UPPER SIOUX COMMUNITY

Minnesota governor says land transfer changes a dark narrative by doing right

Tom Cherveny — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 19:46:35 GMT

UPPER SIOUX COMMUNITY — It was nearly 19 years ago that Elitta Gouge mentioned to other newly elected members joining her on the Upper Sioux Community’s tribal board that they should seek the return of the land where her great-great-grandfather Mazomani lies and that she knows as “a land of memories and spirit.”

“Who is crazy enough to do that? Who would dare, and then who would be that courageous?” said Gouge to applause Friday as her question was answered.

Tribal chair Kevin Jensvold and members of the Upper Sioux Community’s board of trustees joined with Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, and Commissioner Sarah Strommen of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for a formal ceremony on Friday to transfer the ownership of the former Upper Sioux Agency State Park, near Grante Falls in west central Minnesota, to the Upper Sioux Community,

“Mission accomplished,” said Gouge before an audience that filled the community’s gymnasium-sized, multi-purpose building. The audience included elders from the community of more than 500, as well as its youth, all wearing T-shirts emblazened with the message: 161 years.

It was in reference to the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 and the taking of tribal lands along the Minnesota River following the conflict.

“The truth of the matter is there is a darkness that created this United States. It came at the expense of somebody and some peoples. The Dakota people are one of them,” Jensvold said.

“None of us were here to participate in the wrongs that happened. But we are here today, Governor (Walz), to make (this) right,” said the chairman.

It’s a theme that Walz and the legislators who authored the legislation transferring the approximate 1,300-acre park and historical site would emphasize as well.

“Doing the right thing, correcting the wrong that was done, it’s important because it changes the narrative,” Walz said.

“It makes me believe at the end of the day that old saying about the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” added the governor. “I would also add that it also takes some people grabbing it and bending it towards justice a little bit and this group of folks did that.”

State Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, of Standing Rock Lakota ancestry, and State Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, authored the legislation in 2023 that called for the transfer.

Stephenson said it “was the obvious thing to say yes” when Jensvold asked if he would support legislation for the transfer.

Jensvold said he had made the request to the Department of Natural Resources for about 19 years. A request to the community’s local representative to author legislation was unsuccessful, he said.

Stephenson said Jensvold had the attention of legislators last year when he testified on behalf of the transfer. The chairman spoke of the starvation and injustices suffered by the Dakota leading up to the War of 1862.

At the signing ceremony, Jensvold said it was important to know that the land that is being returned was not taken in war but by illegal mechanisms that followed.

Kunesh said there is a mind shift occurring in the Legislature and that the times are changing. “I think they are changing for the very, very best,” she said.

Kunesh said the return of this land to the Upper Sioux Community is just sort of a start. It was not intended to be a start, but “what has happened as a consequence is that the other folks, the other Native communities have an opportunity too, an opportunity to reclaim lost lands that were unjustly stolen from them,” she said.

Lt. Gov. Flanagan, of the White Earth Anishinaabe, said she heard Jensvold and Gouge repeat their call for the return of the land when she met with the community during a listening session just a few weeks after she and Walz were elected to their current terms.

She also laughed that she heard of Gouge’s claim that the Vikings cannot win a Super Bowl until the land is returned.

“We can all look forward to the Vikings winning the Super Bowl next year,” she laughed.

Jensvold said he’s often asked by the media as to what the community plans for the land. He’s asked himself many times what the community’s ancestors want for this land, and he said he always comes back to the this: “Just wanted us to be Dakota people to live in our home, to be who we were to take care of this land and to take care of each other.”

Jensvold thanked the elected officials and DNR representatives for their courage and support in making the transfer possible, calling them the “tip of the spear.” But he also emphasized his belief that the transfer is very much the work of the Creator.

“Again the Creator is undefeated,” he said, while pointing to a young child in the audience, representing the seventh generation of Mazomani. Mazomani was a leader of the Dakota, who died of injuries he suffered Sept. 23, 1862, at the battle of Wood Lake during the war.

