This kind of deep research into local stories is really valuable. If this country ever chooses to engage in "truth and reconciliation" or gets serious about reparations, each bit of this history will be essential. I was also struck by how convoluted the legal claims can be. And what we have decided is "legal."
Let's hope President Biden's apology this week is at last a first step in the right direction. I am also struck by how easy it is for me to accept the bureaucratic process without questioning it. The assertions Dickens made about Namaypoke based on second-hand sources who had motives to advocate for the sale of land speaks for itself. But you are right that it is also important to interrogate further the idea of "legitimacy" afforded by the political tools unleashed by the pen.
wow, Jill - you continue to work deeper into this history, peeling the onion. How wonderful that Roy Jones had these documents and that you have been able to add this to your research/discovery. I expect Namaypoke and the other Natives of the time, had no chance of really retaining their land, and there is no romanticized version; Namaypoke "gave" the land for a school, that makes sense anymore. Once again, hoping that, "when we know better, we do better" .
Thanks to Roy Jones adding new pieces to the puzzle, the picture comes into focus more clearly. Instead of “gave” the land, perhaps “gave up” the land is more apt for a revised version of local legend. If only history were so easy to revise as a simple two-letter word: UP.
I felt angry about the helplessness of Naymaypoke to hold on to what was "legally" his and belongs to his ancestors. I know there was no legal response from Nayamaypoke, but how could there have been? The paternalism is maddening and what was done can't be undone, but it's important to know the truth. Thanks for your deep research.
Acknowledging the truth of what was done is a first step to making amends. I am using what skills I have at my disposal to keep digging and writing about this as a small second step.
l fund myself infuriated once again at what is described happening here - and although l know it is not the same as what I've experienced, l identify with Namaypoke and what must have been a feeling of helplessness and anger over what happened to him at the hands of these men. The sight of his actual thumbprint is moving to me - a human being, deserving of full rights.
I am glad you could relate to Namaypoke in this piece. I know I found myself so confused by the deed language that I couldn't help but wonder how confused Namaypoke must have been. Thumbprints are found on so many documents related to Indian land deeds from the early 1900s even into the 1960s.
This reminds me of Erdrich's novel "Tracks," which is a little hard to understand in isolation from her other works, but which traces this allotment travesty quite thoroughly. The Netflix series "Dark Winds" might interest you, too. It is a riveting two-season series set on Navajo land.
Thanks for referencing Louise Erdirch's novel's TRACKS. I am halfway through her new novel MIGHTY RED which uses the Red River Valley as the setting to explore land issues in a contemporary context. I've watched DARK WINDS too. BASS REEVES is another episodic series which explodes stereotypes about "westward expansion."
And it is important for more people to know the truth of what happened there. And not ony there in Warroad, but across the entire nation this process of transfering control of land and resources to colonial settlers.
"He came to appraise the land as much as assess competence." Combined what a damn set up, the former being the real goal, the latter the excuse for. How did Dickens get his job, who dubbed him the authority? Thank you for the research Jill.
Before he was Superintendent of the Indian Agency at Red Lake, Walter F. Dickens was an Indian Agent in what is now Oklahoma. I have not found much biographical information about him. The Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, claimed authority and deputized Indian Agents to implement that authority. The Bureau of Indian Affairs had been established by Secretary of War Calhoun in 1824.
If the man with the land had been a white guy, I wonder what Dickens would have written about him? And I also would say what business was it of these men if Namaypoke did spend the money in a way he desired? Your story becomes more and more one of greed and privilege.
This is another "great" part of the story. The documents and the maps are the smoking gun. Complicated legal procedures have been an integral part of colonialism for a long time!
Thanks for recognizing how the law can be used as a weapon. Things haven't changed all that much as there are still so many who believe the law should protect them (from other people) but that the same laws don't apply to themselves.
