"Most Minnesotans are eager to celebrate the positive things we enjoy in this state, but are unwilling to examine the painful birth of the state and the causes and effects of the race war that followed." -- Waziyatawin

Nick Coleman, Star Tribune | MN

During Minnesota's Sesquicentennial, Woman from the North has been arrested three times for telling the truth. The year isn't over. I'm not betting against a fourth.

Her name is Waziyatawin, a Dakota (or Sioux) word meaning Woman from the North, and it fits her: Woman from the North has blown fiercely across Minnesota all year long, spreading a provocative message about the genocide and racial oppression that helped pave the way to statehood.

It's not easy to talk about this kind of thing, but there was nothing easy about the way Minnesota was violently torn from its aboriginal tribes.

More (including video of Dakota memorial march)...

Related:

Dakota Commemorative March For more about the march, see www.dakota-march.