It was an Ancestry.com membership from her husband that led Judith Lies ‘73 to go through the box of photos and family information from her mother. Before long, Lies was learning about the experiences her mother’s ancestors had with the Native Americans leading up to and during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Before the war, Lies’s great-great-grandfather, whose farm was near where the Dakota were living, regularly invited the Dakota into his home for a daily meal with his family or gave them extra food, as he knew the Dakota were starving at the time. On the day the war broke out, he and his older son were alone at the farm, which was close to the outbreak. He sent his son to warn the next farm. En route, the son was recognized by one of the Dakota men who’d been over for meals. To protect the son from the fighting, the man brought the son to where the Native American women and children were living high on the plateau, keeping him there. This man would end up saving the son three times from being killed in the midst of the conflict.
In the meantime, the younger son—Lies’s great-grandfather—was taken captive. He was later saved and protected by the nonfighting Dakota before being released to the U.S. Army. He eventually would write about his experience living with the Native Americans in a short book, which Lies discovered in the box from her mother.
“[A]ll he had to say was positive things about the Native Americans and their way of life and how he was treated,” says Lies.
Lies shared the story with her husband and it was his response that really touched her deeply.
“He said, ‘Because of the compassion and kindness of Native Americans I’m eating dinner with you now,’ and, I just began to sob,” says Lies.
The realization that she would not be here had it not been for the Native Americans who saved her family inspired Lies. So she set out to learn more about the conflict and the people, contemplating how she could give back.
“[It was] such an unthinkable thing that happened in our country …something good came to me from that, and that came from Native Americans,” says Lies. “I needed to honor that.”
Ultimately, she chose to establish a scholarship at UMN Morris because she graduated from UMN Morris and because of the school’s Native American history. When she looked into what it would take to establish a self-perpetuating scholarship, she was pleasantly surprised.
“I was flabbergasted. I thought I would never be able to do it—I didn’t think I had anywhere near the amount of money that I could establish a scholarship that would be in perpetuity—but then I did find out … that I could do it, which was phenomenal for me.”
When it was time to name the scholarship, Lies wanted to ensure that even the name honored the intentions behind the fund. After much reflection she settled on “Honoring the Wisdom of our Land Ancestors,” a title she feels speaks to Native Americans having “a natural, impenetrable, penetrating wisdom, a lived wisdom.”
Lies is excited about the new scholarship being awarded for the first time in the fall of 2024.
“I want to help other people have an easier time going to college than I did … so that they can really dive deeply into it and enjoy it more, and maybe feel more like they can explore many more ideas that they have about their education, rather than feel like, I gotta get this done as quick as possible,” says Lies. “And I want to help Native Americans have a bigger voice in our culture and world, on all levels and all areas.” To tie in with the fund’s background, preference will be given to students who are from the Lower or Upper Sioux Tribes.
Finally, Lies wants others to know that they can do something like this and do so much good. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Any amount is helpful … we can help people,” she says.