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History of The Winona Dakota Unity Alliance
Winona participated in The Grand Excursion 2004. Its purpose was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the original Grand Excursion, a riverboat flotilla signaling the opening up of this land to white settlement. There was, however, a glaring omission: recognition of the people who originally inhabited this land. They had been nearly entirely forgotten by our community and many others in much of southeast Minnesota.
To address this oversight, a group of our concerned citizens, along with the City of Winona and the Diversity Foundation, organized the first Great Dakota Gathering and Homecoming in 2004. It centered on truth and reconciliation ceremonies to re-introduce our long separated communities. As we planned and visited, the Dakota wondered: “Who are these people and what do they want?” “Is this Gathering a single event, with the Dakota thereafter forgotten?” “Why are these people here?” To reassure the Dakota people of our ongoing commitment to them, the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance was formed in the fall and winter of 2004-2005, becoming a 501-(c) (3) corporation in January 2006.
We have since sponsored our second and third Gatherings, with the fourth planned for June 2-3, 2007. Our commitment has expanded to include structural, educational, and socioeconomic issues on the Dakota reservations. One example is that the lack of potable water and inadequate adequate sewer systems remain crucial issues on Crow Creek and Santee Dakota Reservations. Our board and the City of Winona are pursuing grants to develop adequate systems. We have helped initiate collections of clothing, appliances, furniture, and toys for Crow Creek and Santee communities and continue to participate in those efforts. A Dakota Scholarship Fund is in the planning phase and has goals of working with Winona State University, St. Mary’s University and Southeast Technical College in providing educational opportunities for Dakota youth.
The City of Winona has graciously designated and developed space in Lake Park for the annual Gathering. The location is at the East End of Lake Winona on a peninsula under Wapasha’s Cap/Sugar Loaf. The new Unity Park will be the permanent site of our annual Gathering. Limestone quarried decades ago from the bluff above the park will form the dance circle and the stage, framed by indigenous plant life in the adjacent ponds and park. Two bronze sculptures have been planned for the Park and fund raising is ongoing. The ten-foot sculptures are “The Spirit of Winona” by JoAnne Bird and “The Unity Rider” by Leo and Lyon Smith. Both sculptures reflect the spirit of the WDUA efforts, which in the Dakota language is Mitakuye Owasin (We are all Related).
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History of the Moccasin Game
The moccasin game may have originated in the late 1700’s or very early 1800’s, from a surprise encounter between two hunter warriors from two tribes who spoke different language and had different traditions and culture.
These two tribes would at times have disputes over territorial and hunting rights, otherwise they coexisted comfortably. On one occasion when the two tribes were on a fall hunt to have a supply of meat for the winter, two hunter warriors of one of the tribes spotted a very large herd of elk in a semi-forest, bushy area, one of the hunter warriors started back for the main camp to bring as many hunters that were available. The other hunter warrior followed the elk, marking the trail as he went being very careful not to spook the elk out of the territory. At the same time two hunter warriors of the other tribe spotted the same herd of elk and one of them also went back to his camp to bring as many hunters as possible.
The two hunter warriors who were trailing the herd of elk unknowingly were in the same vicinity and both came out of the brush, into a small clearing. The encounter was a complete surprise, which normally would bring on actions that would lead to terrible consequences for either one or both.
The two hunter warriors were mindful of their mission and realized the death of one or the other or both would mean the denial of a large supply of meat for their tribe.
One of the hunters suggested that each put four moccasins in a row in front of them, hide an object under one of the moccasins; the other would find a stick or any such object to strike the moccasin that he thinks the object was hidden under.
They both agreed they would take all their arrows and put them together at one end of the row of four moccasins and at the other end of the moccasins they would put their knives, hatchets and other things they valued. Whoever won all the combined arrows would be the victor and would claim the arrows, the knives, the hatchets, the elk or anything else he demanded, even the other warrior’s life. But after playing this game for a long time, the two warrior hunters became friends and agreed that this was the away they should settle future disputes.
These were the times when warrior hunters on a long journey carried extra moccasins to replace the ones worn out. This story of the origin of the moccasin game was told by a Mdewakanta Dakota Elder by the name of Eli Taylor from Sioux Valley, Manitoba, Canada who passed away on January 10, 1999 at the age of 92.
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