Natl. Park Service Cracks Down on ColdWater Spring Use

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Prepare for the enforcement of permits in the area of ColdWater Spring in Minneapolis, like never before.

For years the land surrounding the historic and sacred Cold Water Spring and well house has sat idly. Cold War-era research facilities of the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Mines as well as old FEMA offices have been abandoned, broken into, and boarded up time and time again.

The land used to be guarded by a barbed wire fence and gate that closed at night. In 2008, the spring and the nearby field were occupied by Mendota Dakota people and the American Indian Movement, who boldly claimed native sovereignty of the land during the dark days of the Republican National Convention that was hosted in St. Paul. They set up teepees and a sweat lodge; law enforcement tore them down; the occupying activists set them up again. In the end, they won 24-hour access for all-- the gates to the land came down.

(see press conference, interviews: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/05/18533493.php)

In January 2010, the land was transferred to the National Park Service from the federal Dept. of the Interior.

Steve Johnson works at the National Park Service office in St. Paul. He's the one you see for a free permit to use part of the land for events, or building or placing something there. The need for such permits has not been strictly enforced until this month of June-- after local movements raised the issue of sovereignty again with the Take Down Fort Snelling rallies of May 29 and 30, 2010.

(see some clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdFYRuZD4js)

At an informal meeting last week, Johnson said that the Park Service wanted to give the land to the city of Minneapolis, but they didn't want it. They wanted to give it to the Mendota people, but their tribe isn't recognized by the US, and all government entities have to make transactions with government-recognized entities. According to Johnson, other tribes, like the Shakopee, wanted the land but the Park Service didn't want to play favorites amid such deep factionalism.

According to George Spears of First Nations United, the Park Service has been invited to meetings around the fire by Cold Water Spring, multiple times. Mendota Dakota people and First Nations United meet at the spring every other Sunday at 5 pm, for a brief council. They want to work out something with the Park Service so it would recognize the land as sacred; something similar to the Park Service's deal with native people over Bear Butte. However, no Park Service representatives have showed up to these ongoing council meetings.

In these last weeks of June, the Park Service is clearing brush and buckthorn from the land and seeks volunteers.

Paul Labovitz, National Park Service superintendent of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), wrote that the earliest the run-down buildings could be removed is spring of 2011.