Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community Needs Your Help.

Please, we need your help right now.

The Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community needs your

assistance.

We are in dire straights and our future as a tribe is in jeopardy.

JOIN OUR CAUSE

(facebook) or DONATE TO OUR CAUSE or

PROMOTE OUR CAUSE

Bringing Dakota culture back to its birthplace in Minnesota and

protecting the sacred sites of the Dakota Oyate (Nation) in that area.

Donations Go To…

Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota

Community

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit

Positions:

1. Protect and preserve sites sacred to the Dakota Nation around the

   confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, located in the Twin

   Cities area.

2. Revitalize Dakota culture and the use of the Dakota language in its

   place of origin.

3. Promote better understanding between non-natives and the Dakota

   People by providing accurate information about Dakota history in

   Minnesota.

4. offering opportunities for all to learn about Dakota culture.

5. Establish a home base for the descendants of the Dakota people who

   lived in the Mendota area and never granted the U.S. tribal status

   promised to them

FUND RAISING:

Many generations ago, our elders prophesized that a time would come

when their descendants would return to the birthplace of the Dakota

Nation to protect its sacred sites and bring Dakota culture back to its

place of origin. This place is the Mendota area, the joining together

place, of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers in the heart of the Twin

Cities. We are the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community, and we are here

today fulfilling that prophesy as best we can in the place where our

direct ancestors lived. 

We have run out of funds to maintain our tribal community center in

the town of Mendota, MN beyond May, 2010. We are asking you to help us

out in our immediate need by donating whatever amount of money you can

afford to help keep us intact so we can do the work we are dedicated to.

Please read the Open letter to all peoples of good heart about the

current situation of the MMDC. on our home page, https://mendotadakota.com/mn/

to better understand our situation.

Over the past 15 years we have spent many thousands of volunteer

hours fighting for the preservation of sites sacred to the Dakota People

and brought back Dakota ceremonies, language, and culture to the

birthplace of the Dakota Nation. We have gone to schools and cultural

organizations throughout the Twin Cities area to educate our neighbors

about the true story of the Dakota People in Minnesota and promote

acceptance and healing between our people and the general American

public. And we have brought together once again the scattered

descendants of the Mdewakanton band of Dakota people who had once lived

in the Mendota area.

To learn more about us, please view the following links: WHO WE

ARE, OUR

IMPACT, our MISSION

STATEMENT.  Also feel free to explore our ARCHIVES by clicking on

CATEGORIES of interest.

Our Mission:

We bridge the gap between Indian and non-Indian communities. Our

commitment to sustaining Dakota language and culture is our

organization?s driving force. Our programs and events are open to the

public. We encourage all people to learn and participate. We work

collaboratively with tribal, city, county and state governments, Native

and non-Native non-profits, and grass

root organizations on issues and initiatives that pertain to and affect

Dakota and other Native peoples.

• Preserving the Culture: Consistent with our mission, several

  programs and activities focus on the preservation of Dakota culture.

  These include:

• Conducting weekly Dakota language classes free of charge and open to

  the public.

• Conducting monthly traditional craft classes free of charge and open

  to the public.

• Hosting the annual MMDC Welcome Home Traditional Pow-Wow (2nd

  weekend in August).

• Hosting annual World Peace and Prayer Day and Winter Solstice

  ceremonies at Camp Coldwater

• Participating in an annual traditional Sugar Bush Camp

• Initiating and hosting the annual remembrance ceremony to honor the

  Dakota ancestors who were interred in the Fort Snelling concentration

  camp after the 1862 Dakota Conflict

• Hosting Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) meetings. Protecting the

  Culture: We believe that a critical component of ensuring that the

  Dakota culture will exist for future generations is protecting the

  culture today. These protective activities are crucial our mission.

  Current activities include:

• Participation in the National Trust of Historic Preservation Twin

  Cities Local Advisory Committee

• Exercising Treaty rights, such as pass and re-pass rights at Camp

  Coldwater and fishing rights under the 1805 Treaty

• Partnering with the Pilot Knob Preservation Association to protect

  an historical site from being developed into a commercial

  office-building complex. Promoting the Culture: We believe that

  promoting the Dakota culture is important on many levels. First and

  foremost, promoting the culture ensures that accurate historical and

  contemporary information about the Dakota is present in relevant

  dialogues and is available to Dakota and non-Dakota alike. Promotion

  initiatives also provide the foundation for improved relationships with

  our non-Dakota relatives. Towards these ends, activities to promote the

  Dakota culture include:

• Educational Outreach to local schools to share the Dakota culture,

  crafts, regalia, and artifacts

• Maintaining a website for the MMDC providing historical and cultural

  information to visitors We work collaboratively with tribal, city,

  county and state governments, Native and non-Native non-profits, and

  grass root organizations on issues and initiatives that pertain to and

  affect Dakota and other Native peoples. Examples of these collaborations

  include:

• Working with the Preserve Camp Coldwater Coalition to protect a site

  that is sacred to Dakota people and of cultural significance to the

  people of Minnesota

• Partnering with the Pilot Knob Preservation Association to protect

  an historical site from being developed into a commercial

  office-building complex.

• Collaborating with the University of Minnesota on several

  native-related projects

• Teaming up with the City of Mendota and the Mendota VFW in

  organizing the Mendota Days community celebration

• Working with Ospaye (a.k.a. Friends of the Friendly), a group of

  people ineligible to be MMDC members who are dedicated to supporting

  MMDC and its efforts

We believe we are here to play an important spiritual and