Category Archives: Native Americans

19th Century, education, Exploration, Geology, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans, Natural Science

Nicollet and Fremont visit Pipestone quarries 1838

Nicollet

Nicollet

Fremont

Fremont

While on expedition, Nicollet and John Fremont camp at the Pipestone quarries (in what is now Pipestone National Monument in Pipestone County) and engrave their initials near the Winnewissa Falls, leaving a lasting record of their presence there.*

God, since when did graffiti become history? It seems we are unaware of our actions today on future generations. Yet historians and achaeologists surely appreciate these moments of civil disobedience. What is literally scrawled on the walls of the present gives us a much more colorful picture of what happened in the past. Thanks for graffiti artists!

More specifically, thank You for moving Nicollet and Fremont to explore and physically record their attendance to Your pipestone quarry. All on earth belongs to You, but You move some of us to wonder, to travel, to seek out the wonders You have made. It is only my opinion, but I sense a smile on Your eternal face when our curiosity moves us outward, beyond, and into the the unknown!

Thanks for the blessings of pipestone and its amazing uses. Its physical properties made it a natural treasure for past and present minnesotans. Will You bless the quarries at Pipestone! May we continually discover incredible uses for this resource, and use it wisely. Will You free the quarries from the bitter judgments between all relevant parties over its use/misuse?

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .  The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

Standard
19th Century, Culture, government, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans, Treaties

1837 Treaties

c6c38485-2901-4201-bc7e-2aa4468ba134

The United States negotiates treaties with the Ojibwe and the Dakota for the wedge of land between the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers—land that will later become part of Minnesota. Ratification of the treaties opens the land for settlement by non-Indians. The Ojibwe will receive payments in money, goods, and provisions for 20 years; they also reserve the right to hunt, fish, and gather wild rice within the ceded area. The Dakota do not reserve their hunting or fishing rights, but their annuities are to be perpetual. Indian Agent Lawrence Taliaferro boasts that he made the better bargain for the Dakota.*

Lord, this wedge of land is quite valuable real estate in the present. It contains parts  of St. Paul, Oakdale, Stillwater, Lake Elmo, Woodbury, Cottage Grove, and Hastings which are all fast growing parts of the metro area. This is surely a challenge for our present-day lawmakers; how do you give hunting rights in a suburban develop ment?

We need Your wisdom for all such cases. First, we need to accurately understand the meanings of past treaties which is no simple matter. Next, how does one interpret the spirit of this meaning into a present-day context that preserves the spirit and the heart of the treaty? Will You enable our government to honor these treaties in the present and future, as well as make restitution as specific and meaningful as possible?

By Your mercy, will You free all parties in the past of dissension and bitter assessments: the U.S. government and its agents , the Dakota, and the Ojibwa? Will You make us free from the fruit of this event in the present, and create the proper honor and respect between all parties?

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .  The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

Standard
19th Century, Culture, education, Faith, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans

Lake Harriet Mission School July 19, 1836  

lac_qui_parle1

Six students attend the opening of the Lake Harriet Mission School for the Dakota, founded by the Reverend Jedediah D. Stevens. An early example of education within the boundaries of present-day Minnesota, the school was sponsored by the Presbyterian Missions Board and taught by the founder’s niece, Lucy C. Stevens, in a cabin built by Gideon H. and Samuel W. Pond.*

Good Teacher, thank you for the benefits of the Lake Harriet Mission School for the Dakota. Thank you for the heart of providing education to all! It’s so good to share what we know and have it received.

It is not easy to be the first. It takes boldness to reach out across cultural lines. On one side of this picture we have Dakota students who are reaching out to Stevens. Conversely, he is stepping out of his comfort zone to meet and teach members of an unfamiliar culture. Will You bless both sides of this exchange? Will You remember their boldness and trust to know each other? Each group is an exploratory party of sorts. May we never forget what its like to be an alien!

Lord, I also want to acknowledge our separations that may begin as academic pride. We assume our knowledge will change our ‘underprivileged’. We often fail to pass on wisdom (good judgment), and even foster an academic culture that hesitates to recognize the merits of wisdom. As moderns, we cringe at even the word ‘judgement’, although one could argue that good judgment is the root of justice?!

I feel prompted to acknowledge the potential judgments of Stevens and Williamson against the Pond brothers, and perhaps a spirit of competitiveness. Lord, will you forgive any heritage of academic  or religious pride stemming from  them forward to us if this is the case? Will you forgive the stinging pain of criticism towards or counter-judgments from the Ponds, the Dakotas, these first six students, or any other pertinent unaddressed party? Will You free the land  of Minnesota from these judgments, and bring the blessing of humility that we all have betrayed You, Your peoples, and our selves? Will You make us humble teachers and students of the “knowledge” You have revealed to us? Amen.

