Largest US Execution Memorialized In Art 150 Years Later
3,209 views · Published 26 December 2012 · 6:52 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: The Uptake by Bridgemakers · 2012 · News & Politics
150 years ago on the day after Christmas, the largest mass execution in the US took place in Minnesota. 38 Native Americans were hanged for their participation in the US-Dakota war of 1862. This is Native American art about that dark day in American history. At first glance, Gordon Coons' painting 1862-Mankato 38 may look like any other American flag. But it isn't. Look closer and you'll see a rope, the kind used to tie a noose, framing the edges. You'll also see the names of 38 Dakota warriors who were hanged in the largest mass execution in U.S. history on December 26th, 1862. Most had been convicted by a military court of participating in the US-Dakota War that had begun in August that year. Unrepresented by any legal defense, the 38 were hanged in Mankato in front of a crowd of thousands of white spectators. It was just the beginning of the terrible retribution that would be meted out to the Dakota, and the war and its aftermath, including a legacy of anti-Indian racism, underlie a riveting art exhibit called Ded Unk'unpi/We Are Here, on view until Jan. 13 at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul. The exhibit features the work of 20 Native American artists and reflects a wide range of responses to the war and the past 150 years. Visitors to the exhibit may be struck by the glaring disconnect between the paintings of the powerless being displayed in a home built by one of Minnesota's most powerful founders. James J. Hill was the well-known railroad tycoon who arrived in Minnesota in 1856 and amassed a fortune. His impressive home, now owned by the Minnesota Historical Society and operated as a museum, features chandelier lined hallways, mahogany floors and sweeping views of the Mississippi River. It is unlikely that Hill envisioned a day when his home would be the site of a viscerally raw art show that deals with the complex memories and emotions of Dakota people and other American Indians during this 150th anniversary year of the Dakota War. Many of the works are deep emotional responses to the painful events that took place during the conflict. Some of these event are still felt today. Gordon Coons, Julie Buffalohead and Jim Denomie are three of the 20 artists whose works touch upon the suffering felt by the Dakota during the war. The title of the exhibit comes from the 38 Dakota warriors who were hanged in Mankato on the day after Christmas. It was said that as each warrior stepped forward to have the noose put around their neck, they said, Ded Unk'unpi. We are here. Curator Brian Szott readily acknowledges the complicated nature of some of the work in the show, such as the flag with the names of the executed, painted by Coons. "The American flag must be a complicated symbol for Native Americans," said Szott. "They're proud to be American, and yet the flag is also a symbol of oppression and a symbol of their demise." Ojibwe artist Jim Denomie tells the story of the uprising vividly in his painting, Off the Reservation/Minnesota Nice. Denomie is known for using bold colors and rough brush strokes in his work. His subjects are depicted with crudely drawn open mouths with buck-teeth shaded in bright orange, pink or a moody blue. He employs rabbits, birds and winged horses as symbols in his work. Most of the time, Denomie uses humor to deal with some of the most painful subjects relating to the history and mistreatment of Native Americans. But the work he created for the exhibit is raw with emotion and anger. In one corner of the painting, Denomie depicts a starving family. A mother and daughter hold out a plate while the head of a man with a noose around his neck holds out a spoon. "When I set about to do this painting, I purposely decided to keep the story more raw and brutal," Denomie explained when we met at the James J. Hill house to discuss his work. The show is a collaboration between the Native American Community Development Institute, All My Relations Gallery and the Historical Society. Diyani White Hawk, the chief curator for the All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis, said she wanted the artists to respond in any way they wanted to the war.
