Treaty of Mendota facts for kids

The Treaty of Mendota was an important agreement signed in Mendota, Minnesota on August 5, 1851. It was made between the United States government and two groups of Dakota people from Minnesota: the Mdewakanton and the Wahpekute.

This treaty was signed near a place called Pilot Knob, close to the Minnesota River and Fort Snelling. The agreement said that the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute groups would get US$1,410,000. In return, they had to move to a new area called the Lower Sioux Agency near what is now Morton, Minnesota. They also had to give up their rights to a large part of southern Minnesota.

After the Treaty of Mendota was signed, along with an earlier agreement called the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, most of southern Minnesota became open for white settlers to move in. You can see a map of the land given up through the Library of Congress here in orange.

What the Treaty Said

The Treaty of Mendota had several key parts, or "articles," that explained the agreement between the United States and the Dakota people.

Main Points of the Agreement

• Article 1: This part stated that peace and friendship between the United States and the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota people would last forever.
• Article 2: The Dakota people agreed to give up all their land and claims to land in the Minnesota Territory and the State of Iowa.
• Article 3: This article was originally about setting aside land for the Dakota people. However, it was later removed by the United States Senate. This change had a big impact and contributed to future problems.
• Article 4: In exchange for the land, the United States agreed to pay the Dakota people $1,410,000. This money was to be paid in different ways:
  • $220,000 was for the chiefs to help them move and settle their affairs. They agreed to move within one year.
  • $30,000 was set aside to help the Dakota people build schools, mills, and blacksmith shops, and to start farms. This was meant to help them become more like American settlers.
  • The remaining $1,160,000 was put into a trust fund. The Dakota people would receive 5% interest on this money every year for 50 years. This annual payment was divided for things like:
    • Improving farming and helping them adapt to a new way of life ($12,000).
    • Education ($6,000).
    • Buying goods and food ($10,000).
    • A direct money payment ($30,000).
• Article 5: This article changed how an earlier payment from a 1837 treaty would be given, making sure it was paid in money.
• Article 6: This part said that laws stopping the sale of alcohol in Native American lands would apply to the land given up in Minnesota.
• Article 7: This article allowed the President or Congress to create rules to protect the rights and property of the Dakota people involved in the treaty.

Who Signed the Treaty

The treaty was signed by Luke Lea and Alexander Ramsey for the United States. Many Dakota chiefs and headmen also signed, including:

• Chief Ta-oya-te-duta (also known as "Little Crow")
• Chief Wa-pa-sha (also known as "Red Leaf")
• Chief Wa-koo-tay (The "Shooter")
• Chief Ma-h'pee mee-tchash-tay (man of the sky)
• Chief Ma-za-ho-ta (Gray Metal)
• Chief Ta-tchan-koo-wash-tay (Good Road)
• Chief Sha-k'pay ("Six")
• Chief Hay-ee-tcha-h'moo-ma-nee (Horn whistling walking)

Many other headmen and witnesses were also present and signed the document.

The Supplemental Article

A "Supplemental Article" was added to the treaty. This article said that the United States would pay the Dakota people ten cents per acre for the land that was originally supposed to be their reservation (the land mentioned in the original, but removed, Article 3). This payment was added to the trust fund. It also allowed the President to set aside other lands for the Dakota people's future home if they agreed.

Money Value Over Time

It's hard to say exactly how much the $1,410,000 from 1851 would be worth today. Different ways of calculating it give very different answers:

• Using the Consumer Price Index, it could be around $40.8 million.
• Using how much people earned, it could be around $296 million.
• Using the "relative share of GDP" (which looks at the overall size of the economy), it could be as high as $7.38 billion!

This shows that the value of money changes a lot over time. The "relative share of GDP" often gives a more realistic idea of how important that amount of money was back then compared to the economy.

The ten cents per acre paid for the land would be worth between $2.90 and $523 per acre today, depending on how you calculate it. Even at the higher end, this was a very low price for such a large amount of land, especially when you think about how valuable that land is now. Many historians believe this shows that the United States often paid very little for Native American lands in the 1800s.

Changing Native American Life

The Treaty of Mendota, like many other treaties, aimed to change the way Native Americans lived. This was part of a larger effort called the Americanization of Native Americans.

Encouraging New Ways of Life

Article 4 of the treaty set aside money for things like schools and farms. The idea was to encourage the Dakota people to adopt American ways of life, like farming instead of hunting, and to become part of the American economy. However, many people now understand that these efforts often aimed to make Native Americans give up their own cultures and traditions.

Shifting Power

Article 7 of the treaty gave a lot of power to the President and Congress of the United States. It allowed them to make rules for the Dakota people, even on their own lands. This meant the Dakota people had less control over their own lives and territories.

Alcohol Laws

Article 6 of the treaty banned the sale of alcohol in the ceded territory. This was an early example of laws that would later try to control alcohol use among Native Americans.

Impact on the Dakota War of 1862

The Treaty of Mendota played a big role in the events that led to the Dakota War of 1862. This war was a major conflict between the United States and the Dakota people.

Broken Promises and Hardship

After the treaty, the Dakota people faced many challenges:

• Lost Land: The removal of Article 3 meant they didn't get the large reservation they were promised.
• Late Payments: The United States often failed to pay the Dakota people on time. This was due to problems like corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the costs of the U.S. Civil War. This left the Dakota people without the money they were promised.
• Forced Changes: The Dakota people were forced to change from a nomadic (moving from place to place) lifestyle to a fixed one on smaller reservation lands.
• Land Taken: Even the reservation land they were given was slowly taken over by the American government and businesses, especially after Minnesota became a state in 1858.
• Economic Struggles: As more settlers arrived, wild game became scarce, making it hard for the Dakota people to hunt or trade furs, which were important parts of their economy.

These problems caused great anger and unhappiness among the Dakota people. This anger, combined with broken promises and increasing hardship, eventually helped trigger the Dakota War of 1862.