In a July post, Welcome to Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote, or maybe not under Christian right's Project Blitz, we wrote about the politics behind Minnesota Senate Republican threats to cut funding for the Minnesota State Historical Society.
Earlier this month, the Minnesota Historical Society seeks name to tell Historic Fort Snelling's entire story, Forum News Service's Shelby Lindrud reported:
Opinions differ on whether a new name is in order for the site where Fort Snelling is located, but those who attended public meetings seem to agree on one important issue: The Historic Fort Snelling site has a long, complicated and impactful history ranging from the experiences of the Dakota people and Dred Scott to the World War II language school and the fort's military past.
"The biggest surprise is, no matter their position on the name, almost everyone has said we need to tell all these stories," said Kevin Maijala, deputy director of learning initiatives at the Minnesota Historical Society. "People understand we are better when we tell all these stories."
The last of the public meetings on a potential name change was Oct. 17 at the Redwood Area Community Center in Redwood Falls. A Minnesota Historical Society survey on the topic remains open until Nov. 15. A report will be compiled for the society's governing board, which will consider whether to recommend a change, keep the name the same or seek more information. If a new name is recommended, it must go to the state Legislature for approval.
The potential name change is just one part of the larger, $34.5 million revitalization project the Historical Society is undertaking at the 23-acre historic site in St. Paul. This includes a new visitors center and natural landscaping including trails and gathering places. The project to be completed in 2022 will also expand the history that is taught at the site visited by thousands each year. . . .
Here on the Lake Traverse Reservation, we think of that history when we hear stories about members of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (Dakota) who were detained in the concentration camp at the fort after the 1862 United States-Dakota War.
A group of Minnesota Houses members have signed a letter supporting for restoring “Bdote” to Fort Snelling’s name. From a DFL House press release:
Today, Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein (DFL-New Brighton) sent a letter co-signed by 43 other DFL state legislators to the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) in support of restoring the Dakota word “Bdote” to identify Historic Fort Snelling. Many Dakota people recognize Fort Snelling’s location as a place of origin for their people.
“All Minnesotans deserve to have their history, language, and culture recognized,” said Rep. Kunesh-Podein, a descendant of the Standing Rock Lakota tribe. “The Historical Society’s efforts to identify sacred tribal land as ‘Bdote’ acknowledges the full history of the place we call Fort Snelling.”
Through November 15, MNHS is holding statewide hearings to seek public input on the name change. After the MNHS board of directors considers the information, they will make a recommendation to the state legislature, which has to approve the final name change.
Here's the letter:
Letter to the Minnesota Historical Society uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Here in South Dakota, the Native Sun News Today reported last week that our state representative Tamara St. John, R-Sisseton, gave a talk at Rapid City's Journey Museum on the Aftermath of the Dakota War 1862. St. John heads the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO).
Photo: The Minnesota State Historical Society signage that supposedly prompted a proposed budget cut; a June ReWire article suggests another MSHS action prompted the proposed budget cut. Via the Pioneer Press.
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