HF 712

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             relating to government operations; memorializing the 
  1.3             State Historical Society, the State Archaeologists, 
  1.4             the Council of Indian Affairs, and the Minnesota State 
  1.5             Historical Preservation Office to protect and preserve 
  1.6             the traditional cultural properties of the Mendota 
  1.7             Mdewakanton Dakota Community. 
  1.8      
  1.9      WHEREAS, the traditional cultural properties of the Mendota 
  1.10  Mdewakanton Dakota Community are currently being threatened by 
  1.11  the rerouting of Highway 55; and 
  1.12     WHEREAS, the traditional cultural properties include, but 
  1.13  are not limited to, the four marker trees, oak savanna, 
  1.14  Coldwater Springs, natural medicinal plants, and traditional 
  1.15  ceremonial activity sites; and 
  1.16     WHEREAS, under state and federal law these traditional 
  1.17  cultural properties and resources are entitled to 
  1.18  identification, documentation, preservation, and protection by 
  1.19  the State Historic Preservation Officer, the Minnesota Indian 
  1.20  Affairs Council, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and 
  1.21  other related state and federal agencies; and 
  1.22     WHEREAS, the Coldwater Spring area is one of the last known 
  1.23  undivided and undeveloped areas that is historically significant 
  1.24  as an ancient Native American village and cultural trading 
  1.25  center of the Iowa, Kickapoo, Potowatomie, Winnebago, Sauk and 
  1.26  Fox, and Mesquakie, because of its location near the confluence 
  2.1   of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers which served as an 
  2.2   original intercontinental "highway" carrying trade from the 
  2.3   native North American Indian nations to South American Indian 
  2.4   nations for thousands of years; and 
  2.5      WHEREAS, the Coldwater Spring area was used specifically to 
  2.6   give ailing United States soldiers access to fresh spring water 
  2.7   in order to recover from life-threatening illnesses; and 
  2.8      WHEREAS, Coldwater Spring is one of the last remaining 
  2.9   freshwater springs in Minneapolis that is fed by a fragile 
  2.10  limestone groundwater system that will be negatively impacted by 
  2.11  the current Highway 55 construction plans, as were two other 
  2.12  major freshwater springs in Minneapolis in the last 30 years, 
  2.13  and is the only place our native people can go to get sacred 
  2.14  spring water essential for ceremonies and should be protected as 
  2.15  a matter of freedom of religion; and 
  2.16     WHEREAS, the Coldwater Spring area is the ancestral home to 
  2.17  the Mendota native people who were considered "the friendlies" 
  2.18  and who, despite the fact that they saved the lives of many 
  2.19  white settlers during the uprising that preceded the internment, 
  2.20  starvation, and death of hundreds of Dakota people at the Ft. 
  2.21  Snelling site, were then denied their homeland and were 
  2.22  consigned to live instead in an area set aside by Colonel Henry 
  2.23  Sibley in the town of Mendota; and 
  2.24     WHEREAS, the Coldwater Spring area is an ancestral home to 
  2.25  the Sauk and Fox, Iowa, Kickapoo, Potowatomie, Winnebago, and 
  2.26  Mesquakie Native American people who have traditional cultural 
  2.27  properties entitled to protection at the site; and 
  2.28     WHEREAS, on October 15, 1998, the National Congress of 
  2.29  American Indians, the largest nationwide American Indian 
  2.30  organization of federally recognized tribes, unanimously voted 
  2.31  to support Mendota Mdewakanton Peoples' efforts to protect this 
  2.32  area; and 
  2.33     WHEREAS, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has not 
  2.34  met with official federal mediators as offered by the Department 
  2.35  of Justice, Office of Tribal Justice and specifically initiated 
  2.36  by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno before the Coldwater Springs 
  3.1   encampment was raided by 600 law enforcement officers in the 
  3.2   early morning hours of December 20, 1998, resulting in the 
  3.3   arrest of 38 people, destruction of a Native American sweat 
  3.4   lodge, ceremonial tipis and other religious objects, and the 
  3.5   bulldozing of the remaining residential houses; and 
  3.6      WHEREAS, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has not 
  3.7   performed the mandated archaeological survey, assessments, and 
  3.8   evaluation of historical and cultural significance and potential 
  3.9   impact of the proposed reroute on Camp Coldwater Spring and the 
  3.10  stand of oak trees as requested by the Minnesota Historical 
  3.11  Society in March 1998 and as required by federal law; NOW, 
  3.12  THEREFORE, 
  3.13     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  3.14  that the State Historical Society, the State Archaeologists, the 
  3.15  Council of Indian Affairs, and the Minnesota State Historical 
  3.16  Preservation Office are directed to carry out their duties and 
  3.17  responsibilities to protect the Native American traditional 
  3.18  cultural properties in the Coldwater Springs area as defined and 
  3.19  protected by federal and state law, thereby preventing any 
  3.20  further damage to the site. 
  3.21     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that mediation to resolve the 
  3.22  disputed issues begin immediately utilizing professional 
  3.23  mediation services including those offered by the Department of 
  3.24  Justice, Community Relations Service. 
  3.25     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Minnesota State Legislature 
  3.26  clarify its laws on the protection of Indian traditional 
  3.27  cultural properties and other religious freedom protections to 
  3.28  conform to federal laws. 
  3.29     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of 
  3.30  Minnesota shall transmit copies of this memorial to the State 
  3.31  Historical Society, the State Archaeologists, and the Minnesota 
  3.32  State Historical Preservation Office.