By — Corinne Segal Corinne Segal Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/native-poets-lisa-yankton Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter What we lose when we forget Native American history Poetry Oct 5, 2015 5:45 PM EDT Video produced by Victoria Fleischer. In 1862, 38 men of the Dakota Native American tribe were hanged in what’s been described as the largest mass execution in U.S. history. President Lincoln ordered the killings after the Santee Sioux uprising the previous summer left 490 white settlers dead. Now, more than 150 years later, Lisa Yankton, a Minneapolis-based poet and member of the Dakota tribe, fears this history will be forgotten. So she’s retelling it through her poetry. The Dakota people still recognize the hangings each year, but the event is seldom discussed in wider U.S. culture, she said. “[It] is the largest mass hanging in the history of the United States and no one talks about it,” she said. She believes it is important for the Dakota to speak out about this history. “These are our stories and they need to be coming from our voices,” she said. “We’re the only ones who understand our own cultural system and our own cultural beliefs. And we’re the only ones who know our own history and can tell it truthfully.” In addition to educating the public, sharing these stories helps the Dakota understand their own roots, she said: “To be a Dakota you must know the history of your people and what you’ve experienced, what you’ve been through. And we must never forget that because that composes who we are today. … You have to understand where you’re coming from in order to know where you’re going.” Above, watch Yankton read her poem “Ma-Ka-To” at the 2015 AWP Conference and Bookfair in Minneapolis. Ma-Ka-To A while ago in Minnesota Time before children and adult responsibility An elder said to me We are going to Ma-Ka-To for a pipe ceremony for the 38 We arrived in Ma-Ka-To And went to a park We climbed a snowy hill Knee deep in snow We stood in a circle on the sloped hill There were fewer than a handful of us Sage was lit and a sacred song was sung The elder filled the sacred pipe and prayed I was the only female Too young to realize the significance of the event However, my spirit knew and understood The sacred pipe was smoked An eagle arrived and circled overhead This was a while ago Before the park was renamed Today, it is called the “Land of Memories Park” Today there is a run starting Christmas Day midnight from Ft. Snelling to Ma-Ka-To Today there is a horse ride from South Dakota to Ma-Ka-To Today there is a movie about the ride But a while ago there was only a handful who stood on a snowy sloped hill Lisa Yankton is a member of the Spirit Lake Dakota. During the Dakota Conflict, her grandmother fled from Minnesota to North Dakota with two children. She is a contributing writer to the Mystic Lake Declaration on Climate Change, a community editor with the Saint Paul Almanac and Haikus4Gambia Poet. Her community activities include coordinating the Dakota Conference, leading the Brooklyn Historical Society, teaching math at MCTC, and serving on the board of The Circle Newspaper. She is a Fellow at The Creative Community Leadership Institute. By — Corinne Segal Corinne Segal Corinne is the Senior Multimedia Web Editor for NewsHour Weekend. She serves on the advisory board for VIDA: Women in Literary Arts. @cesegal
Video produced by Victoria Fleischer. In 1862, 38 men of the Dakota Native American tribe were hanged in what’s been described as the largest mass execution in U.S. history. President Lincoln ordered the killings after the Santee Sioux uprising the previous summer left 490 white settlers dead. Now, more than 150 years later, Lisa Yankton, a Minneapolis-based poet and member of the Dakota tribe, fears this history will be forgotten. So she’s retelling it through her poetry. The Dakota people still recognize the hangings each year, but the event is seldom discussed in wider U.S. culture, she said. “[It] is the largest mass hanging in the history of the United States and no one talks about it,” she said. She believes it is important for the Dakota to speak out about this history. “These are our stories and they need to be coming from our voices,” she said. “We’re the only ones who understand our own cultural system and our own cultural beliefs. And we’re the only ones who know our own history and can tell it truthfully.” In addition to educating the public, sharing these stories helps the Dakota understand their own roots, she said: “To be a Dakota you must know the history of your people and what you’ve experienced, what you’ve been through. And we must never forget that because that composes who we are today. … You have to understand where you’re coming from in order to know where you’re going.” Above, watch Yankton read her poem “Ma-Ka-To” at the 2015 AWP Conference and Bookfair in Minneapolis. Ma-Ka-To A while ago in Minnesota Time before children and adult responsibility An elder said to me We are going to Ma-Ka-To for a pipe ceremony for the 38 We arrived in Ma-Ka-To And went to a park We climbed a snowy hill Knee deep in snow We stood in a circle on the sloped hill There were fewer than a handful of us Sage was lit and a sacred song was sung The elder filled the sacred pipe and prayed I was the only female Too young to realize the significance of the event However, my spirit knew and understood The sacred pipe was smoked An eagle arrived and circled overhead This was a while ago Before the park was renamed Today, it is called the “Land of Memories Park” Today there is a run starting Christmas Day midnight from Ft. Snelling to Ma-Ka-To Today there is a horse ride from South Dakota to Ma-Ka-To Today there is a movie about the ride But a while ago there was only a handful who stood on a snowy sloped hill Lisa Yankton is a member of the Spirit Lake Dakota. During the Dakota Conflict, her grandmother fled from Minnesota to North Dakota with two children. She is a contributing writer to the Mystic Lake Declaration on Climate Change, a community editor with the Saint Paul Almanac and Haikus4Gambia Poet. Her community activities include coordinating the Dakota Conference, leading the Brooklyn Historical Society, teaching math at MCTC, and serving on the board of The Circle Newspaper. She is a Fellow at The Creative Community Leadership Institute.