This kind of deep research into local stories is really valuable. If this country ever chooses to engage in "truth and reconciliation" or gets serious about reparations, each bit of this history will be essential. I was also struck by how convoluted the legal claims can be. And what we have decided is "legal."
Let's hope President Biden's apology this week is at last a first step in the right direction. I am also struck by how easy it is for me to accept the bureaucratic process without questioning it. The assertions Dickens made about Namaypoke based on second-hand sources who had motives to advocate for the sale of land speaks for itself. But you are right that it is also important to interrogate further the idea of "legitimacy" afforded by the political tools unleashed by the pen.
wow, Jill - you continue to work deeper into this history, peeling the onion. How wonderful that Roy Jones had these documents and that you have been able to add this to your research/discovery. I expect Namaypoke and the other Natives of the time, had no chance of really retaining their land, and there is no romanticized version; Namaypoke "gave" the land for a school, that makes sense anymore. Once again, hoping that, "when we know better, we do better" .
Thanks to Roy Jones adding new pieces to the puzzle, the picture comes into focus more clearly. Instead of “gave” the land, perhaps “gave up” the land is more apt for a revised version of local legend. If only history were so easy to revise as a simple two-letter word: UP.
I felt angry about the helplessness of Naymaypoke to hold on to what was "legally" his and belongs to his ancestors. I know there was no legal response from Nayamaypoke, but how could there have been? The paternalism is maddening and what was done can't be undone, but it's important to know the truth. Thanks for your deep research.
Acknowledging the truth of what was done is a first step to making amends. I am using what skills I have at my disposal to keep digging and writing about this as a small second step.
l fund myself infuriated once again at what is described happening here - and although l know it is not the same as what I've experienced, l identify with Namaypoke and what must have been a feeling of helplessness and anger over what happened to him at the hands of these men. The sight of his actual thumbprint is moving to me - a human being, deserving of full rights.
I am glad you could relate to Namaypoke in this piece. I know I found myself so confused by the deed language that I couldn't help but wonder how confused Namaypoke must have been. Thumbprints are found on so many documents related to Indian land deeds from the early 1900s even into the 1960s.
This reminds me of Erdrich's novel "Tracks," which is a little hard to understand in isolation from her other works, but which traces this allotment travesty quite thoroughly. The Netflix series "Dark Winds" might interest you, too. It is a riveting two-season series set on Navajo land.
Thanks for referencing Louise Erdirch's novel's TRACKS. I am halfway through her new novel MIGHTY RED which uses the Red River Valley as the setting to explore land issues in a contemporary context. I've watched DARK WINDS too. BASS REEVES is another episodic series which explodes stereotypes about "westward expansion."
As great great granddaughter of Naymaypoke this is heartbreaking. He didn’t stand a chance 😢
And it is important for more people to know the truth of what happened there. And not ony there in Warroad, but across the entire nation this process of transfering control of land and resources to colonial settlers.
"He came to appraise the land as much as assess competence." Combined what a damn set up, the former being the real goal, the latter the excuse for. How did Dickens get his job, who dubbed him the authority? Thank you for the research Jill.
Before he was Superintendent of the Indian Agency at Red Lake, Walter F. Dickens was an Indian Agent in what is now Oklahoma. I have not found much biographical information about him. The Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, claimed authority and deputized Indian Agents to implement that authority. The Bureau of Indian Affairs had been established by Secretary of War Calhoun in 1824.
If the man with the land had been a white guy, I wonder what Dickens would have written about him? And I also would say what business was it of these men if Namaypoke did spend the money in a way he desired? Your story becomes more and more one of greed and privilege.
It also reveals a cultural mindset of white superiority. Owning land as personal property is a cultural value imposed by settlers.
This is another "great" part of the story. The documents and the maps are the smoking gun. Complicated legal procedures have been an integral part of colonialism for a long time!
Thanks for recognizing how the law can be used as a weapon. Things haven't changed all that much as there are still so many who believe the law should protect them (from other people) but that the same laws don't apply to themselves.