29 May 2024
MANKATO, Minn. — The Minnesota Historical Society will repatriate a hanging rope to the Prairie Island Indian Community that was used in the hanging of the largest single-day mass execution in U.S. history.
The item known as “the Mankato Hanging Rope” was used in the hanging of Wicanhpi Wastedanpi (also known as Chaske), one of the 38 Dakota men hanged on Dec. 26, 1862, following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. The rope was donated to the historical society and accessioned into the agency’s collections in 1869.
Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the rope will return to the Prairie Island Community. MNHS Director and CEO Kent Whitworth said in a news release the rope “is a painful and harmful object that does not reflect the mission and the values of MNHS today.”
“This consultation process has been a deeply meaningful learning experience for all of us at MNHS. I am especially grateful to the Dakota community members who have engaged and provided valuable insights and perspective in recent days and over the years,” he said in a statement. “We thank everyone involved for honoring the NAGPRA process, and we hope this decision leads to healing for our Dakota friends and relatives.”
The MNHS Executive Council — the agency’s governing board — approved the committee’s determination that the item is eligible for repatriation as both an Unassociated Funerary Object and a Sacred Object with cultural affiliation to all federally recognized Dakota Tribes, including the Prairie Island Indian Community.
Through the NAGPRA claim process, the MNHS consulted with Dakota Tribal Nations and relied on prior research by the Santee Sioux Nation, the Dakota NAGPRA Coalition, MNHS staff, and current research in the Prairie Island Indian Community’s NAGPRA claim.
MPR News contacted Prairie Island Indian Community for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
MNHS contacted each of the other 11 federally recognized Dakota Tribal Nations following the NAGPRA process and received formal communication from all expressing unanimous support for the Prairie Island Indian Community’s claim.
The agency will submit a Notice of Intent to Repatriate to National NAGPRA for publication in the Federal Register. If there aren’t additional claims within a month of publication of the notice, the item can be physically transferred to the Prairie Island Indian Community.
MNHS will continue to care for the item as a sacred object until the repatriation process is finished.
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