The Cultural Meaning of Coldwater Spring: Final Ethnographic Resources Study of the Former U.S. Bureau of Mines Twin Cities Research Center Property, Hennepin County, Minnesota

Summit Envirosolutions, Inc.; Two Pines Resource Group, LLC

Researchers completed an ethnographic resources study of the former U.S. Bureau of Mines Twin Cities Research Center (TCRC) property in Hennepin County, Minnesota. This work was performed under contract with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The NPS, through its Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) office, is overseeing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning process on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The goal of this public planning process is to identify and evaluate alternative disposition options for the TCRC property. This process includes the completion of an environmental impact statement (EIS) that will consider disposition alternatives and the potential impacts of alternative future uses of the TCRC property on the natural, historic, and cultural resources within the property’s boundaries. The primary objectives of the ethnographic resources study were to identify the relationships of American Indians with the land, natural resources, and cultural resources located within the boundaries of the 27.32-acre TCRC property, and to explore and document such affiliations, if present, be they precontact, historical, or contemporary. Particular emphasis was placed on the identification and documentation of any natural or cultural ethnographic resources present on the property that are considered traditionally meaningful by Dakota or Ojibwe people as conveyed to us by our interviewees. Identified ethnographic resources were evaluated for their eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) as traditional cultural properties (TCPs) within the context of American Indian history within the State of Minnesota and contemporary cultural use and to determine their status as Sacred Sites. Results will be incorporated into the EIS for the TCRC property. This study consisted of consultation, archival research, and interviews. Official responses to consultation were received from all four of the federally-recognized Dakota communities in Minnesota (Lower Sioux Indian Community, Prairie Island Indian Community, Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community, Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, and the Upper Sioux Indian Community), and one Minnesota Ojibwe (White Earth Band of Chippewa) community. Twenty three individuals were interviewed for this study including 11 official federally recognized tribal representatives including at least one individual representing each of the above-mentioned communities, 7 key cultural experts (6 Dakota and 1 Ojibwe), and 5 other informants with knowledge of the history and past use of the TCRC property. Coldwater Spring has been identified during the course of this study as a natural spring that is culturally significant for its association with: the Mdote area at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, which is regarded as the center of all things and historically significant by the Mdewakanton Dakota; the activity of collecting spring water for ceremonial use. U.S. Bureau of Mines Twin Cities Research Center Property Ethnographic Resources Study Page ii This study concludes that Coldwater Spring is an ethnographically significant natural resource associated with Dakota and Ojibwe traditions that use natural spring water, such as the Inipi. Natural springs, like Coldwater, are regarded as vital to the continued practice of these traditions, which have been practiced by these traditional groups for at least two generations, and that are regarded as integral to their continued existence as ethnically distinct peoples. Based on the findings of this study, Coldwater Spring is recommended as eligible for the National Register under Criterion A for its association with the Dakota cultural landscape of Mdote, which for the Mdewakanton Dakota is the center of the earth, or Makoce Cokaya Kin, and, in one belief, is also the point of their creation.

The Cultural Meaning of Coldwater Spring: Final Ethnographic Resources Study of the Former U.S. Bureau of Mines Twin Cities Research Center Property, Hennepin County, Minnesota

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