The BDOTE Memory Map!
The Bdote Memory Map is a beginning resource for giving Minnesotans a deeper understanding of where we live. It is not a complete history nor a complete picture of the area and its meaning to Dakota people.
According to the origin stories of the Bdewakantunwan Dakota (one of the Seven Fires of the Dakota Oyate), the center of the area shown above -- now called Minneapolis and St. Paul -- is the center of the earth. It is where Dakota people began.
To learn more about some Dakota sites, click on the English names to the left or on the areas of the map - your cursor will change as you roll over an area with a link. You will be taken to pages with video, audio and more information.
Visitors will be introduced to the history of Dakota people, and will be challenged to consider the relationship between people and their physical surroundings.
Visitors also have the opportunity to add their own experiences, memories and stories to the long history of how these sites have sustained and enriched people's lives.
Learn about traditional Dakota sites in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area by exploring the map.
Some places on the map are links to pages. Your cursor will change as it rolls over a linked site. You can also select site names below.
Meet Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.d, Associate Professor of Indigenous Nations and Dakota Studies
Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, MN
We are grateful for his generosity in sharing teachings about the Minneapolis-St. Paul Bdote area.
The BDOTE Memory Map website presents voices of some Dakota people telling about the area now known as Minneapolis-St. Paul.
We invite more Dakota voices (and others) to participate with this site. Listen, watch, investigate on your own. Add your memories. Share what you have learned here and elsewhere.
NOTE: Both the Dakota language and the English names of sites are used. Links are in the English language.
Click video to pause or replay
PILOT VERSION -2007
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Scroll down the page for more information.
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Move your mouse around the map to select traditional Dakota sites.
Pilot version note :
Links to traditional Dakota sites are more reliable in the blue box below
The BDOTE Memory Map, part of the Minnesota Humanities Center’s
commitment to delivering resources to teachers,
is based on a multimedia installation called City Indians created by
Dakota producer/media artist Mona Smith (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Oyate) of Allies; media/art.
