We are All Connected - Cultural and Traditional Teachings of Our Buffalo Relatives
The city of Red Wing, with the namesake of Chief Red Wing, is Dakota homeland. There is an ongoing need to acknowledge the Dakota people as vital members of the Red Wing community. Red Wing and the Prairie Island Indian Community have a shared history to be discovered and celebrated to bridge the communities together and to create a space for healing, learning, and growth. This work is at the center of The Honoring Dakota Project and Lessons From Our Inclusive Economic Stories, which are led by diverse teams of community members and organizations. Both projects were launched last year, and will conclude in October, 2023.
Monday, April 3, launches a series of events and cultural teachings centered around the Buffalo, which roamed the land that is now Red Wing and Prairie Island. The series recognizes the impact the Prairie Island Indian Community’s Edwin W. Buck Jr Veteran Memorial Buffalo Project has in preserving the Dakota culture and teachings. The Dakota people share a special connection with the Tantaka Oyate - or Buffalo People. They are spiritual relatives whose fates have been inseparable for centuries. In 1992, the Lakota Nation of South Dakota - after receiving financial support from the Prairie Island Indian Community - gifted the Tribe Shooting Star, a six-year-old bull. Tribal Elders and Tribal Council decided that Shooting Star represented an opportunity to permanently return Buffalo to Prairie Island and the Memorial Buffalo Project was born. The herd now numbers 300 and is located on Prairie Island.
Open to the All Community April Events:
We are All Connected - Cultural and Traditional Teachings of Our Buffalo Relatives Presentation
Monday, April 3 – 6-8 p.m., Red Wing Public Library Foot Room, 225 East Avenue
A community presentation and conversation about the history of the Buffalo who roamed on the land we call home and what they can teach us about how to live today.
Edwin W. Buck Jr. Veteran Memorial Buffalo Project Tours
Thursday, April 13, Two tours - 11 a.m. -12 p.m. & 1-2 p.m.
Community tours of the Edwin W. Buck Jr Veteran Memorial Buffalo Project, 5636 Sturgeon Lake Rd. in Welch, Minn.
Learn about the Edwin W. Buck Jr. Veteran Memorial Buffalo Project and experience the cultural and traditional teachings of our Buffalo relatives. Buffalo burgers will be served to all attendees.
Before the Europeans: Dakota Lands of Present Red Wing
Wednesday, April 19 – 6-8 p.m., Red Wing Ignite Community Room, 419 Bush Street
The audience with be provided a vision of the nature-related aspects of the Red Wing area: What it was like for those who were here before the wave of European settlement? What natural forces shaped this land? What did the landscape look like? What did it support, and what were some of the resources that made this land so valuable for the Dakota people that lived here for generations?
Buffalo Kill Ceremony – This event is not open to the public
Monday, April 3-Sunday, April 9
The Prairie Island Indian Community will take time with their community to deepen their cultural roots, led by community elders passing on their traditions to the youth by harvesting a buffalo. Austin Owen, succeeding in the role of his father Art Owen, takes his place amongst his Prairie Island Indian Community during the Buffalo Harvest, as a guide and culture bearer. “This generation must take care of the four legged, who came back to us. It is our responsibility to take care of them. Oyate Inipikta pi, which means ‘they gave themselves, so people could live’,” he says. Community leaders have invited their community members to engage with various events which will teach ceremonial protocols and the practical skills of harvesting the buffalo. This harvest will be limited to a select group.
Building on Recent Collaborations and Acknowledgements
These presentations, projects, and community convenings build on the City of Red Wing’s recent agreement with the Prairie Island Indian Community that states: “We will cooperate, to the extent feasible, in encouraging economic development opportunities and pursuing projects for the protection of natural and cultural resources within the geographic boundaries of the city.”
“The method of our collaborative work is unique and groundbreaking, garnering broad regional attention and support,” states Emily Guida Foos, Red Wing Arts Executive Director. “The Honoring Dakota Project is about doing transformational work, relationship building and healing the relationships between our communities. Acknowledging the Dakota identity and celebrating the cultural heritage of the Dakota Community through art can be healing for a population that has been misrepresented and has experienced historical trauma and additionally for a community that has a shared history .”
Megan Tsui, Executive Director Downtown Main Street Red Wing says this about the Lessons from our Inclusive Economic Stories Project, “This is a tremendous opportunity to weave our layers together to build new, diverse economic structures in downtown Red Wing. This is a chance to learn from our Prairie Island Community Members about how their village, once located where downtown Red Wing now sits, honored and leveraged the land, river, plants and animals here to create a successful sovereign nation. We can use those teachings and learnings to create a more equitable economic future for our downtown and our communities.”
More About Each Project
The Honoring Dakota Project is a process of community engagement, conversations, and events that provide education to discover the communities’ shared stories, bridge the communities and create a space for healing. Through art, shared experiences, and conversation, the project will uplift, honor, and celebrate our rich cultures. This work culminates in a large mural that will be created and unveiled in October 2023 in the Dakota people, their history, and their contributions to our community.
The Lessons from our Inclusive Economic Stories Project is a process of gathering information and stories which will help expand on Red Wing Downtown Main Street's approach to economic development by learning about and celebrating all of the members of our community and their place downtown in the past, present, and future.
Partnering organizations include Prairie Island Indian Community, Prairie Island Family Services, Goodhue County Health and Human Services, Goodhue County Child & Family Collaborative, Red Wing Arts, Thrive Unltd, and Red Wing Downtown Main Street.
We thank our funders: Blandin Foundation, Mayo Clinic, Minnesota Humanities Center, SEMAC, Goodhue County Health and Human Services, City of Red Wing, RiseUp Red Wing, Prairie Island Indian Community, MN Dept of Health.
For more information, go to
Edwin Buck Jr. Veterans Memorial Buffalo Project
Lesson from our Inclusive Economic Stories Project
