I've always been fond of Upper Sioux Agency State Park near Granite Falls. but knowing the history of the area--particularly that surrounding the history of the 1862 United States-Dakota war--it's always made sense to me when folks call the park "Dakota Land."
This has grown clearer since moving a town within the historical bounds of the Lake Traverse Reservation, home of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. My romantic partner's extended family--Akipa, Crawfords, and Renvilles--lived near the Upper Agency at the time of the 1862 War. Whatever divisions existed among Dakota people during that conflict, he supports the Yellow Medicine Community's efforts to regain Dakota land.
HF2388, authored by Coon Rapids DFLer Zack Stephenson, is moving through the legislature to transfer the Upper Agency State Park to the Upper Sioux Community Pezihutazizi Oyate, or Yellow Medicine Community, which was first heard in the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee on Wednesday.
Here's the Minnesota House Information Services YouTube of the hearing of the bill. We were moved by Tribal Chairman Kevin Jensvold's testimony on the bill:
At the West Central Tribune, Linda Vanderwerf reported on the hearing in Land transfer to Upper Sioux Community clears first step in Minnesota Legislature:
Sacred, ancestral lands could be returned to the Upper Sioux Community under legislation heard Wednesday in a Minnesota Legislature committee. The transfer would close the Upper Sioux Agency State Park near Granite Falls.
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 at the State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday.
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 in the Granite Falls area and where to provide them.
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 for the 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.” . . .
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. . . .
Read the entire story at the Tribune.
The senate companion bill, SF3350, authored by New Brighton DFL Mary Kunesh, will be heard by the Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee at a future date.
Photo: A summer sun sets over the Minnesota River just upstream of the confluence with the Yellow Medicine River in the Upper Sioux Agency State Park. Bills recently introduced in the state Legislature call for transferring the park lands to the Upper Sioux Community. West Central Tribune file photo.
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