To Acknowledge and to Celebrate: Indigenous Placemaking on Hoocak and Dakota Homelands

Abstract

This project was completed in partnership between the City of La Crescent and the University of Minnesota’s Resilient Communities Project (https://rcp.umn.edu/). The goal of this project was to identify opportunities for the City of La Crescent to share the history and celebrate the culture of indigenous communities that have inhabited the land in and around La Crescent as they develop a plan for public spaces in the community. City of La Crescent project lead Larry Kirch supported a team of students in Peter Brown’s course PA 8081 who researched indigenous history in the area, conducted interviews with indigenous residents to learn about their own and their family's history in and ties to the area, participated in advisory council meetings, and hosted a community engagement workshop to inform design of a future Overlook Plaza near the city's downtown. A final student report and presentation from the project are available.