ST PAUL, Minn. — Along the Mississippi River, east of downtown, lies the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and Wakáŋ Tipi – a cave once engraved with Native stories going back thousands of years.
Dr. Kate Beane is board chair of Wakáŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi, a Native-led nonprofit formed to preserve and maintain the 27-acre landscape after railroad and other industrial developments nearly destroyed it.
Burial grounds are also next to the sanctuary, at Indian Mounds Regional Park, and Beane says peoples' remains likely spread to other plots during times of destruction.
"There are deep connections here spiritually, ceremonially for us as Dakota people," Beane said. "Neither Indian Mounds Park or Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary should actually be designated as parks."
But since 1952, the Pioneer Press has held a Treasure Hunt as part of the St. Paul Winter Carnival, and it involves hiding a medallion in a different park each year. This year, organizers chose the sanctuary.
"There's a history of grave robbing that have happened within Native cemeteries where our graves were robbed, and there was an issue with this same treasure hunt in the past, having a medallion placed at Indian Mounds Park where people were literally digging in the mounds," Beane said.
Beane says the nonprofit was alerted to this year's location after participants posted online, saying they were digging around the cave.
"Dakota people are not always consulted when we need to be," she said.
The Pioneer Press posted an article acknowledging the concern. Lori Swanson, a marketing consultant who directs the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt, told KARE 11 "the nature sanctuary will be off limits for future hunts, which is already the case for Indian Mounds park."
“We respect history, culture and everybody who cares about it, and we take concerns about the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt seriously,” Swanson said.
The Wakáŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi website also addresses what happened with a letter from executive director Maggie Lorenz.
"While we were disappointed that a local treasure hunt sent dozens of people to this sacred site to search for a medallion, we also know that as long as the site remains designated as a public park, people in the community will continue to treat it as such," she wrote. "The same can be said for Indian Mounds Regional Park. "
For years, the nonprofit has worked with the City of St. Paul as well as the four federally recognized Dakota tribes in Mni Šota Makoče to change the site's designation and add informational signage.
"Wakáŋ Tipi is currently fundraising to put a center called the Wakáŋ Tipi Center at the entrance to the park, and the hopes are … that the public will gain a better understanding of why this site is so significant for Native people," Beane said.
Construction is set to begin this spring. Donations can be made here.
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