St. Paul leaders will now manage former Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary with the Indigenous community

St. Paul leaders are set to co-manage the former Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary with Indigenous community members.

The 29 acre site now known as Wakáŋ Típi will now be cared for using traditional Indigenous land management methods carried out by Dakota community leaders.

"We have managed it as a city park, but it is originally historic, sacred Dakota land and we've been working with them over the past several months to determine how we restore it," explains St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter.

He says because St. Paul is built on Dakota land, he hopes the new partnership will begin to foster a deeper understanding of the city’s history that includes Indigenous peoples.

Carter says the partnership is historic, and it gives stewardship rights over a local nature sanctuary to the original owners. He says there is a longstanding relationship between the St. Paul Department of Parks and Recreation's Division of Design and Construction, and Dakota leaders.

"What changes is now, instead of sort of advisor to us, they have a seat at the table," Carter says. "Our Dakota community, our tribal community has a seat at the table to help make critical decisions for how the stewardship of the land, how the land management will be moved forward. What can be built and where?"

A $2.4 million Bush Community Innovation grant will also help restore and expand the park in the coming months.

The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, located along the north shore of the Mississippi River east of downtown St. Paul, was a significant site for Native Americans. Wakáŋ Típi (Spirit House), a cave, is located in the sandstone bluff that rims the north edge of the park.

This was also the site of the North Star Brewery built in 1853. The brewery was later bought by Jacob Schmidt, a famous name in Minnesota brewing history. In the late 1880s, railroads snaked their way into the area following the easy grades of the flat floodplains and the future park became an industrial area and rail yard.

The area was largely abandoned in the 1970s, until being made a St. Paul park in 2005. Volunteers, Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, many neighborhood organizations, and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area--some 25 stakeholders in all--are restoring the park to a mix of floodplain forest, prairie and oak savanna.