What Does Justice Look Like?: The Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland
This is important text not only because it asks the right questions, but because it suggests that actions are as inevitable as scholarship. We must act, says this native historian, in the context of today's possibilities. In answer to the central question it poses,what is required?, there is no doubt that the overturning of racist and ineffectual systems and institutions is mandatory. In addition, in order to get public support for what is required, Waziyatawin was one of the leaders of the first Dakota Commemorative March in 2002, which means that she believes in action as well as scholarship. This commemorative March asks that the struggle for liberation in the Dakota homeland be joined by all who believe in human rights and justice. And this text asks that a de-colonized Dakota Nation take its place in the world with its own fabulous and flawed history told by its own people. --Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Dakota/Sissetowan, enrolled member: Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. eminent scholar and writer.Waziyatawin . . . offers a hard-hitting analysis of Dakota-White relations and challenges us to reject the benign narratives that have dominated writings on Minnesota history. The book moves beyond recounting the state's tragic past to offering what needs to be done to put things right today. --Amy Lonetree, Ho-Chunk, assistant professor of American Studies at the University of California, Santa CruzThis book is an invitation to deep truth-telling as a first step toward healing the legacy of genocide suffered by the Dakota people. . . . [It] is essential reading for all Americans who love their country enough to remember and repair the harm caused by its misdeeds. --Howard Vogel, Professor of restorative justice, Hamline Law School, St. Paul, MN.