I think the biggest contribution was our lifestyle

Ms. Swenson describes Dakota contributions to the U.S.

Things to think about:

What contributions has your culture brought to the U.S.?

Audio Chapters

Chapter 1

DL: What would you say are the contributions that Dakota people made, not only to Minnesota, but maybe to the whole world?

LS: Well, I think the food was one. Food. And how to farm; how to grow that food, and how to store it and the nutrition value of the foods. A lot of the diabetes; look at how much diabetes we have today. I think if we had the proper foods, or the foods we were brought up with, we’d be healthy. And lifestyle. I think the biggest contribution was our lifestyle, because our religion was our lifestyle, and our lifestyle was our religion. They were one. And to be a whole person, your mind, body and spirit have to be one. And that’s health-wise mentally and physically, both. I think that’s our biggest contribution.

Cite
LaVonne Swenson. "I think the biggest contribution was our lifestyle." https://www3.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/contributors/lavonne-swenson/1129
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Oral History- Interview | Narrator LaVonne Swenson Interviewer Deborah Locke made in Morton, Lower Sioux Community, MN | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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Citation: Minnesota Historical Society. U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. I think the biggest contribution was our lifestyle. May 23, 2025.