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state:
Minnesota
Local history:
Carceral Colonialism: Imprisonment in Indian Country
How has settler colonialism shaped the carceral state?
University of Minnesota
Exhibiting Partner:
Minnesota History Center
345 W Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55102
November 20, 2018 – February 18, 2019

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Minnesota: Carceral Colonialism: Imprisonment in Indian Country
How has settler colonialism shaped the carceral state?
University of Minnesota

Settler colonialism has involved denying Native people sovereignty and access to land and resources. It has also produced high rates of incarceration of American Indians in Minnesota and the country. How? For over two centuries, American Indians have been forcibly removed from their lands and homes. This history of removal has been achieved through unfair treaties that created the reservation system; systemic violence and warfare, including moving Dakota people into a concentration camp at the US military outpost Fort Snelling and the execution of 38 Dakota men during the US-Dakota War 1862-3; the takeover of tribal jurisdiction; and taking children from their families and placing them in boarding schools. Mass incarceration continues this pattern of removal by displacing Native people from communities and transferring power to others through gerrymandering and other means.

Today, as always, Native Minnesotans resist carceral colonialism through acts of cultural preservation and political activism.

Our Point of View

University of Minnesota undergraduate and graduate students worked across disciplines to investigate the disproportionate rate of American Indian incarceration in the state. We brought together archival sources, community interviews, and statistical data to establish a case for Carceral Colonialism; by exploring the incarceration and surveillance of Native bodies, and the resistance to these measures, we aim to illuminate the carceral patterns of indigenous communities across time and space.

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Europeans locked up Native people in military forts, missions, reservations, boarding schools, and today, increasingly, in state and federal prisons. For American Indians, incarceration is an extension of the history and violent mechanisms of colonization.

— Stormy Ogden, 2010

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Minnesota: Carceral Colonialism: Imprisonment in Indian Country    University of Minnesota
How has settler colonialism shaped the carceral state?
Minnesota: Carceral Colonialism: Imprisonment in Indian Country
How has settler colonialism shaped the carceral state?
  University of Minnesota

Bishop Henry Whipple attempted to convert Dakota prisoners at the Fort Snelling concentration camp to Christianity, 1863. Courtesy of: Minnesota Historical Society

Clyde Bellecourt and Reuben Crow Feather, American Indian Movement (AIM) leaders, at Stillwater Prison. AIM has focused on police brutality and other criminal justice issues since the 1960s. Courtesy of: Tomo for Al Jazeera, 2015.

A concentration camp for Dakota people below Fort Snelling, winter 1862-3.

Contribute a Story
Patterns of Removal
Sites of Resistance
Immigrant Incarceration in Minnesota
American Indian Activism in Carceral America
Opinion Poll: Vote Now!
48 states revoke some rights of citizenship from people convicted of felonies. Which of those rights should be revoked?
Shape the debate
Boarding Schools and the School to Prison Pipeline
Sites of Assimilation
Sort Stories By: Tags & National Issues

Europeans locked up Native people in military forts, missions, reservations, boarding schools, and today, increasingly, in state and federal prisons. For American Indians, incarceration is an extension of the history and violent mechanisms of colonization.

— Stormy Ogden, 2010

Contribute a Story
Patterns of Removal
Boarding Schools and the School to Prison Pipeline
American Indian Activism in Carceral America
Opinion Poll: Vote Now!
48 states revoke some rights of citizenship from people convicted of felonies. Which of those rights should be revoked?
Shape the debate
Immigrant Incarceration in Minnesota
Sites of Resistance
Sites of Assimilation
Sort Stories By: Tags & National Issues

Europeans locked up Native people in military forts, missions, reservations, boarding schools, and today, increasingly, in state and federal prisons. For American Indians, incarceration is an extension of the history and violent mechanisms of colonization.

— Stormy Ogden, 2010

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National Exhibition Venue    Minnesota History Center

Public Dialogues and Events
| November 20, 2018 – February 18, 2019

See Full Exhibition & Events Schedule
Nov 20, 2018
A historic photo of a native american reservation with a group of indigenous people in the foreground standing in front of tipis. The States of Incarceration logo is placed over the top on the left side.

Courtesy of: Minnesota History Center

A historic photo of a native american reservation with a group of indigenous people in the foreground standing in front of tipis. The States of Incarceration logo is placed over the top on the left side.

