MANKATO – “Our language marks this land.” – Gwen Westerman, Minnesota’s poet laureate.
Westerman didn’t use her Saturday morning presentation at the Blue Earth County Library to soothe with expressive words or artistry. Instead, she told stories which captivated the two dozen, mostly senior audience members, bringing a few to tears with stories of Indigenous history.
“This is a discussion, not a lecture,” said the 68-year-old Minnesota State University professor. “I’ve been a teacher for 34 years. If you twitch, I will call on you.”
But while Westerman’s teaching style brought a few laughs, many of her stories and those of Mankato and the Minnesota River Valley are not for the timid. Still, the consensus of those joining her discussion was to learn more.
“The more I learn,” said circle visitor Jody Swanson of rural Mankato, “the more I want to learn.”
Swanson both highlighted both the ugly side of regional treatment of Native culture during this state’s formative years, but praised Westerman and the Indigenous tradition, its spirituality and of “taking care of the earth.”
Westerman noted the cordial discussion and her culture’s continuing presence in Mankato and the Minnesota River Valley region as a “testament and the strength of Indigenous people.”
“Indigenous history is a brutal history no matter where you live in the world,” Westerman acknowledged. “It’s been a brutal history for all Brown people. It’s a brutal history for immigrants across this country.”
And Mankato’s history, including the mass execution of 38 Dakota men on Dec. 26, 1862, is a part of that “brutal history.” While Westernman notes that place in local history, she moves forward with intention and accurate story-telling.
“There’s a lot of anger. There’s still a lot of anger,” she said.
But Saturday’s presentation included a reference to her award-winning book, “Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota,” published in 2012 by the Minnesota Historical Society. And Westerman’s research and goals were to factually tell stories from Indigenous voices.
“It was really important that there wasn’t a lot of anger in this book,” she said. “And I think it’s one of the reasons it’s been so successful…You can’t make connections with anyone when there’s anger in the air.”
The state historical society is now cooperating with Westerman to revise a 5th-grade level tutorial based on her book.
Arriving in Mankato in 1991
Westerman is Dakota and Cherokee, an enrolled citizen of both the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation and the Cherokee Nation. Westerman grew up in Kansas after her parents divorced when she was just three years old. In their formative years, her mother and father both endured some of this country’s “brutal history.”
“Neither of them spoke English before they were sent away for boarding school,” Westerman said.
Westerman went on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s from Oklahoma State University, then her doctorate in English and poetry at the University of Kansas. She was thrilled when offered a position at MSU in 1991, then surprised when relatives stood silent upon the news.
“When I called Uncle Floyd in Los Angeles, he was silent for a time and then said, ‘You know what they do to Indians there. We’ll see how long you last.’ “
Westerman lasted and completed her 34th year at MSU, most recently as Director of Humanities and the Native American Literature Symposium. Her daughter teaches Dakota Language at South Dakota State University; her son served two terms in Iraq. Both attended MSU.
Westerman’s poetry chops grew during 1999 sessions at The Loft in Minneapolis. Still, she was a bit surprised when Gov. Tim Walz appointed her as the state’s third poet laureate in 2021, following Joyce Sutphen and Robert Bly.
She co-authored her history book with Bruce White, with a foreword by Glenn Wasicuna, who like Westerman, lives in rural Good Thunder.
“This is not an academic history of Indigenous history,” Westernman noted. “It is the people’s history.”
Interestingly, after the publishers asked for release signatures of those Indigenous men and women Westerman listened to and interviewed, there was hesitation from them to sign anything, she said, noting broken treaties.
“They would say, ‘I’m giving you this story. We don’t need to sign a piece of paper,’ “ Westerman recalled. “So we did what Indian culture does, we brought gifts.”
Relationship to the land and its people remain key parts of Indigenous history and life, reminded Westerman, citing strong family structures. And while three different Indigenous peoples often shared land and culture, “we’re all Midwestern people.”
“My grandma, with an 8th-grade education, always said, ‘When we came over the top of the world, there were always people here.’
Among those in attendance, there were questions regarding reconciliation, reparation and wonder if a more accurate accounting of Indigenous history has surfaced. Yes, Westerman said, “I think things have changed in the schools.” But there’s still work to do, she added.
“There has to be acknowledgment before there is reparation,” Westerman answered. “But reparation isn’t always about money. Reparation can happen in places like this.”
One audience member praised Westerman for her role in bringing people together to better understand and tell accurate stories, good and bad, of regional Indigenous history.
“The fact that we’re still here today and talking about this book is maybe something as a model that we can talk about these stories and history.”