Mahkato Wacipi
Innova.mu
“We
Honor the 38”
The Mahkato Wacipi came from a vision. This wacipi started with efforts to
reunify the Native American people and the White man. The division between
these peoples stems from the Dakotah Uprising of 1862 in which promised food
and blankets to the Dakotah did not arrive. Unable to get any credit from local
merchants the Dakotah were left to starve. A famous quote from the day was “Let them eat
grass!” At this stage any
spark would have started a fire.
That spark came when two young men ran across some eggs in Acton,
MN. A white farm family claimed
the eggs and would not give them up.
Fighting broke out and the two young men ended up killing the farmer and
his wife.
After this the two young men ran back to their
village and told the elders what had occurred; the elders knew that war was
imminent. Little Crow reluctantly
took the responsibility of defending the Dakotah nation. Many bloody battles occurred and in the
end the Dakotah surrendered at Camp Release. After the surrender the Dakotah were shipped on ox-carts to
Mankato where they were then marched to a prison camp at Fort Snelling. Over
one-third of the Dakotah population died at that camp in the winter of
1862. After the winter ended the
remaining men were shipped to a prison in Des Moines, Iowa. The women, children and elderly were
shipped on cattle boats to Nebraska where they were confined to the
reservation.
This wacipi wishes that people from all nations can
forgive those who have trespassed against them. As was once told to me by one of our U.S. Army warriors when
speaking about the uprising of 1862, “It was war, and horrible things
happen in war, but we need to forgive. This is why I dance.”
Disc 1
1. Mahkato – Mazakute specifically wrote this song in the early 1990s for the 38 who were hung in Mankato on December 26, 1862. “We come back to Mahkato because the 38 are there, this I remember.”
2. Flag Song – This is the Dakotah & Lakotah version of the anthem of their people. “I Love the President’s Land & I love the President’s Flag. Take courage it will stand until the end of the world.”
3. Vietnam Veterans’ Song – This is an old song that originally came out of North Dakota. “Vietnam; that war was hard. Your friend is still over there.”
4. Veterans’ Honoring
Song – Written and performed by Mazakute. “This road he has now gone down
to scout; is this war?”
5. Two Intertribal Veteran Songs – Performed by the Prairie Island Singers. “Many lands he has walked.”
6. Thank You Song – This is an honoring song sung by George Squirlcoat and the Prairie Island Singers that is sometimes known as a Sundance song.
7. Ina, Ate – Written by George Squirlcoat in 1982 for the Buffalo Lake Singers. The Prairie Island Singers sing it here. “Across this land our Indian ways are really hard. Mom & Dad told me I am Lakotah, so I am strong.”
Disk 2
1. Grand Entry Day 2 – An old traditional song sung by George Squirlcoat and the Prairie Island Singers. “All you dancers, yell & whoop because there is one life to live.”
2. Amos Crooks’s Honor Song – This is a birthday song for Amos Crooks, sung by George Squirlcoat and the Prairie Island Singers.
3. Penny Song – This is an honor song for Emit Eastman. It is also called a ‘Giving Away a Horse Song’ or ‘High Honor Song.’ Mazakute sings this song for us.
4. Shall Dance – This song is sung for us by Prairie Island Singers along with Mazakute.
WHAT IS ‘SHALL’? DO YOU MEAN SHAWL?
5. Men’s Song –George Squirlcoat and the Prairie Island Singers along with Mazakute sing this song for us.
WHAT IS THIS SONG ABOUT?
6. Song for the People – Translations given by Jerry Dearly. “Even when they are soldiers and are dead they still fight. They won that war and then they came back.”
7. Flag Song & Final
Retreat – An old traditional song
from the early 1900s. This song
honors all veterans of all times.
August 17th, 1862. The beginning of what
would be considered by many the start of the great Indian wars. It was in
Acton, Minnesota that a small group of Dakotah men found some eggs, argued
about their rightful ownership, and so led to what we know as the 1862
Conflict. To some it was but a mere skirmish, to me and to many of my people it
was the culmination of years of lies and deceit, of oppression and thievery by
top-ranking government officials and well known and respected traders and
entrepreneurs.
Hundreds lost their lives and some lost only their
homes. My people lost their way of life and for the most part, their
culture. We were sent scattered
across the continent and into Canada for the lucky ones that could make it
there. Into desolate prison-like reservations for the rest of us, where we
would continue a miserable way of life. Having what was left of our culture
slowly stripped from us while we were taught
the white man’s way of life. To me it was a form of genocide.
December 26th 1862, at ten in the morning
38 Dakotah warriors had their lives taken by public hanging, for committing
crimes of war, as if war were not a crime in itself. My people, those warriors,
only did things that were done to their families — a lesson taught to
them by the white man — and they were punished for it.
