What’s in a name?

On a crisp cool morning in early May of 1863 the surviving Dakota prisoners of war at Ft. Snelling were loaded onto large steamboats on the Mississippi River. The Dakota Nation had survived disease, war, and ultimately forced removal from their homeland. Since time immemorial the Dakota had resided across the area now called Minnesota. ‘Minnesota’ itself is a derivative from a Dakota phrase. The Dakota creation story is in Minnesota and likewise Rochester, Minnesota is in the heart of the lands ceded by Dakota people in the 1851 treaties.

Indigenous people are still being good stewards of the land and its resources. This stewardship even includes a little-known cemetery of Dakota ancestors right here in town. Unfortunately, our community has not always understood or even been aware of the history of our area and the Dakota Nation that once solely occupied it. Just because you may not immediately identify a Native American person the moment you see them, does not mean that they are not a vital, important, and contributing member to our community.

Rochester Public Schools has over 175 Native American students currently. The Native students are enrolled members of tribes or descendents of tribal citizens of approximately 45 different nations. Our ancestors endured more than 100 years of United States military aggression and many of the students are descendents of Native American Boarding schools. Boarding schools are one of the darkest eras in U.S. history. For over 100 years the government forcibly removed children from their parents and that legacy can be still felt today.

Native people have remained resilient. Today we stand together here in Rochester as the Native American Parent Advisory Committee. This committee meets regularly in partnership with the Rochester Public School District and has for the past 25 plus years. Our purpose is to support the school district with meeting the unique cultural and academically related needs of Native youth attending Rochester schools. As parents we have continued to partner and advocate for programming, accurate curriculum, Native languages, and other areas of student need.

We met last night and were delighted to see two names for the new middle school that reflected Dakota people. We worry that having two options would ultimately lead to a non-Dakota name being selected. We voted and unanimously agree that we support ‘Dakota’ for the new middle school. Several of us on the committee are Dakota or Lakota.

Having a name for the Dakota people is such a significant step for the Rochester community. It acknowledges the long Indigenous past of the area as well as the Indigenous present. For all of the fighting we are still here and thriving in Rochester. Dakota people called themselves allies and friends. The name itself reflects the best in our community values. All of our students, staff, and family should be allies in our effort to support the future of our youth. Please join us in voting for Dakota as the new middle school name. Phidamayaye do, thank you.

Written on behalf of the entire American Indian Parent Advisory Committee

Michelle Baines, Kasey Begic, Guthrie Capossela, Valerie Guimaraes, Regan Holm, Tucker Quetone, Laura Randolph, Corinna Sabaque, and Tracy Youngberg