DNR Commissioner Strommen signed the official land deed transferring the former park land. It was immediately transported to the Yellow Medicine County courthouse to be recorded as tribal board members and the state representatives signed ceremonial papers for the event.

Gov. Walz told the audience that many previous signing ceremonies involving the U.S. and the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples ended “in sorrow and tears for your communities. ... Today is not that day."

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Minnesota DNR to close Upper Sioux Agency State Park on Feb. 16

Tom Cherveny — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:52:31 GMT

ST. PAUL — Leadership in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday that they will be closing the Upper Sioux Agency State Park on Feb. 16, with intentions of transferring the 1,300-acre park to the Upper Sioux Community in mid-March.

DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen called the transfer “the right thing to do” on a conference call with reporters announcing the plans on Wednesday, Jan. 10.

She said the transfer was directed by the Minnesota Legislature in the 2023 session. It approved legislation authored by Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, and Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, requiring the transfer of the Upper Sioux Agency State Park to the Upper Sioux Community.

It was opposed by the area’s local legislators, Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, and Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent.

Strommen said the Upper Sioux Community has had a longstanding request for the transfer of the property. She said the land was the site of starvation and death of Dakota people in the summer of 1862. Its use for recreation is “inconsistent with its unique and profound history,” she stated in a news release announcing the plans.

Strommen said the DNR had been considering the possible closure of the park prior to the legislation calling for the land’s transfer. The park was facing significant operational challenges, she said. The collapse of Minnesota Highway 67 within the park, flooding along the Yellow Medicine River, and the deteriorated condition of some of the park's infrastructure, including its visitors center, were cited by Strommen and Parks and Trails Director Ann Pierce during the news conference.

Both said the DNR will continue the process of finding replacement recreational opportunities within the Minnesota River Valley area served by the park. The Legislature allocated $5 million for the process. Members of the public at DNR-hosted input sessions have charged that the funds are inadequate to replace what an operating state park provides.

Strommen said the DNR is not planning to ask the Legislature for additional funding but could use other funds it has for land acquisition.

The process of transferring the park property to the Upper Sioux Community is moving faster than many in the public had anticipated. Strommen said Upper Sioux Community Chairman Kevin Jensvold and Gov. Tim Walz had met with leaders in the United States Department of Interior prior to the 2023 legislation.

The Department of Interior indicated it would be willing to provide “maximum flexibility” on its part in allowing the state to meet obligations to provide replacement recreational value for the park land, according to the DNR commissioner.

Current staffing at the park has been reduced to three seasonal positions. The employees are being offered opportunities at adjacent state parks, according to Jeremy Lozinski, regional parks and trails director with the DNR.

The Feb. 16 closure will allow the DNR time to remove all of the state-owned infrastructure in the park prior to its transfer, according to the DNR leaders. The infrastructure includes a visitors center, a 34-site campground with a shower facility, a 34-site campground for equestrian riders, backpack and canoe-in camping sites, and 18 miles of trails.

The Minnesota Historical Society owns property within the park that includes a building that is a replication of the Upper Sioux Agency building that existed in 1862. The Historical Society property will also be transferred to the Upper Sioux Community.

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DNR to host sessions on state park land transfer to Upper Sioux Community

Forum News Service — Sun, 25 Jun 2023 16:28:38 GMT

GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources invites the public to learn about recent legislation to transfer Upper Sioux Agency State Park lands to the Upper Sioux Community and share their feedback on outdoor recreation opportunities in the Minnesota River Valley in western Minnesota.

Two sessions will be held at the Kilowatt Community Center, 600 Kilowatt Dr., Granite Falls, on Thursday, June 29. One session will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and one from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Each engagement session will begin with information about legislation enacted this year regarding the transfer of Upper Sioux Agency State Park lands to the Upper Sioux Community.

