Until recently, historians have failed to uncover the truth behind the war of 1862 in Minnesota. In this movie, filmmaker Sheldon Wolfchild portrays his grandfather, Medicine Bottle. He tells a Dakota oral history of the 1862 war, the hangings of the Dakota 38 Plus 2, and the removal of the Dakota from Minnesota. During the 1850’s and throughout history, treaties were forced upon the Dakota people. Noted Minnesotans such as Henry H. Sibley and Alexander Ramsey manipulated the Dakota people to cheat them out of their supposed benefits, and ultimately their land.
After the Dakota were removed to their reservation, corrupt agents and Indian department superintendents embezzled as much Dakota treaty money as they could. In the production of this movie the filmmaker interviews historians and authors Dr. David Nichols and Mark Diedrich to artfully weave this story together. Sheldon Wolfchild is a member and former Tribal Chairman of the Lower Sioux Indian Tribe who has appeared in a number of feature films and television shows.