“After the Revolutionary War, the U.S. government sought economic and military alliances with many Indian nations. Treaties were signed in which native communities renounced prior alliances with European powers and agreed to maintain economic and military relations exclusively with the U.S. government. The U.S. government established “Indian agencies” in its territories which served as embassies to American Indian nations. Agencies were supervised by “agents” who were the official representatives of the U.S. government to American Indians in their jurisdictions. The St. Peters Agency, located near Fort Snelling, operated from 1820-1839 until the 1851 treaties established new agencies on the Dakota reservation. In the early 1800s, U.S government “Indian policy” supported acculturating American Indians into European American society. Many U.S. policy makers feared that without acculturating, American Indian communities would be destroyed due to the advance of European American settlement. In addition, many believed that if American Indians established sedentary, agricultural communities, more land would become available for U.S. expansion. Missionary organizations promoted Christianity and European-American education to American Indian communities. Some treaties specifically allotted funds for programs which encouraged American Indians to adopt European-American agricultural practices. In the 1830s, U.S. policy changed to support moving American Indian communities westward past the Mississippi River in order to open up land for European-Americans. The 1837 treaty between the U.S. and the Mdewakanton Dakota, in which the Mdewakanton ceded their land east of the Mississippi, was a part of this policy of removal.” 

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