Why Treaties Matter Exhibit at St. Olaf

    About The Exhibit

    In August 2010, a resolution creating a unique partnership of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the
    Minnesota Humanities Center, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in
    Washington, D.C., was approved unanimously by the tribes residing in Minnesota and made it possible
    for Why Treaties Matter: Self Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations to be developed as an
    educational tool for Minnesota audiences.

    The exhibition includes 20 free standing banners with evocative text, historical and contemporary
    photographs and maps, a touchscreen video experience featuring the stories of Dakota and Ojibwe
    people, and an enhanced website at www.treatiesmatter.org.

    This exhibit reveals how Dakota and Ojibwe treaties with the U.S. government affected the lands and
    lifeways of the Indigenous peoples of the place we now call Minnesota, and explains why these binding agreements between nations still matter today. It is meant to share important cultural information with all Minnesotans, that they may better understand the true circumstances surrounding Minnesota land, its use, and the vibrant cultural and political traditions its original inhabitants have sustained in the face of challenges.

    St. Olaf College adopted a land acknowledgement statement in the spring 2020. Since then, we’ve continued to make strides in educating our community about indigeneity, decolonizing, and Native sovereignty. In our sesquicentennial year, we aim to create a more expansive narrative around the college’s founding, one that includes a fuller history of our location and our relationship to our Native neighbors. 

    We envision that hosting and engaging with the Why Treaties Matter Exhibit on campus will:

    • Deepen the community’s knowledge about this particular place and the history of colonization that made it possible for the college to be located where it is today
    • Facilitate relationship-building with local Indigenous communities
    • Offer opportunities to amplify Indigenous voices as we broaden our institutional saga to include more honest storytelling about the history of the college and this place.
    EXHIBIT Dates
    The exhibit will be on campus from October 9th through November 24th.
    official opening
    An official opening will take place in the Link on Thursday, October 17 from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm. See below for more events.
    open hours
    The exhibit is open from 7 am to 8 pm daily.
    location
    The exhibit will be held at The Link in the Center for Art and Dance (see map for directions).
    guided tour
    You are free to explore the exhibit,  but if you are interested in a guided tour you can  contact Peter Schattauer at schatt2@stolaf.edu.

    Campus Partners

    Bringing this exhibit to campus has been a joint effort among the Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community, the Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion, the Indigenous Peoples Organization, and the Vice President for Community and Belonging.

    Events

    1. October 17th, 2024 – Why Treaties Matter Opening Reception. To launch the exhibition, we will host an opening reception during Community Time (11:30 am – 12:30 pm). St. Olaf College will recognize Indigenous People’s Day officially during this event.

    2. November 12, 2024 – “Stories We Tell about This Place”: Tour and Lunch Discussion of the Why Treaties Matter Exhibit Hosted by the Center for Innovation in the Liberal Arts. Tour starts at 11:40 am. (For faculty and staff)

    3. November 16, 2024 – Production of Reasonable Doubt. Visiting Instructor Sara Pillatzki-Warzeha (Dakota) with the Theater Department and Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion will present a staged reading of the docudrama Reasonable Doubt alongside a panel conversation about healing and empathetic relationship building between Indigenous and settler people. Performance will take place at 6pm in the Center for Art and Dance.

    4. November 22, 2024 – Senior Dance Capstone. The Senior Dance Capstone Project includes the Land Acknowledgement and there is a Post-show reception in the space outside Groot and Flaten.

    About The Partners

    Why Treaties Matter is collaboration of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Minnesota Humanities Center and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. This exhibition was developed with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with a vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 and The Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation.

    Minnesota Indian Affairs Council
    The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC) was established in 1963. MIAC is a liaison between the
    State of Minnesota and the 11 tribal Governments within the state. The mission of the Indian Affairs
    Council is to protect the sovereignty of the 11 Minnesota Tribes and ensure the well-being of American
    Indian citizens throughout the State of Minnesota. Its vision is to strive for the social, economic, and
    political justice for all American Indian people living in the State of Minnesota, while embracing our
    traditional cultural and spiritual values.

    Minnesota Humanities Center
    Founded in 1971, the Minnesota Humanities Center is a nonprofit organization. The Humanities Center
    is a resource of the state of Minnesota and affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
    The Minnesota Humanities Center works to build a thoughtful, literate, and engaged society through
    education, partnership, and public programs.

    National Museum of the American Indian
    The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian is the first national museum
    dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of
    Native Americans. Established by an act of Congress in 1989 (amendment in 1996), the museum
    works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their
    cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and
    empowering the Indian voice.