Minnesota’s state seal has caused controversy since 1849 due to its depiction of a Sioux Indian. The first version showed a farmer and an Indian riding off into the sunset, with a misspelled Latin motto. The seal was revised several times, with the Indian rider eventually being replaced by a Caucasian rider. In the 1980s, lawmakers voted to return the Indian image to the seal, along with an explanation of its symbolism.
Minnesota’s state seal has created controversy since its adoption in 1849 over the depiction of a Sioux Indian. Seth Eastman, whose wife wrote books about the state’s Native American population, designed the first version of the state seal. Eastman’s sketch may have portrayed Indians as inferior, which mirrored the accepted belief of many and was a topic of concern at the time. Minnesota was still a territory when the state seal was approved.
Minnesota’s first state seal showed a barefoot farmer standing by the Mississippi River watching a mounted Indian ride off into the sunset. The sun was depicted, with the Latin motto of the state proclaiming: “I want to see what lies beyond.” When the image was cast in bronze, the Latin phrase was misspelled, which gave the nonsense translation of “I cover to see what’s on it.”
When Minnesota became a state in 1858, its secretary of state asked the governor for an official Minnesota state seal to conduct business. Governor Henry Sibley permitted the use of the territorial seal until a new symbol could be designed. The first revision showed the Indian riding his horse to the left and the farmer plowing facing to the right. “The Northern Star,” in French, replaced the Latin phrase on Minnesota’s new state seal.
A bronze cast of the seal was accidentally lost during a devastating fire in the state capital in 1881. A Dutch citizen found it on the street and took it with him to Europe, unaware of what the object represented. He later decided to return the state seal of Minnesota via a couple who traveled to England to retrieve it. By that time, the craftsmen had engraved a new seal, so the lost one was given to a museum.
Minnesota’s Indian tribes questioned the negative symbolism attached to the seal in the 1960s, prompting a new version of Minnesota’s state seal. In this revision, a Caucasian rider has taken the place of the Indian rider. The seal ceased to be used on official Minnesota documents in 1971.
Controversy arose again in the early 1980s when lawmakers voted to return the Indian image to the Minnesota state seal, along with an explanation for the action. Lawmakers wrote that Native Americans represented the state’s heritage in hunting, the sun represented summer, and the farmer’s plow, gun, and ax celebrated the state’s history of hard work and agriculture. A tree stump near the farmer was a symbol of the logging industry in Minnesota, while the Mississippi River indicated transportation routes.
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