Thousand acres of state park land near Granite Falls returned to Upper Sioux Community

GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — More than a thousand acres of what Tribal members near Granite Falls call sacred land was returned to the Upper Sioux Community on Friday morning.

Tribal members spent decades pushing for the return of the land. They were joined by Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, and the DNR, overseeing the signing of the official and ceremonial deeds. By the end, parts of the Upper Sioux Agency State Park were returned back to the Upper Sioux Community.

Tribal leaders say Dakota ancestors are buried on the land, and it's sacred. They say the fight to regain the land goes back to the 1860s. Tribal chairman Kevin Jensvold said Dakota people starved to death on the land when the U.S. government failed to provide food promised in a treaty.

"The truth of this land and what is known to us is that this is a place of genocide and starvation," Jensvold told WCCO in February. "The profoundness of people having picnics at the same place where my ancestors died of starvation."

Tribal members also expressed their frustration at having to pay to get into the park in order to visit the gravesites of their ancestors.

"The park is not just recreational, I consider it a land of memories and spirits. Walked upon with respect and reverence," said Elitta Gouge.

Last year, lawmakers voted to give the property's 1,200 acres back to the Upper Sioux Community . It had been a state park since 1963, and had been become a popular destination in western Minnesota.

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"Where there is an official treaty signing or official document that almost always ended in sorrow in tears for your community, today is not that day." Walz said.

A DNR spokesperson said they believe the land should never have been a state park, and they will spend the next few months removing buildings off the property.