Stories

Minnesota Historical Society staff members collected dozens of stories from Dakota people throughout Minnesota, the Midwest and Canada as well as from settler descendants in southwestern Minnesota during 2011 and 2012. Full transcripts and audio versions as well as selected quotes are available on this website.

Oral tradition is a way for cultures from around the world to remember and relay history throughout generations. Ancestors have passed down history in this way for thousands of years, and no one oral tradition is more valid than the other. They represent the personal feelings and memories of the person interviewed. They are all honored and respected in a good way, with a good heart.

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Theme
Community / Association
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Narrator Title Theme Topics Keywords Type
George Luskey A Sad Day in Section 29, Tyrone Township, Le Sueur County
  • 1862
  • Family in War
  • Settlers in War
  • Military
  • New Ulm
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Lauren Hargrave TERRIBLE FATE OF EMIGRANTS TO MINNESOTA
  • Settlers in War
  • New Ulm
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G. Wik Patrick Kelly - Indian Interpreter
  • 1862
  • Family in War
  • Andrew Myrick
  • Family
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Matt Boisen Death of Innocence, A Nine Year Girl in the Dakota War
  • Family in War
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Robert Johnson Holl Family Account of the US-Dakota Indian War
  • 1862
  • Immigration Experience
  • Family
  • Dakota and Settler Relationships
  • Milford
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Patty Johnson-Harrington A Johnson Called Thong
  • 1862
  • Family in War
  • Family
  • Acton
  • Aftermath
  • Immigration
  • Settlers
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William Woodward Swaim Chief Other Day Saves the Woodward Family
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Rev. Richard Jacobsen Rev. August Nierens and Rev. Christian Lewis Seder
  • Settlers in War
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Robert Reyff THE STORY OF EMANUEL REYFF
  • Family in War
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Gene Estensen War Comes to Norwegian Grove
  • 1862
  • Family in War
  • Family in 1862
  • Homesteading
  • Immigration
  • Immigration Experience
  • Family
  • Homesteading
  • Immigration
  • Norwegian
  • Settlers
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Dorothy Busch Anna Mary Rieke Story, a Defender of Fort Ridgely
  • Family in War
  • Settlers in War
  • Fort Ridgely
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Nancy Downey Mary Muehlbauer Witt
  • Family in War
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Jan Klein The Heuer Family In Milford
  • 1862
  • Aftermath of War
  • Family in War
  • Settlers in War
  • Family in 1862
  • Immigration
  • Milford
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Keith Hungry
  • 1862
  • Perspectives on War
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Carol Shubert The Wilhelmina Ienenfeldt Story
  • Family in War
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Sally Nugent Present affected by uprising
  • 1862
  • Family in War
  • Family
  • Consequences
  • Drinking
  • Fear
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Anna Schmitz Thul Story
  • Settlers in War
  • New Ulm
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Larry Long Water In The Rain featuring Amos Owen
  • 1862
  • Aftermath of 1862
  • Mankato Hangings
  • Mankato Hanging
  • Aftermath
  • Commemoration
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Jan Klein The Cla(u)sen Story
  • 1862
  • Aftermath of War
  • Family in War
  • Family in 1862
  • Birch Coulee
  • Milford
  • Settlers
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Gloria Sinell How The Events Touched a Pioneer Family
  • 1862
  • Aftermath of War
  • Survival
  • Camp Release
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