Courtesy of: Minnesota History Center

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

MN: States of Incarceration Opening Reception

Description: 

Join us for the opening reception of States of Incarceration at the Minnesota History Center.read more…

Time: 
6:30 to 9 PM
Venue: 

Minnesota History Center

345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102

Dec 1, 2018
A historical photo showing a language class being taught as a part of the American Indian Movement. The photo shows the instructor pointing to a list of words and their translations on a chalk board.

Courtesy of: American Indian Movement Interpretative Center

A historical photo showing a language class being taught as a part of the American Indian Movement. The photo shows the instructor pointing to a list of words and their translations on a chalk board.

Courtesy of: American Indian Movement Interpretative Center

Saturday, December 1, 2018

MN: Opening Reception of The Great Spirit Within the "Hole": AIM and Culturally Focused Prison Education

Description: 

Join us for the opening reception of "The Great Spirit Within the 'Hole': AIM and Culturally Focused Prison Education."read more…

Time: 
4-6 PM
Venue: 

American Indian Movement Interpretive Center

1113 E. Franklin Ave., Suite 103
Minneapolis, MN 55404

Dec 12, 2018
A head shot of Nicole Fleetwood against a nature backdrop.

Nicole R. Fleetwood is a cultural theorist and writer interested in visual culture, black cultural history, gender and feminist studies, performance, creative nonfiction, and poverty studies. She is the author of two books: Troubling Vision: Performance, Visuality, and Blackness, which was the recipient of the 2012 Lora Romero First Book Publication Prize of the American Studies Association, and On Racial Icons: Blackness and the Public Imagination (Rutgers University Press, 2015). Her articles appear in African American Review, American Quarterly, Aperture, Callaloo: Art and Culture in the African Diaspora, Public Culture, Signs, Social Text, tdr: the journal of performance studies, art catalogues, and edited anthologies.

A head shot of Nicole Fleetwood against a nature backdrop.

Nicole R. Fleetwood is a cultural theorist and writer interested in visual culture, black cultural history, gender and feminist studies, performance, creative nonfiction, and poverty studies. She is the author of two books: Troubling Vision: Performance, Visuality, and Blackness, which was the recipient of the 2012 Lora Romero First Book Publication Prize of the American Studies Association, and On Racial Icons: Blackness and the Public Imagination (Rutgers University Press, 2015). Her articles appear in African American Review, American Quarterly, Aperture, Callaloo: Art and Culture in the African Diaspora, Public Culture, Signs, Social Text, tdr: the journal of performance studies, art catalogues, and edited anthologies.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

MN: Marking Time: Art in the Era of Mass Incarceration

Description: 

Join Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood as she discusses contemporary art by currently and formerly incarcerated people and examines how people who are incarcerated use the limited materials available in prisons to create art that challenges the carceral state.read more…

Time: 
6 PM
Venue: 

Walter Library, Room 402, University of Minnesota

117 Pleasant St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Jan 8, 2019
A historic photo of a native american reservation with a group of indigenous people in the foreground standing in front of tipis. The States of Incarceration logo is placed over the top on the left side.

Courtesy of: Minnesota History Center

A historic photo of a native american reservation with a group of indigenous people in the foreground standing in front of tipis. The States of Incarceration logo is placed over the top on the left side.

Courtesy of: Minnesota History Center

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

MN: States of Incarceration Conversations: Emerging Leaders

Description: 

Join activists and those who are directly impacted by incarceration for a conversation series about mass incarceration in Minnesota and the US. On Jan. 8, view the exhibit and join us for an evening of stories of healing, empowerment, and leadership with local leaders who have experienced incarceration.

This program is sponsored by the Department of History and the Heritage Studies and Public History graduate program at the University of Minnesota and in partnership with the American Indian Incarceration Project and Oyate Hotanin.read more…

Time: 
7 PM
Venue: 

Minnesota History Center

345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102

Jan 29, 2019
A historic photo of a native american reservation with a group of indigenous people in the foreground standing in front of tipis. The States of Incarceration logo is placed over the top on the left side.

Courtesy of: Minnesota History Center

A historic photo of a native american reservation with a group of indigenous people in the foreground standing in front of tipis. The States of Incarceration logo is placed over the top on the left side.

Courtesy of: Minnesota History Center

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

MN: States of Incarceration Conversations: Families Impacted by Mass Incarceration

Description: 

Join activists and people who have experienced incarceration for a conversation series about mass incarceration in Minnesota and the US. For this event the discussion will center on how incarceration impacts our communities and families, including more than 10 million US children who have had a parent in prison in their lifetime.