According to the news release from DNR, a critical component of this process will be to enhance and/or create new outdoor recreational opportunities in the Minnesota River Valley, so the engagement sessions will focus on gathering ideas from attendees for achieving this outcome.

The DNR said in the release that it understands the importance of outdoor recreation in this region and will use this feedback to help guide next steps.

Representatives from the DNR will be on hand to provide information, answer questions and listen to feedback.

To learn more about the land transfer process and efforts to enhance outdoor recreation in the Minnesota River Valley, visit the DNR website at mndnr.gov/usasp-transfer.

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Transfer of western Minnesota park land to Upper Sioux Community approved by Legislature

Linda Vanderwerf — Sun, 28 May 2023 17:07:17 GMT

GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Legislation that will lead to the transfer of Upper Sioux Agency State Park land to the Upper Sioux Community has been adopted.

However, that doesn’t mean the land will be transferred anytime soon.

“The park will be open this summer,” said Ann Pierce, parks and trails director for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. More than 30,000 people visit the park each year.

In three separate bills, the Minnesota Legislature approved about $6.5 million to pay for the transfer of about 1,400 acres. The last of them was adopted Monday, the final day of the 2023 session.

This year, the DNR will begin reviewing any barriers to the transfer of the land and looking for areas to develop comparable recreational opportunities in the area, Pierce said.

A meeting has been held with people who own land near the park and more meetings will be planned as the process unfolds, she said.

There could be barriers to transferring the land, because federal and state funds were used to make improvements in the park. Some funds may need to be repaid or forgiven.

Legislation requires state officials to identify the barriers and submit a report to legislative committee chairs by Jan. 15, 2024.

In the bonding bill, $250,000 is included to retire bonds used to make improvements in the park in the past. The transportation bill includes $1.2 million to pay for conveying property to the Upper Sioux Community and for road and bridge demolition.

In the omnibus environment, climate and energy appropriations bill, a one-time $5 million appropriation is intended to facilitate the land transfer. The land is to be transferred at no cost to the Upper Sioux Community.

At legislative hearings on the legislation, Upper Sioux Tribal Chairman Kevin Jensvold said he had been asking for the land to be returned since he became chairman 18 years ago. The land was ceded to the community in treaties in the 1800s.

While people in the area were aware that the community had long sought the return of the land, the legislation was written without the involvement of the area’s legislators and came as a surprise to many.

During legislative hearings, Jensvold told the story of the park land. Due to broken promises in the 1860s, Dakota people did not receive promised support and were starving and dying at the Upper Sioux, he said.

He likened the land to a former concentration camp and said other countries don’t have picnics or family celebrations at the sites of such suffering.

Yellow Medicine County Commissioner John Berends said some people were opposed to the legislation. However, now that it’s passed, the best path forward is to have people put their energy into participating in the state’s process to find new recreational opportunities in the area.

“We want to make sure people have their voices heard ... try to get people involved in it,” he said.

Federal regulations would require that the state replace the recreational land lost with land of similar value.

However, there’s no guarantee the money would be spent in the Granite Falls area or even in west central Minnesota, he said.

Local politicians would like to be involved in the DNR’s plans going forward, because “people aren’t feeling like they’re being represented,” he said.

Berends said he wasn’t sure where the park could be replaced. The current park is “a beautiful spot, with picturesque views.”

Developing a new park is more than acquiring the land, too, he said. Roads, buildings, trails and campsites would all need to be developed.

Berends said he is concerned that the area has spent more than 150 years healing from the events of the 1860s and what happened before and after.

“I thought we were getting to a pretty good place,” he said, and he hopes the park land issue doesn’t set back relationships in the community.

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Land transfer to Upper Sioux Community clears first step in Minnesota Legislature

Linda Vanderwerf — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 15:46:15 GMT

ST. PAUL — A bill to return ancestral lands in a state park to the people of the Upper Sioux Community is likely to become law this year.

