NEW ULM – Local historian John LaBatte tried to set the record straight on allegations involving genocide and concentration camps in the aftermath of the Dakota War of 1862.

LaBatte spoke at Thursday’s Lunch and a Bite of History event in the Brown County Historical Society Annex. His presentation was the fourth in series of talks commemorating the 154th anniversary of the US-Dakota War.

LaBatte began his presentation by asking the audience if they believed a genocide occurred on either side of the conflict. Few raised their hands.

“Some of the facts on the Dakota war are full of mistakes, allegation, embellishments, generalities,” LaBatte said.

He began by addressing allegations the conflict start over a clash of culture between the Dakota and White settlers, and that the settlers provoked the attack. LaBatte said there was no evidence the white settlers provoked the attack cited evidence of the two cultures mixing without incident prior to the conflict of 1862. LaBatte also rejected allegations that the city of New Ulm remains anti-Indian.

“I’ve lived in New Ulm for about 14 years and I’ve never heard anyone make any anti-Indian statements,” he said.

Using the definition of genocide established by the UN in 1948, LaBatte gave an analysis of the conflict and its aftermath and did not believe the US-Dakota War fit the definition. Based on his research LaBatte estimated 673 Dakota died as a result of the war. Of those that died, 145 died during the fighting. He said stories of the elderly dying on forced marches to Fort Snelling were exaggerations. LaBatte could only find evidence of two deaths en route to Mankato and two deaths en route to Fort Snelling.

Research on Fort Snelling suggested only 102 people died at the camp due to disease and not starvation as reported by others.

LaBatte objected to the describing the Fort Snelling internment camp as a concentration camp, saying this description is intended to draw comparisons with Nazi death camps which were very different in their purpose.

LaBatte described the relocation of Dakota to Fort Snelling as a humanitarian effort. A few audience members questioned this assertion, but LaBatte explained the relocation to Fort Snell was intended to protect the innocent Dakota from reprisal attacks from angry white settlers and hostile Dakota who felt betrayed. He did acknowledge the Crow Creek internment camp was significantly worse than Fort Snelling. At Crow Creek 300 Dakota died of disease.

LaBatte also compared the actions of the Dakota during this time and cited white civilians, woman and children, were killed during the attacks but no Dakota civilians were hurt during the conflict. LaBatte said if the US had operated under the same rules of war as the Dakota, the civilians would never have been taken to Fort Snelling, but would have been killed outright.

LaBatte is of the opinion that no genocide occurred, saying if whites committed genocide against the Dakota in 1862, then the hostile Dakota committed genocide agains the whites.

At the end of the presentation LaBatte took questions from the audience. On the question of reconciliation, he did not believe it was possible as the word meant too many different things to different people.

“To some activists in means reparations; it means the return of land; it means control of the history books,” LaBatte said. “It means a lot more than saying ‘Sorry’.”

Members of the audiences suggested “understanding” was a better goal. Education and communicating were seen as the best way to bring people together.

LaBatte is a decedent of white and Dakota ancestors from the New Ulm area. LaBatte said his some of his Dakota ancestors were condemned to be executed in Mankato, but were pardoned by President Abraham Lincoln. In researching his ancestors, LaBatte found many mistakes in historical narratives. Asked how these mistakes are spread, LaBatte believed the problem was with interviewers taking the interviewees’ statements as fact without further research.

LaBatte is currently focusing his research on US-Dakota relations prior to the 1862 conflict. He believes the relationship between the two cultures was relatively friendly. In his research he found at least six examples of Dakota people warning white settlers to flee before the initial attack.

A collection of essays and opinions written by LaBatte are available on his blog “The Dakota War of 1862: Essays and reviews by John LaBatte”.