MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has the ability to change the name of Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska.
The court said the name change is not affected by a statute that prohibits a county board from changing a lake name “which has existed for 40 years.”
The Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources has the authority to change the name of the lake, the court said.
The decision came down to the interpretation of the statute.
How we got here:
September 2015: The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board decides to give the lake a second name rather than officially change the name
May 2017: Park board votes to change the name of Lake Calhoun completely
November 2017: Hennepin County Board of Commissioners approves Lake Calhoun name change
January 2018: DNR commissioner orders lake's name to revert to its original Dakota name.
June 2018: Federal government signs off on the name change
April 2019: Court of Appeals rules that the DNR lacked authority to change the name of the lake
May 2019: The DNR announces they'll appeal the Court of Appeals decision
November 2019: The MN Supreme Court hears arguments in the case
The DNR released the following statement:
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is pleased that the Minnesota Supreme Court has concluded that we acted within our statutory authority in renaming Lake Calhoun as Bde Maka Ska.
The Court affirmed the DNR’s long-standing exercise of its authority to work with local governments on the renaming of waterbodies and other geographic features. We welcome this decision, as it is important that the state and local governments be able to work together to address confusing, unsettled, or derogatory names.
In this instance, the Hennepin County Board fully considered a wide range of public input and made a reasonable determination.
The DNR’s job was to evaluate whether the Board followed procedural requirements and whether Bde Maka Ska met state naming conventions. We concluded “yes” on both counts and approved the renaming. With today’s decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court, “under Minnesota law, the body of water that was Lake Calhoun is now Bde Maka Ska.”
