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    • Jan 18, 2022
    • 5 min read

Mounds Park Academy Land Acknowledgement

Writer: Zaara Nayak

Land Acknowledgement Writers: Salmah Elmasry, Isak Dai, Ryan Ghose, and Lilly Gasterland-Gustafsson


Last year, seniors Salmah Elmasry, Isak Dai, Ryan Ghose, and Lilly Gasterland-Gustafsson researched and created a Land Acknowledgment to recognize and honor the Wahpekute tribe. The Wahpekute people were forced to move from Northern Minnesota to Southern Minnesota due to a clash with the Ojibwe that ultimately led to an Ojibwe victory. Following the Ojibwe victory, the Wahpekute eventually settled in Rice County, Minnesota, specifically in the “big woods.” Inhabiting forests made the Wahpekute tribes unique in relation to the rest of the Dakota people of which the majority lived on open plains. Their forest habitation contributed to the Wahpekute’s name: “Shooters Among the Leaves.” In addition to their unique and prosperous forest residence, the Wahpekute consisted of a connected and nurturing community, who prioritized raising children, oral tradition, and an age-oriented hierarchy.

Mounds Park Academy Land Acknowledgement

“Makhoche kin de dakhota thamakhoche”. (Maw-ko-chay keen day dah-ko-tah tah-mah-ko-chay) This is the land of the friendly people, the Dakota.

Mounds Park Academy acknowledges the language and history of the Wahpekute and the larger Očhéthi Šakówin nation and its connection to these cultures through the land on which the school resides.[1] Our goal is that all members of the Mounds Park Academy community, including staff, students, alumni, and parents, recognize its building and facilities rest on Dakota homeland and that Indigenous Peoples have the longest relationship to this land.


Colonialism is a persistent system, and to acknowledge this land is to acknowledge our community’s participation in the continued erasure of Indigenous culture and history.[2] MPA recognizes that land acknowledgments can become an empty gesture and seeks to approach this question with humility and a willingness to learn and grow.[3] MPA understands land acknowledgements cannot be an alibi for ignorance about Indigenous Peoples and the “treaty relationships that govern” this land.[4] As an educational institution, Mounds Park Academy recognizes its responsibility to preserve, protect, and honor Indigenous history through literature and an honest social studies curriculum to dismantle the actions taken by colonizers.[5]


This acknowledgement is a small part of our effort to stand in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and must be accompanied with broader action. We express our gratitude and appreciation for those to whom this land belongs.

Plan to Review and Revise Curriculum

Recommendations

  • Include literature written by Indigenous authors in Pre-K-12 curriculum when discussing Indigenous history and culture

  • Mandate education on U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 starting as early as sixth grade

    • Educate on Minnesota’s participation in the America’s largest mass-execution, the hanging of 38 Dakota prisoners

  • Use appropriate language when discussing American history as it relates to this country’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples

    • Identify and use terms like genocide, ethnic cleansing, forced removal, colonization, stolen land

  • Use appropriate tenses when discussing Indigenous culture, people, and history

    • Use the past, present, and future tenses when discussing Native cultures as Indigenous people are not a relic of the past

  • Do not use a land acknowledgement as an alibi from thoroughly educating on Indigenous history

Bibliography

“A Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgment.” Native Governance Center, 22 Oct. 2019, https://nativegov.org/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/.

Anfinson, Scott F. “Cultural and Natural Aspects of Mound Distribution in Minnesota.” Minnesota Archaeologist, 1984.

“Diversify Your Syllabus: Resources and Readings for Your Syllabus: Resources for Other Parts of Your Syllabus & Teaching.” University of Minnesota Libraries, https://libguides.umn.edu/c.php?g=961505&p=6943614. Accessed 16 May 2021.

El-Hai, Jack. Lost Minnesota: Stories of Vanished Places. University of Minnesota Press, 2000.

Folwell, William Watts and Minnesota Historical Society. A History of Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society, 1961.

Friesen, Joe. “As Indigenous Land Acknowledgments Become the Norm, Critics Question Whether the Gesture Has Lost Its Meaning.” The Globe and Mail, 26 June 2019, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-has-indigenous-land-acknowledgment-at-public-gatherings-become-an/.

Hanson, Cole. “Where the Sidewalk Ends: What Comes Next for Indian Mounds Park.” Streets.Mn, 10 Oct. 2019, https://streets.mn/2019/10/10/where-the-sidewalk-ends-what-comes-next-for-indian-mounds-park/.

Hung, Lucas. “Becoming An Active Agent of Reconciliation.” Native-Land.Ca, https://native-land.ca/becoming-an-agent-of-reconciliation/. Accessed 16 May 2021.

“IAS Land Acknowledgement | Institute for Advanced Study.” University of Minnesota, https://ias.umn.edu/about/ias-land-acknowledgement. Accessed 16 May 2021.

“Indian Mounds in Dayton’s Bluff: Native American Worship and Lore.” Daytonsbluff.Org, 16 Feb. 2005, https://web.archive.org/web/20050216142000/http://daytonsbluff.org/old/moundspark.html.

“Indian Mounds Regional Park.” Saint Paul, Minnesota, https://www.stpaul.gov/facilities/indian-mounds-regional-park. Accessed 16 May 2021.

