The University of St. Thomas occupies the ancestral and current homelands of the Dakota people. By actively committing ourselves to truth telling, relationship building, wound healing, and justice seeking, we humbly offer our respect to the Dakota Elders and people, to Indigenous communities beyond the Dakota, and to the sacredness of “the land where the waters reflect the skies”—“Mni Sota Makoce.”
Pronunciation Note: min-ah-so-tah muh-coh-chay; alternative: mi-nee-show-tah muh-coh-chay
The university acknowledges the importance of complementing the above land acknowledgment with additional language in appropriate settings. Internal users can visit OneStThomas for more information.
Native American communities have shared with us that actions are far more important than words. The Native Governance Center also indicates that acknowledging the land and educating our communities about past injustices is a good first step.
St. Thomas recognizes that work needs to be done to build relationships and partnerships with Native communities. St. Thomas is taking specific steps as a university to strive towards its commitment to truth telling, relationship building, wound healing, and seeking justice.
The area has connections to the seven formal Ojibwe tribes as well as four of the recognized Dakota communities, and the unrecognized Mendota community of the Dakota.
Ojibwe: Bois Forte; Fond du Lac; Grand Portage; Leech Lake; Mille Lacs; Red Lake; White Earth
Dakota: Lower Sioux; Prairie Island; Shakopee Mdewakanton; Upper Sioux
"Growing up in Mankato, Minnesota, John Biewen says, nobody ever talked about the most important historical event ever to happen there: in 1862, it was the site of the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Thirty-eight Dakota Indians were hanged after a war with white settlers. John went back to Minnesota to figure out what really happened 150 years ago, and why Minnesotans didn’t talk about it much after." -This American Life
"Patrick Murphy was convicted of murder by the state of Oklahoma in 2000. But defense attorneys soon discovered that his conviction may have been based on a lie. Hosted by Rebecca Nagle, an Oklahoma journalist and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, this podcast will provide an in depth look at how a cut and dry murder case opened an investigation into half the land in Oklahoma and the treaty rights of five tribes. Follow along to find out what’s at stake, the Trump administration’s involvement, the larger right wing attack on tribal sovereignty and how one unique case resulted in the largest restoration of tribal land in US history." -Crooked Media