A cross-cultural group of neighbors talk about the Dakota history of Lake Hiawatha in Minneapolis. How will the conversation impact the redesign of the park?
Transcript
Lake Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis has a small lake with a beach, a large meadow with trees, and an 18 hole golf course.
The Minneapolis parks board is currently redesigning this space.
And on January 9th, about 60 people - including park officials and community members met to hear about the Dakota history of this land.
NELSON: We started a conversation and we hope to continue it with people and build better relationships with each other and with our environment. (:08)
Denise Nelson is with the Healing Place Collaborative based in the Twin Cities.
And she organized Dakota members of the community to speak at the community meeting.
Ramona Kitto Stately talked about her family’s history here and how it’s often invisible.
Ethan Neerdaels spoke about the history of treaties and Dakota expulsion.
And Samantha Majhor talked about the power of the Dakota language and how it is everywhere — and yet not formally recognized.
The crowed of mostly white neighbors listened and were full of suggestions.
Could park signage be bilingual - in both English and Dakotah?
Could there be landscape elements that are significant to Dakota ways of life?
A representative from the Park Board says this is one of many community meetings that will inform the park board’s plans for the Lake Hiawatha land.