Meeting Summary Master Plan of Aligned Use and Water Management at Hiawatha Golf Course Property, a Part of Nokomis‐Hiawatha Regional Park
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Meeting Summary Master Plan of Aligned Use and Water Management at Hiawatha Golf Course Property, a part of Nokomis‐Hiawatha Regional Park Focus Session Series One ‐ January 9, 2019 – 6:00pm to 8:00pm Lake Hiawatha Recreation Center Meeting Goal: A venue for MPRB staff and CAC members to hear from the public and members of the indigenous community. The following are meeting notes from the focus session. Please email Tyler at [email protected] if you have any corrections. 1. Welcome Members of Dakhta Iápi Okhdakičhiye and Healing Place Collaborative kicked off the event by opening the Water Bar and offered attendees samples of three different waters from various local sources The three sources were Minneapolis tap water sourced from: Minneapolis tap water from the Mississippi River; Mnî Yuska (means pure and clean in Dakota) from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community water bottling; and Mount Simon‐Hinkley aquifer, aka Schmidt Brewery (30,000 year old aquifer). As visitors went through and sampled the water, others were talking with the hosts and each other and viewing the Čhokáta Nážiŋ, the Dakota Language Table. Water Bar Description: Mniwe – “A place for getting water”, is the indigenized adaptation of the well‐regarded “Water Bar.” Learn about indigenous philosophies, language, relationships and practices relating to Mní (water) that have allowed Dakota people to thrive in this area for millennia. Engage in conversations about the ways in which we use and interact with water in our daily lives; often without thinking about where our water comes from. Dakota Language Table Description: Čhokáta Nážiŋ – The Dakota Language Table is a living and traveling gathering space for the Dakota language to be re‐strengthened through a deeper understanding of the interdependent relationships of the land, language and lifeways to the health and wellbeing of people that call Mnísota Makhčhe (Minnesota) home. 2. Presentations James Spotted Thunder, a Dakota musician sang a traditional opening song prior to the presentations. Presenter Ramona Kitto Stately: Introduces herself in Dakota language. I came to share broad information about the Dakota people’s connection to this place. If you look around, we are invisible. We are not called Dakota at Indian Mounds Park, we are called Hopewell, which deems us invisible. If you can make a person invisible it is easier to treat them badly because you are not humanizing them. Think about the history lessons you received in K12 education in Minnesota; did you know that we had the largest mass execution in United States history in Mankato. People don’t know that, and it is purposeful. There is a master narrative to make Dakota invisible. I went into teaching to interrupt what is being taught in our schools, and to teach the truth and guide away Page 1 from the white master narrative. We need to raise children as good critical thinkers. It took white settlers 160 years to pollute Minnesota’s lakes and rivers because there was no respect for the land. In 1859 my great great grandmother went to Wita Tanka Island renamed Pike Island. Dakota women brought their children into world where it is familiar and near water. The sacred place of Bdote, where the two rivers come together, is the center of our universe. This is where my great great grandmother gave birth to her third child. The young man born in 1859 was my dad’s grandpa. This history is not a long time ago. How can we be so invisible? In 1862 during the US Dakota War, my great great grandmother was force marched 150 miles in the winter after the Dakota US war, ¼ of the women didn’t make it. No provisions were provided. Bdote is the word for throat, or breath or life, it is the most sacred place for Dakota people. Men and women were separated by the military to aid in land theft. This happened across the US and in Minnesota. Governor Ramsey’s plan was to put women on steam boats to drive them forever beyond the borders of this state. An early winter came, and the boats were frozen in place. A concentration camp was created. The women were left there for 6 months until spring came. On average, 4 people died each day during this time. This story is told to remind you of the sacredness of our story and our children and the breath of life. This knowledge should be important to you, as we’ve systematically poisoned every lake in this state. If you are a pregnant woman you are told not to eat walleye. Ms. Stately thanked the listeners for coming. Presenter Ethan Neerdaels: Introduces himself in Dakota language. We are the original people of this place. I want to talk about international law, in this place near lake Hiawatha or Minneapolis. Anyone familiar with the US Constitution? How about Article 6? Treaties are the supreme law of the land. Treaties can only be made between two nations. In this place there were treaties made between the US and the Dakota, or falsely called the Sioux. The land we are occupying right now is land of the 1805 Zebulon Pike treaty. This is the first treaty between Dakota and US and is important because it allows the establishment of Fort Snelling and the nine‐mile strip to St Anthony Falls. The treaty included usufructuary rights for Dakota to continue to fish, gather, and do as formerly done without hindrance. Subsequent treaties were signed that allegedly ceded 54 million acres of our land in this territory. And in 1862 after the war the treaties were said to be abrogated by Sibley and Ramsey. This means that we returned to the first treaty of 1805. So, all land west of the Mississippi is Dakota land by law today. The City of Minneapolis doesn’t see it this way. They squat on our land under the assumption they are land owners. As Dakota people we know you can’t own land, the land owns us. Series of laws made our ways illegal. People were put in concentration camps, what we call today reservations. They exiled our people to Canada. But our people were resilient and still are today. Our language was made illegal until 1978, and because of that there are very few Dakota speakers that are under the age of 70. US and Canadian governments continuously created policies to make the Dakota way of knowing invisible. There are many Dakota in the room tonight; and we have a message for everyone: this is still Dakota Makhoche. Dakota means friendly or ally. When you read about the Dakota they were called warlike savages. But in our own language Dakota means friendly people. Because we are relatives to all of life. The table behind you is a way of orienting yourself to north America. Today it is called a medicine wheel, it represents the universe, everything about the table is intentional. There are no petroleum products and no metal. It is finished with beeswax. The woods that are used orient us to this place. In the west we have the cedar tree, which represents the unknown. Then there is the cottonwood tree, the sundance tree, the doctor, and grows along river and gives health to other trees and helps people. Next is the Sugar maple, it represents a spring and a coming of new life. Then we have the white ash tree, one of the hardest woods, and used by our people to make bows, Page 2 and other sacred items. And down below you see the white pine legs, intentionally hidden below reflecting the clear‐cut white pine forests in our state. Minnesota is a Dakota place. The Dakota language is all around us. Minnesota is the land where the water reflects the sky and clouds or sometimes people say smoky waters. Chanhassen is for tree with the cream‐colored bark or birch tree. Wayzata is for towards the pine trees. Thousands of Dakota names for places in Minnesota. There are very few Dakota speakers here, and right now Minnesota does not recognize Dakota as a language. So, our children are not allowed the birthright to learn their own language. Historically the language was passed by family, not by classrooms which was foreign to us. Today we see the school system fail to teach respect of the world around them. Mr. Neerdaels thanked everyone and offered the room for questions from the attendees. 3. Questions and Comments Question: Would some of the Dakota living in other places be open to coming back to Minnesota if we created a new fund for repatriating people back here? Response: I would say probably. Right now, we own 1/100th of our original land base. So, there is 54 million acres to be accounted for and I think it could be taken back one acre at a time. [Chuckles] In some way. Question: The best solution would be to transfer ownership in some way and this park is under a planning process and what would it look like if the whole plan was led by Dakota people? Response: After 1862 a lot of our relatives ended up in Canada. So that’s where a lot of our culture and language is. As Ethan was saying there is a minimal amount of speakers here if any. Those political questions haven’t been challenged by the nation yet. None of the four tribes in Minnesota have challenged those laws and policies. As far as I know, it’ll take a political movement to challenge the State. Tribes don’t want anything to do with bringing our people back to this land.