Dak̇ota Makoċe (Dakota Homeland)

This place is home to the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires)—the Dakota people. 

Our ancestors have been here for thousands of years. We are so deeply connected to the land that we call it Unci Maka Ina—mother earth. The land is filled with generations of stories and teachings held in the collective memory of our nation. A commonly held worldview among us is Mitakuye Owasiƞ (we are all related), reflecting how all things, animate and inanimate, are intertwined. 

Dakota people from each of our council fires have lived among the river bottoms of this region and traveled west onto the plains, but in the 1800s this area was primarily home to the Sisseton and Wahpeton. We call this place Cansa’yapi (where they marked the trees red).