Feedback Form Entries
Entries are as written, but names have not been included on this web page. " *** " denotes where writer had a new paragraph, this was added and paragraphs moved together to save some space.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I am a neighbor whose home is across the street from the front entrance to Totem Town. My family has lived on Totem Road for fifty years, and we feel a part of this landscape. We have memories of Totem Town as a place where boys could come when the world closed in on them in various ways. One of our neighbors who is gone now, but who lived here and hunted in Totem Town and the surrounding area from the time he was 10 years old, back in the Great Depression when food was scarce and families were frightened, told me how his mother gave him a rifle after his father left, and said to him, "You're the man of the family now. Don't come home at night without something for us to eat." So he would hunt. He knew every inch of Totem Town and all the creeks and crannies around. He knew where the deer were (scarce), and he taught himself to hunt and fish. Even then there were boys at Totem Town, he said, dropped off by poor parents who left them at the foot of the hill and said, "Go up there. They'll take care of you. We can't." The family who owned the land took those boys in. So it was natural that years later, Totem Town became a place for boys. We need a place for boys now. There are many lost boys in Ramsey County, but there is no place to mentor them. Whatever else it becomes, the future of Totem Town should recall its history of taking in boys who need help.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
The site of Totem Town is virgin land, untouched except for the buildings that housed the county facility for boys. Most of BTT is unbuildable. I know we need more housing in Ramsey County, especially affordable housing. But new land is opening up at the county golf course across from the workhouse and also at the Hillcrest site at McKnight and Larpenteur Avenues. There are many other areas where housing could be built as infill in places more convenient to jobs, libraries, and transportation than the undeveloped land at Totem Town. *** Totem Town has a history that goes back far beyond our lifetimes. I think we should honor that history, both in terms of the healing that can take place for boys who need help urgently now and for the healing that we need to do over time to make amends to the indigenous communities that inhabited this area before our forbearers arrived in Minnesota. *** The same neighbor I mentioned before, who was born and lived all his life on Burlington Road, told me stories about how he would roam this area, observing the changing landscape especially in autumn. *** "Native people would come back every fall," he said, "They came to honor their ancestors. This was their land. Their burial mounds were here. They brought the remains of those who had died to bury them and grieve. I watched their ceremonies from afar, curious but not wanting to interrupt. I knew they felt they had a right to come back. That was when I was a kid, and there was so much wildlife here, creeks that are gone now, hardly any roads, just trails." *** Totem Town connects us to that past. Any civilization gains immeasurably when it keeps close connections to its past. The past is how we learn.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
Happiness is hard to define. I think it's based on contentment, what the French Voyageurs who once settled in this area might have called "feeling good in your skin." ("Comment se sentir bien dans sa peau?") *** Americans tend to equate happiness with money, and certainly having adequate resources for daily life is a base for happiness. *** But I think most of us are restless if there's not more to life than just getting by. We want to fulfill other needs. *** We have some very deep hurts in our society, hurts that need tending, and no matter our level of prosperity, happiness will not bind us together unless we tend to those hurts first. *** That is why I think that dedicating the land at Totem Town to healing, making it a place where we can show we care about those among us who are hurting the most will do more for happiness than all the development projects planners can come up with.
What questions do you have about the site and its future?
1) How can we proceed to reach a consensus that includes the reflective ideas brought to the table in forums like this one?
2) What are the practicalities behind some of the ideas presented? Have we gathered enough information to move ahead with ideas?
3) What is the timetable? How can we proceed with due deliberation, while at the same time recognizing that some of our needs---such as a place to help boys grow into healthy men---are urgent?
4) Who will make the decisions regarding the land at BTT? How will those decisions be made? Will they be ad hoc or will there be a master plan?
>> There are undoubtedly many more questions we need to ask.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I participate in the Circle of Peace that Russel Balenger leads. We used to have regular participation from boys and staff from Boys Totem Town at Circle meetings. I'm aware of some ideas that Russel has about the future of BTT and feel supportive of his ideas.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
It's history and location. Both the history of the land as important to indigenous people and as important to the boys and their families who had the experience of BTT. Also, the location along the river bluffs in the City of St Paul, where open space of this type is not common.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
I imagine the possibility of multiple communities or organizations working together to manage and use the property for a variety of purposes, including natural preservation, restoration of the indigenous connection to the land, use of the buildings for activities such as retreats, community celebrations, restorative justice meetings/circles, etc. I envision a place where the focus is on healing and repairing connections among people and communities that have been divided from each other. This includes people living with inter-generational trauma and the effects of systemic racism.
