On the evening of November 17th, Lower Phalen Creek Project convened a community conversation on the history of Phalen Creek, its unique value as a wakpadaŋ connecting to the Wakpa Taŋka, and the longstanding efforts of Lower Phalen Creek Project and countless East Side community members to bring this lost waterway back to the surface. For this month’s blog, we recount portions of this wonderful and exciting event. Watch the full recording here: https://youtu.be/dW4IYXyzOLI)
The history of phalen creek
We began the webinar with talented storyteller and relative Fern Naomi Renville recounting one pivotal part of the Dakota Creation story, the gift of water to Kuŋši Makhá - Grandmother Earth from the life-blood of the generous Iŋyáŋ - Grandfather Rock. This story encapsulates so many of the values central to the Dakota nation; the act of giving wholeheartedly, reverence for the world around us, appreciation for the sacrifices of others, that we are relatives to all other things in creation. The story itself reminds us to value the beautiful gift that is water.
These values shaped our original relationship with all the waters of Mnísota, and especially those around Imnízaska othuŋwe, the Village of the White Bluffs - St. Paul. The history of the waterway we now call Phalen Creek has long been marked by movement, change, and resilience. Many communities have been sustained by her waters, beginning of course with the Dakota nation, whose connection to this area begins from time immemorial and whose very identity is shaped by it. Oral history tells of our people traveling this waterway by čháŋwata or taŋpáwata - dugout or birch canoe while we harvested psíŋ - wild rice, which was once more common in these areas. We were also able to tap stands of maple trees along the banks of Lake Phalen for čaŋháŋpi- sappy sugar and hunt for heȟáka - elk, both of which sustained our people throughout the seasons.
By the mid-19th century, the original relationship between the Dakota nation and our homelands had been severely disrupted. Increasing tensions from European encroachment and genocidal tactics from the U.S. government led to the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, ultimately resulting in the dissolution of all treaties, exile of most Dakota people and with them the remaining barriers to White settlement in southern Minnesota.
As the city of St. Paul grew, so too did a community along the banks of the creek. Impoverished immigrants who could not yet afford to live in the more established neighborhoods of St. Paul began building a life in what has come to be called Swede Hollow. Swede Hollow got its name from the Swedish immigrants who settled in the area, who were later followed by Italian, Polish and eventually Mexican immigrants.
By the 1950s, the community was almost exclusively home to Mexican families. But unlike the White European communities that had come before them, the Mexican community did not get a chance to live in this informal neighborhood while they transitioned to a life “up on the hill” (elsewhere in St. Paul). In 1956, the City of St. Paul declared the neighborhood a public health hazard before evicting the residents and violently destroying their homes. Like our Dakota ancestors before them, a whole new community of families who kept gardens, played in the woods, and were supported by the waters of the creek were displaced.
LPCP History
At our recent event, we also had the change to speak with Dan McGuiness – who, since 2003, has served LPCP as a volunteer, an interim executive director, and currently as a member of the board. Having lived on the East Side for close to 40 years, and having spent a 50-year career in conservation in the proximity of the Mississippi River, Dan began by contrasting the above-ground, naturalized flows of Battle Creek and Fish Creek with the near-absence of flowing water along the Phalen Creek corridor. Dan recounted how Minnesota’s early settler-colonial society developed and altered Phalen Creek, from the incursion of railroads, to the use of sacred waters for the production of beer. As Swede Hollow grew into a community, and as that community gradually changed over, companies like Hamm’s, Whirlpool, and 3M dumped wastewater and other contaminants into the Phalen Creek watershed. The traumatic eviction of Swede Hollow residents in 1956 dovetailed with a gradual industrial decline along the creek corridor, with many major companies moving out of the East Side, and leaving behind long-term pollution, by the 1970s.
With Swede Hollow, Wakáŋ Tipi, and other portions of the Phalen Creek corridor lying vacant and in disrepair, and with a reprieve from intrusive development, the East Side community stepped up. It began in the early 1970s, when Swede Hollow Park was purchased by the City of Saint Paul, restored, and opened to the public. Thanks to Olivia Dodge of the Saint Paul Garden Club, Carol Carey, Karin DuPaul of Friends of Swede Hollow, and many others, this was just the beginning. By 1973, with growing interests in the value and importance of clean water, the emergence of the Citizens for the Better Environment, with community members like Amy Middleton, Sarah Clark, and others helping to form a coalition of over 25 organizations, brought Phalen Creek back into focus. By the 1990s, this concentrated effort grew into a community steering committee known as the Lower Phalen Creek Project, an entity tasked with creating a guiding vision for the Phalen Creek corridor. From original planning in 2001 through to the present day, LPCP has carried out that vision: a connected trail system across the East Side; a soon-to-be interpretive center located in the heart of the urban ecosystem; and now, a comprehensive process for returning the flow of Phalen Creek to the surface.