Johnson, Elden. Hopewell Indian Mounds; Indian Mounds Park – St. Paul; Park Leaflet No. 3. The Science Museum of Minnesota, 1957, https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Parks%20%26%20Recreation/Indian%20Mounds%201957%20Handout.pdf.

“Kaposia.” Bdote Memory Map, http://bdotememorymap.org/point/kaposia/. Accessed 16 May 2021.

“Land Acknowledgement.” Toronto District School Board, https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Community/Indigenous-Education/Resources/Land-Acknowledgement. Accessed 16 May 2021.

“Land Acknowledgment: Native American and Indigenous Initiatives.” Northwestern University, https://www.northwestern.edu/native-american-and-indigenous-peoples/about/Land Acknowledgement.html. Accessed 16 May 2021.

Lewis, T. H. “Pre-Historic Remains at St. Paul.” American Antiquarian, vol. 18, no. 4, July 1896.

Martin, Frank Edgerton, et al. Valued Places: Landscape Architecture in Minnesota : A Field Guide to Minnesota’s Favorite Places and the People Who Shaped Them. Minnesota Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, 2001. Open WorldCat, http://books.google.com/books?id=vVklAQAAMAAJ.

McKay, Neil (Čhaŋtémaza), and Monica Siems McKay. “Where We Stand: The University of Minnesota and Dakhóta Treaty Lands.” Open Rivers, https://editions.lib.umn.edu/openrivers/article/where-we-stand/. Accessed 16 May 2021.

Melo, Frederick. “St. Paul’s Plan to Abandon an Indian Mounds Regional Park Trail Pits Neighbors against Tribes.” Pioneer Press, https://www.twincities.com/2019/07/18/st-pauls-plan-to-abandon-an-indian-mounds-regional-park-trail-pits-neighbors-against-tribes/. Accessed 16 May 2021.

“Minnesota Treaty Interactive.” The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, https://www.usdakotawar.org/history/treaties/minnesota-treaty-interactive. Accessed 16 May 2021.

Morse-Kahn, Deborah. A Guide to the Archaeology Parks of the Upper Midwest. Roberts Rinehart Publishers : Distributed by National Book Network, 2003.

“Native Land.” Native-Land.ca - Our Home on Native Land, https://native-land.ca/. Accessed 16 May 2021.

Nelson - St. Paul’s Indian Burial Mounds.Pdf. https://thefriends.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Indian-Mounds-St-Paul-Nelson.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2021.

Nelson, Paul. “Indian Mounds Park, St. Paul.” MNOpedia, https://www.mnopedia.org/place/indian-mounds-park-st-paul. Accessed 16 May 2021.

---. “St. Paul’s Indian Burial Mounds.” Staff Publications, Institute for Global Citizenship, May 2008, p. 15.

---. “St. Paul’s Indian Burial Mounds Are among the State’s Oldest Human-Made Structures.” MinnPost, 2 Aug. 2016, https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2016/08/st-paul-s-indian-burial-mounds-are-among-state-s-oldest-human-made-structures/.

“Our Land Acknowledgment Statement.” Native Governance Center, 14 May 2020, https://nativegov.org/our-land-acknowledgment-statement/.

Reese, Debbie. “Are You Planning to Do a Land Acknowledgement?” American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL), 9 Mar. 2019, https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2019/03/are-you-planning-to-do-land.html.

Sturdevant, Andy. “At Indian Mounds Park, the Sense of Continuity Is Striking.” MinnPost, 30 Jan. 2014, https://www.minnpost.com/stroll/2014/01/indian-mounds-park-sense-continuity-striking/.

“The On Being Project Is Located on Dakota Land.” The On Being Project, https://onbeing.org/land-acknowledgment/. Accessed 16 May 2021.

Trimble, Steve. “A Short History of Mounds Park.” Daytonsbluff.Org, 2 July 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20041229075103/http://www.daytonsbluff.org/old/AShortHistoryofMoundsPark.html.

---. “What Is Known About the Indian Mounds?” Saint Paul Historical, https://saintpaulhistorical.com/items/show/184. Accessed 16 May 2021.

White, Bruce. “Reflections on Sacred Places: Minnesota’s Disappearing Mounds.” Minnesotahistory.Net, 11 July 2005, http://www.minnesotahistory.net/MHNet18.htm.

Winchell, N. H., et al. 1906-1911 The Aborigines of Minnesota, A Report Based on the Collections of Jacob V. Brower, and on the Field Surveys and Notes of Alfred J. Hill and Theodore H. Lewis. Minnesota Historical Society, 1911. conservancy.umn.edu, http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/56589.

Wingerd, Mary Lethert, and Kirsten Delegard. North Country: The Making of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press, 2010.

[1] Native Land Digital, maps of Wahpekute and Očhéthi and Šakówin territory. https://native-land.ca/

[2] “A guide to Indigenous land acknowledgments,” Native Governance Center. https://nativegov.org/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment/

[3] Friesen, Joe, “As indigenous land acknowledgements become the norm, critics question whether the gesture has lost its meaning,”The Globe and Mail, Jun 26, 2019. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-has-indigenous-land-acknowledgment-at-public-gatherings-become-an/

[4] Ibid.

[5] “Are you planning to do a land acknowledgement,” American Indians in Children’s Literature, March 9, 2019. https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2019/03/are-you-planning-to-do-land.html

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