A new traveling exhibition exploring native nations in Minnesota and their history of treaty making with the United States is making a stop at Central Lakes College.
"Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations" opens Nov. 23 at CLC, and will be open for viewing through Dec. 18.
This exhibition is part of a statewide tour, with visits through the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, under the patronage of the Minnesota Humanities Center and its partner, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council.
The exhibition will include 20 free-standing banners with text, historical and contemporary photographs and maps, and a 10-minute video titled, "A Day in the Life of the Minnesota Tribal Nations."
This exhibit reveals how Dakota and Ojibwe treaties with the U.S. government affected the lands and lives of the indigenous peoples of the place we now call Minnesota, and explains why these binding agreements between nations still matter today, organizers reported.
ADVERTISEMENT
In August 2010, a resolution creating a unique partnership of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Minnesota Humanities Center, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., was approved unanimously by the tribes residing in Minnesota and made it possible for the exhibition to be developed as an educational tool for Minnesota audiences.
"In order to create the vibrant Minnesota of the future we need to understand the importance of the agreements - the treaties - between the sovereign Indian nations and the United States," Minnesota Humanities Center President David O'Fallon said in a release. "Understanding these treaties is important now - it affects how we live - and will shape the future."
Why Treaties Matter is collaboration of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Minnesota Humanities Center and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian. This exhibition was developed with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with a vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008, and The Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation.
Founded in 1971, the Minnesota Humanities Center is a nonprofit organization. The Humanities Center is a resource of the state of Minnesota and affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council was established in 1963 Minnesota Statutes Chapter 888, Sec. 2 (3:922). The council is a liaison between the state of Minnesota and the 11 tribal governments in the state. The council provides a forum for and advises state government on issues of concern to urban Indian communities.
Established in 1989, through an Act of Congress, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is an institution of living cultures dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of the life, languages, literature, history and arts of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