This program is sponsored by the Department of History and the Heritage Studies and Public History graduate program at the University of Minnesota and is a partnership with the American Indian Incarceration Project and Oyate Hotanin.read more…

Time: 
7 PM
Venue: 

Minnesota History Center

345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102

Feb 2, 2019

Saturday, February 2, 2019

MN: States of Incarceration Conversations: Healing Beyond the Wall

Description: 

What does it mean to re-enter society after you are released from the walls of a prison? Formerly incarcerated individuals face the challenges, among many others, of minimal preparation and little assistance and support resources o re-enter their communities. Join local pastor and community organizer, Danny Givens, Jr. (https://www.dannygivens.com), as he shares his story of incarceration and the journey that led him to help other formerly incarcerated people heel. For more information, and to RSVP click here.read more…

Time: 
2 PM to 3PM
Venue: 

Minnesota HIstory Center

345 Kellogg Blvd. West

Saint Paul, MN 55102

Feb 5, 2019

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

MN: States of Incarceration Conversations: Reflective Circle

Description: 

Join activists and people who have experienced incarceration for a reflective circle led by Dr. Talaya Tolefree and Restorative Practices People of Color Collective. The circle will be a space to engage in dialogue with others regarding thoughts and emotions after viewing the "States of Incarceration" exhibit. Program for ages 18+

This series is offered in conjunction with the traveling exhibit States of Incarceration on display at the Minnesota History Center in the free Irvine Community Gallery through February 18, 2019.

Dr. Talaya Tolefree is the founder and CEO of Koinonia Leadership Academy where she uses the Restorative...read more…

Time: 
7 PM to 8:30 PM
Venue: 

Minnesota History Center

345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102

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Click on a state to learn more.
Click on a state to learn more.

Arizona

Arizona State University
The Cost of Immigrant Detention
How do profits shape punishment?

California

University of California, Riverside
In Detention
How have youth been criminalized?

Connecticut

University of Connecticut
Digging Deep into the Carceral Past
What should tourists learn at a historic prison?

Florida

University of Miami
Crimmigration at Krome
Processing center or prison?

Georgia

Kennesaw State University
Past is Precedent: Incarcerating Non-Citizens
What rights should non-citizens have?

Illinois

DePaul University
Legacies and Voices
What do you want your legacy to be?

Indiana

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Intersections of Mass Incarceration and Mental Illness
Why are prisons the nation’s mental hospitals?

Louisiana

University of New Orleans
Windows on Angola Prison
Sentenced to slavery, stuck in Jim Crow?

Massachusetts

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Reforming Gender and the Carceral State
What are women’s prisons for?
Northeastern University
The Norfolk Prison Colony Debating Society
Are prisons for punishment or rehabilitation?

Michigan

Michgan State University
Genius Blossoms Behind Prison Walls
Can Prisons Be Sites of Culture and Leisure?

Minnesota

University of Minnesota
Carceral Colonialism: Imprisonment in Indian Country
How has settler colonialism shaped the carceral state?

New Jersey

Rutgers University-Newark
"Seeking Asylum, Resisting Detention"
How can detained immigrants and asylees fight back?
Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Seabrook Farms and “Free” Labor
How is the racialized prisoner the ideal worker?

New York

The New School
Rikers Island, NY 11370: In Plain Sight
How do you see Rikers Island?
Skidmore College
Closing a Prison, Deferring a Dream
What's lost when a prison closes?
SUNY Plattsburgh
Cuffs to Classroom: College in Prison
How Can Higher Education Redefine Mass Incarceration in New York's North Country?
Parsons Paris
Michel Foucault and the Groupe d’Information sur les Prisons
How can information inspire action?

North Carolina

University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Voices from the Chain Gang
What Can We Learn From Listening?
Duke University
Death and Life at Central Prison
Who is the death penalty for?

Ohio

Antioch College
Life Sentences: Death Penalty on the Installment Plan
How much time is enough time?

Rhode Island

Brown University
Locked Up—Understanding Prison in Pre-Modern Context
How do prisons reflect societal values?

Tennessee

Vanderbilt University
Prison Profiteering in a Nuclear Shadow
Why do rural communities become prison towns?

Texas

University of Texas at Austin
Spatial Stories of Migration and Detention
How does architecture shape punishment?

West Virginia

West Virginia University
A Place for Women: Rising Incarceration Numbers Outpace Resources
How Has the Mass Incarceration of Women Changed West Virginia?
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