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American Indian History Becomes Personal at Gustavus Lecture

Many braving Sunday's treacherous roads for a history lesson at Gustavus Adolphus College, in particular looking back at the Dakota Mass Execution of 1862.

That lecture was given by Kevin Gover, the Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian.

Gover who recently was a law professor at Arizona State University also served as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs under President Clinton.

He says looking at history is where we find common humanity.

 "At the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington and New York this is what we're trying to do is deliver a sense to our visitors of just how complex this is. And we hope that anyone who comes to our museum, even though they think they are there to learn about Indians, are actually going to learn something about themselves," said Gover.

Sunday's lecture was part of the Lefler Lecture Series at Gustavus. It was free and open to the public.