Coldwater Spring: Sacred site reopened

After three months behind locked gates, sacred Coldwater Spring reopened to the public Nov. 8. The 27-acre site atop the Mississippi River gorge between Minnehaha Park and Fort Snelling State Park was a traditional gathering and religious site for Upper Mississippi Indian peoples. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) closed the former Bureau of Mines site on Aug. 8, citing “safety,” “vandalism” (including broken windows and graffiti) and “theft” (of a 20-watt solar panel), depending on whom you asked.

At issue were several of the 11 buildings and warehouses abandoned in 1996 when the Twin Cities metallurgy and mining research facility closed. The buildings are without heat, water or electricity. One building has become a pigeon “city”, another is so filled with black mold a respirator is required before entering it. Congressman Martin Sabo asked the National Park Service for an estimate for removal of the buildings, believed to be about $9- to $10-million dollars.

“The buildings have nothing to do with us,” said Teri Starnes of Minneapolis. Starnes, with the Twin Cities Reclaiming Community, has led a Winter Solstice ritual at Coldwater for several years. Since 1996, no one associated with Coldwater has been injured on-site or accused of property violations. “They can’t see the land for the buildings,” said a Coldwater supporter.

In the new Coldwater policy, like the old policy, Coldwater is open 30 hours a week, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but no longer will a “special use permit” or a state-issued photo identification be required by an armed guard at the entrance gate. During the three-month closure, the gate was open only on Friday afternoons, during rush-hour, from 3 to 4 p.m., with permit and ID.

On Oct. 14, two Dakota men were ticketed after entering the Coldwater campus, without permits, in order to exercise their treaty rights. Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D., professor of Indigenous Studies at Minnesota State University at Marshall, and Jim Anderson, cultural chair of the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community, each received a U.S. District Court violation notice.

The $125 offense was described as “not complying with a federal police officer.” Inside the fence, Anderson led a pipe ceremony with Mato Nunpa and 10 Coldwater supporters. During the pipe ceremony, 25 more supporters held a prayer circle outside the fence.

Since the August closure of the Coldwater campus, government contractors secured first floor windows and doors, fenced off the old ore bins where a homeless person was sheltering, and erected posts with chains to close roads, except directly to the spring. Asked how these measures would protect against graffiti artists, neighborhood kids, and dog walkers, FWS had no comment. “This is for insurance, for the lawyers,” explained a federal official.