Wakan Tipi Center, a Cultural and Environmental Interpretive Center at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary

FAIN: CHA-268798-20

Lower Phalen Creek Project (Saint Paul, MN 55106-5019)
Maggie Lorenz (Project Director: May 2019 to present)

The enhancement of the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary through the construction of Wakan Tipi Center, which would house a reception area, sacred sites, and spaces for learning and reflection.

Lower Phalen Creek Project (LPCP) intends to build and operate Wakan Tipi Center. The facility has three primary objectives: (1) to honor, accurately interpret and educate the community about the rich and diverse cultural and natural history and features of the site and the Lower Phalen Creek corridor, (2) to honor the significance of Wakan Tipi Cave as a Dakota sacred site, and (3) to create a gathering place and visitor facility for the community and guests in the area. Wakan Tipi Center is designed to complement and support cultural and environmental interpretation programs for Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary. It will be a welcoming, beautiful enhancement to the sanctuary, both in terms of its minimal environmental impact and its visual appeal. It will provide a significant improvement to the Commercial and 4th Street corner, which is now asphalt payment and highway overpasses. The center will be a location for a variety of arts, cultural, educational and environmental programs.

Associated Products

With new name in Dakota, St. Paul nonprofit pushes Indigenous renaming forward (Article)
Title: With new name in Dakota, St. Paul nonprofit pushes Indigenous renaming forward
Author: Robyn Katona
Abstract: As part of a growing effort to return Indigenous sites to their ancestral names and caretakers, a local nonprofit that cares for sites across St. Paul recently implemented a requirement for its board to be Native-led and renamed itself to reflect the original name of one site it cares for.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/05/22/wakan-tipi-awanyankapi-new-dakota-name-indigenous-renaming
Primary URL Description: MPR Website
Format: Other
Publisher: MPR News

Our environment shapes us': Ojibwe architect Sam Olbekson designs from an Indigenous perspective (Article)
Title: Our environment shapes us': Ojibwe architect Sam Olbekson designs from an Indigenous perspective
Author: Amanda Su
Abstract: While designing several projects along a confluence of rivers called Bdote, Olbekson said they deliberately located the Wakan Tipi Center at a distance from its namesake and Dakota sacred site Wakan Tipi Cave to honor its sanctity.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://https://abcnews.go.com/US/ojibwe-architect-designs-indigenous-perspective/story?id=93274419
Primary URL Description: ABC News website
Format: Other
Publisher: ABC News

Minnesota legislature approves St. Paul's proposal for infrastructure funding (Article)
Title: Minnesota legislature approves St. Paul's proposal for infrastructure funding
Author: WCCO Staff
Abstract: SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Mayor Melvin Carter announced on Wednesday the Minnesota legislature's approval of millions for infrastructure funding. The state has allocated millions of dollars to help support and improve public safety, housing, community centers, and public infrastructure in Saint Paul and surrounding regions.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-legislature-approves-st-pauls-proposal-for-infrastructure-funding/
Primary URL Description: CBS News Website
Format: Other
Publisher: CBS News Minnesota

Maggie Lorenz’s Leadership in Reclamation and Gift for Resiliency (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Maggie Lorenz’s Leadership in Reclamation and Gift for Resiliency
Director: Maggie Lorenz
Producer: Leah Lemm and Cole Premo
Abstract: Today Leah and Cole chat with Maggie Lorenz, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe and descendant of the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation. She is the Director of the Wakan Tipi Center & Executive Director of the Lower Phalen Creek project, which is a Native-led environmental conservation nonprofit on the East Side of St. Paul.
Date: 10/06/2022
Primary URL: http://https://minnesotanativenews.org/maggie-lorenzs-leadership-in-reclamation-and-gift-for-resiliency/
Primary URL Description: Minnesota Native News website
Access Model: Open Access
Format: Web

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