"Blue Earth County is a geographic anomaly. We have seven rivers flowing in and only one flowing out. Using our land primarily for agricultural production is diminishing natural vegetation, wildlife habitat and impairing our waterways. Yes, we can reverse the damage, but it will take dedication from all of us.”
- Paul Ebbenga, founder of Blue Earth Project.
Mahkato Mni is located at Riverfront Park
309 W Rock St, Mankato, MN
I always thought it would be nice to have a compass at Riverfront Park and when I had the opportunity to apply for both the Mankato community and City Center Partnership INFUSE grants I decided to heavily incorporate aspects of both Blue Earth Project and Mahkato Revitalization. So I guess you could call this piece “fan art!”
Maps and compasses are important tools for travel. Rivers have always been important highways. Even though we don't see many boats on the Minnesota River, humans impact on the rivers more now than we ever have, mostly from agricultural, industrial and municipal runoff.
How you interact with this piece depends on you. Maybe you just want to know what direction is north, so you use the compass. Maybe you notice a new word like "aquifer" or "ordovician" or you see that "wakpa" means "river" and want to know what language it is. You may be able to use the encyclopedia in your pocket to learn more.
I do hope that you look at this piece and realize two things: we live in a concentrated watershed and we are all connected by water.
Every time I visit a river I want to see a map.
Where is this water coming from? Where is it going to?
Thinking everyone else might feel the same, I took the opportunity to create Mahkato Mni. It sits where the Mnišota Wakpa (Dakota for "Minnesota River") bends to run north.
Mnišota Wakpa continues north and east to join Wakpa Tanka ("great river" or Haha Wakpa "river of the falls"), what the Ojibwe call both Gichi-ziibi and Misi-ziibi. You know it as the Mississippi River.
Did you know almost 20 million people are downstream from the water at Mankato?
The water’s health at this moment tells how the people upstream treated their land. Its health when it reaches the Gulf of Mexico in approximately 120 days will tell how 40% of America treats its land.
That includes us. You and I CAN make positive contributions to making our waters healthy for ourselves and for those downstream ... for today and for our future water users.
All it takes is looking at where things come from, where they are going to and adjusting our habits accordingly.
How it was made!
The thoughtful work of these two organizations were my main inspiration and motivation:
Blue Earth Project - Water statistics, stewardship education.
Mahkato Revitalization Project - Dakota language and cultural preservation.
These folks made my idea come to life!
Doug and Monica Zrust - metal fabrication, on this and many other projects!
Ted Schreyer at Associated Finishing Inc - industrial strength powdercoating for all my public art projects!
Dustin Swiers at Mankato Makerspace - technical adjustments and learning opportunities!
Thank you all for your important work each and every day!
Grant Funding: This activity is part of INFUSE Artists on Main Street, a program of the City Center Partnership and was partially funded by the City of Mankato Community Grant Program.
Designed on Inkscape.
CNC plasma cut. Top from 14 gauge sheet steel, base from 1/4" plate steel.
Zinc rich primer, color and high gloss topcoat.
About me:
I have lived on the western edge of the sandhills, on lands shared by the Oglala Lakota, Arapaho and Cheyenne, where the Platte River runs east. I have lived on the western slope of the Rockies, on lands of the Ute and Shoshone, where the Yampa River runs west.
I am an Industrial Arts advocate and novice CNC designer. My typical work is two dimensional, but I have created a handful of three dimensional pieces.
This is the most structurally complicated piece I've done so far. I relied very heavily on the knowledge and skills of my go-to metal fabricator, Doug Zrust. He made the base strong enough to survive living beside the trail at one of Mankato's most visited hotspots: Riverfront Park.
The location of this sculpture alongside the path and near the river overlook, play area, pavilion, boat landing and Vetterstone Amphitheater make this an optimum spot for the piece to be discovered, referenced and enjoyed by all park visitors.
I am honored to continue to serve on Mankato's Indigenous People's Day committee, where we plan celebratory and educational events annually, the first weekend of October.
Thank you for your curiosity!
Julie Dempster
Mnišota mní wakáŋ heča.
Mahkato mní wakáŋ heča.
Takomni mní teuŋhiŋdapi če’e.
"Minnesota water is sacred.
Mankato water is sacred.
We all must cherish and protect the water."
Translated from Dakota, the Indigenous language of Mankato.
"Indigenous cultures from around the world refer to water as “the first medicine.” This teaching is reflected in a common Indigenous societal expectation; water must always be protected and preserved. If the people take care of the water, the water will take care of the people."
"Mankato is the ancestral homeland of the Dakota peoples and is also home to many Bdote, the Dakota word for the converging of two rivers. Bdote are sacred sites to Dakota people, and they have lived near and cared for these sites for centuries."
-Clare Carroll
BA American Indigenous Studies and water protector
Nibi gaa-bimaaji’iwemagak
“Water gives life” in Ojibwe,
the Indigenous language of our neighbors to the north.
“Elders will often say that water is the blood of the Earth. We are connected to every living thing through water that moves between us and the Earth. The statement “water is life” is a truth that everyone must cherish, we are made up of this ancient material and our survival depends on us taking it into the future.”
“Our bodies are mostly water. The surface of the earth is mostly water in ratio not unlike that of the human body. … We’re all sharing the same resources, air and water. It has nothing to do with your personal economy. You can’t take it personally. You have to take it collectively. ”
- Andrea Carlson, artist