The land now known as Minnesota is the ancestral home of the Anishinaabe, Dakota, and Ho-Chunk people. Between 1805 and 1867, Native People and the United States entered into multiple treaties. However, none of the treaties have been honored. Through deliberate policies, corruption and false promises, the United States stole this land from Native Peoples. This has denied the sovereignty and self determination of tribal nations, harmed natural resources, and created environmental and racial injustices. Fossil fuel projects like pipelines often cut through treaty lands, endangering our future and contributing to the climate crisis.
Despite the ongoing attempts of genocide and assimilation, Native People remain, connected to this land, and continuing to expect everyone — Native and non-Native — to fulfill their treaty responsibilities. Non-Native Minnesotans have benefitted from those broken promises and the theft of this land, and continue to profit from our ongoing occupation. Consequences of this ongoing exploitation have caused loss of biodiversity, endangering our planet. We must organize ourselves so that we can build treaty awareness and relationships.
