Lunch & Learn: The 1862 U.S.-Dakota War

Description

Consider the 1862 Dakota Uprising in Minnesota from the perspective of Sarah Wakefield. At the time of the Uprising, Sarah was married to a government physician on the Dakota (or Sioux) reservation. She was captured with her two young children the first morning of the outbreak. Her relationship with Caske, her Dakota captor and protector, became a source of great controversy and ultimately tragedy. In this presentation Phyllis tells a few captivating stories behind her writing of ‘Beneath the Same Stars,’ her novel that dives into this history. She leads her audience on a journey from a family cemetery in a dense woods in North Kingstown, Rhode Island; to the ruins of the Upper Sioux Agency near Granite Falls, Minnesota; to the kitchen table of a Dakota elder in Peever, South Dakota…. Along the way she explores a largely forgotten history that still haunts this region of the country. This program was made possible by the South Dakota Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Register to access the February 5th Zoom session at bit.ly/vpl1862, hosted by the Edith B. Siegrist Vermillion Public Library. Please register as soon as you can to guarantee a spot. If you have any questions, please email Rachelle at rachelle.langdon@vermillionpubliclibrary.org.