Bridging the Gap between people and cultures

Testimonials
 
The Tear
By Bill Maultaup, Winona, MN
 
The great spirit shed a tear that day,
As the doomed Santee were led away.
 
Their death chants hung on the winter breeze,
As bystanders watched with gleeful ease.
 
Songs still sung by men so proud.
While the hangman readied many a shroud.
 
Up the steps to the platform high,
Their eyes lifted to the noonday sky.
 
Never again in this world to see their sons and wives,
When the ropes of help snuffed their lives.
 
The spirit watched as mothers, wives and daughters wept,
While the people of the valleys and plains were swept.
 
They had fought the fight for equality,
For promised payment and commodity.
 
Their lands were taken, their food was nil,
As traders produced a dishonest bill.
 
We offer apologies for our ancestor's deeds,
And extend a helping hand for future needs.
 
Yes, the great spirit shed a tear that winter day,
As thirty eight brave Dakota were led away.
 
Decated with great admiration to the people of the Dakota Nation By the Multhaup family!
Letters of Support for Chief Wabasha's Film
Winona City Manager, Eric Sorenson

Santee's Rod Steiner

Santee's Tribal Chairman, Roger Trudell

Senator Norm Coleman

Other letter(s) of support

Jerry Miller, Mayor, Winona, Minnesota

"It is very important for the story of the influence , history and contribution made by the Dakota Nation to our are be told in an up-beat, interesting and knowledgeable manner. In my opinion the proposal from the Diversity Foundation to produce a multimedia educational video/documentary about the great Dakota Nation will go a long way in accomplishing what needs to be done. An informed understanding of the history of Native Americans and their influence will benefit all of us."

Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribal Council
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe pledged Diversity Foundation $50,000 challenge grant for funding for the Dakota documentary series.

TRIBAL COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO.SWST-01-115

SWST provides challenge grant for historical series

Elizabeth Morgan, Director, Cultural Resource Management (deceased)
"I offer this history for better understanding of the Reconciliation projects and Historical Documentaries with which the Diversity Foundation has been involved, and why they are so necessary. They will help facilitate the forgiveness, cultural education, understanding and Healing process among our own Dakota/Lakota people as well as with the non-Native population."

"It is important that these elder interviews be recorded, recalling our early Dakota oral history, and that the entire Mankato Reconciliation Movement story be told and shared with young and old, Native and non-Native across the Great Plains. This example of intercultural Unity can and should be a model to other communities, especially those surrounding our Dakota Reservations, where this hatred, racism and internalized oppression continue and manifest strongly to this day"

Justification/Needs Assessment from a Dakota elders perspective : Elizabeth is probably the Dakota elder who has helped Diversity Foundation the most over the past years introducing and helping us gain acceptance among many of the Dakota, as well as Lakota Reservations throughout North and South Dakota as well as among the Reserves of Canada including her Sioux Valley Relatives

| Click here for complete assessment letter |

Reynold Howe & Melvin Grey Owl, Crow Creek Dakota Tribe, Fort Thompson, S.D.
"You better hurry-up and get these recordings and interviews done as our table and group of Dakota elder men (who once sat and ate here) used to be full (large) and now we're the only 2 left (living)"


Andrew J. Grey, Sr., Chair, Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe
"On behalf of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation I am herein submitting this letter of support for the Diversity Foundation, Inc. in their effort to provide educational material on Dakotah life prior to the settlement era.

We are in a time of rapid declination of our Dakotah language, customs and ceremonies, due in large part to the loss of tribal elders who were raised in homes and communities wherein they were raised and governed by the Dakotah way of life.

All efforts to preserve this incredible knowledge are appreciated and encouraged. Without it, our young people will not have direct access to the cultural patrimony that they need to cope and prosper in this day and age.

I encourage organizations and businesses to provide funding to the Diversity Foundation, Inc. for their worthwhile projects.

Deanna Gallagher, Director
Partners Program in Human Rights Education
"...your project also plans to explore much positive history, to recover the stories that define the greatness of Dakota/Lakota culture, its heroes and heroines. This will enable learners to truly appreciate what has been lost through human rights violations, and what might be recovered through the positive action of reconciliation."

"Mainstream classrooms are rarely able to cover the local history of the Sioux in great detail. Many Partners Program teachers have attempted to incorporate this history into their curriculum, and would welcome your materials into their classroom. Your project will vastly improve the quality and availability of resources focusing on the history of indigenous peoples, and open exciting new opportunities for involving and training teachers throughout Minnesota."

| Click here for complete letter |

Cynthia Lindquist Mala, Former Executive Director
North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission
"I offer my fullest support for the endeavors of the Diversity Foundation and am willing to serve as an advocate and/or advisor. It is imperative to utilize the educational technologies available to promote better understanding between Indians and non-Indians. Multi-media tools such as film and video are wonderful mechanisms to teach and will generate more participation and better understanding. The stories and truth from Native perspective are powerful and must be told."

| Click here for complete letter |

The late, U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, MN
"I am impressed with the work of the Diversity Foundation. Specifically, I am impressed with the way you have merged education and documentary film-making."

"Your multi-media documentary approach provides a rich historical context... I firmly believe that this dual approach will help us in the healing that needs to occur and the reconciliation that is our path to the future."

| Click here for complete letter |

Mark F. Peterson, Director, Winona County Historical Society
"The story of Chief Wapasha and his descendents can be woven in a way that will sensitively inform the public about this important part of our state's history. The use of film, video and multimedia is going to be a very effective tool to accomplish this."

| Click here for complete letter |

Lee Luebbe, President, Project FINE
"As president of Project FINE Board of Directors, I am writing to support the efforts to secure moneys for the documentary production of early Winona history. Project FINE Board of Directors adopted the recommendation to partner with other local groups and the Diversity Foundation and Diversity Productions, Inc. to bring about a documentary which would make real the early history of Wapasha's Prairie, known to us as Winona, Minnesota. Our board of twenty-one and our staff are committed to be a partner in efforts to further the understanding of our cultures and races.

Together we can make a quality production happen---one long overdue to tell the rich stories of Ernest and Vernell Wabasha and other descendents of Wapasha's Prairie band.

Eli Taylor, Dakota Elder and Historian (deceased)
1997
"You need to listen to all our Dakota elders and tell our side of the story before it is too late and this culture and history is lost forever."

| Click here for Eli Taylor mini-biography |

Copyright © 2002 Diversity Foundation, Inc.