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More than 100 years after the United States government removed the Dakota people from the Winona area, they will return again for the second Dakota Homecoming.
It kicks off Saturday at Lake Winona and ends Sunday.
The Winona Dakota Unity Alliance, Diversity Foundation, Dacota Pathology and the Winona Community Foundation are sponsoring the event.
The Dakota Homecoming is an opportunity for reconciliation and peace, and to remember the atrocities done to the Dakota people, said Ray Dretske, a member of the Winona Dakota Unity Alliance.
"What we wanted to do is welcome them back home," he said.
For the past several years, he said, local leaders and organizations have wanted to forge a relationship with the Dakota people, long displaced to other states in the Midwest and Canada.
Last year, Winona hosted its first Dakota Homecoming. About 500 people attended.
Dretske said he expects more will come this year.
The Dakota are able to share their history and culture through storytelling at the event, he said. Winonans can come to listen, he said. It's a cross-cultural, educational experience.
The Dakota know their history; they preserve it through storytelling, dancing and singing, he said. This weekend, they'll tell their stories.
Last year was "heartfelt," Dretske said. "They began to open up and share their world with us."
Edward Lohnes Jr., chairman of the Diversity Foundation, said, "It's a win-win for the city of Winona. It's a win-win for the Dakota people."
Dretske said, "The Dakota people will be the first to tell you that we're all really one people."
It's in that spirit, he said, that everyone comes together for the homecoming.
Dakota Homecoming
The 2005 Great Dakota Homecoming & Gathering schedule:
Saturday
Sunday
