A comparison of the current state of the 5-acre piece of land of the St. Anthony Falls (Owámniyomni) above and a rendering below of what the nonprofit Owámniyomni Okhódayapi plans to do with the area. (Provided)
On November 17, Dakota-led nonprofit Owámniyomni Okhódayapi (formerly Friends of the Falls) announced plans to restore a five-acre site at St. Anthony Falls (Owámniyomni) as well as a three-acre site managed by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.
The region surrounds the Upper Lock of the Mississippi River. Shelley Buck, president of Owámniyomni Okhódayapi and an enrolled member of the Prairie Island Indian Community, said in an interview earlier this year that the land is a “sacred space of the Dakota People.”
“It was a place where our people would come and give offerings, have ceremony,” she continued. “It was a peaceful place for people to come and do trade. Just down from here, it was an island called Spirit Island. It’s a safe island where some of our Dakota women would come and give birth.”
Spirit Island (Wíta Wanáǧi) was lost during the construction of the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam. “It is a place where the physical and spiritual worlds blend,” Owámniyomni Okhódayapi writes on its website.
In 2020, Congress ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to turn ownership of the Falls site over to the city of Minneapolis. The city then chose Owámniyomni Okhódayapi to manage the site. The federal land transfer is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 — a kind of land transaction that leadership have described as “rare.”
Ward 3 Council Member Michael Rainville called the transfer “a way for our city to lead in the process of truth and reconciliation with Indigenous people.”
Ecological and geological changes
In a press release announcing the eight-acre redesign, Owámniyomni Okhódayapi highlighted a range of plans, including “restoration of the river bluff that evokes the site’s natural limestone formations,” “reintroduction of Native plant species… using seeds and soils sourced from Dakota Tribal lands in Minnesota” and the “re-creation of a 25-foot water cascade over the original escarpment and addition of access points for visitors to physically connect with the river.” An escarpment is a steep slope or cliff that forms from erosion.
Work will also include ecological restoration of the riverfront, with a particular emphasis on “supporting migratory birds, fish and wildlife” as well as focus on accessible pedestrian pathing.
Mayor Jacob Frey described the work as a “milestone,” saying it “marks real progress on a historic project years in the making — transforming our riverfront into a space that honors the Dakota people and welcomes everyone to connect and learn… Right here by the Stone Arch Bridge, we’re celebrating the water, the people, and the relationships that define our city. The City of Minneapolis is proud to work alongside Owámniyomni Okhódayapi to make this vision real.”
In addition to the ecological restoration, various industrial elements, such as the second level of a former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers visitor center building and the Upper Lock parking lot, will be removed from the site.
Al Bangoura, Superintendent of the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, wrote that the project “tells a more complete story of this riverfront — one that honors Dakota history and deepens our collective understanding of this sacred place. This is not just about visiting a park, but about building a more holistic relationship with the land and water.”
Renderings of the project show an expanded ecological presence on the site, with new plantings and pathways snaking around existing infrastructure.
In a press release, Buck said that “by centering Dakota voices, we’ve developed a design that emphasizes interconnectedness — uplifting the intrinsic relationship between land, water and other relatives — while restoring habitat and creating a welcoming space that will benefit community for generations to come.”