Newsmakers: Bassett Creek Oral History Project Gathers Suburban Indigenous Stories

A collaboration of community partners produced what is thought to be the first gathering of suburban Indigenous oral histories in the United States or Canada in the Haha Wakpadan/Bassett Creek Oral History Project.

“Think about this place as a Dakota landscape, the traditional and contemporary home of the Dakota people,” said Crystal Boyd, one of the project organizers. “Everybody really opened up and had a lot of good stories, both positive and negative, and that’s important in history to see both sides.”

The project grew from a land acknowledgement initiative started in 2021 by Valley Community Presbyterian Church. An American Indian and Indigenous Studies assistant professor from the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Kasey Keeler, interviewed 14 Indigenous people about their experiences in the Bassett Creek area. 

Native American drummers participate in a land acknowledgement event at Valley Community Presbyterian Church in 2021.

“Oral histories are amazing. It lets people tell stories in their own words, and that’s important especially for communities that don’t often get asked to tell their story,” said Boyd. “This is a nice way to gather their stories and then listen and hear what they are saying.”

Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley and the Hennepin History Museum worked to produce the project with help from the city of Golden Valley, Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission, and the Loppet Foundation. Interviews are available on Spotify, YouTube and other podcast locations. Learn more here.

Part of the ongoing work is to educate people on the pronunciation of the Dakota word for Bassett Creek, Haha Wakpadan. The church has produced this video to help people with it.

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