Tonka Bay officials think they found a new site for soil piled outside City Hall that is sacred to the Dakota people. But some residents don’t like it.
In a lengthy meeting last week, some neighbors raised concerns about construction, the environment and their ability to protect the sanctity of the proposed location near the intersection of Pleasant Avenue and Lilah Lane. The soil comes from an area that long ago served as a sacred burial site for some Dakota people.
So when City Council members gave engineers the go-ahead to start planning for the new location, they added a caveat: The work will only begin if representatives for the tribes tell them the soil must remain within Tonka Bay.
“It is a difficult situation,” Council Member Kelly Wischmeier said in the meeting, adding that officials were trying to appease both residents and the tribes. “So we’re stuck in this sticky situation.”
Much of what is now the Twin Cities metro area served as a longtime homeland for the Dakota people, many of whom were forced out after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.
When people flocked to the suburbs a century later, many cities installed new roads, water and sewer lines. Current laws requiring officials to consult with tribes and return remains and sacred objects weren’t yet in place, so some burial sites were disturbed.
Crews working to replace aging infrastructure now say that can make it especially difficult to determine which sites they need to avoid disturbing.
“We’re not the only city that has had this issue,” former Council Member Kristin Viger said during the meeting. “We’re the only city with this dirt sitting in front of City Hall with no solution.”