Dakota Test Treaty Rights on Chain of Lakes

Our friends at The Uptake filmed Dakota American Indian fishermen testing their treaty rights at Cedar Lake on Friday.

I actually met Chris Mato Nunpa, retired Southwest University Professor and Dakota activist, in the Minneapolis City Council's waiting room a few weeks back. He told me the planned action was part of an effort to force the government to recognize treaties, in a court case if necessary.

Mato Nunpa explained the reason for the action to The Uptake:

“When some of the legislators say ‘we are a nation of laws’, my reaction is ‘well obey your own damn laws then’,” said Chris Mato Nunpa. “Obey the treaties, which over 400 have been made and broken by the United States of America and private U.S. American citizenry. Honor those treaties because it's the supreme law of the land.”

The DNR had been informed in advance and it was a non-violent demonstration said Mato Nunpa. A group of Dakota Indian fishermen retrieved the net that had been set in the early morning and put the captured fish in a cooler. The DNR officers showed up, cited the state law violators and confiscated the fish as evidence.