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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 03/18/2024APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2024 7:00 P.M. Meeting Heritage Rooms, City Hall HPC COMMISSION MEMBERS: Steve Schumacher (Chair); Paul Thorp (Vice-Chair); Rod Fisher; George Maxwell; Robert Bowes; Andy Ludowese; Catherine Lau STUDENT MEMBERS: Abha Gupta, Abhinov Koutharapu, Amuktha Pothamsetti, Berit Berggren, Nikhill Andrew, Owen Caruth, Sasha Allen COMMISSION STAFF: Beth Novak-Krebs, Staff Liaison Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Rod Fisher called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Absent was commission members Schumacher and Thorp and student representatives Gupta, Koutharapu, Allen, Andrew, Berggren, and Caruth. Peter DeCarlo (guest speaker), Ron Case (Mayor), and Kathie Case, Tom Achartz, Robert Prince, and Devyn Stanton from the Historical Society joined the meeting II. READING OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT Student member Pothamsetti read the land acknowledgement statement. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Maxwell moved to approve the agenda , seconded by Lau to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Maxwell moved, seconded by Bowes to approve the minutes of the February 26, 2024 meeting. Motion carried 5-0. EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION March 18, 2024 Page 2 V. NEW BUSINESS A. A PRESENTATION BY PETER DECARLO RGARDING PROPOSAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE INDIGENOUS HISTORY OF EDEN PRAIRIE Fisher introduced Peter DeCarlo who is a Historian and Content Creator with the Minnesota Historical Society. Fisher explained that, he and Bowes, had contacted Peter about doing a study of the indigenous history of Eden Prairie similar to the study Peter prepared for the City of Bloomington. Each attendee introduced themselves. Peter introduced himself and gave a summary of his background. I have been with the Historical Society for over 10 years. I have worked in all different areas. I worked at some of the State’s historical sites and gave interpretive tours, in the press department, and on plans to reinterpret Fort Snelling. I wrote the book entitled Fort Snelling at Bdote: A Brief History, and I have worked with the Dakota people. This is my professional background. DeCarlo continued to say I am in the research department now. I do research that supports all of our program’s content from the website, interpretive programs, and publications. My job is to make sure it is based on rigorous research, historical methods and accuracy. We have to make sure we can trace the content back to a footnote and the source. I have worked with 11 recognized tribes in the state and community members. I always do work outside of my 9 to 5 job so I have my own voice as a historian and I can build relationships. Fisher asked who initiated the work you have done with the tribes. DeCarlo said much of it was initiated by the work we did on reinterpreting some of our historic sites and made a change of narrative there. Kathie Case stated that Sheldon Wolfchild is a friend of ours and he is an elder in Morton MN. Do you work right with the Native Americans? DeCarlo stated we are fortunate that we have a department at the State called Native American Initiatives that is staffed by Native American scholars, community members and other professional staff that reviews work done by others. I do know Sheldon. Fisher asked DeCarlo if he thought reading the Land Acknowledgement Statement was the right thing to do. DeCarlo stated that land acknowledgement statements are good and it is a positive step. He said its more about the movement. What are you going to do about it? The activist’s recent movement is called the Land Back Movement and they are pushing for real formative change. The Commission can do what is comfortable for you. EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION March 18, 2024 Page 3 Fisher said this discussion is intended to be a round table discussion and we have the proposal in hand. Peter do you want to give a brief discussion of your proposal? DeCarlo said he will provide a 75 page report based on rigorous research, historical methods and accuracy. It will be fully cited and footnoted. I strive to provide an academic level report. Fisher passed around the Bloomington Study. Once I read the Bloomington Study, I thought it would be a great to have a similar document for Eden Prairie. I brought the idea to the HPC and we developed a list of things we wanted covered. DeCarlo discussed the study he did for Bloomington. The study was initiated by Bloomington’s Placemaking Commission, the geographic boundary was the South Loop, I wrote the plan and presented the plan to Bloomington with Kate Beane. Dr. Beane (Flandreau Santee Sioux Dakota and Muscogee Creek) holds a PhD in American Studies, is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and serves as adjunct faculty in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. Achartz said he has three concerns about the proposal: 1) who owns the narrative? What right do we have to share their story (hard to own their story with the indigenous people), 2) 20 hours does not seem like enough time and 3) will your research be ground breaking and will there be anything new in your research? DeCarlo responded by saying I view myself as a person that had interpreted the history of the indigenous people for a long time beside them and it is a partnership. For projects like this, it’s about education. If the indigenous people know I have done my research, I gain respect. My role is as a historian. I go in the archive. I have been working with Dakota people for a long time. I look at history academically. I will not speak for them. I stick closely to archival work. DeCarlo said the 20 hours directly relates to coordinating a peer review and editing not the whole project. I could reach out to someone. DeCarlo said I know you have a lot of information already. I can bring a unique perspective and I will be humble in our partnership. I will bring the indigenous narrative forward. I may bring a different interpretation to the information. Kathi Case said when I first looked at this, I thought I already know all of this, but two years ago we had a revelation with the Red Rock. Betty Curle Baxter had something her father wrote up about the Red Rock. Something new came out through that research that was valuable. We also see someone write something in a history book that they heard from someone and it may or