# Dakota Expulsion Act of 1863 *An 1863 statute that, as the project's record describes it, barred Dakota people from residing in Minnesota.* The **Dakota Expulsion Act of 1863**, also called the 1863 Act, is described in the project's at-issue record as a statute that made it illegal for [[Dakota]] people to reside in [[Minnesota]] and that nullified all Dakota treaties. The same entry states that the Act applied regardless of whether a given person had any part in the 1862 conflict, and that the [[Minnesota Historical Society]] says the Act "has never been repealed." The entry calls it a "live federal statute".[^1] A second entry ties the Act to the removal of survivors held at [[Fort Snelling]] in spring 1863, by steamboat, to reservations including [[Crow Creek]]. That entry states that the removal was carried out and that the Act authorizing it was never repealed.[^2] Both entries come from one validated research dossier, *Dakota Founding Instruments* (2 September 2026). The only URL attached to either entry is a White House presidential action that the project uses as an anchor. That document does not itself address the Act. The record available to this article does not establish the Act's statutory citation, who enacted it, or its current legal effect. It records what the dossier entries state and the sources they name.[^1][^2] ## What The at-issue record describes the 1863 Act as a statute that did two things: it barred Dakota people from residing in Minnesota, and it nullified all Dakota treaties. The entry states that the bar applied without regard to any individual's involvement in the 1862 conflict. It also states that the Minnesota Historical Society says the Act "has never been repealed." The entry lists mnhs.org and dakotacountymn.gov as its source domains. Neither of those pages is among this article's citable sources.[^1] ## When According to the second entry, survivors held at Fort Snelling were removed in spring 1863. The first entry's catalogue year is 1862, the year of the conflict it names. The record does not give the Act's date of enactment.[^1][^2] ## Where The removal route recorded in the at-issue entry ran from Fort Snelling by steamboat down the Mississippi and up the Missouri to reservations including Crow Creek. The entry quotes the historical record's description of Crow Creek as "a dry, barren place that was unsuitable for farming." It lists mnhs.org as its source domain.[^2] ## How The second entry states that the 1863 Act authorized the removal and that the removal was carried out. The first entry states, attributing the point to the Minnesota Historical Society, that the Act was never repealed.[^1][^2] ## In the at-issue record Two catalogue entries name the Act. Entry AI-Dakota-088 sets the Act's unrepealed status beside the naming of Dakota County. It states that the county is named for the people the statute addresses, and it lists dakotacountymn.gov, a self-published county source, among its source domains.[^1] Entry AI-Dakota-095 sets the completed 1863 removal beside the Act's unrepealed status.[^2] Both entries describe the Act as still on the books. The record does not include the statute text or a repeal search, so that status rests on the attributed Minnesota Historical Society statement. The record does not independently establish it.[^1][^2] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Dakota-088, from the validated dossier *Dakota Founding Instruments* (2026-09-02) — records the Act's described bar on Dakota residence, the treaty nullification, its application regardless of individual involvement in the 1862 conflict, the attributed Minnesota Historical Society statement that it "has never been repealed," and the Dakota County naming. The only URL attached to the entry is the project's anchor, a White House presidential action, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025), which does not itself document the Act. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^2]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Dakota-095, from the validated dossier *Dakota Founding Instruments* (2026-09-02) — records the spring 1863 removal from Fort Snelling to reservations including Crow Creek, the historical record's description of Crow Creek, and the entry's statement that the Act authorized the removal and was never repealed. The only URL attached to the entry is the project's anchor, a White House presidential action, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025), which does not itself document the removal. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/