The bill would return state-owned land in Upper Sioux Agency State Park near Granite Falls to the community, thus also closing the park.

Tribal Chairman Kevin Jensvold spoke to the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee on Wednesday at the State Capitol in St. Paul.

Jensvold and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Sarah Strommen explained the transfer to the committee, which voted to refer the bill to be included in an omnibus bill before the end of the 2023 session. Committee Chairman Rick Hanson, DFL-South St. Paul, said the costs associated with the bill are yet to be determined.

Strommen said the bill is only the beginning of a longer process. Public meetings will be planned later this year to discuss recreational needs and where to provide them in the Granite Falls area.

The legislation calls for unencumbered land to be transferred by Dec. 1, and a report on land with restrictions to be sent to the state by Dec. 15.

Strommen said there likely isn’t any land that isn’t restricted in some way.

An incomplete story

Jensvold, who has been chairman for 18 years, said the transfer of about 1,400 acres is the culmination of his asking three governors’ administrations to return the community’s original lands under the Traverse des Sioux Treaty of 1851.

“It truly is a story that is 160 years in the making,” he said. He said he was speaking for current tribal members, those who are yet to be born and ancestors who lived on the Upper Sioux Agency in the beginning.

His ancestors “engaged in a war with the United States when the terms of a treaty were no longer viable,” Jensvold said.

The treaty led to the formation of the Upper Sioux and Lower Sioux agencies. The Dakota gave up their land and agreed to move to the agencies, and were promised annuities and support, he said. They became dependent.

The Dakota people saw the treaty as a sacred commitment to their creator. However, annuity payments were “lost in transit,” he said, and food was scarce.

Old people and children were starving to death, he said, and the community went to war in 1862 “because of desperation.” He called it “the ugliest moment in Minnesota history as it reflects upon the Dakota people.”

History has had two versions of the Battle of Wood Lake in the area of the park, he said. The Indigenous version is of people traveling along a trail, digging up rotten potatoes to try to feed their families, and the European version speaks of soldiers thwarting an ambush.

The state park land has many burial sites and contains sacred sites of prayer, courtship, celebration and death, Jensvold said.

Europe treats sites of genocide differently, he said.

“I don’t believe it’s human nature to dance upon the graves of a vanquished foe or to celebrate and commercialize those things,” he said. “I don’t think it is righteous — and just that there are picnic tables where people will go on a Sunday, and it’s good they have a good time — but there’s never been an accurate interpretation.”

Interpretive information about the 1862 war has been “sanitized” in the park, he said.

The Upper Sioux Community's website says the Dakota Oyate (Nation) have called the area home for thousands of years.

"We have always occupied this area bordering the Minnesota River Valley, with the exception of a short period of time in the late 1800s following the U.S.-Dakota Conflict of 1862," the website's history page states. "At that time, the Dakota were either exterminated, forcibly removed to reservations located somewhere else, or voluntarily fled to avoid harm."

The page says the community's total land base today is 2,325 acres and membership stands at 547.

A state park in disrepair

Strommen said the DNR is proud of the state park system, and doesn’t take it lightly to give one up. The park was developed to tell the history of the area, but the story it tells isn’t complete, she said. It was also meant to provide recreational opportunities.

The current Upper Sioux Agency State Park facilities are in disrepair. The visitor center needs to be repaired or rebuilt. Campgrounds along the river flood.

In recent years, Minnesota Highway 67 through the park has become impassable because of a sinkhole and has since been rerouted.

There are other places in the area the state can offer recreation, and public outreach will help find replacement areas for recreation, according to testimony offered Wednesday.

The National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Interior will also be involved in removing potential barriers to the land transfer.

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Legislation could transfer state park land to Upper Sioux Community

Linda Vanderwerf — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 19:12:49 GMT

UPPER SIOUX AGENCY, Minn. — Bills introduced in the Minnesota Legislature propose transferring state land in Upper Sioux Agency State Park to the Upper Sioux Community before the end of this year.

