Mankato park to be named 'Mni Wašté'

Jul. 30—MANKATO — If Mankato city leaders move forward with a planned name change, area residents looking for a quiet hike in one of the city's newest parks will be getting an educational bonus — some Dakota language learning and a lesson on heteronyms and homographs.

The 50-acre parcel featuring a large pond has long been known as the Sanger Pit, a reference to its previous use as a gravel mining site. Since purchasing the land in 2016, the city has officially called it Community Public Open Space.

With neither name being particularly poetic and Mankato making an effort to more strongly acknowledge the region's Indigenous history, city staff were assigned to explore potential park names that reflect the area's Dakota roots.

A committee including several Dakota community members settled on a pair of ideas for the property, which sits along Blue Earth County Road 1 near Mount Kato.

"They gave us options to work with and push out to the public," said Edell Fiedler, communications and engagement director for the city.

After the top contenders were presented to hundreds of area residents from mid-May to mid-July, Fiedler said there was a clear frontrunner.

Mni Wašté.

That's Dakota for "good water." Spoken correctly, the words sound something like "mini wash-Tay."

It seemed like a fine choice to 539 people who voted at various community events and on the city's online feedback site, more than doubling the 274 people who preferred Owanka — Dakota for "an area or space." Another 30 preferred other names, ranging from Cat Park to Ron's Park to Dora's Park to Sanger Park to Mni Wašté Owanka.

"Now we're coming to you for direction," Fiedler told the council during a recent work session.

Council member Michael McLaughlin said he liked the concept behind Mni Wašté. But when he showed it to a certain teenager he knows, McLaughlin wasn't as fond of the pronunciation.

"It came back 'Many Waste' instead of Mni Wašté," McLaughlin said, wondering if some segments of the population would purposely ignore the proper pronunciation in favor of the less savory word.

"It seems like it could gravitate to Waste Pond," he said, adding that out-of-towners would also be inclined to think of the English word.

Council President Mike Laven had the same concern — that a picturesque nature park would have a name that in English is used to describe garbage, unwanted byproducts and worse.

"That's where my mind went ... What's the worst-case scenario?" Laven said.

The whole issue is an example of homographs and heteronyms. The Dakota word for "good" and the English word describing something worthless are spelled the same but pronounced differently while also carrying very divergent meanings. While that complicates the use of the name, Council member Kevin Mettler still considers it a good choice.

Mettler recalled hearing the words a lot while traveling with church youth groups to Indigenous communities in North Dakota. The significance of mni wašté to people living on that sometimes arid landscape was clear.

Good water is also an integral part of the identity of the region around Mankato, Mettler said.

"They're going to mispronounce it, but it's a very important word to this area," he said. "I think we should keep it."

Other council members agreed, and Mayor Najwa Massad instructed staff to put the name change on a council agenda in August, adding that the pronunciation of the park's name can be included on signs and documents.

Council member Dennis Dieken suggested that it's OK if it takes some time for people to learn how to properly say the park's name. Dieken noted that many area residents are still getting the hang of vocalizing the name of the park Nicollet County created 16 years ago just southwest of North Mankato, struggling himself to say Minnemishinona Falls.

"You mean the waterfall out on Judson Bottom Road?" Laven asked. "That's how I pronounce it."

If the council formally adopts Mni Wašté as a park name, it will be far from an original endeavor, although the city might score better than others for accuracy. For more than a century, white people across North America have attempted to use the Dakota words for "good water" to name lakes and other scenic locations. They just haven't quite gotten it right.

Among others, there's Lake Minnewasta in Manitoba, Minnewasta Lake in South Dakota, Lake Minnewashta Regional Park in Excelsior, Minnewashta Lake in Iowa, Minnewasca Lake in Michigan, Minnewaska State Park Preserve in New York and Lake Minnewaska stretching between Glenwood and Starbuck in west-central Minnesota.