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Native News
Peter Cox

Prairie Island community trying to reclaim noose used in 1862 mass execution of Dakota men

Red Wing Mural
Barn Bluff (He Min Can), a sacred bluff and burial grounds for the local Dakota people, overlooks members of the Prairie Island Indian Community (Tinta Wita) and Red Wing residents as they gather for a mural unveiling ceremony on Indigenous People’s Day in Red Wing on Oct. 9, 2023.
Tim Evans for MPR News

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A noose that a long-ago donor claimed was used in the largest one-day execution in American history, in which 38 Dakota Indians were hanged at the end of the U.S. Dakota War, is being claimed for reparation from the Minnesota Historical Society’s collection.

The Prairie Island Indian Community filed a claim through its Tribal Historic Preservation Office. The claim was made through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

They say the noose was used to hang Wicanhpi Wastedanpi (Good Little Stars) also known as Chaske.

Prairie Island said the item was stolen from his grave and kept as a trophy before it was donated.

“This is a sacred item already used for and needed again for further use in healing our communities over the loss of our relatives,” they said in a statement. Prairie Island said the object meets the criteria of both an Unassociated Funerary Item and Sacred Item as defined by NAGPRA.  

The Historical Society said it received the claim in late February and said it’s “diligently reviewing the claim as required by NAGPRA and is listening to responses from Dakota Tribal Nations.”

It says a determination will be made by May 28.

“We acknowledge that this is both a harmful and painful object that does not reflect the mission and values of MNHS today,” they said in a statement. “MNHS is committed to following both the letter and the spirit of the NAGPRA regulations and to working with Indigenous communities as an institution that is a steward of many Native American collections and sacred sites.”

According to the Historical Society’s description of the object, “this rope was used in the hanging of 38 Dakota Indians on Dec. 26, 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota. The hanging was the largest one-day execution in American history and was a result of six weeks of fighting in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.”

The description says the rope was donated by John K. Arnold of the 3rd Minnesota Regiment, “who claimed in a letter dated 1869 that it was the noose used to hang Chaska.”

In the notes on the object, the historical society said in consultation with “the Minnesota Historical Society Indian Advisory Committee on April 20, 2012, the Minnesota Historical Society will not display images of culturally sensitive items on the public database.”