What questions do you have about the site and its future?
Should there be an assessment of indigenous cultural values and an environmental assessment of the property before any plans and decisions for future use are made?
Other ideas, comments or questions:
I attended the meeting on Aug 27. Would it be possible for CCC to sponsor more meetings like this before preparing the report? This would bring more voices into the mix. Is CCC working under some type of deadline to complete its report that cannot be extended?
What is your history/connection to the site?
My connection with the land is learning from dakhóta friends and teachers the history, relationship, and possibilities for dakhóta healing present on these lands.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
The most important part of this land is that these are lands dakhóta people have stewarded and come from. This land is still here because of dakhóta people’s care and relationships. This land is a relative and offers medicine.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
I would imagine the land being returned to dakhóta people to steward. I cherish makoce ikikcupi’s vision of a place of healing and connection and returning for dakhóta people. As a person of European heritage I want to be able to know dakhóta people are cared for and I trust dakhóta people will care for land in a way that will have us all breathing clean air. The more people who can practice their indigenous ways the more we will all live in a healthier and more relationship-focused world. We would all benefit from dakhóta people having access and decision making power in relationship with this land.
What questions do you have about the site and its future?
How are dakhóta people being included in this planning? What efforts are being made to let dakhóta people know this is happening?
Other ideas, comments or questions:
I support makoce ikikcupi’s vision.
Another idea, comment or question:
Another idea would be asking the dakhóta people if makoce ikikcupi their other ideas.
Thank you for being in this together to return land to dakhóta people and help bring dakhóta people back home.
What is your history/connection to the site?
Burlington Neighbor
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
Given the archaeological significance of the land to Native people I would like to see the land returned and preserved. There are Native American burial mounds on the site that should not be disturbed. There have been few instances where Native land has been returned, and this should be one of those examples. I also struggle over the housing debate, because there is already cleared land owned by Ramsey County at the Ponds at Battle Creek Golf Course. That land is already cleared and usable, why not put needed housing there instead of cutting down more trees and disturbing wildlife habitats. That doesn't make sense to me.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
We would like BOYS TOTEM TOWN to remain open park land and NO housing or commercial development .
What is your history/connection to the site?
I'm glad you ask this question, as my history and connection are only through colonization. I recently learned of the BTT site through this process, and have never been there. My family has never been there. It holds little personal historical importance in my life. I'm connected to it because I live in Ramsey County.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
The most important thing is that this is unceded Dakota homeland. And it should be returned to them.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
I can only say that I would be happy if this land was given back to the Dakota people (just as happened in Superior WI this month). It would make me so happy that Ramsey County was at the forefront of returning large parcels of land to Indigenous people.
Other ideas, comments or questions:
At the bare minimum, Dakota people need to be heavily involved in the decisions about what happens with this piece of their land.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I am a settler on stolen Dakota land, seeking to contribute to repair efforts, by following Dakota leadership.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
I believe this land should be returned to Dakota and Indigenous partners who have been displaced by settler colonization, and continue to survive that displacement today. Many wonderful imaginings and rememberings could be made reality again through Dakota stewardship.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
The revitalization and stewardship of Dakota culture and land, as determined by Dakota leadership.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
I would like the land returned to the Dakota people.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I have been a resident of the neighborhood for a little over 3 years now. I remember that when I first moved in there were already talks about alternative uses for Totem Town. When I can I do love to walk around my block to take in the sun, say hello to neighbors, and enjoy the natural landscapes of the community. How great it would be to at least walk through and get to experience and engage with this natural and historic space.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
I could be wrong but I don't feel like we have many if any natural preserves in Saint Paul, much less in the east side. We need more of those before the few green spaces that exist are changed into developed land.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
A natural park for families to enjoy. A sanctuary to sustain and preserve the local plant and wildlife. . A center for the visual and performing arts. An outdoors sculpture garden to foster growth and creativity in the neighborhood.
