HF 1478

as introduced - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 03/11/2013 02:57pm

A resolution
memorializing the United States Secretary of Interior to designate the Coldwater
Springs area as a traditional cultural property.

WHEREAS, Coldwater Springs is a 10,000 year old spring located halfway between the
confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and Minnehaha Falls, atop of the Mississippi
Gorge, the only true river gorge on the Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, the Coldwater Springs area is historically significant as a Native American
ceremonial site and cultural trading center of the Dakota, Ojibwe, Sauk and Fox, and Iowa peoples
because of its location above the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, which
served as an original intercontinental "highway" carrying trade from the native North American
Indian nations to South American Indian nations for thousands of years; and

WHEREAS, traditional cultural properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places
are entitled to identification, documentation, preservation, and protection by the United States
Secretary of the Interior through the National Park Service, the State Historic Preservation Office,
the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and other related state and federal agencies; and

WHEREAS, Coldwater Springs is considered the last remaining major natural freshwater
spring in Hennepin County still flowing at 90,000 gallons per day, is the traditional place native
people can go to collect sacred spring water essential for ceremonies, and should be protected as a
matter of freedom of religion; and

WHEREAS, Coldwater Springs furnished water to Fort Snelling from 1820 to 1900 where
Dred Scott was stationed and where he met and married his wife Harriet, and Dred Scott based his
case for freedom from slavery in part on his residency in the "free Wisconsin territory"; and

WHEREAS, the Coldwater Springs area was used specifically to give ailing United States
soldiers access to fresh spring water in order to recover from life-threatening illnesses; and

WHEREAS, the Coldwater Springs area presents an incredible educational opportunity
for native and other children to learn about the extraordinary human and geological history
of the area; and

WHEREAS, the Coldwater Springs area is a historic gathering place for the Upper
Mississippi Dakota, Ojibwe, Winnebago, Sauk and Fox, and Iowa peoples who have traditional
cultural properties entitled to protection at the site; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the Secretary
of Interior, through the National Park Service, to list Coldwater Springs on the National Register
of Historic Places and designate it as a traditional cultural property.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of
the United States House of Representatives, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior,
and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.