Bdote means “where two waters come together.” It is also where history meets the present, where federal government meets the state of Minnesota, and where federal land was never returned to a soverign nation.
This painting began as a response to a real event, a living, breathing moment that deserves to be remembered. And it happened at a place with deep historical importance.
In 1805 the Dakota ceded 100,000 acres of land at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Of the seven Indigenous leaders present at the negotiations, only two signed the treaty.
In 1858, a group of Dakota traveled to Washington, D.C., to discuss their reservation. The Dakota were pressured to cede the lands on the north side of the Minnesota River.
By summer 1862, most of the Dakota were starving after the U.S.-Dakota War, which lasted six weeks. More than 1,600 Dakota people were held at a concentration camp at Fort Snelling in 1862-1863.
In 1863 the Dakota were forced to give up all their remaining land in Minnesota, and the U.S. government canceled all treaties made with them.
Operation Metro Surge was launched in December 2025 by DHS and ICE. The Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building became the place that held the detained protestors and immigrants.
On February 7, 2026, over 40 protesters were arrested at the Whipple Building in Minneapolis during a Indigenous-led demonstration against ICE.
I painted this in honor of my friend, Ava (centered in the painting), the Indigenous people of Minnesota, the people held in detention, and to the resistance.
Size: 48" x 30"
Oil on Canvas
Where history meets the present day, holding layers of meaning across time
Collect art that carries story, significance, and intention
Bdote means “where two waters come together.” It is also where history meets the present, where federal government meets the state of Minnesota, and where federal land was never returned to a soverign nation.
This painting began as a response to a real event, a living, breathing moment that deserves to be remembered. And it happened at a place with deep historical importance.
In 1805 the Dakota ceded 100,000 acres of land at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Of the seven Indigenous leaders present at the negotiations, only two signed the treaty.
In 1858, a group of Dakota traveled to Washington, D.C., to discuss their reservation. The Dakota were pressured to cede the lands on the north side of the Minnesota River.
By summer 1862, most of the Dakota were starving after the U.S.-Dakota War, which lasted six weeks. More than 1,600 Dakota people were held at a concentration camp at Fort Snelling in 1862-1863.
In 1863 the Dakota were forced to give up all their remaining land in Minnesota, and the U.S. government canceled all treaties made with them.
Operation Metro Surge was launched in December 2025 by DHS and ICE. The Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building became the place that held the detained protestors and immigrants.
On February 7, 2026, over 40 protesters were arrested at the Whipple Building in Minneapolis during a Indigenous-led demonstration against ICE.
I painted this in honor of my friend, Ava (centered in the painting), the Indigenous people of Minnesota, the people held in detention, and to the resistance.
Size: 48" x 30"
Oil on Canvas
Where history meets the present day, holding layers of meaning across time
Collect art that carries story, significance, and intention
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