Owámniyomni Okhódayapi

Owámniyomni Okhódayapi, a Dakota-led non-profit  is creating a future where Dakota culture has a vital presence and Dakota values – such as mni wičóni, or water is life – are embedded into our communal existence. They are currently working to transform five acres of land at Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis on maps) into a place of restoration, education, healing and connection.

Learn more about Owamniyomni Okhodayapi at this link.  

Credit: G.Sabel, Oct 7, 2020, when the river level was low and you could walk on the river bottom

The Project:
The Upper Lock and the land around it is currently owned by the federal government via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Upper Lock was constructed in 1959 to allow commercial barges to navigate over the Falls, upriver to Upper Harbor Terminal. The Lock closed to commercial navigation in 2015 to halt the upriver spread of invasive carp. For more than 60 years, this iconic site on Minneapolis’s Central Riverfront has been fenced off with limited public access. The site is a barrier, not a gateway, to the River.

​The vision for Owámniyomni is to transform five acres at the Upper Lock into a place of healing, restoration, education, and connection.  The river will be made accessible to people from its bank, so all people can touch the water without impediment, and the area along the riverbanks will be transformed from hardscapes to tall grass prairie,  lowland forest, oak savannah, and traditional plants.  The project is now in Season Two, with work projected to be complete in this part of the transformation by the end of 2027.  

The Goal:
Owámniyomni Okhódayapi's goal is to create a place where Native and non-Native people feel welcome; where Dakota history, language, and culture are visible and celebrated; and where communities can come together to heal. Done right, this process can provide a model for how non-profits, municipalities, and other entities can respectfully partner with Tribal Nations and honor their inherent sovereignty.

Visitors to the area can learn about the project and hear Dakota language spoken through signs like the one shown here that allow you to take an audio tour of Owámniyomni. 
​
​The word - Owámniyomni - refers to the many whirlpools that form beneath the falls.  This is the only waterfall on the Mississippi River, and is a very special place, a place of reverence to the Dakota people since their origins.  

On the first Saturday of the month, a guided tour is lead by Barry Hand, a gifted storyteller who uses humor and human connection to help non-native visitors learn and appreciate Dakota culture.  You can sign up for the tours at this link.
​
During the tour, you will walk along the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis and learn about the history that's not told by the Minnesota Historical Society's signage.  

The Mississippi is a river and is ever changing as flood and drought shape the river and it's relationship to the land along it's banks.   Owámniyomni Okhódayapi's website shows pictures of the river as it was when Europeans first arrived in what is now called Minneapolis, and how the area changed over the years to meet the demands of the growing industry there.  Dams were built and rebuilt, with tunnels and raceways to harness the power of the river to run lumber and grain mills. To Native people, these activities were a desecration, incompatible with a world view in which the River is a spirit and a mother, and in which all living natural things are our relatives.   The project being undertaken here will bring back Dakota values to this area and begin the process of healing.