Author sees parallels between Dakota trials and war on terrorism

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The tribunals that took place in the aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota Conflict in 1862 draw an interesting contrast to the military tribunals now being used to prosecute terrorist suspects, said author and lawyer David Homstad Saturday night.

Homstad was in New Ulm speaking to the Junior Pioneers at their annual meeting at Turner Hall.

Homstad spoke about his experiences as a public defender in Hennepin County, saying that the office handles about 75,000 cases a year that range from criminal damage to property to murder. Homstad said he represents many minorities in court, ranging from blacks to Hispanics to Native Americans to Hmong.

He recently finished his first book, "Horse Dreamer", which is a fiction about the U.S.-Dakota Conflict seen through the eyes of a 16-year old boy, half white, half Dakota. Homstad said he grew interested in early life on the prairie during trips from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter to his home in Hallock, which was 400 miles away. He told the audience he often looked out the window and dreamed.

"I tried to imagine what it was like," he said. "And I put into words what I imagined."

Homstad said he wrote "Horse Dreamer" after he became curious and investigated the history of many of the Native Americans he represented in court. He said he was particularly interested in examining the effects of racial bias on Native Americans.

It was the need for answers to those questions that led him back to the summer of 1862, when Minnesota saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the ongoing wars between the U.S. Army and many Native American nations.

Homstad said he found the plight of the Dakota went back to when the first settlers came to the area which is now known as Minneapolis and St. Paul. Initially, the Dakota and the white settlers were unaffected by each other.

But that started to change once Fort Snelling was built in 1819 to defend the fur trades. Gradually, the Dakota were pushed west, treaty after treaty. The movement changed their way of life, Homstad said, and eventually the Dakota became dependent upon government gold annuities.

The flashpoint, of course, came in August, 1862. The first attacks happened when four Dakota murdered five settlers near Afton. Homstad said a total of 408 settlers were killed in the fighting, and the Dakota who chose to fight struck first and hard. The fighting in Minnesota ended with the Battle of Wood Lake some time later, after which 1,200 people were captured.

Homstad said last year's attacks in New York City, Washington D.C. and rural Pennsylvania make him look at the 1862 conflict in a new light.

"I have to wonder if the attacks were legitimate or were they terrorism?," Homstad said. "I haven't come to an answer yet."

Homstad said he sees the same things happening with the suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks as with the Dakota who were arrested, tried and executed after the fighting in Minnesota ended. Back in 1862, the tribunal held 362 hearings within the span of five weeks. And the Dakota weren't allowed to call witnesses or testify. Much of the testimony in those hearings, Homstad said, were based on unreliable information from subjects who were very obviously biased.

"It would be wise to heed the lessons learned from those trials," said Homstad. "The military tribunals we're using now could result in an abrogation of certain rights."

Homstad said he read all 300 pages of handwritten transcripts from those trials; the early ones are well-detailed but the later ones are a page long in some cases. Henry Sibley reportedly thought he was doing the Dakota a favor by having trials, Homstad said. But in the end, President Abraham Lincoln ended up reviewing what took place. He reduced the number of Dakota sentenced to die to 38. And those were people were later hanged in Mankato as part of the largest mass execution in U.S. history.

"This community represents a historical crossroads where people have met," Homstad said of New Ulm. "Hopefully, the spirits of reconciliation will replace feelings of division and disconnect."