Dakota History Walk Friday; Sacred Sites Tours Begin June 1; and Other Upcoming Events

Upcoming events, details below:

• Dakota History Walk, Friday, May 10
• Indigenous Women’s March, May 11
• East Side Study Collective: Discussion on Settler Colonialism and Decoloniality, Wednesday, May 15
• Environmental Ancestry Storytelling, Thursday, May 16
• Indigenous-Led Native Plants Walk, Friday, May 17
• Dakota Sacred Sites Tour, Saturday, June 1
• Bde Maka Ska Public Art Dedication, Saturday, June 8

Public Art Honoring Cloud Man, Indigenous History, Planned Near Bde Maka Ska, Artists Selected

As the controversy over the installation and deconstruction of Scaffold in the Walker Sculpture Garden starts to settle, here’s an art project that celebrates Dakota history here in Minneapolis — their homeland.

A new pubic art project and gathering place is being planned to honor Mahpiya Wicasta/Cloud Man and reveal and celebrate the history of Heyata Otunwe, a village located on Bde Maka Ska from 1829-1839. (Bde Maka Ska is the original name for Lake Calhoun, and only recently has been restored.)

Last week, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the City of Minneapolis’ Art in Public Places program announced the artists selected to create the public art for this space.

• Angela Two Stars – Descendant of Cloud Man (Mahpiya Wicasta), member of Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, born and raised on the Lake Traverse reservation of Sisseton, SD. Currently lives in East Lansing, MI. Graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI with a BFA in Drawing and Printmaking.
• Mona Smith – Visual and multimedia artist of Dakota heritage. Currently lives in Minneapolis. Artist lead and co-founder of Healing Place Collaborative, Owner of Allies: Media/Art, past program coordinator for the National Indian AIDS Media Consortium, and creator of the Bdote Memory Map.
• Sandy Spieler – Visual artist. Currently lives in Minneapolis. Founder and director of the annual May Day Parade and Ceremony at Powderhorn Park, 30-year advocate for issues pertaining to water, and recipient of a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship.

The design theme is “Story Awakening;” the goal is to honor and educate visitors about the broader history and culture of the Dakota and other Indigenous peoples who frequented and resided in this area over time.

Mahpiya Wicasta/Cloud Man’s Village was on the southeast corner of Bde Maka Ska. An early map shows the village as extending slightly north of present day West 34th Street, south into current Lakewood Cemetery, and east past Fremont Avenue, according to a Park Board document.

The artists and design team will share concepts with the public this fall.

For more information:

Here is an excerpt on Mahpiya Wicasta/Cloud Man, excerpted with permission from Gwen Westerman and Bruce White’s book: Mni Sota Makoce: Land of the Dakota.

The Southwest Journal ran a piece titled: Lakeside art to honor Cloud Man Village.

Here is the Park Board’s community engagement plan and different concepts for site development for this project.

For more information about this public art project, contact Ann Godfrey. For the full announcement about the artists selection process, click here.

Fort Snelling Community Conversations To Tell Painful History

The Minnesota Historical Society is preparing for a major overhaul of Fort Snelling in anticipation of the Forts’ 200th Anniversary in 2019. MHS has announced its intentions to do more truth telling about the Fort’s painful past and to engage the community in the process.

MHS has announced a series of monthly community conversations about Fort Snelling, May through October, on the third Thursday of each month. Guest speakers will give informal lectures on various topics about Fort Snelling’s history, and participants will engage in facilitated conversation about what that history means for us today. Dialogues will be facilitated by Minnesota Historical Society staff trained by the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

The sessions will be held at different sites around the Twin Cities and run from from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Admission is free. Reservations are recommended. (Go to www.mnhs.org to learn more.)

Here are the four meetings announced so far in the community conversation series. More will be announced soon: