Mendota will be Honoring Our Ancestors Feb 12, 2022. Ceremony will be at the Fort Snelling and on zoom.
We will meet even if it is very cold. Consider the people back in 1862 who were forced to brave the cold.
We will light the sacred fire at 10:00am, ceremony is at 11:00pm.
Lon, Joy and Joseph will light the fire.
On December 26, 1862, the U.S. military lynched 38 of our Dakota patriots in the largest mass execution in United States history. On November 7, 1862, a group of about 1,700 Dakota, primarily women and children, were forcibly marched from the Lower Sioux Agency to a concentration camp at Fort Snelling.
Fort Snelling State Park. The park entrance is off Highway 5 at Post Road near the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.
Drive down into the park, go inside the building to get your free pass at the entrance building.
Thank You to the DNR for their help each year.
If you need more information, please call the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community office 651-452-4141. Dress warm, the ceremony is outside, women should wear skirts, pants under their skirt.
Please bring some tobacco for an offering.
Pidamaya from the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community who attended in the cold.
I have been to all the honoring our ancestor for many years, until the last two years. Because of Covid.
Mendota will honor our ancestor no matter what happens.
WE will never forget about our people.
Sharon Lennartson Tribal Chairwoman
Jason Delmont Vice Chairman
Joe Lennartson Treasurer
Jason Delmont Secretary
Greg Standmark Historian