Santee Sioux host Day of Remembrance to honor those who died in 1862 mass execution

SANTEE, Neb. — December 26 marks a somber day for one tribe in Nebraska.

38 ancestors of the Santee Sioux Nation died in a mass execution in Minnesota 163 years ago. President Abraham Lincoln ordered the hangings following the Dakota War of 1862. It remains the largest mass execution in the country's history.

Each year, the Santee host a Day of Remembrance.

“We are the exiled. We are the living,” Chairman Alonzo Denney said. “We’re here to remember them today, offer prayer and continue their legacy forward.”

The two-day event started Thursday with a prayer, singing, speeches and an airing of a documentary made by local high school students. Friday’s event included reading of the official proclamation that established the special day and the reading of the names of those who were executed. Then, tribe members rode on horseback through the town of Santee