Chandra Colvin
MPR News
The city of St. Paul announced Wednesday the renaming of Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and Indian Mounds Regional Park. Name changes will reflect their Dakota names and will recognize their significance as sacred sites to Indigenous tribes.
Together, the parks will be called Imniżaska, which means “white cliffs.” Separately, the sites will be Waḳaƞ Ṭípi, meaning “dwelling place of the sacred” and Wicaḣapi, meaning “cemetery.”
The names come from the recommendation of four tribal historic preservation offices, including Prairie Island Indian Community, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Lower Sioux Indian Community and Upper Sioux Community. The preservation offices work to preserve tribal nations’ historic property and cultural traditions.
Within the sanctuary is a cave that many call Carver’s Cave. To Dakota people, it’s a sacred site known as Waḳaƞ Ṭípi and has existed for thousands of years.
“We have to have a city that is responsive and responsible to our tribal communities and to communities across this community,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. He spoke alongside Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who says the state has been on a journey to ensure tribal-state relations.
“When municipalities also do this work, it is critical, it is key and how we should continue to work together in partnership,” Flanagan said. “It acknowledges that Dakota and Native people have always been here, are still here and will remain here into the future. Indigenous people are a significant part of the story of St. Paul and the story of Mni Sóta Makoce as well.”
St. Paul entered into an agreement with Native-led nonprofit, Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi, formerly known as Lower Phalen Creek Project, to co-manage the sanctuary in October 2024. Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi helped to facilitate conversations regarding the name change.
The organization’s executive director, Maggie Lorenz, spoke at the announcement. She says it’s not just about what she or any others did to work on the renaming.
“The work that generations of Dakota people have done and been doing to hold on to our culture, to preserve our history and to advocate for our sacred places and our lands,” Lorenz said. “We’ve been able to and honored to be able to pick up this torch and carry the baton a little bit further.”
The sanctuary, which opened to the public in 2005, was previously named after St. Paul native and late U.S. Rep. Bruce Vento. According to city documents, a meeting was held with Vento’s wife, Sue Vento. She has expressed no comments to MPR News in the renaming of the sanctuary.
“Restoring Dakota names helps us to reweave the stories of the first people who have protected and who honor these lands and have since time immemorial,” said Metropolitan Council member Toni Carter.
Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi is also leading a project to open Wakaŋ Tipi Center, a center that will serve as an intergenerational gathering place that will honor Waḳaƞ Ṭípi and the maḳa paha, burial mounds, as sacred sites. The multimillion-dollar project is expected to open in the fall of this year.
Signage reflecting the name changes will be placed at the parks in the coming months.
Editor’s note (May 23, 2025): The story has been updated to include a response from Sue Vento.
This story was originally published in MPR News