Franconia Sculpture Park and the organizers of the 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial honor and recognize the Dakota people who were removed from their ancestral homelands in the pursuit of agricultural development and the creation of a colonized Minnesota state.

Dakota people are comprised of four groups: the Bdewakantunwan, Wahpetunwan, Wahpekute, and Sissitunwan people from what is known as the Isanti, or eastern Dakota. To the west, in present-day South Dakota, are the Yanktonai and Yankton (who identify as both Dakota and Nakota) and the Teton (Lakota). Collectively, these groups have tribal lands that cover areas from present-day Minnesota, to South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, and into Canada. They form the Oceti Ŝakowiŋ–the Seven Council Fires.

Franconia is located on the Dakota lands of the Wahpekute–”the warriors who protected the medicine people and could shoot from among the leaves”–in the geographic area of Mni Sota Makoce–”the land where the waters are so clear they reflect the clouds.” So deep is the connection to the land that the word for mother and for the earth is the same in Dakota–Ina. Similarly, the profound connection to water is significant. Mni, “water”, is part of the land, part of the people.

Information about Dakota people and their history and language is coded into the landscape–the rivers, rocks, lakes, and land of Minnesota are all imbued with meaning. The relationship between Dakota people and the land is crucial for understanding their history and culture, and we hope to pay tribute to that relationship and educate visitors about this relationship through 4Ground.

Earthworks once covered the land of Mni Sota Makoce between Mille Lacs–Bde Wakan or “Spirit Lake”--and Owamniyomni, now known as present-day St. Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis. These mounds were adjacent to major Dakota villages. 

Several locations in the 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial lay adjacent to the St. Croix River–Hogan Wanke Kin, “the place where the fish lies”. Franconia, The Acreage, and the Belwin Conservancy all are in close proximity to this important waterway that included significant effigy mounds, such as the serpent-shaped mound in present-day Afton. Both sides of the St. Croix River were covered with mound groups, nearly all destroyed.

The organizers of 4Ground seek to make a connection between Native earthworks and the land art of today and raise awareness of important ecological issues that affect Native and non-Native communities alike. Ultimately, we seek a pathway forward where we can organize, curate, and educate about the values we collectively share in the hopes that we can affect change and policy related to environmental and Native issues.