Three special events, a screening of the film Dakota 38, a special round-table discussion featuring guest artists, musicians and lecturers from the Dakota community, and a lecture by the Smithsonian Institution’s Kevin Gover, highlight the Hena Uŋkiksuyapi: In Commemoration of the Dakota Mass Execution of 1862 exhibition which is currently on view at the Hillstrom Museum of Art on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus through February 8, 2013. Hena Uŋkiksuyapi, Dakota for “we remember those,” features artworks by Dakota and other Native American artists presented in commemoration of the mass execution of 38 Dakota in 1862 following the end of the Dakota-U.S. War.
The special events planned in conjunction with the Hena Uŋkiksuyapi exhibition, begin with the screening of the recent film Dakota 38 at 7 p.m., Thursday, January 10, 2013, at the Treaty Site History Center in St. Peter. The film, directed by Silas Haugerty, was created in the tradition of native healing practices and honors these traditions as it tells the story of the executions on December 26, 1862. Admission to the film is free.
A second event will begin at 3:30 p.m., Sunday, January 20, 2013. This event is a round table discussion with artists and other members of the Dakota community. The discussion will be presented in Alumni Hall on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus. It will be moderated by Dr. Chris Mato Nunpa and will include a musical prelude in the form of a performance by a group of Dakota singers of the Dakota hymn Lac Qui Parle. The hymn will be presented after an historical discussion of the hymn by Reverend Sidney Byrd.
The final event in the series is a lecture by Kevin Gover, Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian will begin at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 27 in Alumni Hall. Kevin Gover’s lecture is supported by funds from the Lefler Lecture Fund at Gustavus.
These events and the exhibition are presented as a collaborative effort of the Hillstrom Museum of Art with the College of Arts and Humanities of Minnesota State University, Mankato, the Nicollet County Historical Society, and the Building Bridges Conference Committee and the Diversity Center of Gustavus Adolphus College.
As an historical adjunct to Hena Uŋkiksuyapi, a panel exhibition will be shown in an adjacent space in the Hillstrom Museum of Art. Titled Commemorating Controversy: The Dakota-U.S. War of 1862, it was created by Dr. Elizabeth Baer, Professor of English at Gustavus Adolphus College, and Ben Leonard, Director of the Nicollet County Historical Society with students in a 2012 Gustavus January Term class of the same name.
Admission to the Hillstrom Museum and all events is free and open to the public. Regular Museum hours are weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekends, 1 to 5 p.m. Additional information is available at the Museum’s website at gustavus.edu/finearts/hillstrom.
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