Every December, Dakotas commemorate the executions of 38 men following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. President Abraham Lincoln ordered the hanging of the warriors on December 26, 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota. Two other chiefs were hanged three years later. The commemoration draws attention to the events leading up to the hangings that aren’t often included in history books about the years of broken promises, oppression and imprisonment by the U.S. Government that led to starvation and other hardships for the tribes. The pandemic has cancelled the annual 330-mile memorial horseback ride from the Lower Brule Reservation in South Dakota to Mankato. We’ll take time to remember this tragic chapter in history.