Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations

The traveling exhibition, Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations, offers an opportunity to learn more about the Native nations in Minnesota and the history of treaty-making with the United States. The exhibit relays Minnesota’s Native history in the voices of Dakota and Ojibwe people in this place once called “Mnisota.” It includes 20 freestanding panels and a 14-minute video titled, A Day in the Life of Minnesota Tribal Nations.

Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations is a collaboration of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Minnesota Humanities Center, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. The project is funded in part with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and The Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation.

This is a traveling exhibit and will be on display at Stearns History Museum from January 4, 2022 to March 3, 2022. Click here to learn more about the exhibit.