Reflections on a Mississippi River Fellowship

 

By Deacon DeBoer, Mississippi River Fellow 2021, Mississippi Park Connection

A person sits in a canoe and another person sits in a yellow kayak. They are both looking at the camera and paddling down a river with green trees on either side.

With the long-term goal of creating a park staff that is more representative of the communities it serves, the Mississippi River Fellowship is a 10-week paid opportunity for diverse and underrepresented young adults ages 18-25 to explore the different branches of the National Park Service. Deacon Deboer (right) and Melina Pakey-Rodriguez (left) were the 2021 fellows. Copyright Mississippi Park Connection.

In what seemed as quick as a cottonwood seed floating to the ground, the Mississippi River Fellowship provided countless educational experiences on topics once foreign to me prior to this summer. Mississippi Park Connection’s fellowship went above and beyond my expectations. It supported my learning and encouraged me to freely explore my interests pertaining to the river and Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth). I had many supportive and constructive conversations with relatives and coworkers in relation to both my future and the future of this park. These communicative relationships are vital to building reciprocal relationships with the land.

This summer I learned by rotating through many positions within the National Park Service in partnership with Mississippi Park Connection. One of my favorites was conducting animal surveys with MNRRA biotechs, varying from monarch butterfly monitoring to bats, beavers, and bees! All these critters tremendously help our ecosystem. I am so thankful for the experience to work up close with them. I loved seeing monarchs on top of Itoptasapa thapezhuta (milkweed).

Two people stand in tall prairie grasses and examine flowers and other plants. Trees are in the background with a white sky behind the treeline.

The Fellows worked directly with National Park Service Rangers, Mississippi Park Connection staff, and other park partners to aid in facilitating educational programs, habitat restoration events, and wildlife monitoring on the Mississippi River. This prairie restoration event with Lower Phalen Creek Project took place at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary. Copyright Mississippi Park Connection.

Three people are standing on cement steps in the middle of prairie grasses with trees in the background. They are holding large pamphlets with prairie plant illustrations on them. They are smiling and looking at the camera.

The Fellows learned about native prairie plants with a National Park Service ranger at Coldwater Spring. Copyright MississippI Park Connection.

Seven people are in yellow kayaks paddling around a lake. The lake is surrounded by a tall tree forest that is still green in the middle of summer.

The Fellows participated in and helped lead many BIPOC In The Outdoors events, like this kayak paddle on Pickerel Lake at Lilydale Regional Park, utilizing the Mississippi River Paddle Share system. Copyright Mississippi Park Connection.

I applied to this fellowship because I look to the Mississippi River as a relative and it should be treated as such. It is my home away from home here in Bde Ota (Minneapolis). I spent much of my childhood near the Cetan Wakpa (Hawk Creek) and Mni Sota Wakpa (Minnesota River) in Pezihutazizi Kapi near Granite Falls. Those waters connect me to Bde Ota and Imniza Ska (Saint Paul). The fellowship was an opportunity for me to build relationalities along the Haha Wakpa (Mississippi River) and create safe spaces for relatives to use.

A dozen people gather around one person as he talks to them. They are on the shores of a river with canoes beached behind them. They are surrounded by a green forest. They are all wearing life jackets and getting ready to go on their canoe trip.

Mississippi River Fellow Deacon coordinated, fascilitated, and led a BIPOC With Truth Telling canoe paddle around Bdote in the summer of 2021. It was the first of it’s kind event to be conducted by a Fellow. Copyright Mississippi Park Connection.

I built these relationalities by hosting a Paddling While BIPOC With Truth Telling event pertaining to Mni Sota Makoce (land where the waters reflect the sky). When I learned that I would design a capstone project at the end of my fellowship, it didn’t take more than a minute to conjure up what I wanted to do. Our route took us around Bdote (the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers) and through the back channel of Wita Tanka (Pike Island). The event was beautiful. We were gifted serene weather with the dew of rain, which we all have been missing lately. We chatted amongst ourselves as relatives and built knowledges as we decolonized our narratives. The core of this paddle was building a reciprocal relationship with Unci Maka and the environment, and letting the land hear our language of decolonization.

I still find language to be an afterthought in peoples’ minds pertaining to a place’s spirituality and the weight a name holds in describing these places. Going forward, our society has a lot of work to do in working toward decolonization. Many organizations are entirely systemically colonial. Recognizing this as an organization and amplifying BIPOC voices within can aid in decolonization efforts.

Six people stand in a row on a path in the middle of a green forest. They are all happy and smiling or laughing at the camera. They are all wearing backpacks.

Throughout the summer, the Fellows (left) along with two Community Volunteer Ambassadors (center) from the National Park Service, were introduced to the different branches of the National Park Service including Visitor Services, Interpretation & Education, Natural & Cultural Resource Management, and the Volunteer Program. The program was led by Tamara Few and Johnna Austin (right). Copyright Mississippi Park Connection.

 
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