“The idea of daylighting Phalen Creek has always been there, and its wonderful to see it come full circle and be front and center in our agenda again,” Dan reflected. “I think what’s really significant about all this is that it fits so well with the nature of how our work and our organization has shifted, from being a kind of collaboration of East Siders who really had an interest in this area, toward being Indigenous-led in both our board and staff – what that has done is it’s ‘daylighted’ our heritage. What we’re talking about now is the restoration of the ecological and cultural heritage of this area, the recognition of the real history and what this place is all about – its significance, it sanctity… I think that part of what will happen at the Wakáŋ Tipi Center, and along this whole corridor, is a huge and wonderful learning experience. As we learn from each other, not only about the entire history of this place, but about the fact that this Dakota place is still a Dakota place, our Dakota staff and board members are shaping how we experience not just Wakáŋ Tipi and Phalen Creek but all the waterways and spaces across the East Side.”
CLUES Mural Project / CRWD Video
This fall Lower Phalen Creek Project was honored to partner with two creative forces to better tell the story of Phalen Creek. We worked with Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) to uplift the story of the Dakota and Mexican communities in Swede Hollow. Collaborating with professional artists and youth, together we created two vibrant and harmonious murals that captured the resilience of our communities and the beautiful connection we share to this place, to water, and to each other. Each piece included a depiction of flowing water and a Dakota and Mexican artistic interpretation of butterflies, an ode to the monarchs that travel between our homelands. (see November’s blog post for more details!)
We were also delighted to work once again with John Shepard and Tracy Fredin of The Center for Global Environmental Education at Hamline University to produce a video sharing the many voices of Phalen Creek. Over the course of multiple filming days, we interviewed people with strong ties to Phalen Creek and Swede Hollow, asking them about their lived experience in the area, the impact of water on their lives, and why sharing the history of the Creek is important.
Israel and Fidel Bravo reflected on the joyful memories they had living in the Hollow as children, surrounded by family and nature. Glenn Johnson, the grandson of a Swede Hollow resident, advocated for a better understanding of the history of the site so that the public could better appreciate it. May Vang shared her family’s close ties to the waters of St. Paul and her continued love of fishing. When asked why she’d like to see a restored Phalen Creek, May replied “I think it’s going to do a really great job with just bringing people together, in ways that people probably don’t know it will bring them together.”
Lower Phalen Creek Project would like to thank the Capitol Region Watershed District for funding this project, the Trust for Public Land for partnering with us, the team at Hamline University, and our interviewees for making this video a reality. The full video is available to watch on our YouTube channel.
Daylighting Project updates
After decades of research and advocacy — from local residents, passionate stakeholders, and a wide array of leaders and partner organizations — we are excited to announce that Lower Phalen Creek Project has been selected to receive an allocation of at least $2.8 million from the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council. These public funds draw from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment and are approved on an annual basis by the Minnesota state legislature.
The funded project will support LPCP and a host of partner organizations to daylight 1/4-mile of Phalen Creek stemming from the southern outflow of Lake Phalen. These funds will be spent over a five-year process in which stakeholders collaborate on the design, construction, installation, and maintenance of the restored stream channel, with public input and involvement tracking through each and every stage! Project activities will officially begin in July 2022, but we will be sharing updates and seeking feedback along the way.
During our webinar, Jonathon Kusa, CEO of Inter-Fluve, Inc. walked us through the project process, explaining the work that’s gone into existing feasibility studies to determine the best locations and methods for daylighting, showing photographs of other stream restoration projects, and answering some great questions from the audience. Jonathon also spoke beautifully to value of purpose-driven restoration: “The way we change the trajectory of what we’re doing to this world is by having children be engaged with water, becoming the next leaders that are making decisions about the ecological health of the world, restoring ecosystems that Indigenous people have been taking care of for generations.”
Visit https://www.lsohc.mn.gov/FY2023/index.html to read our original request for funding, our draft accomplishment plan, and a list of other funded projects. Contact Sam Wegner, our Environmental Stewardship Program Manager, at swegner@lowerphalencreek.org with any questions or to learn more!
