The Curriculum
What to call the 1862/1863 Dakota camp at Fort Snelling is hotly debated. Should it be called an “Internment Camp,” as it is officially referred to, or should it be called a “Concentration Camp” or “Prison Camp?” Historically, the term internment camp has been used to describe places of temporary imprisonment, whereas the term concentration camp has been used to describe places designed for permanent imprisonment and/or execution. It is difficult in the case of Fort Snelling because, even though the camp was only intended to be temporary, hundreds of people died within its confines from starvation and disease (the first of which could have been avoided).
The conditions at Fort Snelling were difficult.
The word difficult is greatly understated. A better word might be terrible.
The Dakota were encamped on the river banks surrounded by a wooden wall.
The word encamped, although technically correct, is also understated. A better word might be imprisoned.
They were guarded and fed by U.S. soldiers.
The word guarded suggests that the U.S. soldiers’ primary interests were to protect the Dakota against outside forces such as angry mobs. Although this might have been true, they were also monitoring the Dakota, or guarding them in a carceral sense, so that they could not leave.
- The section about the concentration camp at Fort Snelling is four paragraphs (one page) in length.
- Passive language such as “were guarded” and “were fed” is used persistently in sentences where the Dakota are the subject. This effectively victimizes the Dakota and indirectly places less accountability on the other parties involved.
- The words “died” and “were killed” are used in cases that could be considered murder.
