Before getting to an important ask for citizen engagement, we offer this amazingly upbeat music video from Native youth of the Grassy Narrows First Nation. The song is called It Feels Like Home to Me and it will be the best five minutes of your day.
OK, now that you watched that, here is a way to help the Dakota people reclaim their home in a small way. The Citizens Advisory Committee of the Harriet Calhoun Master Planning Process is holding a hearing tomorrow, Thursday, March 24, to consider a proposal to officially change the name of Lake Calhoun — which currently honors white supremacist and slaveholder John C. Calhoun — and restore its original Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska.
The meeting is 7:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board headquarters building, 2117 West River Road. There will be a limited amount of time for public testimony. This is an important step in the process of officially changing the name of the lake. Please come and add your presence.
For more information, see the Facebook page for the Bde Maka Ska Name Reclamation Community. Also see the March 8 article in The Circle titled: Reclaiming Bde Maka Ska for future generations.
In a related matter, you are invited to attend the next session of the Bde Maka Ska Community Conversations Project. This group has met for several sessions to discuss ways that the proposed name change doesn’t just stop with a name change, and includes changes in the culture and educational opportunities around Bde Maka Ska.
The next meeting is Saturday, April 9, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the First Universalist Church, 3400 Dupont Avenue South. Please come if you can; all are welcome.
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