CRYSTAL, Minn. — On the banks of Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ — the Dakota name for Bassett Creek — there's a sense of place.
"Indigenous Peoples Day certainly is a day to recognize and honor the Indigenous people that live here, that have lived here, that have an ongoing interest in this place, but I also want those of you who are not Indigenous to see this as an opportunity for you to remake a connection and a commitment to these lands," said Darlene St. Clair (Dakota).
A crowd gathered at Bassett Creek Park in Crystal on Monday morning for the Second Annual Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ Water Blessing.
"We're on the banks of Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ... It runs from Medicine Lake all the way down to the Mississippi River and Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ is the creek that goes into Haha Wakpa, which is the river of the falls in Dakota," said John Crippen, Hennepin History Museum executive director.
Crippen went on to say about the water blessing, "It's part of several year project we've been doing. It started with oral histories of Indigenous voices in the suburbs and Hennepin History Museum was honored to bring those into our collection but we weren't content with just storing them away in our collection. So we worked on getting grants from St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board and others to do programming like this to bring those stories out and to do this history in a way that is meaningful to people in their communities. We're trying to connect people to their place and do it in interesting new ways."
The Ȟaȟa Wakpadaŋ / Bassett Creek Oral History Project came out of a Valley Community Presbyterian Church land acknowledgment. You can read more about the project and hear the interviews, here.
Roxanne Biidabinokwe Gould (Kitchiwikwendong Anishinaabe) is involved in efforts to restore the health of the watershed.
"The watershed isn't what it once was. It was once beautiful. All of this land we're standing on was all watershed," Gould said. "It's important that where we can, that we create these... recreate these places that will store water in times of drought. Right now we're facing drought even though we had an abundance of rain this summer because we have no wetlands to hold that water. We have no forests to hold that water in these times of drought. So we need to restore them."
But Gould addressed the crowd at Monday's ceremony, saying there are many things people can do to make a difference. For example, using rain barrels to capture and reuse water and ditching grass in the yard in favor of native plants.
For those still looking for ways to celebrate the Dakota people, land and traditions along Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ, The Loppet Foundation is holding the Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ Loopet Loppet on Saturday, Oct. 19.
According to the website, "The newly named Ȟaȟá Wakpádaŋ Loopet Loppet will maintain our marque 6-hour or 12-hour events from previous years and help you connect you with the earth in new ways. Come solo or as a team of four to run or walk as many 5-mile loops as possible."
The event runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.