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30-641: The Lower Sioux Agency , or Redwood Agency , was the federal administrative center for the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation in what became Redwood County, Minnesota , United States. It was the site of the Battle of Lower Sioux Agency on August 18, 1862, the first organized battle of the Dakota War of 1862 . Today it is a historic site managed by the Lower Sioux Community in partnership with

60-485: A historic site on the reservation associated with the Dakota War of 1862 , is managed by the community in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society . Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel was the first casino in the state of Minnesota. In addition to the gaming areas, Jackpot Junction features three bars, three restaurants, an amphitheater for live performances, and two grand ballrooms . Live music

90-593: A policy of terminating tribes, that is, ending the special relationships that they had with the federal government. The belief was that tribes would be selected that appeared to have adapted successfully to mainstream culture: in the process, any communal land would be distributed to individual households, and individuals would become residents of their respective counties and states, and under their jurisdiction. Four Native American tribes (each associated with separate reservations) in Minnesota were identified for termination in

120-476: A population of 534, and a land area of 2.69 square miles (7.0 km ). The area around the reservation is primarily rural, developed in the 21st century for agricultural commodity crops of corn and soybeans. The conversion of area creeks to agricultural ditches has also altered habitat and reduced the diversity of the ecology. From the 1940s to the 1960s, the United States government (including Congress) had

150-402: A state gave land back to a tribe. [Our ancestors] paid for this land over and over with their blood, with their lives. It's not a sale; it's been paid for by the ones that aren't here anymore". The Mdewakanton tribe operates Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel , which began in 1984 as a bingo facility. The casino has become a major employer for the surrounding communities. The Lower Sioux Agency ,

180-668: Is Mille Lacs Lake ( Dakota : Mde Wákhaŋ/Bde Wákhaŋ , Spirit/Mystic Lake) in central Minnesota . Together with the Wahpekute ( Waȟpékhute – "Shooters Among the Trees"), they form the so-called Upper Council of the Dakota or Santee Sioux ( Isáŋyáthi – "Knife Makers"). Today their descendants are members of federally recognized tribes in Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska of the United States, and First Nations in Manitoba, Canada. Tradition has it that

210-571: Is land and 0.05 square miles (0.13 km ) is water. As of the census of 2020 , the population of the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation was 534. The population density was 198.7 inhabitants per square mile (76.7/km ). There were 154 housing units at an average density of 57.3 per square mile (22.1/km ). The racial makeup of the reservation was 79.6% Native American , 9.6% White , 0.2% Black or African American , 0.6% from other races , and 10.1% from two or more races. Ethnically,

240-417: Is played every weekend, usually country and occasionally rock. The casino is open 24-7 (twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week). County Highway 2 runs through the reservation, connecting it to U.S. Route 71 and Minnesota State Highway 19 to the northwest. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the reservation has a total area of 2.74 square miles (7.1 km ), of which 2.69 square miles (7.0 km )

270-601: The Indian agent in charge, rejected the Lower Sioux bands, as he would not distribute food to these bands without payment from their annuities, which were delayed. At a meeting of the Dakota, the U.S. government, and local traders, the Dakota representatives asked the representative of the government traders, Andrew J. Myrick , to sell them food on credit. His response was said to be, "So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry let them eat grass or their own dung." On August 16, 1862,

300-533: The Minnesota Historical Society . In February 2021, ownership of half of the site was transferred from the historical society to the Lower Sioux Community. The site contains an interpretive center, self-guided trails, and a restored 1861 stone warehouse that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The Lower Sioux Agency was established in 1853 by the United States government, to oversee

330-724: The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate is a federally recognized tribe with a reservation in northeastern South Dakota and southwestern North Dakota. Self-guided trails take visitors around the site. The 1861 granary is the only surviving structure from the agency. Interpretive signs mark the locations of other features, including the location of the Redwood Ferry crossing the Minnesota River . Period gardens and plots demonstrate differences between traditional Dakota and Euro-American farming. Lower Sioux Indian Reservation The area

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360-776: The United States , the Mdewakanton are counted among other Dakota and Yankton-Yanktonai bands as the Dakota : Some Mdewakanton in Minnesota live among Ojibwe people on the Mille Lacs Reservation as Mille Lacs Band of Mdewakanton Dakota , forming one of the historical bands that were amalgamated to become the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe . In Canada , the Mdewakanton live with members of other Dakota and Yanktonai band governments as Dakota peoples: Some may live also within

390-453: The "great village of the Nadouecioux, called Izatys". It was described as being on the southwestern shore of the eponymous Mde Wakan [ Lake Mystery/Holy ], now called Mille Lacs Lake , in north central Minnesota . Originally the term Santee was applied only to the Mdewakanton and later also to the closely related and allied Wahpekute. (As it was a nomadic group, it was not identified by

420-970: The 1950s. A memo dated January 19, 1955 for the BIA issued from the Department of the Interior indicates additional terminations were being reviewed in proposed legislation for what were primarily Dakota tribes in southern Minnesota , including the Lower Sioux Community in Redwood and Scott counties, the New Upper Sioux Community in Yellow Medicine County, the Prairie Island Community in Goodhue County, and about 15 individuals living on restricted tracts in Yellow Medicine County. Discussions between

450-518: The BIA and the tribal Indians from the targeted area began in 1953 and continued throughout 1954. Though the Prairie Island and Lower Sioux communities drafted agreements for distribution of land to individual households and ownership, the Upper Sioux strongly opposed fee-simple title to communal tribal lands. On January 26, 1955 Senator Edward Thye introduced a bill (S704) to provide for termination of

