Kaškáŋškaŋ
City of Bloomington Department of Creative Placemaking
Erin Genia and Sheila Novak
2023
About Kaškáŋškaŋ
Dakota peoples have lived in Mnísota Makhóčhe, today known as Minnesota, for thousands of years. The corridor surrounding the confluence of the Ȟaȟáwakpa/Mississippi River and the Wakpa Mnísota/Minnesota River is home to many culturally significant sites to Dakota peoples. During colonization, Dakota peoples were forcibly removed from Minnesota and sent to a diaspora of reservations. And yet, Dakota people remain here.
These banners contain Dakota imagery, like the áŋpo wičháŋȟpí́́/morning star, susbéčhá/dragonfly, as well as a fancy shawl, eagle feathers and corn to center and celebrate Dakota culture and people at this site. Kaškáŋškaŋ is a Dakota word meaning movement, to be shaken up, moving with a gust of wind – as the banners do – to express a need to shake things up, to help people change our relationships to the land towards reciprocity and recognize the interconnectedness of all things.
To learn more about Dakota presence in this region please visit DakotaLandMap.com
Restoration Through Reciprocity
As you view Kaškáŋškaŋ, you are surrounded by newly restored prairie. The reintroduction of these native plants is creating a home for wildlife - insects, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals of all sizes - who cannot survive in turf grass lawns.
To heal this landscape, we are restoring the ecosystem that supported vast life before European settlers transformed the landscape, destroyed habitat, and eroded the inherent cultural connection to the land, contributing to the existential threat of climate change.
The Dakota concept of mitákuye oyásiŋ is a way of life based upon the interconnectedness of all life. Animals, plants, water, and earth are not viewed as lesser than human beings: we treat them as relatives, with respect and reciprocity.
These banners and this park offer a reciprocal way of seeing the world: one where landscape restoration happens alongside cultural healing. Rejecting colonial patterns and ending institutional racism are essential to healing the ecosystem and restoring native lands.
Making Kaškáŋškaŋ
Cyanotypes are photographs: light-sensitive chemicals on paper or cloth capture the details from the shadows. When laid out under the bright sun, the shadows of objects like plants and eagle feathers protect the fabric from the sun, while the fabric turns blue in the sun's rays. Exposing these many elements into the fabric, we quilt ideas together to tell a larger story.About the Artists
Since 2019, Erin Genia and Sheila Novak have collaborated on projects focused on pollinator caregiving and gardening during COVID-19. Our projects consider how today’s environmental degradation and cultural trauma are linked to settler colonialism, Indigenous erasure, and oppression. In our work together, we hope to create spaces of multi-species ecological and cultural healing, focusing on the present and future thriving of Indigenous more-than-human communities.Erin Genia (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate/Odawa) is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and community organizer. Erin specializes in Native American and Indigenous peoples arts and culture.
Sheila Novak (she/they, b. 1990) is an interdisciplinary artist and curator. Sheila’s work focuses on ecological healing, spatial justice, and social equity.