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Moreover, through this language, white interpretations still retain control over the Native
American population a century and a half after the conflict ended.

In addition to the ways in which scholarship and interpretations name the Dakota
people, the terms over the conflict cause scrutiny in the ways it is interpreted. The name of the
friction, “The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862,” is another ambiguity in how the conflict is discussed
and remembered. The war is often referred to as an “uprising” or “rebellion,” some scholars refer
to this period as a revolution, since the Dakota sought independence and freedom from the
United States government. The hostilities in 1862 must be considered a “war” for multiple
reasons; two sides fought over land, civilian casualties were prevalent on both sides, and both
sides thought tactically at each engagement. When scholars and students of this period refer to
this conflict as an uprising or rebellion, they reinforce the notion that the U.S. government
retained complete control over this population. When the federal government signed the Treaty
of Traverse des Sioux (1851), it acknowledged the Dakota nation as a sovereign entity, which
goes against the interpretations of using words like an uprising, revolt, or rebellion.11 In the end,
the Dakota started the war to protect their land, their food supply, and the sovereign rights
granted to them by the United States government.

As the war initiated, the Minnesota River Valley offered varied landscapes over which
to fight. 155 years later, Blue Earth and Brown Counties provide vital aspects of the landscape to
remember the ferocity which took place during the Dakota War. A dichotomy is present between
the two counties, one urging the focus on Dakota, and one supporting the white population.
Influencing the region with various terrain and landmarks to honor the executed Native
American men, these counties are vital to the historical memory of this conflict. Situated in the

11 Carley, The Dakota War of 1862, 2-3.