This is the weekend of the Mahkato pow-wow or Wacipi (Wa-CHEE-pee meaning “dance” in Dakota). Having a cultural event like this in Mankato is unique for two reasons. First, there are no reservations of Native people near Mankato. Secondly, the creation of this annual Wacipi grew out of a friendship, in the late 1950s, between two men, Mr. Amos Owen, a Dakota elder, pipe maker and spiritual advisor to many from the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Community (90 miles northeast of Mankato) and Mr. Bud Lawrence, a Mankato non-Dakota businessman. As an outgrowth of this friendship, the first Mankato pow-wow since the 1800s was held at the Mankato YMCA in 1965.
Since 1972, an annual three-day traditional Dakota Mahkato Mdewakanton Wacipi has been held the third full weekend in September in Mankato, MN. The 1972 pow-wow or Wacipi in Mankato was held in Key City Park, a baseball park. The Jr. Chamber of Commerce Wives and the YMCA Y’s Men Association, under Jim Buckley, Director, sponsored this pow-wow. Key supporters in the mid-1970s included the Zonta Club and the Chamber of Commerce. Between 1974 and 1979, the pow-wow was held in Sibley Park.
In 1980, the City of Mankato demonstrated its support by designating a park site named by the Dakota people as “Dakota Wokiksuye Makoce Park” (Land of Memories Park) for the Mahkato (meaning “earth blue” in Dakota) Wacipi. This site is seen by the Dakota as an area where many ceremonies and gatherings took place prior to the 1862 U.S.-Dakota Conflict. The annual traditional Wacipi event is held to honor the 38 Dakota warriors who died in an execution, the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Over the years, financial support for this event has come from business donations, Dakota and Mankato community donations, personal donations and pow-wow button sales.