The University of Minnesota is located on traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people. The Twin Cities campus in particular resides on Dakota land ceded in the Treaties of 1837 and 1851. This land acknowledgement is one of the ways in which we work to educate our students and partners about the complex and layered history of this land, our relationships with it, and our responsibilities to each other.
Resources
- The "Where We Stand" Dakota Lands Treaty slide deck is one of the materials we use as a starting point for discussion with all UHP students in NEXUS One, our required first-year cohort experience.
- Local Dakota Land Map: Here you will find two Dakota land maps which tell the past, present and future of Dakota people and language. Created by local artists.
- Why Treaties Matter: Today, treaties continue to affirm the inherent sovereignty of American Indian nations. Tribal governments maintain nation-to-nation relationships with the United States government. Tribal nations manage lands, resources, and economies, protect people, and build more secure futures for generations to come.