The House bill HF 2388, which was introduced Thursday, has its first hearing scheduled at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee at the State Capitol in St. Paul.

A companion Senate bill, SF2250, was introduced last Wednesday and referred to the Senate's Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee. A hearing is not yet scheduled.

The legislation is only a couple paragraphs long. It says the Department of Natural Resources will transfer state-owned land in the park "for no consideration" to the Upper Sioux Community by Dec. 1, provided there are no legal barriers to the transfer.

HF2388-0 by West Central Tribune on Scribd

By Dec. 15, the DNR would be required to send a report describing any legal barriers that exist and recommending ways to address the barriers.

Contacted Monday by the West Central Tribune, Upper Sioux Tribal Chairman Kevin Jensvold said he plans to testify Wednesday and did not want to comment before the hearing. It would be premature to talk about the bill before its first legislative hearing, he added.

According to the Upper Sioux Community's website, the community's total land base is 2,325 acres and membership stands at 547. The history page on the website says the land called "Pezihutazizi Kapi (the place where they dig for yellow medicine) has been the homeland for our people, the Dakota Oyate (Nation), for thousands of years."

Granite Falls Mayor Dave Smiglewski, who is also chairman of Friends for Upper Sioux Agency State Park, told the West Central Tribune on Monday that he first learned of the legislation late last week.

“We have heard the idea here and there over the last couple years,” he said, but he was surprised to learn late last week that legislation had been filed already.

The legislation leaves many unanswered questions, he said.

It’s not clear whether the park will remain open or if the land will be used for another purpose after the transfer, Smiglewski said.

The park is near Granite Falls in Yellow Medicine County. Efforts to reach state Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, and Yellow Medicine County Commissioner Greg Renneke, of Echo, were unsuccessful. Both men represent the area that includes the park.

The park has historic and cultural significance and is known for its quiet, peaceful setting, Smiglewski said. Its campground is usually full of campers from Minnesota and surrounding states.

The county and city have generally had open communication with the Upper Sioux Community, he said, and he would like to see that continue.

“All we’re asking for is, let’s slow down to gather input and share plans and ideas,” he said. “Now is the time to talk.”

Smiglewski prepared a statement in his role as chairman of Friends for Upper Sioux Agency State Park asking the legislative committee to delay action.

“We are unaware of what the transfer as written in the bill would mean for future public access and use,” he wrote. “Furthermore, we do not understand the urgency for this transfer without the benefit of input from the general public.”

He asked that a public hearing be held, preferably in the Granite Falls/Upper Sioux area to allow the public to have a say.

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Former west-central Minnesota police chief pleads guilty to reckless firearm discharge

Tom Cherveny — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 20:56:34 GMT

GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — A former Minnesota police chief has pleaded guilty to a felony count of reckless discharge of a dangerous weapon involving a domestic incident last April.

Christopher Allen Lee, 53, entered a guilty plea Aug. 17 in Yellow Medicine County District Court to a felony count of dangerous weapon discharge — municipality. As part of a plea agreement, a felony charge of second-degree assault, a felony charge of reckless discharge of a weapon and a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault will be dismissed.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 5. The plea agreement calls for a sentence of two years probation and no further jail time executed. The offense will be a misdemeanor upon successful completion of probation.

He is subject to revocation of his peace officer license for the felony conviction.

Lee was serving as chief of police for the Upper Sioux Community but was relieved of his duties following his arrest on April 15.

According to the criminal complaint, a man who was Lee’s roommate in a house in Clarkfield was in a bedroom. He had locked the bedroom door and Lee was upset about it.

The roommate said he pushed against the door to prevent Lee's entry “when all of a sudden, he heard a loud BOOM, and part of the door went flying off.”

Lee had allegedly fired through the door, according to the roommate. The victim told a Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s officer responding to the scene that Lee had also kicked through the door and they exchanged words.