What questions do you have about the site and its future?
When can we get rid of the front gate? It looks ugly.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I am descended from immigrants who came to St Paul in the early 20th century. *** I acknowledge the needs of the Dakota in my community and their desire to have this site be a sacred healing space because colonizers took so much of their land. *** I hope the county will honor their wishes as expressed.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
Honor the earth. Restore people's lives.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
Return Dakota homelands back to Dakota peoples. With these lands, we could help bring relatives home as a form of reparative justice, re-establish spiritual and physical relationships with our homeland and ensure the ongoing existence of our people. We would do this by using sustainable and regenerative practices that will restore the integrity of our ancestral lands and waters, create self-sufficient communities grounded in Dakota traditions of sustainability and Dakota ways of being, and recovering and promoting traditional knowledges that connect us to the land. ~ Makoce Ikikcupi, Dakota Non-Profit organization
What is your history/connection to the site?
I am connected because we are all connected. Our histories intertwined.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
This mostly undeveloped site within the city was an important home to the Dakota people. It needs to be given back to them.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
Reparations and restorative justice for harms done is essential for our collective well being.
What questions do you have about the site and its future?
I would be excited to learn what visions the Dakota people have for restoring, maintaining and healing their culture.
Other ideas, comments or questions:
Returning this land to the Dakota people would be a great move in the right direction for us all.
Another idea, comment or question:
Return Dakota homelands back to Dakota peoples. With these lands, we could help bring relatives home as a form of reparative justice, re-establish spiritual and physical relationships with our homeland and ensure the ongoing existence of our people. We would do this by using sustainable and regenerative practices that will restore the integrity of our ancestral lands and waters, create self-sufficient communities grounded in Dakota traditions of sustainability and Dakota ways of being, and recovering and promoting traditional knowledges that connect us to the land. *** I support Dakota Land recovery.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I do not have a connection to the site.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
To honor the history of the site - the history of the Dakota who lived on this site and in the surrounding area, and who are still here! To honor the lives of the youth who spent time here.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
I imagine a place where nature is preserved, the Dakota people have access and involvement in the future of the site, and the youth, particularly youth of color, have access, and that the site is a welcoming place for Dakota people and for youth and people of color.
What is your history/connection to the site?
My wife and I moved into our house near the front entrance to Totem Town in 1973. We have been here ever since and grew familiar with the campus over the years, since neighbors were invited to walk through it. *** From our house, we could hear the shouts and camaraderie of boys playing baseball and other games, and we saw their gardening projects proliferate through the summer in fenced off plots behind the main buildings. Sometimes meetings or events took place to which neighbors were invited. I recall times when the boys tended farm animals there and took extracurricular classes such as canoe building where they learned skills that would serve them in later life. *** We got to know one Totem Town superintendent in particular, Frank Hosch, whose love for the boys and dedication to changing the trajectory of their lives was evident to everyone, not only in the way he integrated Totem Town and its public school into the surrounding community, but in how we could see the boys look up to him. We got the feeling they were glad to be there. *** Once, when we were having some work done on our house, a workman asked my wife what she thought of Totem Town. She told him we thought it was well run. He said then, “I spent six months there, and it totally turned my life around.” *** I became familiar with the grounds over the years, taking our son’s dog, Raja, on walks. Raja much preferred exploring Totem Town to streets in the neighborhood. I think the scents of the wildlife there make the landscape more intense and exciting. Having grown up in a small town in Wisconsin, I had access as a boy to woods and trails, but never to such a variety of terrain as exists at Totem Town. It seems as if the city disappears. *** In 2013, we learned that the county planned to close the facility and that a process had begun to gather input as to what should be done with the land. Those early sessions resulted in various ideas being proposed, including the preservation of Totem Town as open space. Citizens imagined a variety of community activities taking place. A website appeared with information about the history of the land and invited suggestions from the community for its future.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
In talking about Totem Town, we’re considering the future of more than 70 acres of undeveloped land within a city. That extent of untouched land is rare in a metropolitan area. It should be put to use by inviting people in to take advantage of its benefits. *** There are many studies by social scientists attesting to the value of tracts of unblemished nature for human health and well-being. I’ve read more than a dozen of them, and I’m convinced that Totem Town should be preserved as green space. The more green space a city has, these studies suggest, the more people have access to it, the better people feel about themselves, the more active they are, the less pollution they’re exposed to. *** ( If you put the topic “the economic value of green space” into your favorite search engine, you’ll find reading material galore and reams of evidence. ) *** A study done in Toronto found that having 10 more street trees on a city block, on average, improves health perception in ways comparable to:
—- an increase in annual personal income of $10,000 or
—- moving to a neighborhood with $10,000 higher median income or
—- being 7 years younger.