Today, one-hundred and thirty-nine years later, in the
year 2001, we still remember these thirty-eight men. Today we remember them;
they are our heroes, our martyrs, our relatives. So we honor their existence in
our history by holding an annual traditional Powwow in their names and
memories. It’s not about
making money, nor is about who’s who. It is about respect, honor, and perseverance; to be who we
are, to be Dakotah and to continue living in a good way; to share our lives and
perpetuate our culture, to make new friends and shake hands with old friends.
We do this in memory of those men and two that were stolen from safety in
Canada. So listen to this CD with their images in your head and think how it
must have been for them back then and you too will see and feel what it is to
be a Dakotah.
The third weekend of September each year we gather at
the bend in the river to remember, so please come and join us. Come and shake
hands, be a friend, be a Koda.
I
would like to take a little space here to thank everyone who has supported me
throughout the past several years with my involvement in this event and in my
life: my parents, Ernest and Vernell Wabasha, without their guidance and wisdom
in my life I would be nothing. To my brother Bill Taylor and his family, thanks
for coming into my life and helping me; I will not have any bad things to ever
say about you, you have my heart and loyalty. To Dano for getting things
together and persevering through it all, hang in there. My Pikuni brother Vern,
you know what you did and have always been there to listen and help me. My
Dakotah/Crow brother Richard, always there when I needed you. Denise Milda,
Kunsi waste’, you are something else. My uncle Rod, you perhaps are the
single most important person I have in my life, you helped me get on this road
and it has always been a good one. I love you. Thanks to Jerry Dearly for being
a relative and sounding board, you are more than a friend. To Maza-kute for
providing a good heartbeat and in honoring the 38 in your song; the Gordon
Weston Post, Fred, Barney, my other brother Leonard, and the Boys for all your
help at the Wacipi and for the coffee.
Also to my finest brother, (who is very “Cho”), Colin Wesaw,
I will always have a spot for you at my council as I will for all those here I
have mentioned. I love and respect you all; and to Laura Flamenco for the
lessons you have recently taught me through your power, strength and beauty.
And finally to my daughter Winona whose life and love
are everything to me. (Dad Loves You, Winona) Without you in my life I would
not have the strength to face a new day, all I do is for you. The creator has
blessed me with you and I Thank Him. Pidamayaye-do..
Mitakuye-oyas’in
Cover Art: Babe Whipple
Host Drums: Maza-kute, Prairie Island
Singers, and Lower Sioux Drum
MC:
Jerry Dearly
The 38 names: Bain Wilson
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? DO WE HAVE A LIST OF THESE NAMES?
Arena Director: Danny Seboy
Translators: Jerry Dearly & Bain
Wilson
CD Producer: Daniel Zielske
CD Recording & Mastering Team: Two
Fish Studios
CD Liner Photos: Jon Denzene & Daniel
Zielske
Executive Producer: Philip Blackburn
I would like to thank Amos & Rose
Crooks and their family for their generous donation to the Mdewakanton Pow-wow
Association that made the recording of this CD project possible.
Jerry Dearly gave these song translations and
information to me. I thank him for
his generous spirit and guidance, and the knowledge that he has given us.
I want to give an extra special thanks to the
following people who gave their time, effort, and wisdom to help make this
project possible:
Amos & Rose Crooks and family, Amos & Ion Owen
and family, George Squirlcoat, Bain Wilson, Maza-kute, Prairie Island Drum,
Lower Sioux Drum, Jerry Dearly, Dick Fisher, Keith R., Bud Lawrence, Eli Taylor
& family, Bill Taylor, Leonard Wabasha, Colin Wesau, Earnie & Vernel
Wabasha, Babe Whipple, Jim Bateman, the Casper family, and all of the members
past and present of the Mdewakanton Pow-wow Association.
All proceeds from the sales of this CD go to the
Mdewankanton Pow-wow Association so that they may keep this Wacipi going for
many years to come. I would also like to thank the Blue Earth County Historical
Society for their generous donation that allowed us to give this CD to
libraries, schools, colleges and other public places of learning throughout
this great land. As I have learned
in my life's journey, we are all family, so I give this CD "To All My
Relatives, Mitakuye-oyas’in."
"I was once told that there are many
ways to the center, and many stories as how things were and how they are going
to be. In the end they all are
true. We must know in our heart
that all things do come back to our Creator. Who is to judge which path you take." — Anonymous
There were many things that I have learned while I
made this CD, some I can speak about, others are known only to my heart. I hope that I have not offended anyone
in the making of this CD. My
intention is only to preserve the memories, hopes and dreams of our beloved
elders.
Daniel P. Zielske
Producer
April,
2001