The Stories We Tell

By Katie Nyberg, Executive Director, Mississippi Park Connection
John Anfinson, Superintendent, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area

This article was originally published in our Fall/Winter 2020-21 print newsletter in September 2020.

The Coldwater Spring area has a rich history. It has been used by and has held meaning for various peoples, beginning with Native Americans. Although many tribal communities may have used or traversed the area, some Dakota tribes have been closely associated with the area for generations. Coldwater Spring remains sacred to some today. Photo by Gordon Dietzman

This summer, the Twin Cities became a flashpoint for a global uprising against the grossly inequitable treatment of Black Americans. The New York Times estimates that more people have participated in a Black Lives Matter protest this year than in any other protest movement in the history of our country.

Overnight, we were led to deeply examine the ways in which the same systems of inequality and oppression that we see on city streets can also exist on park trails. We turned inward to identify our own biases and exclusionary practices that have historically made people of color feel unwelcome and unsafe in the outdoors.

The mission of the National Park Service is to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. We hope that visitors will draw inspiration from their experiences in this river park. While many national park sites across the country tell the stories of the struggle for civil rights, women’s equality, and the dispossession of land from Native Americans, we have been examining how our river stories are often centered on the legacies of white men, diminishing the significant history and contributions of Native Americans, people of color, and women in our community.

Part of incorporating anti-racism into our work is learning and telling a more complete and inclusive story of all people who are connected to and have impacted this land. When visitors can recognize themselves in a park program and in a park ranger’s story, it affirms their experience and their place in the park. It contributes to their sense of belonging in a space, and that connection may inspire them to help protect it.

One of the strengths of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is its location in the heart of an urban area. Unlike other national parks dispersed in remote areas around the country, the river park runs through the heart of our capital, connecting millions of people from Dayton and Ramsey to Hastings.

This year, we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment by launching the Women of the Mississippi River project, a collection of mostly unacknowledged stories of women who have had great impact on the Mississippi River. Additionally, the return of Illuminate the Lock in partnership with All My Relations Arts and Northern Lights.mn will turn the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock into a highly visible platform for Indigenous narratives through modern artistic expression. Our recently developed distance learning programs are designed to aid teachers in engaging students with the river in the middle of a global pandemic.

We invite you to join us in this continual process of making our programs more accessible, the river more equitable, and the stories we tell more diverse, to create a park that is truly inclusive for all.

Saint Paul skyline. Photo by Bethany Birnie