Marpiya te najin | |
|---|---|
 1 January 1909, Walker, T. B. and the Press of Hahn & Harmon Co.; courtesy of HathiTrust. From a descriptive catalogue with reproductions of life-size bust portraits. Originally exhibited in the Minnesota pioneers' portrait galleries on the State Fairgrounds in 1909. | |
| Born | unknown |
| Died | 26 December 1862 |
| Other names | Marpiya Okinajin, He-who-lives-in-the-Clouds, Cut-Nose |
Marpiya te najin, orMarpiya Okinajin,literally "He-who-stands-in-the-Clouds", was a Dakotawarrior noted for being one of the "38+2" Dakota warriors executed in Mankato, Minnesota[1] by the order ofU.S. ArmyColonelHenry Hastings Sibley for their resistance of U.S. Military incursions upon Dakota land in theDakota War of 1862,[2][3] one of theAmerican Indian Wars carried out in the American pursuit of the political-cultural philosophyManifest Destiny. Marpiya te najin has also historically been known improperly by the mistranslated nameCut-Nose, which is considered inappropriate by many members of theDakota people.
After his execution, his body was claimed by the English-born physician,Dr. William Worrall Mayo, whodissected anddismembered his body as aneducational specimen for teaching his sons,Charles Horace Mayo andWilliam James Mayo, who together would go on to formMayo Clinic, developingtextbooks that used information gathered through Marpiya te najin's dissection in its pedagogy.[4]
Seeking to account for Marpiya te najin'snonconsensual, yet critical role in the founding of the Mayo Clinic, the administration of the contemporary Mayo Clinic has, through pressure fromIndigenous rights advocacy organizations, sought to accept theunethicality of the misuse of his remains.[5] This has included, most prominently, the creation of ascholarshipfund for Dakota citizens known as the "Marpiya te najin Scholarship".[6]