Sunday, December 26, 2010

Dakota film maker at work on feature about nation's largest mass execution (Dec. 26, 1862)

The film is called "Dakota 38," referring to thirty eight Dakota warriors hanged in Makato, Minnesota on Dec. 26, 1862.

Over 300 of the warriors were sentenced to hang after a conflict involving the Dakota, White settlers and the U.S. Army. Appeals from Episcopal Bishop Henry Whipple and others convinced President Abraham Lincoln to pardon the majority. The event still afflicts the memory of the Dakota, many of whom live in eastern South Dakota.

Sarah Weston of South Dakota's Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is a co-director.

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