Taking a Look at the Sioux Uprising

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“Over the Earth I come.” This is not a statement made in haste but a declaration of war, coming from the mouth of a Sioux warrior, a Dakota. They call him Crooked Lightning. That was the first and only true announcement about the planned uprising from the Dakota Nation. The Sioux Uprising of 1862 was appallingly deadly and destructive considering it may have been avoided if the United States had paid the Sioux their gold on time.
The Dakota Nation didn’t just wake up one day and decide to attack the settlers. They had been insulted, oppressed and cheated for years. Eventually, the Sioux decided to stand up and take back their land. The Sioux were hunters, not farmers. When the US decided to buy the Sioux’s hunting grounds and give them farmland, they should have thought about the consequences. The Sioux missed their sacred hunting land and struggled to make their farmland prosperous. Not only that, but the Sioux believe that they belong in Minnesota. Some say Israel is the land of the Jews. Well, Minnesota is the land of the Sioux. Of course, the US didn’t exactly steal the Sioux’s hunting land. Technically, the US bought the Sioux out, however that would imply that the Sioux had a choice about selling or were even aware of what was taking place.
The Sioux and other Native Americans have always been treated poorly by some people. They had to deal with the same racism that the African Americans were dealing with in the South. No one was fighting a war for the Sioux though. The truth is white supremacy runs amuck everywhere and wreaks havoc on society. Racism separated the Sioux from the settlers, but the tipping point was something else entirely. The US made a binding contract, a promise, to pay the Sioux a certain amount of Go...

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...ventually limited to 38. Of that 38, a few innocent men were hanged. In the eyes of the settlers, it was justice be done. In the eyes of the Sioux, it was a reminder that nothing had changed.
The Sioux Uprising started because of broken promises and brutal racism. The Sioux sold their sacred hunting land for gold but the gold was late. The settlers were already sowing their seeds of hate and the Indians were becoming subhuman. So while the arrogance and stupidity of racism caused a war in the South, the white people were too naïve to realize they were about to witness a war in the North. The Sioux Uprising cost innocent people their lives but also brought a family together. Overall, the gold was thought to be the main cause, but it was not the only one. While paying the gold to the Sioux would have delayed the uprising, the Dakota Nations rebellion was inevitable.

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