- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Real Estate
The city of Minneapolis plans to transfer 5 acres of federal land near the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock-and-Dam to Dakota-led Owámniyomni Okhódayapi, a nonprofit organization aiming to utilize the land for a community gathering space.
The transfer will be completed in 2026, at which point Owámniyomni Okhódayapi will plant Indigenous vegetation and restore water flow to the area, according to a press release from the city. Owámniyomni Okhódayapi president Shelley Buck said she was “grateful” to the city for its role in offering the nonprofit — and eventually the Dakota of Minnesota tribes — stewardship of the land itself.
“Owámniyomni is not only a place sacred to the Dakota—it is a place of shared importance to all who call this land home,” Buck said in a statement. “Our vision for the land at Owámniyomni is to create a place of healing, beauty and belonging that is open to everyone—while reclaiming Dakota stewardship of this land, restoring native plantings and uplifting traditional practices in caring for our natural relatives.”
Efforts to transfer management of the site began in 2015, when the Upper Lock was closed to maritime traffic to halt the spread of invasive carp, per the city’s press release. In 2020, Congress passed legislation ordering the transfer of the site from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the City of Minneapolis or its designee.
The designee ultimately chosen was Owámniyomni Okhódayapi, formerly Friends of the River, which began planning to open a gathering space by 2028. Under the terms of the transfer, Owámniyomni Okhódayapi has signed a 25-year lease for the land from USACE.
“This is a significant and exciting time in the City of Minneapolis,” said Council Member Michael Rainville (Ward 3) in a statement. “The upcoming land transfer of this site to a Dakota-led organization is a way for our city to lead in the process of truth and reconciliation with Indigenous people.”