*The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

Standard
19th Century, Agriculture, Christian, education, farming, Fundamentalist, History, Minnesota, Native Americans, Technology

Missionaries at Lac qui Parle 1835

hane-and-herman-bigger

Presbyterian ministers Thomas Williamson and Jedediah Stevens establish a mission at Lac Qui Parle to the west. They bring a farmer along to teach the Dakota how to raise crops in the European manner.*

Lord, thanks for the benefits of European farming, and Native farming. Thank you for the benefits of this heritage: seldom have we lacked food as a state, often we have contributed food to others! Will You continue to bless the productivity  of all Minnesota farmland? Will You enhance the nutrition of our soil and food? Amen.

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .

Standard
19th Century, Culture, education, History, Intercession, Jesus, Ministry, Minnesota, Native Americans

Pond Brothers arrive in Minnesota 1834

Unknown-9

Samuel and Gideon Pond, missionaries at Lake Calhoun, begin a lifelong study of the Dakota language. They compile dictionaries and grammars and put Dakota speech into written form.*

Lord, thanks that you speak to us in ways that we understand. You impress your ideas on us in a plethora of ways, including, but not limited to, our language. Thanks that your light shines through to us where ever and whenever we are in this world! You know the subtleties of our “mother tongue!”

These men, Samuel and Gideon, seem to have captured Your heart in this. They were not out to just meet the Dakota; they meant to live their lifetime with them! Will You bless this commitment to the Dakota peoples and their spoken language?

Furthermore, they rightly represent you as the living “Word” of God. How fitting that they were content to learn the words of the Dakota, and write them down. This was not enough, they wanted these words to flow the way they were thought and spoken, and so undertook to worship You by understanding Dakota grammar! Will You bless them, and their generations who want all Minnesotan languages to be cherished and recorded? May we as a State know you better by knowing the language of our fellow man!

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .  The current URL is http://www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

Standard
19th Century, Exploration, Geology, History, Minnesota, Native Americans

Schoolcraft discovers the source of the Mississippi River 1832

Ozawindib (“Yellow Head”) and other Ojibwa guide Henry Rowe Schoolcraft as he maps the source of the Mississippi river. He calls the lake where the great river begins “Itasca.”*

Thanks for the blessing of this event on all Minnesotans’! Thanks for men like Schoolcraft who recorded the knowledge of men like Ozawindib and the other Ojibwe guides. May there be recognition and appreciation of the importance of both kinds of men.

Thank you, Father, that Ozawindib chose to be a guide in Your image. He offered his expertise, perhaps not knowing the import of his knowledge to the outer world. He knew where the Mississippi started!?

In this day, and for future Minnesotans I ask this blessing of You great Guide of the Universe: may we offer our piece of knowledge and expertise back to You, and to others. Will You multiply it?

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .  The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

Ozawindib

images-5

Standard
19th Century, Art, Culture, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans

Seth Eastman arrives at Fort Snelling 1830

Seth Eastman comes to Fort Snelling as a captain. In his spare time, he learns the Dakota language and observes details of their lives. His subtle sketches, watercolors, and paintings become an invaluable record of the scenery and Indian life around the fort.*

Thanks for Seth Eastman! Thank you for the blessings of his art and observations. Use our talents, even hobbies, to be a blessing to future generations of Minnesotans!

Lord, thanks that painting takes time, and therefore Mr. Eastman actually spent time with the people, tribes,  and daily life he recorded. Thanks that he saw scenes that struck his heart as valuable to remember. this day will You do the same for us? Help us to truly interact with life around us, and remember it somehow!

Perhaps, our hobbies will someday become history too?!

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .  The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

 

selfportrait

Standard
19th Century, government, History, Intercession, Jesus, justice, Minnesota, Native Americans, Politics

Taliaferro Becomes Indian Agent 1820  

pinterest

Lawrence Taliaferro

Virginian Lawrence Taliaferro (pronounced “Tolliver”) becomes the Indian agent at Fort Snelling. Respected by the Indians for never making promises he could not keep, he works hard for 20 years to rid the fur trade of whisky and cheating. At last, in poor health and tired of the government’s broken promises, he resigns.*

Lord, thank you for honest people! What pleasure it is to have someone return our phone, admit a mistake in our favor at the cash register, or actually put a lost item into the “lost and found” so we can reclaim it. As King Solomon wrote so many years ago, “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” I simply wish to honor and remember the “honest people” of the world to You today, and commend to You their example.

