54th annual Mahkato Wacipi in Mankato celebrates Dakota culture, honors men executed in 1862
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Thousands of people are expected to gather this weekend at Land of Memories Park in Mankato for the 54th annual celebration of Dakota culture called the Mahkato Wacipi.
The Mahkato Wacipi (Mankato powwow) runs through Sunday, Sept. 20, and all are welcome to attend, as the event is meant to bring the entire community together to experience Dakota culture and spirituality through education, traditional dance and song, while sharing a commitment to reconciliation.
Allene Ross serves on the powwow committee on the Dakota Advisory Council. She said while the primary focus is to honor and commemorate the Dakota 38, the 38 Dakota men hanged in Mankato in 1862 in the largest mass execution in U.S. history, the Wacipi is also a place to foster healing and cross-cultural understanding between Dakota and non-Dakota communities.
“It’s to bring light to the Dakota people who are in Minnesota, and or the Dakota who fled Minnesota, and the Dakota that were removed from Minnesota,” Ross said. “It’s also to educate the public and people who are interested in the historical facts around the Dakota history here in Minnesota. It’s to teach our language, maybe some crafts, our arts, and to bring awareness to the issues that are facing the Dakota people still here in Minnesota.”
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After the end of the Dakota War in 1862, Union soldiers marched more than 350 Dakota men to a prison camp in Mankato after a military commission tried and convicted them of murder and other crimes, and sentenced them to death. When President Abraham Lincoln was told of the sentences, he reviewed the trial documents and commuted the sentences of all but 38 of the Dakota men. Those 38 were hanged in Mankato on Dec. 26, 1862, in the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Two more Dakota men were executed later at Fort Snelling in 1865.
This year will be the first time that 17 Dakota women’s names, who are called “the caregivers,” will also be read aloud after the grand entry on Saturday night, Ross said. They were the Dakota women who also traveled with the men to the prison camp in Mankato and cared for them, and witnessed their deaths at the gallows.
“We say the names of the Dakota 38 who were [hanged] here in Mahkato, but this year we’re bringing in the names of the women who were also encamped here at Mahkato,” she said. “Their names should always be honored here. …I’m really honored to have that happen.”
If You Want to Go:
What: 54th Annual Mahkato Wacipi
When: Friday, Sept. 18, from 4 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Open in all weather, rain or shine.
Grand entries are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Where: Land of Memories Park, 100 Amos Owen Lane, Mankato, MN 56001
Admission: Elders and children are free; $10 for a button, good for the entire weekend. Cash only.