Green space, the study found, particularly around schools, improves cognitive development in children 7-10 years old. *** Another study, done in Barcelona, found that reduced exposure to elemental carbon (a traffic-related air pollutant) associated with green space accounted for some, but not all of this improvement. Some of the benefit is psychological. Green space affects the mind in positive ways we’re just beginning to appreciate. *** A combined analysis of 28 studies found that children aged 3-12 who spent more time outside when young are considerably more active and less sedentary as adults than children who spent more of their time inside. The studies found the apparent difference across ages, sexes, and contexts. *** The studies’ conclusion was: "Any serious and comprehensive cost-benefit analysis will look beyond the simplistic notion that "development = increased tax base" and will teach us that we quite literally can't afford not to protect natural areas." ~Natural Areas: Protecting Vital Community Asset; pg 8, MN DNR, 1997
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
Studies show that living near green space increases happiness in three ways:
—- people spend less time brooding,
—- they’re more optimistic, and
—- they’re more amenable to delayed gratification
Study participants who went on a 90-minute walk through a natural environment reported lower levels of “rumination” ( defined as “repetitive thought focused on negative aspects of the self” ) than participants who walked through an urban environment. Their brains showed a corresponding change in activity when scanned. *** Another surprising fact is that people seem to place more value on the future after being exposed to nature. It’s something that happens subconsciously and merits further study, but I would think that makes the potential of Totem Town particularly attractive for helping young people whose future lies ahead of them but who are often unable to imagine it. *** The results of three studies -- two laboratory experiments and a field study -- reveal that “future discount rates” are typically 10-16% lower after nature exposure than after exposure to urban landscapes. *** “Future discount rates” struck me as an academically obtuse way of stating the obvious: a kid who can’t see a future for himself is discounting his future, saying, in essence, there’s nothing waiting for me if I continue to stay alive. *** We’ve heard this before. Sometimes, a teenager can’t even imagine being alive when he’s thirty years old, perhaps because he’s known friends and relatives who died tragically when they were his age or younger. He can’t allow himself to think about the future without feeling despair, so, he thinks, I might as well live in the moment without regard for the future. *** If exposure to natural environments can help people, young people in particular, to dream of a future, to reach a point of mental and psychological well-being that allows them to imagine a positive life for themselves in the future, then green space is really gold. *** We have to figure out how to put green space to use, however. We have to ask ourselves: how can we take advantage of its benefits? What programs can we implement, given this gift Nature has laid out before us
What questions do you have about the site and its future?
Ramsey County is understandably concerned with monetizing whatever land is available. But at the same time, county planners need to properly weigh the longterm benefits of development with the longterm costs of destroying a valuable natural setting. Once destroyed, nature doesn’t come back. *** At a second community meeting (March 25, 2017) organized by the District 1 Council to gain community ideas on the ultimate use of what was called “the Totem Town Savannah,” we agreed that as long as government budgets remain under pressure, there is pressure to sell public lands for development. *** But we need to ask ourselves—- If Totem Town land is lost to development, what will it cost us in the long run? *** I think we should consider the following conclusions I’ve come across in reading the available literature on open space:
> "Open space possesses natural system value when it provides direct benefits to human society through such processes as ground water storage, climate moderation, flood control, storm damage prevention, and air and water pollution abatement. It is possible to assign a monetary value to such benefits by calculating the cost of the damages that would result if the benefits were not provided, or if public expenditures were required to build infrastructure to replace the functions of the natural systems."