Father of Honesty, Mother of Truth, today I wish to honor  and remember Lawrence Taliaferro, who crystallizes this type of character. Thank you that he wanted a square deal for Indians of Minnesota who came to him at Fort Snelling. There is such power in a person who is willing to let their yes mean “Yes”, and their no mean “No”.

We are no different than Lawrence. There are many times that we tire of doing good and quit. Often, there is more punishment and criticism for doing the right thing than sweeping the wrong thing under the rug!? Will You forgive our hearts to quit doing right and forgive Mr. Taliaferro!? Will you forgive any assessments he made, probably quite logically, of the Federal government’s failure to honor its promises? Will You bless these specific tribes of Indians in the specific areas that they have been wronged? Will You forgive any tribal counter-judgments or resentments of State or Federal government? Will You begin to heal these centuries-old heartaches today?

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .  The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

Standard
19th Century, government, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans

Leavenworth Arrives in Mendota Aug 24, 1819  

Colonel Henry Leavenworth

Colonel Henry Leavenworth

Colonel Henry Leavenworth and the Fifth Infantry arrive in Mendota to build what will become Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.*

Spirit, thank you that You have chosen to live in us! “But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” Psalm 3:3 You are our true fortress. Forgive my attempts at self-protection, or building monuments to my own honor!

Father, we make so many choices as Your people, Your Minnesotans, to act out of a heart of fear and self-protection. We’re just like Leavenworth in that we want to see what’s coming around the bend in the river…first! (Except now we have surveillance that reaches around the corner, far above us, and around the world?!)

Granted, some self-protection is just: houses to protect us from the weather, fences to mark our property, the establishment borders for our counties, states, nations, we don’t talk to strangers, etc. You know the heart of Leavenworth, the 5th Infantry,  the government, or any unspoken parties in this. Will You have mercy on any unjust fears and self-protection resulting from this event? Will You show us how to preserve both security and privacy in Minnesota?

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .  The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

Standard
19th Century, Culture, government, History, Intercession, Jesus, Minnesota, Native Americans, Treaties

Pike’s Treaty Nov 23, 1804 12:00 pm

treatiesmatter.org

Zebulon Pike, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, meets with a party of about 150 Dakota people at the confluence of the St. Peter’s (Minnesota) and Mississippi Rivers. Pike’s commanding officer, Gen. James Wilkinson, wants to obtain sites for future military posts in case of war with Great Britain. Pike makes a deal with two Dakota leaders for roughly 100,000 acres of land; enough for the U.S. government to build a trading post and fort. Though the boundaries are poorly defined, the agreement becomes the basis for U.S. claims on the land at the confluence. The “treaty” was ratified by Congress in 1808, but since Pike didn’t have the authority of the U.S. Senate or the President, it was not an official government act. According to an 1856 Senate committee report, “There is no evidence that this agreement, to which there was not even a witness . . . was ever considered binding upon the Indians, or that they ever yielded up the possession of their lands under it.”*

Lord, I praise Your omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence! I’m grateful that You are “Faithful and True”! Lord, because You are omnipresent, may I observe this event with You? It appears that Pike’s Treaty of Nov. 23, 1804 @12:00pm is lacking: “poorly defined boundaries”, “not even a witness”, “Pike didn’t have the authority of the U.S. Senate or the President.” This is a legal issue for us as inheritors of the actions between the Dakota peoples present, Pike, Wilkinson, the U.S. Army, and indirectly to Great Britain, and anyone else present and unrecorded.

Jesus, thank you that You love clear boundaries. Your word says:

“Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.” Proverbs 23:10,11

“Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.” Hosea 5:10

Lord, will You have mercy on the confusion, injustices, and bitter responses to this event? Will You bring conviction of sin, Holy Spirit, to victim and victimizer? I remember these things to You today. Come and heal our land!

Also, Lord I acknowledge my ability to run over another’s personal boundary stones. I have sinned against You, myself, wife, family, etc. through sinful force of will. Lord have mercy! We as Minnesotans’ and Americans’ and Native Americans’ are all guilty of not respecting another human’s limits. We have offended You when we hold offense in our heart towards ANY of Your children! We have offended You when we use the power of law, popular opinion, and the authority of government to FORCE another’s actions for our gain and benefit.

Hear my prayer, King of the Universe, because You are: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands (of generations), and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.”… Exodus 34:6,7a Will You reverse the curses of Pike’s Treaty, and leave a blessing in it’s place?

*Note – PrayThroughHistory uses the timeline located for several years at the Minnesota Historical Society Web site, at this URL: mnhs.org/about/dipity_timeline.htm .  The current URL is www.dipity.com/Minnesota/History/Minnesota-History/ and only works if typed, not pasted, in browser. It is worth the effort!

Standard