The roommate said he then ran to the basement, where he hid. He had white residue over his clothing but was not injured.

The officer found a spent casing from a .40-caliber bullet outside the damaged door.

Lee’s service weapon, a Glock .40-caliber, was found on his dresser in his bedroom. It showed signs of having been fired and there were 14 bullets in its magazine, which holds 15 bullets, according to the complaint.

A Yellow Medicine County sheriff’s deputy responding to the scene found Lee in a camper outside of the residence and took him into custody. The deputy reported that the suspect said he was sorry. Lee appeared highly intoxicated and smelled of alcohol, according to the complaint.

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'Bring Her Home' documentary tells of tragic reality of missing persons, and those inspiring change

Tom Cherveny — Wed, 25 May 2022 14:59:33 GMT

GRANITE FALLS, Minnesota — A tragic reality is the focus of a documentary that, at its heart, also inspires activism and change.

The inspiration comes from the three women who are the subjects of “Bring Her Home,” a documentary by Leya Hale with Twin Cities Public Television.

Joined by friends in the Lower Sioux and Upper Sioux communities, Hale hosted a screening of the documentary for an audience of more than 60 people at the Pioneer Public Television studio in Granite Falls on May 5.

The documentary brings awareness to the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Minnesota and the nation. Minnesota recently opened an office to address the epidemic, and tapped Juliet Rudie of the Lower Sioux Community to lead it.

While Indigenous women comprise only 1% of the state’s population, they account for 9% of all murdered girls and women in the state during the last decade, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Hale’s documentary follows three women — Mysti Babineau, an activist; Angela Two Stars, an artist; and Ruth Buffalo, a North Dakota legislator — as they work to bring about awareness and change.

In the telling of their works, viewers of the documentary also learn of the harms inflicted on innocent victims. Babineau tells of how she witnessed the killing of her grandmother when she was 12 years old. She also recounts how she was once assaulted and kidnapped, and escaped.

“As they face the lasting effects of historical trauma, each woman searches for healing while navigating the oppressive systems that brought about this very crisis,” stated the documentary.

Hale told her audience before the documentary’s showing that she sought not only to help bring awareness to the issue, but also “to provide tools to help our communities see examples of women taking on this issue and providing awareness to it.”

She said she pursued her career to tell native stories and especially, to create content for native people and audiences. As she explained of the portrayal of native women: “It’s usually about us. It’s never for us.”

Hale is from the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Diné Nations. She is a producer for Twin Cities PBS and lives in St. Paul. She won a 2019 Upper Midwest Emmy award for best cultural documentary for her first feature documentary, "The People’s Protectors."

She said that while growing up, “(I’d) never seen a picture of myself that wasn’t through the lens of a western movie.”

Depictions of native women she knew were those of Pocahontas and Tiger Lily from Peter Pan.

“Indigenous people continue to suffer from the effects of colonization, systemic oppression, and trauma,” Hale said in a statement for the documentary. “Many of the issues we face today, such as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic, are a direct result of U.S. Federal Indian Policies.”

Hale said she deliberately incorporated the stories of indigenous women of all ages — including that of a grandmother — who have been victimized. She wants to refute the “blame the victim” mentality that has been so prevalent in our society towards indigenous women.

After the screening of the documentary, a young girl in the audience asked Hale: “What made you want to make a movie about this?”

Her answer: “I think I wanted to make it specifically for you because I especially wanted young native women to see the power in ourselves — to see how powerful we are when we unite and come together in community; strengthen our identities. Whether that is through art or language, your voice can be strong.”

Hale said her hope is that her documentary helps show the strength and resilience that native women can tap into when facing hard times.

“Turn to the women that are around you as examples and you learn to strengthen your core, your identity as a native woman,” she told the young audience member. "It helps everybody around you.”

“That's why I made that for you,” she said to applause.