> "An example of this approach is the Charles River Basin in Massachusetts, where 8,500 acres of wetlands were acquired and preserved as a natural valley storage area for flood control for a cost of $10 million. An alternative proposal to construct dams and levees to accomplish the same goal would have cost $100 million. [ https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/articles/economic-value-open-spacecite study ]
> In a study, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources calculated that the cost of replacing the natural floodwater storage function of wetlands would be $300 per acre foot.” [ https://www.lincolninst.edu/es/publications/articles/economic-value-open-space ]
We also need to ask ourselves: If Totem Town is preserved as green space, how will it be made easier to get to and walk through? *** Parks containing a paved or unpaved trail and parks with wooded areas were 7 times more likely to be used for physical activity than parks without such features. Can we build a web of walking trails through the woods of Totem Town? *** Can we enhance the resulting landscape through preservation of what’s there now combined with new seedings of prairie species native to Minnesota? Can we invite nature enthusiasts, including retired people, to participate and make it easy for them to do so? ***
A British study found that the attributes of neighborhood open spaces (NOS) relevant to older people's life satisfaction were:
—- pleasantness,
—- safety in and around the open space, and
—- distance to it.
> Findings suggest that older people who have pleasant and safe neighborhood open spaces within a "comfortable walking distance" are more likely to be satisfied with life than those without.
> Can we make the open space at Totem Town a place where young and old meet in a society in which people are often separated by age and occupation?
> In short, can we take advantage of the natural assets of Totem Town in numerous ways to help many people
What is your history/connection to the site?
I live in Ramsey County (Macalester/Groveland neighborhood) with friends and relatives who live near the site.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
I would love to see the land returned to the Dakota and preserve the oak savannah.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
If returned to the Dakota and the savannah preserved, I believe the site could be a keystone towards more sites around MN being returned to indigenous communities and environmentally preserved for future generations.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I have lived and currently work in the St. Paul area, and as a consequence have directly and indirectly benefited from the dispossession of Dakota peoples.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
The most importance thing about this site, in my opinion, is potential for it to become a place of healing, and that the creation and stewardship of that work should be determined by Indigenous peoples, particularly Dakota people.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
The creation and stewardship of any work done on this site by Indigenous peoples would make all our communities more healthy and whole.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I am a European-descendant settler living on Dakota land in what is now the Twin Cities.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
That it is ancestral Dakota land and we have an opportunity to return it, and move towards reparative justice.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
As someone who is committed to, and is part of communities who are committed to, reparative justice and a process of healing through giving land back to the Dakota people, completing the process of returning of publicly held land here would be a step in the right direction.
I have a few thoughts:
A. The area has such great potential to offer a place of contact with nature if it were restored to an oak savannah.
B. Given the history with native people, I believe there should be a significant amount of education about the area and culture of native people. As Ed Director at Eagle Bluff, I wanted to build appreciation for the native Oneota people who lived in SE MN. With considerable research at the Upper Mississippi Cultural center in Winona, I wrote a curriculum piece "Oneota Life". Students were able to learn of what it took to live some 800 to 1200 years ago and make a living in SE MN. I believe a similar set of activities could educate native people and non-natives alike in this regard.
C. I believe the area should be restored to as natural a state as possible. The buildings show promise to function as a residential ELC. Perhaps students and adults could get away without having to be far away to experience the residential ELC benefits. A day-use center would be great but I believe if the facilities merit, a residential center should be a high priority.
What is your history/connection to the site?
