DEFINITION: Mdewakanton

Mde•wa•kan•ton

Originally pronounced (um-dÄ“-wô’kun-tōn”, med”Ä“-wô’-),

Now it’s most current and usual pronounciation is
“Medawákhaŋtoŋ” or “Mid day wák eŋ tawn”

Simple Definition: A member of a North American Indian people belonging to the Santee branch of the Dakota.

Image info Dakota members of a treaty negotiation group, (1858).Minneapolis Collection, BR0583

Mdewakantonwan are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota (Sioux). Their ancestral home is Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota, which in the Dakota language was called mde wakan (mystic/spiritual lake).

The Mdewakanton are no longer a single unified Tribe but all their successors inherent ensure their Mdewakanton components survive within their respective communities. In the United States, the Mdewakanton survive in part on the Santee, Flandreau, Sisseton-Wahpehton, and Upper Sioux reservations as Dakota, and on the Mille Lacs Reservation as Ojibwe; in Canada, the Mdewakanton survives as part of the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. Mdewakanton-only communities are Lower Sioux, Shakopee-Mdewakanton and the Prairie Island Indian Community in the United States.

The Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community is a non-federally recognized Tribe who are currently petitioning the US Department of the Interior for recognition.