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Upper Sioux Community authors give Dakota stories the spotlight in 'Voices from Pejuhutazizi'

Tom Cherveny — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 17:00:00 GMT

UPPER SIOUX COMMUNITY, Minnesota — Walter “Super” LaBatte Jr. had no electricity in his home during most of his childhood years.

“So our entertainment was my dad telling stories at night,” LaBatte told his audience at the Grinder coffeehouse in Granite Falls on March 12.

The many stories he heard are alive today in “Voices From Pejuhutazizi: Dakota Stories and Storytellers.”

The 195-page book, published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, is the work of LaBatte and his niece, Teresa Peterson, both of the Upper Sioux Community. They worked together over the course of 10 years to collect the stories handed generation to generation.

The book also comprises stories of their own of growing up as part of the Upper Sioux Community, or Pejuhutazizi, "the people who dig the yellow medicine."

The authors were aided greatly in this endeavor by their late ancestor, Fred Pearsall. Sometime around 1910, Peterson said her great-grandfather began to write down the stories he heard as part of the Dakota community. He continued to do so for decades. Pearsall’s daughter typed the stories and self-published a book to preserve them in 1983.

At the gathering in March, LaBatte told his audience one of his best-known stories. It was made into a short feature by Pioneer Public Television. It tells of how a tame pelican saved a small encampment of Dakota from a war party on Lake Traverse.

Most of the encampment's men were away on a buffalo hunt when the war party was spotted on the water. The frightened residents fled.

The invaders went to attack the chief’s tipi first. They found a pelican wearing a war bonnet inside it.

The attackers retreated. The Dakota suspect that the attackers felt the Dakota had better medicine than they, since the chief had been able to change himself into a pelican.

Some of the stories in "Voices From Pejuhutazizi" tell of the challenges the people knew.

Pearsall recorded the story of a buffalo hunt in the early 1850s in South Dakota, during which the Dakota were caught on the open plains by a blizzard. It arrived too suddenly to erect their tent. They took cover under the flattened covering and survived two days of the storm with only the light clothing they wore on the hunt and a few blankets.

Some stories tell of the impact of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 on their family members, who were forced to flee their native land. One account tells of surviving a close encounter in 1863 when General Alfred Sully and his troops rode west in search of those who had fled Minnesota.

Family history provides belonging, sense of place

LaBatte grew up in the Upper Sioux Community, and listened intently to the stories he remembers and tells so well. Peterson grew up near St. Cloud, and learned about her Dakota heritage through visits to family in the Upper Sioux Community.

As she grew into adulthood, she came to appreciate her heritage and to realize the importance of stories and seek them out. She visited with family and elders to learn all she could.

Stories convey traditions and cultural practices, she told her audience. They provide belonging and a sense of place. They entertain.

Both authors know the importance of their heritage. Peterson is a co-founder of Wicohan. Its mission is to revitalize the Dakota language and life ways.

LaBatte is known as a Dakota storyteller, and for his traditional Dakota art. He crafts beaded moccasins and Wacipi drums. He makes his own brain-tanned buckskin. His works have made their way to places around the globe, as his niece points out in their book.

LaBatte said it was his desire to dance in traditional Wacipi celebrations that led him to the artwork for which he is so respected today. Lacking funds at the time, he at first attempted to sew his own garments for dancing.

He struggled to push needles through tough leather, and showed his bandaged fingers to a fellow dancer while describing his challenge. The dancer suggested that he use instead the soft and supple buckskin that Dakota elders have always produced using the brain-tanning method.

LaBatte asked his dad if he knew how to brain-tan a hide.

“He thought it was a ridiculous question to ask. ‘Of course I know how to make buckskin,’” LaBatte said. “I was 40 years old at the time. That was how I started.”

“We all have stories in our families,” Peterson told her audience. “Sometimes they get lost. (This is) a call to action to collect, save your stories.”

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Super Bowl committee hands out additional funds to Minn. communities

Forum News Service — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 15:18:56 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS-The final grants, coming from the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee's legacy fund of almost $77,000, were awarded to 52 organizations.

