and dubious "manifest destiny" claims. Waziyatawin mentions the Dakota way of life, the Dakota wicohan, numerous times, saying that they lived in harmony with each other and the world around them — compared to white people who wanted to conquer everything. Which made me wonder how different societies become so different in regards to superior or inferior races? If white people and natives had never met (prior to 1492) and didn't know each other's cultures, how were they so different anyway? Why did one develop into that land-grubbing, greedy viewpoint and the other into shared collectivity? Is there a fundamental neurological, sociological difference in these thought processes?

For example, there is this quote on Page 142: "Left to ourselves, I think we would have continued to try to live according to the values of balance and reciprocity so that we could fulfill the cultural and spiritual ideal of mitakuye owas'in, all my relations. I think we would have attempted to ensure that our way of life remained sustainable. Frankly, I think Minnesota would be a much more healthy and beautiful place if Whites had not violently interfered in our relationship with the land and its beings. But, that is according to a Dakota value system. If, on the other hand, you value monetary wealth, greed, profit, domination over the land, and an unbridled hunger for new technology, you will think differently about what has transpired over the last 150 years. Is one value system inherently better than the other?"

Waziyatawin explains her thoughts on Dakota reclamation and decolonization very well, and she clearly wants these things to happen, but she sounded a little bit too much in her own head, like she wanted to be the leader of a movement that just doesn't exist right now. It was an interesting read but nothing truly mind-blowing or thought-provoking about how to change the way things are.

[C.E. G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the 19th century history covered here was already familiar to me (though I liked how Waziyatawin framed it within the UN Convention's international definition of genocide), but the more recent history of the community talks about Fort Snelling were new to me, and especially interesting given the current conversation about renaming it. I've also been learning more about the concept of land reparations recently, and most of what I've read has been about individuals "donating" "their" land or the proceeds from selling "their" land. Waziyatawin adds to this some ideas for how the US government could also engage in land returns.

She included a lot of her own opinions about initiatives and individuals, which I appreciated, though I'm curious about the perspectives of the "loyal Mdewakantons" and if there was more nuance than she summarized.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about the genocide of the Dakota people in Minnesota and actions we should take to rectify that historical and present day wrong. As you can imagine, there are some provocative ideas here—like land restoration and tearing down Fort Snelling. There's also a lot of logical reasoning backing them up. It seems like Minnesota has made strides in some areas since this book was written (changing of place names, state flag, renaming Henry Sibley High School, etc.)—I'm sure that feels like too far in the eyes of some and barely a baby step in the eyes of the author, but I'm curious how those changes would impact the book. Are we on the right path?

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough and thoroughly damning account of how the Dakota homeland of Minnesota was taken over by US soldiers, settlers, missionaries, and merchants, and how the Indigenous inhabitants were systematically displaced, deceived, and nearly annihilated in the process.

Must reading for those who care about justice in this state and this country. Lots of tough truth-telling here, along with Waziyatawin's strikingly ambitious suggestions and demands of the dominant culture and of her own people, too. The question is: can we handle the truth?

[Carmenlita Chief · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waz clearly lays out stages for reparative justice and land reclamation for Dakota People, which can also extend to other Indigenous groups, while consistently asking all of us to ponder the question, "What does recognition of genocide demand?" in the quest for liberation from oppression and colonial myth-making. I took my time reading this book, digesting carefully her scholarship and critical questions.

"If you can imagine a liberated future, then we have somewhere to go and we have a lot of work to do." - Waziyatawin

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is polemical but should be. It also tells the story of treaties signed and ignored by the United States, and the destruction of the nations that inhabited the pre-invasion North American continent; I suspect that other invasions had their own nuances, but with similar outcomes.
The mistrust and hatred of indigenous peoples for white American descendants of pioneers is more understandable; it is also still alive.
This is a valuable resource to understand U.S. history.

[Laurie]

Wow, I learned a lot from this book. It’s dry in an academic way, but very readable. The author did a great job setting up, explaining, and backing up her thoughts with facts.

While this book is very specific to the Dakota people and White Minnesotans, there’s a lot that’s transferable in today’s world. (Also, a little sad this book is from 2008. I’m sure so much has happened since then.)

One specific idea I’ll take with me is the need to be able to imagine a liberated future before we can move forward. So good.

[Regencyfan93 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a powerful look what American colonizers did to Dakota lands and people. There are also ways in which reparations can be made. As the author points out "When we are lifted up and our humanity is recognized, everyone will be lifted up." I look forward to the day when everyone in my country is lifted, and not only the lucky few.

[Mia Tranowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book truly opened my eyes to all the ways that colonization still exists in society today and ways we can go about decolonizing MN. While this book is short, I had to reread pages multiple times to ensure I truly understood what was being said and understood all the different layers of grief and oppression.

[Diana Biggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of our history that few are aware of, it's a crime that the true history hasn't been written in text books. This spotlights Minnesota but applies throughout the country. Worth a read, even if you've read about the indigenous people as much as I have.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and an important read for anyone in Minnesota. It was published in 2008 so I’ll be following up on some of the court cases mentioned, and curious to see what kind of movement the author has behind her now.

[Grace Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be required reading for living in Twin Cities/ Minnesota generally. It would be great to have an updated version as some of the specific issues/ campagains brought up in this 2008 version are ongoing.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jeffrey Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beware. You might find this book challenging. I did. It is also true.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

So important. A practical plan and outlook for a just future in America. Really making me rethink how I can be a true ally

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tear down Fort Snelling

[Lnjbr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good in the first half! Started losing me with all the attempts to draw parallels between Indigenous Americans and Israeli settlers lol.

[Chloe Parish · Rating 5 out of 5]

this should be required in all schools