GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — The gates to a state park in southwestern Minnesota will close for good next month, the last step in a plan to transfer historic land back to the Upper Sioux Community.
Upper Sioux Agency State Park will no longer welcome guests beginning at 8 a.m. on Feb. 16, when the facility is officially closed to the public. Facilities (including restrooms) will be locked, informational and wayfinding signs removed, and trails no longer maintained.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials say the closure comes after a directive from the 2023 legislature to return the land at the state park to the Upper Sioux Community. The directive is supported by the DNR, Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, as it satisfies a long-standing request by the Upper Sioux Community.
The land where the state park sat has special historic and cultural meaning to the Upper Sioux Community, as it was the site of widespread starvation and death of Dakota people during the summer of 1862. The U.S. Government had promised the tribe food as part of a treaty agreement but failed to do so.
“We look forward to returning this land to the Upper Sioux Community, as continuing to operate it as a recreational use site is inconsistent with its unique and profound history,” said DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen in a released statement. "We will continue to collaborate with the public and partners to expand and improve outdoor recreation options in the area.”
Upper Sioux Agency State Park was established in 1963 and covers nearly 1,300 acres of open prairie knolls, bluffs, wooded slopes and vistas. Visitors for decades enjoyed using a well-established trail system for hiking, horseback riding, hiking, skiing, and snowmobiling.
Tribal Chairman Kevin Jensvold told KARE he looks forward to seeing the land return to the Yellow Medicine People.
"If you look at it in historical context, it’s a 168-year effort to right the historical wrong that was inflicted upon my mother’s people," Jensvold explained.
"The process that gets us to today is just our faith and belief that we are the caretakers of this river valley and again, that land represents just a portion of who we are."
He said his community will take its time deciding how best to use the reclaimed acres.
"This was a place of holocaust for our people, if you truly boil it down to a concept that can be understood. So, because of that, there’s a solemnness to the land. There’s healing that needs to take place."
Throughout the summer and fall of 2023 the DNR has worked with park staff, community groups and conservation organizations to identify land that could be used to provide outdoor recreational opportunities with the closing of the state park. The ideas and possibilities are currently being evaluated.
"I think the Upper Sioux State Park being returned to the Yellow Medicine People is incredibly powerful," Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan told KARE Thursday.
Flanagan, who is a member of the White Earth Nation, has worked hard on intergovernmental relationships between the State of Minnesota and the 11 federally recognized Indigenous tribal nations.
"Some times we talk about 'land back' as a hashtag, but really what it is, is really intentional policy work that the DNR did in partnership with the Yellow Medicine People with the Upper Sioux Community. I think it’s a really moving thing, and it’s the right thing to do."
The Minnesota Legislature approved the land transfer last session and allocated funding to help remove the park fixtures and restore the land to its natural state. Gov. Walz and Chairman Jensvold still had to gain approval from federal officials, who signed off on the idea after being reassured the DNR will create other recreational opportunities in that part of the Minnesota River Valley.
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