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littlegoliath's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
A remarkable, challenging, and hopeful book. Such a helpful and seemingly needed perspective.
eandrews80's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
This should be required reading for every Minnesotan. As a child, I was taught very little of the history that Dr. Waz lays out in this book, and it's brutal (but oh-so necessary) to sit with the reality of what white settlers did to the Dakota people in order to take their lands and establish our state. We have benefitted from the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Indigenous peoples, and we need to both accept that truth and do whatever we can to make reparations.
Speaking of which, Dr. Waz lays out a bold and ambitious vision for how the government could return land to the Dakota Oyate, which would allow displaced tribal members to return to their homelands and live in traditional ways. This book was written in 2008, and it's interesting to read it 15 years later, given Waz's success as the executive director of Makoce Ikikcupi, which translates as "Land Recovery." I've had the honor of supporting this work and even visiting their site in Granite Falls a few times, and it's heartening to see some of her vision brought to life. That said, we have a very, very long way to go before Dakota people truly have justice.
Speaking of which, Dr. Waz lays out a bold and ambitious vision for how the government could return land to the Dakota Oyate, which would allow displaced tribal members to return to their homelands and live in traditional ways. This book was written in 2008, and it's interesting to read it 15 years later, given Waz's success as the executive director of Makoce Ikikcupi, which translates as "Land Recovery." I've had the honor of supporting this work and even visiting their site in Granite Falls a few times, and it's heartening to see some of her vision brought to life. That said, we have a very, very long way to go before Dakota people truly have justice.
cdb2453's review
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
2.75
This was a slow, challenging read, but important nonetheless. Some of the authors ideas to promote justice for the Dakota include tearing down Fort Snelling, returning all public land to the Dakota people, and redesigning US government organization. Although this book contained many strong opinions, I am glad I read it to gain the opinion and perspective of a local Dakota woman. This book read slowly, and was challenging to read the sad history of places I've always known. I'm grateful for the new understandings and perspectives I've gained after reading regarding the issue of how the Dakota people were treated by colonists and how we can work towards reparations and justice.
regencyfan93's review
5.0
This was a powerful look what American colonizers did to Dakota lands and people. There are also ways in which reparations can be made. As the author points out "When we are lifted up and our humanity is recognized, everyone will be lifted up." I look forward to the day when everyone in my country is lifted, and not only the lucky few.
schomj's review
4.0
I enjoyed this so much that I ended up ordering my own copy (I was reading a library version). I also convinced a coworker to buy his own copy because of how much I enthused about this book.
I grew up in MN and am several decades old and reading this was the first time I realized that Fort Snelling was a concentration camp, which is pretty appalling. I also didn't know that Fort Snelling is located on a sacred site in Dakota culture, which makes the whole thing another level of horrible.
I was expecting calls for reparations, land back, language education, Dakota sovereignty. I wasn't expecting support for Zionism, and the author's analysis of why the US financially supports Israel is oddly naive. But she is also operating under a moral view of politics in a way that I don't.
I did appreciate how, several times in the text, she explicitly notes how she is presenting her viewpoint as a Dakota person, and was not presenting the viewpoint of Dakota or Indigenous people at large. In fact, she warns readers not to make the assumption that any one person can speak for an entire group of people. That's a really good reminder in general.
I grew up in MN and am several decades old and reading this was the first time I realized that Fort Snelling was a concentration camp, which is pretty appalling. I also didn't know that Fort Snelling is located on a sacred site in Dakota culture, which makes the whole thing another level of horrible.
I was expecting calls for reparations, land back, language education, Dakota sovereignty. I wasn't expecting support for Zionism, and the author's analysis of why the US financially supports Israel is oddly naive. But she is also operating under a moral view of politics in a way that I don't.
I did appreciate how, several times in the text, she explicitly notes how she is presenting her viewpoint as a Dakota person, and was not presenting the viewpoint of Dakota or Indigenous people at large. In fact, she warns readers not to make the assumption that any one person can speak for an entire group of people. That's a really good reminder in general.
msilkwolfe's review
5.0
I read this one for one of my Masters classes. It was so eye-opening and NEEDS to be taught in schools/colleges, because it shares the history of the Dakota people in Minnesota and the genocide that pushed them from their homes. I appreciated that not only did Waziyatawin share the history that so many white Americans are unaware of, but she also proposed avenues to make change and move forward. There is so little about indigenous peoples' history taught in schools and that needs to change, especially since Minnesota was home to the Dakota people LONG before white settlers arrived and threw them in concentration camps.
aimiller's review
5.0
Incredible and frankly absolutely required reading for all people living in Minnesota, both non-Native and Native, Dakota and non-Dakota, and frankly the latter chapters are required reading for anyone living in a settler state. Visionary and also wholly possible, it's a challenge to Minnesotans to look an alternate future in the face. Just so powerful and a critical read, and I'm ashamed it took me this long to get to it.
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