Dakota Pathways Fellowship Program

Dakota Pathways exhibit mock-up, final project of the fellowship hosted by Winona County Historical Society.

Summary

Dakota Pathways Fellowship program is designed to create engagement pathways for 6 members of the Dakota community in a cohort model. The Fellowship will equip community members with archival resources, research assistance, training, and oral history assets to continue Dakota interpretations. With a goal to strengthen community connections and cultural identity, the program will ensure that the fellows’ creative expressions are shared with the Dakota communities and wider public through a mini-exhibit project and educational materials.

Books from the Native Approved Archive in the collections of Winona County Historical Society.

Fellows convene on a monthly basis (3-5 hours a week of independent work are anticipated) with interim check-ins as needed to ensure fellows are supported. Fellows will undergo orientation to themes in the Native Exhibit and explore in-depth analysis of interpretation objectives. Research resources will be reviewed and made available to help the fellows develop re-contextualized exhibit content and/or digital storytelling products to center community voices and an interpretive lens on Dakota histories and lifeways.

Fellows will attend monthly sharing knowledge sessions with an Interpretive Guide to exchange findings, brainstorm project possibilities and acquire guidance from project staff. Project staff will work closely with the fellows to develop learning materials, digital storytelling in blogs, and other resources based on the themes of the new Native Exhibit inspired from a Dakota lens. These educational products will be shared in docent training and will inform future public programming.

Objectives

Reclamation Work. Fellows can conduct unhindered research using the primary resources cultivated in a community-led process that tell a nuanced, at times, challenging history that we can share in and learn from. These insights should be reflected on as past deeds and acted upon intentionally as present day resolve.

Exchange and Community Building. To share ideas and information in an open environment contributing to dialog in a cohort of individuals with shared interests. Fellows will present their work and reflections with Dakota communities for an exchange of community insights about the greater interconnectedness of Oceti Sakowin (or the “Seven Council Fires”).

Knowledge Creation. Expand your vision utilizing historic resources to work towards the creation of a mini-exhibit.

Authentic Representation. To be inclusive of varied backgrounds and intergenerational qualities – to reflect on the telling of their unique historical experiences by exploring new engagement pathways.

Flyer for the Dakota Pathways Fellowship hosted by Winona County Historical Society.

  • $1,500 honorarium.
  • Travel, food and lodging costs will be provided for in-person Dakota community visits
  • History center staff and Dakota scholars and researchers will support your vision.
  • Archival resources (including Oral Histories) and access to collections held at WCHS
  • Research assistance with WCHS Staff and project mentors will be available
  • Training in how to conduct oral history and using Canva graphic design software
  • In addition to mandatory monthly meetings, interim check-ins will be provided as needed to ensure fellows are supported for success

Connection Opportunities

  • Attend Celebration Event (w/ participation and sharing) in March 2027
  • Attend one of two Community Storytelling Circles (w/participation and sharing) (dates TBD)
  • Attendance and participation in monthly Knowledge Sharing Session(s)
  • Docent Training and Fellows Exchange (Remote)

Outcomes

  • Project Brainstorming Sheet and Proposal
  • Tell a story in an Exhibit (using Canva design platform)
  • Programmatic Reflections & Evaluations

  • Assemble Family Trees and Genealogy
  • Create artistic expression
  • Document traditional arts and lifeways
  • Fabricate multimedia elements
  • (re)Interpret legacy books in research library
  • Design a scrapbook
  • Work in teams to produce a collaborative effort
  • Be as creative as you want within the digital mini-exhibit format!

  • Ancestors
  • Curation and Interpretation
  • Lady’s Aid
  • Message to Winona
  • Mississippi river
  • Grandparents
  • Resilience
  • Matriarch
  • Spirituality
  • Language
  • Oceti Sakowin
  • Heritage and Reclamation
  • Storytelling
  • Social Change and Advocacy
  • Values
  • Exile
  • Maiden’s Leap
  • And many more!

  • Dakota Oral Histories
  • Native American Historical Files
  • Native American Research Library (Laird Lucas)
  • Native American Photograph Collection
  • Native American Objects

Circulate this flyer in your community if you know of anyone who would consider this fellowship opportunity.

Click HERE to download the flyer.

Online Application

Apply online using the button below. The application deadline ends on November 30th, 11:59PM, CST.

If you have further questions, contact partnership@winonahistory.org.

Examining Winona County Historical Society Native Collections

Engagement History

The Winona County History Center’s Dakota Pathways Fellowship program follows suite in its multi-year commitment to initiating a native-led process to present nuanced history about the Native experience of Winona.

Starting in 2021, WCHS identified in its strategic plan a clear interest and need to embed perspectives and voices of indigenous populations with historic ties to Winona and the southeastern region of Minnesota.

Cultivating ethical stewardship practices and fostering meaningful relationships with native communities motived an organization-wide interpretive process. WCHS sought invaluable guidance from our Native Advisory Council and Dakota communities who have a vested interest in interpreting Winona area Dakota history with authenticity and truth telling.

WCHS hopes to build on the many achievements made thus far, ranging from oral history creation, community evaluative and information sessions, and the soon-to-be opening Native Exhibit in our main museum gallery. Below you will see a chronology of some of those achievements. We remain grateful and committed to the partners we have cultivated to make meaningful change happen in this organization.

A strategic plan to overhaul and update the exhibits within our interpretive scope was conducted to redesign and refresh content that presents Winona’s rich history with new technology and resources to explore.

Collections assessments were conducted, which indicated repatriation conversations should begin as de facto practice. Sustained outreach to Dakota communities led to conceptualizing a native council body.

A capital campaign to raise funds for the exhibit installation began. In order to create an ethical, well informed Native exhibit space—informed by Dakota narratives—oral histories were conducted with the communities of Tinta Wita, Cansa’yapi, and Isanti. NAGPRA compliance processes continued alongside oral history work throughout 2024.

The schematic design for the exhibit overhaul was finished in May 2025 with content-writing beginning shortly thereafter. Collections development plans were activated to ensure archives, oral histories, historical files, and research library materials are findable and accessible.

Oral history training goals geared towards native communities were refined and a native approved archive with potential for continued growth was developed.

The River Gallery opened on the second floor of the museum exhibit hall, incorporating approved indigenous knowledge and language elements. Native Exhibit space is fabricated and continues to develop, with a grand opening scheduled for Spring 2027.

First inaugural Dakota Pathways Fellowship. Program creations will travel and be shared with Dakota communities.

Fellowship FAQ

You will need a willingness to learn and to explore the intersection between art, history, research, language, and culture.

Anticipated time commitment is 3 – 5 hours per week, inclusive of monthly Knowledge Sharing Sessions.

It is about 90% remote, given that there is an in-person Native exhibit celebration event, and fellows will also be in-person at one of two community storytelling opportunities.

Yes!

Any intellectual property created by a fellow during this Fellowship will be jointly owned by the fellow and WCHS. Both the fellow and WCHS can use this creation in the future without accounting to the other party — with the exclusion of oral histories.

As the closest communities to Winona, Prairie Island Indian Community and Lower Sioux Indian Community are our main partners in this Fellowship.