may not be true. I learned a lot from reading Old Rail Fence Corners. When I first heard of this project, I thought it is going to be more work for me to find all of this information for you. The good news is that we have a lot of this information. As I understand, you are try to gather information from many sources. There EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION March 18, 2024 Page 4 are still some Native Americans here in Eden Prairie that you could interview. Some of them are in their 90’s and I can put you in touch with them. Fisher commented that the idea is to gather all of the information and put it in one place. Kathie Case said I would rather see it as a book. Based on the information we gathered two years ago, we returned the Red Rock back to the Lower Sioux. It was a positive. Fisher stated that we are not making a decision on this soon. We are hoping to apply for grant funds and that may take awhile. Kathie Case asked DeCarlo if he has seen the most recent book by Paul Maravelas about the trail to Minnetonka. It does touch on some of this and there are first hand accounts of the battle. It’s another source. There’s not much written about this but Pioneer Trail was the trail of tears. The early settlers saw many people die on the trail. Fisher asked where would we find something written about the trail of tears. Kathie case responded that there’s a little written in Old Rail Fence Corners. Fisher asked if the historical society is planning any updates of the First 100-years book. Kathie Case responded that they are not but they are planning a kiosk about the Red Rock. They plan to put it in Red Rock Park. It is important to talk about how it was returned to the Native Americans. Achartz said this is just a comment. In addition to the academic report, the Commission should engage with the Mdewakanton Sioux and have conversations. Fishers said we have approached the Mdewakanton Sioux twice. The relationship is tense. We have a lot of work to do. Bloomington created art to represent that history. They had to show they were serious. It was a step in the right direction. Kathie Case asked is it a step in the right direction for Native Americans or white people? What do you, the HPC, really want out of this project? What is the number 1 thing you want to come from this project? Fisher answered that it is not just one thing. You have to show us something we can interpret as linear history from the white man’s perspective of owning the land and then tell the story about how the Native American respected the land. Kathie Case said I wonder if I was Native American, and my land was taken away, my people died, my people starved, etc. what would a piece of art mean to me. I am trying to think about how I would feel if I was a Native American and people are writing all of this down from a white person’s perspective. EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION March 18, 2024 Page 5 Fisher said this is an improvement over what kids are learning today. Bowes said it is a sensitive topic. The Bloomington Study opens doors. Fisher said Peter and Dr. Kate Beane presented the Bloomington Study and Kate gave her perspective as a Dakota. She is related to Seth Eastman. He was an artist and served in the US Army as a map maker and illustrator. He has two tours at Fort Snelling. Kathie Case said I know you are trying to do good and gather facts. DeCarlo stated that Bloomington built partnerships with the tribes through the commissioning of works of art. They also had relation ships with Native Americans that lived in Bloomington. The Mdewakanton Sioux don’t always show up to the table. There are urban Native American communities around here to work with. Mayor Ron Case cautioned the group not to become too focused on the band at the Mystic Lake Casino. Don’t lean on this small group to get acceptance for this project. There are other Native Americans in the community. We are the keepers of the Eden Prairie story. We can tell objective stories of all humans that have lived here. We can tell the story but we don’t want to tell their cultural story. We can tell the story of all the humans that lived here. It’s exciting to pull it all together. Fisher said we should involve residents in this effort. Achartz said there were 60-70 Native Americans in Eden Prairie in the 1890’s and it would be interesting to track down the Otherday family. Maxwell stated that topic #3 is about archeologic evidence of human habitation. There are many mounds along the bluffs. DeCarlo said he has access to many reports on the mounds. I would look at the earliest archeological evidence. Lau said an effort like this goes a long way toward preserving our heritage. This will be a great resource. Kathie Case stated that the report should be more like a book. DeCarlo said he uses side bars to describe terms. I also explore the environmental history and what settlement has done to the environment. Kathie Case asked can you explore the flora of Eden Prairie. The Native Americans relied on it. EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION March 18, 2024 Page 6 Fisher thanked Peter DeCarlo for coming to the meeting and said it was a great conversation. VI. OLD BUSINESS VII. REPORTS OF SUBCOMMITTEES A. NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY OUTREACH B. NEW HERITAGE PRESERVATION SITE DESIGNATIONS C. RENOVATION/MAINTENANCE DEVELOPMENT D. DOCUMENTATION/HISTORICAL RECORDINGS/OUTREACH VIII. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF IX.. REPORTS OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY Kathie Case said we are having a prom. The following events are coming up: • The parade would be held April 27 and Historical Society members would be dressed in 1950s costumes. • May 17 was the family event, and May 18 was the Citywide Prom (over 21 only). • April 4 was the Historical Society’s annual meeting with Carol Kissner presenting on genealogy and cemeteries. • The Vintage Sale would be held May 10 and 11 at the Cummins Phipps Grill House. Bob Prince added that he is making benches out of plastic bags. Please bring your plastics bags to a drop off area. X. FYI ITEMS Fisher shared a book with the group entitled North Country: The Making of Minnesota by Mary Lethert Wingerd XI NEXT MEETING The next HPC meeting will be held on Monday, April 15, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room. XII. ADJOURNMENT EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION March 18, 2024 Page 7 MOTION: Bowes moved, seconded by Maxwell to adjourn. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.