On September 3, 1863, the 6th Iowa Cavalry and 2nd Nebraska Cavalry led by Generals Alfred Sully and Henry Hastings Sibley attacked a peaceful encampment of some 3500 Dakota (Santee), Yanktonai, and Teton Lakota who were gathered on sacred ancestral lands in North Dakota for their annual ceremonies and winter time food preparation. This event is remembered as “The Battle of Whitestone Hill,” an egregious misnomer given that only 20 US soldiers died (most in friendly fire) whereas over 360 Dakota were killed--mostly women and children. As with so many of the violent histories during the period known as the “US-Dakota War,” this tragic episode of Native American history that took place during the American Civil War has been largely forgotten. Two decades afterwards, the events at Whitestone Hill (Inyan Ska) were literally uncovered when rancher Frank Drew discovered the massacre site while searching the area for buffalo bones to sell in nearby Ellendale. While the tragic history of Whitestone Hill (Inyan Ska) continues to remain largely unknown, 160 years later, what happened has not been forgotten.

This website is devoted to documenting the Whitestone Hill Memorial Ride and Documentary Film Project that began in August 2020 as well as the changes now taking place as the “battlefield” becomes redesignated as a “massacre” site.