The Story of the “Dakota Hymn”Composed by Joseph R. Renvillebefore 1846, the tune is a nativeDakota air and has been in theDakota Odowan since 1846. Thewords are based on Jeremiah 10:12-13.
The hymn was translated intoEnglish by Philip Frazier, a thirdgeneration Dakota pastor in theCongregational church, at therequest of the National YWCA. Itwas first presented at theirconvention in 1930. Frazier and hiswife, Susie Meek Frazier, thenspread the English version through-out the country.
Frazier was a grandson of ArtemasEhnamani, a Santee Dakota whowas converted to Christianity bymissionaries while in prison after theU.S.-Dakota conflict of 1862.Ehnamani became pastor of thelargest Dakota church, PilgrimPresbyterian. He was followed byFrances Frazier, Philip’s father.
The Dakota Hymn can be found inthe hymnals of many denominationsand in many youth songbooks suchas the Girl Scout Pocket Songbook.It is probably the most widely knownChristian Indian hymn in the UnitedStates, a legacy to all people fromthe Santee Dakota, who still sing itin their native language.
The Lac qui Parle MissionMany years before white settlersarrived at Lac qui Parle, a group ofIndians from the Wahpeton band ofthe Santee Dakota tribe establisheda village on the western bank of theMinnesota River at the base of a lakecalled Lac qui Parle (Lake that ‘Speaks’).
In 1826 Joseph Renville,an explorer and furtrader, established FortRenville, a trading postacross the river. Theson of a French traderand Dakota mother, heinvited missionaries to
establish a mission near his tradingpost to bring Christianity andaccompanying benefits to the Dakota.Thus Lac qui Parle Mission was foundedin 1835 and remained active until 1854.
Almost 25 years before Minnesotaachieved statehood, many significantfirsts occurred at the Mission--the firstorganized Dakota church, the firstchurch bell that tolled in Minnesota,the first school in the Minnesota Rivervalley, the first woven cloth, and thefirst Dakota Bible, which wasphonetically translated by themissionaries who devised their ownalphabet. Renville would have eachpassage recited to him in French andthen interpret it orally in Dakota whilethe missionaries wrote down whatthey had heard.
Joseph Renville,Artist’s rendition
The ReverendStephen R. Riggs
The Missionaries and Their WorkFeeling ‘called’ to bring Christianityto the Indians, Thomas S. Williamson,Stephen R. Riggs, Samuel andGideon Pond and others enteredmissionary service and weresponsored by the American Board ofCommissioners for Foreign Missions.
For many Dakota Indians, the missionwas their first contact with westerncivilization. In addition to learningabout Christianity, the Dakota weretaught to read and write their ownlanguage, weave cloth, and till thesoil, plant and raise crops.
Relationships between the Dakotaand the missionaries were oftendifficult and full of misunderstandings,but the missionaries persevereddespite trying conditions. Followingthe U.S.-Dakota conflict of 1862 themissionaries ministered to theDakota in prison and followed themto their new reservations in SouthDakota and Nebraska. There theyset up training schools and helpedestablish churches within thePresbyterian and Congregationaldenominations.
The Rev. Dr. Thomas S.Williamson, M.D.
Dakota Christians TodayAbout forty Indian congregations,Presbyterian and Congregational,whose roots lie in the work of the Lacqui Parle Mission, are active today inSouth Dakota, North Dakota,Montana, Minnesota and Nebraska.
Many descendants of the earlySantee Dakota have remained inMinnesota communities at UpperSioux, Lower Sioux, Shakopee, andPrairie Island.
For further information on the work of the DakotaMission see the following:Mary and I, by Stephen R. Riggs, CongregationalS.S. and Publishing Society, 1880.Lac qui Parle and the Dakota Mission, by JonWilland, Madison, Minn., 1964.Lac qui Parle: Its Missionaries, Traders andIndians, edited by Donald D. Parker, Brookings,S. D., 1964.John P. Williamson: A Brother to the Sioux, byWinifred W. Barton, Sunnycrest Publishing,Clements, Minn., 1980.
Owned by the Minnesota Historical Society • 345Kellogg Boulevard West • St. Paul • MN • 55102 •1-888-727-8386 • www.mnhs.org •[email protected]
Managed by the Chippewa County HistoricalSociety • PO Box 303 • Montevideo • MN • 56265• 320-269-7636 • [email protected]
Directions: Located at the corner of ChippewaCounty Hwy. 13 and County Rd. 32, off U.S. Hwy.59, eight miles northwest of Montevideo.
Hours: Last Sunday in April through Labor Day;8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
MISSION SUNDAY - held annually the secondSunday in July.
The mission church was recreated in 1942 by theChippewa County Historical Society inconjunction with the Works Progress Administration.
Information provided in part byLois and Jon Willand. 2002 CCHS
1835 - 1854
The Hymn “Lac qui Parle”
Music editors sometime suggest the use ofdrums with the hymn but this is not true to theoriginal Dakota Christian tradition.
From the DAKOTA ODOWAN
History of theDakota HymnLac qui Parle
Recommended
