And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 19:47:48 EST
>Subject: Mendota
>X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 205
>
>Hi folks,
>Thought you might find this letter interesting. It is by some people who live
>near the sites. I thought it would make a great press release! Pass it on!
>Peace,
>Diane
>
>
>Yesterday while walking the southern edge of Minnehaha Park we stopped and
>talked to 2 young people, hired to conduct an archeological study for MnDOT.
>They were digging and sifting dirt from holes dug approximately 1 and 2 feet
>deep. The study was commissioned because city and state officials expressed
>concern the proposed route of a new Highway 55 might disrupt artifacts of
>Native American people. Supposedly, if no artifacts are uncovered, then it
>would be justified to build the new highway on this route that veers blocks
>eastward from the present Highway 55 into the southern edge of Minnehaha
Park,
>at some points less than 50 yards from the banks of the Mississippi River.
>
>In 1888, one hundred years ago, in the same area, Horace Cleveland (a
designer
>of the Minneapolis Park System) gave a public address referring to the
>Minnehaha Falls area as a "most significant Native American landscape".
>
>In 1888 these "technology deprived" city officials didn't find it
necessary to
>dig a series of one foot holes and sift the dirt for signs of Native American
>artifacts to prove that Native American people lived along the great
>Mississippi River from Minnehaha Falls to Fort Snelling and beyond. Instead,
>these officials remembered these first Americans by giving Native American
>names, both fictional and real, to landmarks throughout the area, Nawadaha,
>Wenonah, Mondamin, Hiawatha, Nokomis, Minnehaha, et al.
>
>Opponents of this proposed highway route are being criticized because they
>didn't come forth some 25 years ago when the highway was being designed with
>notice to highway planners of the historical significance of the area
about to
>be desecrated by a major new highway. Bringing notice today is known as
>"discovery" or "new information". Many people today are certain if they (the
>highway planners) knew then what they know now, the highway would never have
>been proposed for this area.
>
> As these comments are written, the beginning of bulldozing for the new
>highway has not begun, leaving plenty of time for a moratorium to study this
>new information. Federal mediators will be meeting in February to study the
>proposed highway route. They will find that for nearly a half century the
>United States Department of the Interior erected miles of barb wire fences,
>locked gates and posted no trespassing signs that prohibited citizens from
>entering this area adjacent to the southern edge of Minnehaha Park.
>
>This area contains acres of oak savanna, some oak trees nearly 200 years old,
>sacred Native American ceremonial grounds and a mystical natural spring at
>Camp Coldwater. Only in the last few years did the United States government
>begin to dismantle the Bureau of Mines at this location. During this
time it
>was discovered the Minnesota Historical Society had erected a historical
>marker here, explaining the history of Camp Coldwater and the natural
springs.
>
>We now know that the soldiers and early settlers following the Mississippi
>River northward were dying of illnesses at the confluence of the Minnesota
and
>Mississpippi Rivers. The soldiers and settlers were led to the purifying and
>healing waters of this natural spring by the Mdewakanton Dakota people,
living
>in the area. After many months of drinking the pure water and gaining
>strength, the soldiers transported spring water to holding tanks by the river
>where they were building Fort Snelling.
>
>For their reward, the Mdewakanton's became known as "friendlies" and were
>spared the genocidal slaughter of many tribal peoples victimized by U.S.
>soldiers. Colonel Josiah Snelling uprooted the Mdewakanton tribe to the
>south, away from the area around Camp Coldwater and the springs. At their
new
>location, they became known as the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota.
>
>Today, federal mediators are meeting with the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota's
and
>studying their history and claims to the area at Camp Coldwater. Rather than
>study aerial photos and road construction charts, the mediators must go to
>Coldwater Springs, draw the sacred water and participate in ceremonial
worship
>at the four majestic oaks that were planted in the four directions and colors
>of mankind.
>
>Anyone experiencing a moonlit night or a sunrise at this area won't need
proof
>of the presence of artifacts and spirits at this Native American landscape.
>The Minnesota Historical Society has written proof of the sacred nature of
>this area in their written definition of Dakota words for The Dwelling Place
>of the Gods, "Ta -Ku Wa-Kan Ti- Pi", The Beginning of the World, and The
Abode
>of Un-Kte-Hi, the God of Waters, all sites near Coldwater Springs.
>
>It would be unnecessary to dig for artifacts near a 180 year old cathedral
>constructed for Christian worship or to question the spiritual presence in
the
>sanctuary of such a church. And, it is unnecessary to dig for artifacts or
>question the spiritual presence at the ceremonial circle protected by the
four
>ancient oaks used for worship by Native Americans and sustained in Minnesota
>Historical Society books and stories passed on by the elders of the Mendota
>Mdewakanton Dakotas.
>
>Reflect for the moment and visualize what we have within the boundaries of a
>large city in a major metropolitan area in America; walking paths and access
>to one of the greatest rivers on earth with its accompanying falls, sacred
>springs and creeks. Known worldwide as the Mississippi River and the
>Minnehaha Falls area, we have all this within and adjacent to our city's
>border.
>
>Today, we have an opportunity to turn away from the "idolization" of run-away
>technology and preserve this area of "significant Native American landscape"
>for future generations. Even if artifacts are not uncovered near these
sacred
>sites, Highway 55 should be rebuilt on the old Highway 55 route and this
area
>spared.
>
>In the further words of Horace Cleveland in 1888, "If we fail to secure these
>natural features and suffer them to be destroyed, no power on earth can
>restore them and instead of being the chief feature of attractive interest,
>they will simply become a scene of hideous desolation, a blot that can
neither
>be erased or kept out of site." Now 100 years later, rather than expand the
>old roadway, we are about to bury this historic Native American treasure
under
>tons and tons of concrete. This crime of epic proportions, against the
>environment and against the spirit, would be irreversible for all time.
>
>Rather than allowing these ceremonial lands and the natural spring at Camp
>Coldwater to be used for a highway and a parking lot, let the Mendota
>Mdewakanton Dakota return to their homeland and use the former Bureau of
Mines
>and the Oak Savanna area as a learning center for all who want to reestablish
>a respect for the earth and water our Creator has given to us.
>
>
>The Mdewakanton are willing to share their wisdom and sacred beliefs, are we
>willing to listen and learn?
>
>Jerry and Bonnie Brown, Lifelong residents of South Minneapolis
>
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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