The Legacy Fund invested more than $5.5 million to communities across the state in the 52 weeks leading up to Super Bowl LII last February at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The final dividend grants, at $1,475 each, will be used to supplement previous grants to those 52 organizations by the host committee.

"52 Weeks of Giving is just one of the many ways we ensured that Super Bowl LII had a positive impact on our entire state," Maureen Bausch, CEO of the host committee, said in a statement. "We are happy to surprise these 52 recipients with an additional grant so support their wonderful work. We hope the Super Bowl helped inspire a healthier, more active generation of Minnesota kids. With more than $5.5 million invested in community organizations statewide, kids will enjoy the benefits of the Super Bowl for years to come."

The 52 grant recipients and their communities are:

• The Loppet Foundation, Minneapolis

• Olmstead County Public Health Services, Mobile Playgrounds, Rochester

• City of St. Paul, St. Paul Parks and Recreation Sepak Tekraw Courts, St. Paul

• Rice County Public Health Nursing Service, Cannon River Mobile Home Park Playground, Faribault

• Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Year-round Greenhouses, Onamia

• Moorhead Public ��s, Imagination Playgrounds, Moorhead

• Nobles County Community Service-Public Health, Buss Field, Worthington

• Crow Wing County, Crow Wing Energized, Bicycle Fleet, Brainerd

• Springboard for the Arts, Play Sculpture, Fergus Falls

• Second Harvest North Central Food Bank Inc., Grand Rapids

• Twin Cities Native American Lacrosse, Minneapolis

• Backus Community Center Pennies for Play Program, International Falls

• Anoka County Community Health & Environmental Services, Accessible Playground, Anoka County

• Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. Rivoli Orchards, St. Paul

• Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Playground, Grand Portage

• Windom Area Hospital, Community Walking Path, Windom

• Alexandria Area YMCA, Mobile Bike Fleet, Alexandria

• The Brooklyn Bridge Alliance for Youth, Brooklyn Park

• Bemidji Community Food Shelf, Bemidji

• Willmar Area Community Foundation Area Community Foundation, Destination Playground, Willmar

• City of Duluth, Playgrounds, Duluth

• Polk County, Playgrounds, Crookston

• Dream of Wild Health, Hugo

• White Earth Reservation Tribal Council, Skate Parks, White Earth

• Boys & Girls Club of Central Minnesota, St. Cloud

• Blue Earth County, Bike Fleets, Mankato

• Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Cass Lake

• Project Success, Minneapolis

• Frogtown Gardens, Frogtown Farm, St. Paul

• Youth Determined to Succeed, Inc. Brooklyn Park

• Red Lake Comprehensive Health Services, Red Lake

• City of Virginia, Playground, Virginia

• Boys and Girls Club of Detroit Lakes, Inc. Detroit Lakes

• Goodhue County Health & Human Services and Independent �� District #256, Red Wing

• Best of Waseca, Inc., Tink Larson Field, Waseca

• Minneapolis Public ��s Culinary & Wellness Services, Minneapolis

• Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Cloquet

• Southwest Health and Human Services, High �� Sports Fields, Marshall

• City of Roseau, South Riverview Park Project, Roseau

• Bois Forte Reservation Tribal Council, Basketball Courts, Bois Forte

• Upper Sioux Community, Zani Woyute Project, Upper Sioux

• Prairie Island Community, Prairie Island

• Appetite for Change, Minneapolis

• Bolder Options, Minneapolis

• Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, Inc. (CLUES), St. Paul

• Juxtaposition Arts, Minneapolis

• Lower Sioux Indian Community, Recreation Center, Lower Sioux

• Second Harvest Heartland, Greater Twin Cities

• Sanneh Foundation, St. Paul

• Peoples' Center for Health, Minneapolis

• Pillsbury United Communities, Minneapolis

• Minneapolis Public ��s, Anwatin Middle �� field, Minneapolis

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