A New Beginning
Honoring the Ancestors, Protecting the Future
We began as a few Lineal
Descendants calling ourselves the “Temporary Organizing Committee” (TOC),
and in late 2003, we became a non-profit organization dedicated to contacting and
embracing every Lineal Descendant we could possibly locate. The TOC held a
convention in May 2004, electing a constitutional government and changing its
name to the
Over a period of two decades the Lineal Descendants of the May 20, 1886 Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux Census have made several attempts to join together and reclaim the Minnesota Mdewakanton name and political position. The MMDO today manifests the spirit and ideals of those earlier endeavors. With nearly 2,000 members and more being added each day, we can expect to be 2,500 strong by May 2006.
The
TOC had resolutely set out to create a fair and honest government that would
honor the ancestors and protect the future grandchildren. We drafted a
constitution that could provide a meaningful system for governance as well as
offer a design for long-term political stability. That constitution was duly
elected on
Up to now, the process of locating and documenting the Lineal Descendants has been central to MMDO activities. After we certify lineal descendants, we ask them to complete official MMDO Census forms so we can add them to the MMDO voter list. We have found nearly all the Lineal Descendants and, when we have completed that mission, we will be able to move forward with the work of building a worthy constitutional government for the Minnesota Mdewakanton Dakota Oyate.