My brother stayed at Boys Totem Town in the 60's. He now stays in a shelter and has mental health issues. Because of the way it was run this was not a safe place for him.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
I believe in the healing power of this ancient natural environment that has held our deepest sufferings, history, and memories. This land holds great opportunity for transforming our relationships with each other and the living beings that reside there now. *** For me this site is a symbol of the harm that has been done to indigenous people who were removed and boys who were incarcerated there.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
I can imagine the land given back to the original peoples who lived there and those who were removed by our government in other places and brought there. *** It would be an amazing way Minnesota could lead in giving land back to the people it was taken from. It would make me happy if it became a healing place for the indigenous people who have been so deeply harmed by setter colonial systems of ownership and hierarchy. *** I would humbly ask native elders to consider that their land, which was taken from them and used to imprison boys, become a place of spiritual healing and transformative justice to repair the harms of our past. The focus on healing for indigenous people, would also help white people like me move forward with our own healing in intentional and compassionate ways.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I am of Anishinaabe and Wabanaki descent (as well as of other people), whose people were forced to assimilate away from tribe and culture four generations ago. There are so many like me, far too many who are from lost lines. This was the strategy of the US government for most of its history. The fact that there are Dakota people who have survived and thrived despite these policies is not a small thing. Return this land, without expectations or regulations, for Dakota people to determine for themselves their relationship to this land for themselves and their descendants. This is the right thing to do just because it is - and, at the same time, it is a healing for all of those impacted by these federal policies - both those whose people were disappeared and those whose people are responsible for forcing the disappearance.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
That it is a land that has not been developed, is near Dakota burial places and is part of Dakota living memory.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
To know that one very small step was made in the direction of repair, healing and reconciliation. To know that in the face of climate change, indigenous people are in relationship to land and that some of us might learn from what they are willing to teach.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I was a resident of Ramsey county for a few years. Lived in Twin Cities for 15 years.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
That it is returned to the Native populations of this region. That a small step toward meaningful repair could occur in my lifetime of living in and loving Minnesota as a settler of Euro-American descent.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
The land being stewarded in a sustainable, "honorable harvest" way. Native people's determining the relationship with the land that people can have with it.
What is your history/connection to the site?
I have been a neighbor to BTT for 30+ years; I've been a teacher in alternative ed working with boys who have been on their way to and from BTT in, I've also been a substitute teacher at BTT.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
1. Preserve & Restore the Oak Savanna. There is only .o1% of Minnesota's Oak Savanna left. It is also one of the most endangered EcoSystems in the world. *** 2. There needs to be Education, Restorative Justice and Racial Healing around this site. First for the Dakota who once called this area home and then for all of the boys who were sent there.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
There are SO many things that can be imagined for this site...
1. Oak Savanna land returned to the Dakota. The developed part of the land would house a racial healing center like Penumbra is trying to create. They could use the buildings and close proximity land surrounding it to have theaters - art installations, amphitheater, classrooms for conferences/classes/etc, Place for a coffee shop, restaurant, farmers market. Have displays on the history of the site and the peoples who have been there - indigenous and about the Juvenile Justice system and the boys that were there.
2. Restore the Oak Savanna - have a nature center/visitor center on the developed area - which would do interpretation about the Dakota (history, traditions, etc), about Juvenile Justice System, BTT and the boys that were there, and the natural environment - specifically Oak Savanna. This could also be tied into the other Battle Creek Parks for interpretation. Have Nature Programming for kids, families, etc. Could maybe do art installations on the grounds (developed and undeveloped)
3. Have it be an Environmental Learning Center (ELC) Right now kids have to get bussed to the ELCs - which is expensive and gives them the idea that nature like this is somewhere far away. An ELC in the city would save the schools money and teach the kids that nature is all around us. This would include restoring the Oak Savanna... Trails could be open to the public on weekends and/or holidays.
4. What ever the development - there could be some "missing middle" housing along Burlington Road - where there is some flat land and utilities. Housing like duplexes, triplexes and four-plexes.
5. SO many other options - but restoring the Oak Savanna should be a part of each as should something for the community
What questions do you have about the site and its future?
Does the county have a tentative timeline when they will begin exploring options? When would the city be open to exploring options as well?
Could it be next year? 3 years from now? 5 years from now? *** Will they be doing a Cultural Landscape?
What is your history/connection to the site?
I am a white person descended from settlers on this land.
What feels like the most important thing to you about this site?
When I think of the boys who lived at BTT, I can't help but think about the thousands of Indigenous children taken from their people to be placed in residential schools where so many did not survive. We can't return these precious lives to their families but we can return this land to the Dakota people so they may tend to their people and the land.
What do you imagine could happen here in the future that would make you happy? The communities you represent happy?
It would make me happy to know the land is back with the Dakota people.
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To see a spreadsheet of all entries through 9-6-2022 look at our Feedback Spreadsheet.
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