480-717: The Eastern Dakota, two tribes of the Western Dakota, as well as the largest group, the Lakota (often referred to as Teton, derived from Thítȟuŋwaŋ – "Dwellers of the Plains"). Facing competition from the Ojibwe and other Great Lakes Native American Algonquian-speaking tribes in the 1600s, the Santee moved further west into present-day Minnesota. In 1687 Greysolon du Lhut recorded his visit to

510-551: The European-American settlements to try to drive out the whites from their territory. On August 18, 1862, Little Crow led a group of warriors who attacked the Lower Sioux Agency. They discovered Andrew Myrick trying to escape through a second-floor window of a building at the agency. Myrick's body later was found with grass stuffed into his mouth because of his recent statement to the Dakota (See above). The warriors burned

540-403: The Mdewakanton were the leading tribe of Očhéthi Šakówiŋ. Their Siouan -speaking ancestors may have migrated to the upper Midwest from further south and east. Over the years they migrated up through present-day Ohio and into Wisconsin . Seven Sioux tribes formed an alliance, which they called Oceti Sakowin or Očhéthi Šakówiŋ ("The Seven Council Fires"), consisting of the four tribes of

570-482: The Minnesota government and Minnesota Historical Society transferred ownership of 115 acres near the historic site of the Battle of Lower Sioux Agency to the Reservation. The Minnesota Historical Society owned approximately 115 acres of land while the state government owned near 114 acres. About the return of their lands, Lower Sioux President Robert Larsen said, "I don't know if it's ever happened before, where

600-535: The President may direct." This discretionary fund worth $ 5,000 a year proved to be one of the most controversial parts of the treaty, as the government insisted that it had been allocated for educational programs for the Mdewakanton, but spent very little of the money over a period of fifteen years. The Mdewakantonwan traditionally consisted of decentralized villages led by different leaders and today, they maintain separate reservations with their own tribal government. In

630-455: The buildings at the Lower Sioux Agency, giving enough time for settlers to escape across the river at Redwood Ferry. Minnesota militia forces and B Company of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment sent to quell the uprising were defeated at the Battle of Redwood Ferry . Twenty-four soldiers, including the party's commander (Captain John Marsh), were killed in the battle. Throughout

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660-631: The day, Dakota war parties swept the Minnesota River Valley and near vicinity, killing many settlers. Numerous settlements, including the Townships of Milford, Leavenworth, and Sacred Heart, were surrounded and burned, and their populations nearly exterminated. At the conclusion of the Dakota War, most of the Sissetowan and Wahpeton bands were driven out of Minnesota, west to Dakota Territory. Today

690-529: The interests of the Indians...". The bill died in committee, never reaching the Senate floor. In 2021, the Minnesota state legislature and Minnesota Historical Society returned half of the lands to the Lower Sioux Community that were located in the former Lower Sioux Agency and were taken by the federal government as punishment after the Dakota War of 1862. This was part of their historic homeland. On February 12, 2021,

720-601: The newly created Lower Sioux Indian Reservation. This reservation was to be the home for the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands following the 1851 Treaty of Mendota . On August 15, 1862, the Lower Sioux turned to the Agency staff for supplies. Representatives of the northern Sissetowan and Wahpeton Dakota bands had successfully negotiated to obtain food at the Upper Sioux Agency on August 4. However Thomas J. Galbraith ,

750-453: The population was 10.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race. 44°32′19″N 94°59′30″W  /  44.53861°N 94.99167°W  / 44.53861; -94.99167 Mdewakanton The Mdewakanton or Mdewakantonwan (also spelled Mdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ and currently pronounced Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ ) are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota ( Sioux ). Their historic home

780-529: The river. Dwindling populations of game due to the American fur trade and the threat of starvation were motivators to the Mdewakanton to sign the treaty. Payment for the land was not received in one lump sum. Instead, the treaty stated that US$ 300,000 would be invested by the government and that the Mdewakanton would receive "annually, forever, an income of not less than five percent...a portion of said interest, not exceeding one third, to be applied in such manner as

810-516: The suffixes of thuŋwaŋ – "settlers," or towan – "village"). Soon European settlers applied the name to all the tribes of the Eastern Dakota. In the fall of 1837, the Mdewakantonwan negotiated a deal with the U.S. government under an " Indian Removal " treaty, whereby they were promised nearly one million dollars for all their lands east of the Mississippi River , including all islands in

840-526: The treaty payments to the Dakota arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota , and were brought to Fort Ridgely the next day. They arrived too late to prevent violence. On August 17, 1862, four young Dakota men were on a hunting trip in Acton Township, Minnesota , during which one stole eggs and killed five white settlers. Soon after, a Dakota war council was convened and their leader, Little Crow , agreed to continue attacks on

870-400: The tribes. In addition to opposition by the Dakota, regional residents objected to termination, saying that county and state expenditures might increase for the areas then within reservations, and they expressed their opposition to the committee reviewing the bill. The Minnesota Governor's Commission on Human Rights also opposed the legislation, indicating that it would "not adequately protect

900-482: Was established as part of a reservation for the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands of the Lower Sioux under the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851 with the federal government. It originally extended about 70 miles (110 km) along the Minnesota River and was 20 miles (30 km) wide. It was greatly reduced following the Dakota War of 1862 and various other actions. As of the 2020 census , this lower reservation had

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