Who gets to decide if a city can use Dakota to name a park?

When the city of Woodbury this summer chose names for four new city parks, it did so after a lengthy search including a consultant's effort to consider names in the Dakota language.

The consultant dove into arcane city policies on naming, studied name changes elsewhere, and interviewed Dakota people before coming back with an answer: use English. The parks in question don't have strong Dakota connections and tribe members queried by the consultant didn't reach consensus on having meaningful Dakota names, the consultant said.

Woodbury Mayor Anne Burt said she was surprised by the advice. So, too, it turns out, were tribal officials.

"It's a little disappointing," said Franky Jackson, the tribal historic preservation compliance officer with the Prairie Island Community. "It's hard to believe the [consultant] would hand down that recommendation."

The surprise result came as cities across Minnesota have shown a renewed willingness to consider Dakota names, an exercise that in some cases has required confronting difficult questions about legacy, genocide, power and rights. In just the past few months, a St. Paul nonprofit has renamed itself in Dakota, and the city of Mankato chose a Dakota name for a city park. The Minneapolis park board is considering one of five possible Dakota names for a park named for Henry Sibley, the state's first governor, who established an 1862 military commission that sentenced 303 Dakota men to death.

Woodbury was cautious in its renaming process, Burt said, and didn't want to simply ask one Dakota language expert or just choose a Dakota word.

"We decided to do this right," said Burt.

The city's name search began two years ago, around the same time Burt read about the diminishing number of Dakota-language speakers. She wondered: could Dakota be appropriate for a new city park?

Woodbury parks staff soon found there's little agreement about the best way to do it or, crucially, who has the authority to choose a Dakota name.

So they hired the 106 Group, a St. Paul-based cultural consultant, under an up-to $15,000 contract that said it would help the city consider Dakota names for five parks: four new and one expected in the future.

The consultant's findings, first shared in April, said none of the parks had existing Dakota names or specific Dakota associations. The city could honor Dakota customs even with English names, the report said, if it named parks for distinguishing features or for what takes place there, the way Dakota do. Moreover, the report said, several existing Woodbury parks such as Cree Park and Shawnee Park may need to be reconsidered, since those tribes have little connection to the area.

"The answers that came back from them were really quite surprising," said Burt.

The City Council in late June followed the consultant's recommendations, choosing four English names. Two parks were named for their developments, Arbor Ridge and Copper Hills; a third was named Conifer Glen; a fourth, Discovery.

"You don't know where you're going to end up when you begin," said Regine Kennedy, the 106 Group planning and engagement manager. "It is a process of active listening and really hearing what the people we talked with are really saying. But also listening to what's not being said."

The consultants interviewed tribal historic preservation officers or others at three of the four federally recognized tribes in Minnesota, while efforts to reach a fourth, the Caŋ ŝa yapi or Lower Sioux Indian Community, were unsuccessful.

Naming a Woodbury park in Dakota makes sense "because this area is historically traditional Dakota homeland," said Leonard Wabasha, director of cultural resources at the Bdemayaṭo Oyate or Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, according to a 106 Group memo.

Kennedy said no consensus emerged among tribal officials about using Dakota, however, so none of the suggested names were recommended.

Tribal members contacted by Woodbury's consultants said that result — and the explanation for it— didn't reflect their wishes, or the full breadth of the feedback they'd shared with the 106 Group.

Samantha Odegard, the tribal historic preservation officer of the Pezihutazizi Oyate or Upper Sioux Community, said she wasn't trying to be critical of the group's process, but each of the Dakota sources were consulted individually, making consensus difficult to reach. Even then, said Odegard, "not all Native people agree on the idea of everything in our language."

Odegard is identified as a tribal leader in the 106 Group report, but she said that's not entirely accurate; her job is public facing and has many duties, so she takes lots of phone calls.

"I'm not a spokesperson for all Dakota people," she said.

Odegard told the 106 Group that she preferred no use of Dakota unless a place already had a Dakota name. English could be used if Dakota naming practices were followed, she said.

She also recommended the city look at existing park names before choosing Dakota ones: six parks are named for tribes with little connection to the area, four are named for the land dispossession and erasure of the Dakota people (like Pioneer Drive) and one, Odawa Park, may be a misspelling of a Dakota word meaning "song."

Odegard, who works more than two hours west of Woodbury, encouraged cities that want to use the Dakota language to talk to the Indigenous people who live nearby.

"There are Native people who have lived in that area their whole life," she said.

Although Odegard didn't suggest specific names for Woodbury parks, other Dakota officials did. Joey Taylor, the tribal construction monitor for the Tinta Wita or Prairie Island Indian Community, forwarded eight Dakota words, according to a 106 Group memo; three were included in the council report.

Taylor said the city should name a new park east of Settlers Ridge Parkway as "Mdewakantunwan," since those people have lived here since before settlers arrived. The city instead chose Conifer Glen; the name describes the land and thus follows Dakota customs, said Burt.

Taylor also suggested using a Dakota translation for Copper Hills park, or "He Maza Sa." Wabasha offered something similar, "Paha Mazasa," but neither name was used.

On that specific park, the 106 Group said it came down to history and context: "Copper Hills has no cultural meaning for Dakota people," said Kennedy. The name refers to the housing development that surrounds the park.

Despite Woodbury's decision on the names, Dakota tribal members said they didn't want to criticize the 106 Group, which they said has done a lot of good work. Jackson said he didn't want "to throw shade" on the organization. Odegard made similar remarks, saying she felt like a door had opened in Woodbury.

The 106 Group report said Woodbury should put naming into a larger effort to acknowledge local Dakota history, cultivate relationships with tribes, and support Dakota people who live there.

Mayor Burt sees more opportunities ahead. A piece of land near Battle Creek Lake will likely be developed with a park, she said, and will need a name.

Jackson said cities that want to use Dakota should talk to their nearest tribe. Just call and tell the tribe what you're trying to do, he said. And then find the Dakota still living nearby, people who know the city.

"There are still Dakota who live in Woodbury who go back and pay homage to these landscapes and features within Woodbury," he said. "We ain't a thing of the past."