Fremstillinger av US-Dakotakrigen i 1862

Abstract

In 1862 a war broke out between the Dakota tribe and the United States government in Minnesota, a war that would affect all Native Americans in the state and most of the white settlers. After the end of the war, it would become a popular topic to write about, both right after the war and up until today. This thesis has studied how these writings on the US-Dakota War of 1862 have evolved, based on the research question; how and why has the portrayal of the US-Dakota war of 1862 changed from the 1860s to today in historical writing? To illustrate how these portrayals of the war have changed over time, the thesis studied seven different works published in three different time periods. The first time period being right after the war, the second being the 1890s, before the last three works of historical writing were published between 1970 and 2013. The main findings of the study were that we can observe an obvious shift in the contents, language and use of sources in the different writings. Right after the war the writings were based on memory and were often filled with prejudice towards the Dakota. Over time the writings became more nuanced and understanding of the Dakota and their circumstances, and the authors started to understand the importance of sharing where they got their information. Overall, the study presents how these seven portrayals of the war can be used to illustrate how historical writings have followed the changes in mainstream society’s reception of minority groups such as Native Americans. In addition to this, the study used these writings to show the development of history as a profession, and the differences between professional and non-professional historical writings