MHS Scorecard

Minnesota Historical Society Scorecard
January 1, 2017
Updated on June 3, 2017

“MHS Scorecard” can now be found in the top bar above.

Be Skeptical

Be Skeptical
© December 6, 2016, John LaBatte

Skeptic – “a person who questions or doubts something (such as a claim or statement)”

To date, I have reviewed more than 300 products related to Dakota/White history. These include essays, speeches, websites, exhibits, signs, audio-visual and books. I can definitely conclude that there is much incorrect, unbalanced and disrespectful information out there on this history.

Why is this happening? Read on.

Bdewakanton, Bdote, and Mnisota

Bdewakanton, Bdote, and Mnisota
© May 21, 2016, John LaBatte
Updated on September 28, 2017

What are these Dakota words? Where did they come from? They cannot be found in Stephen R. Riggs’ A Dakota-English Dictionary published in 1890. When I first saw them, I believed them to be corruptions of the traditional Dakota language.

Open Letter to Stephen Elliott, Director, MHS

February 5, 2014

Re: Minnesota Historical Society’s U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 Website. Included are reviews of “Remarks by Historical Society Director Stephen Elliott” and “A Letter from the Director”

What’s up with the Minnesota Humanities Center?

I have recently posted 4 reviews of the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) website. These can be found under the “Website” category or by doing a search of this blog on “MHC.”

Considerable time and money went into the MHC website. It contains useful information. However it is so badly laced with incorrect, unbalanced and disrespectful statements that the visitor has to be careful what they use.

I separated the MHC website into 4 reviews:
     Why Treaties Matter
     Dakota/Ojibwe Perspectives
     Bdote Memory Map
     Lesson Plans

In total, the statements I included in my reviews had:
     351 incorrect statements
     34 unbalanced statements
     13 disrespectful statements
A statement is incorrect if it is wrong; or incomplete; or does not apply to all members of the group. A statement is unbalanced if it provides information about one group while corresponding information is not provided for other groups involved. A statement is disrespectful if people are criticized without showing proof. 

Overall, the MHC website is severely unbalanced. A good deal of it is devoted to the Dakota and Ojibwe. This is okay. But, little information is given on other ethnic groups in their settlement of Minnesota, their involvement in the Dakota War of 1862 or what happened to them after the Dakota War.

The MHC website lists two sources of funds:
     1. This work is funded in part by The Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation.
     2. This work is funded with money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

Why doesn’t the MHC website represent all ethnic groups that were involved in the Dakota War of 1862? Who holds MHC accountable?

For more information, refer to the MHC homepage at http://www.minnesotahumanities.org

A copy of this essay has been sent to David O’Fallon, President of the Minnesota Humanities Center.

Is MHS prejudiced?

According to the Minnesota Historical Society website, the Society was established in 1849. The Society “collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs and book publishing.”

Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) receives the majority of its funds from the State of Minnesota. Other sources of funds include admissions, gift shop sales, and donations.

I started reviewing Dakota Indian and Dakota War products in 2001 with a review of the MHS Lower Sioux Agency exhibit and trail signs. I questioned why MHS was so unbalanced in this text. Two MHS employees told me the “pendulum story.” For many years, the history pendulum was high on the white side. In 2000, MHS decided it was time for the pendulum to swing high on the Dakota side. The pendulum remains high on the Dakota side today.

MHS has an Indian Advisory Panel consisting of representatives from each of the federally recognized Minnesota Indian communities. They review all MHS products related to Minnesota Indians. I know of no other standing MHS advisory committees representing other ethnic groups.

MHS offered some hope of balance when they asked 2 non-Indian advisory panels to assist with their U.S.-Dakota War Exhibit in St. Paul. But, the back-end of the exhibit is entirely about the Dakota after the war. Little or no mention is made of the whites after the war.

The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 was Minnesota’s most tragic event. It affected thousands of whites and Indians. After 12 years, I am still puzzled why MHS continues to focus on the Dakota Indians in its products. I have posted 7 reviews of MHS products to this blog. Following is a summary of these products: