By Barb Spears, President MNWWN
When MNWWN learned that the Inaugural Women’s Forest Congress (WFC) would be held in Minneapolis in October, we knew we needed to be involved. Little did we know the fun twists and turns that involvement would take, including connecting with the instructor for the MNWWN Women’s Chainsaw Course, tish carr from Maine, held the weekend before!
The WFC offered pre-Congress bus tours to highlight Minnesota’s natural resources and culture. MNWWN helped organize and host the Native American Cultural Sites Tour to visit two important sites. MNWWN member Chris Soutter, who is a member of the Pilot Knob Preservation Association (PKPA), played a key role in planning both of these visits and provided copies of the PKPA pocket guide for everyone. MNWWN also provided, thanks to the MN DNR, boot brushes for everyone as well as light refreshments and a copy of the “Women on the Land” publication. Of the six bus tours offered, this was by far the most popular with 48 participants, requiring a larger bus!
The first visit was to Bdote, the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, currently managed as part of Fort Snelling State Park. Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs, Director of Racial Justice for Minnesota Council of Churches and founder of “Healing Minnesota Stories” shared culturally significant and moving stories of Minnesota history from the Native perspective.
Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs
The second stop on the tour was to Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob, a historic indigenous burial ground and gathering place, and now a National Register of Historic Places site in Mendota Heights. The Pilot Knob Preservation Association and Oheyawaki Task Force hosted three stops along the trail to share the cultural significance of the site, the efforts to save and preserve the site from development, and the natural resources restoration and management.
Neil McKay and Juanita Espinosa (center) with the Minneapolis skyline in the distance.
Speakers included: Neil McKay, Dakota Language Specialist in the American Indian Studies Department at the University of Minnesota; Juanita Espinosa, BA (Spirit Lake Nation), Community Program Specialist for the Northern Range Satellite Center; Al Singer, Land Conservation Manager at Dakota County; Krista Spreiter, Natural Resources Coordinator at the City of Mendota Heights; Gail Lewellan, President at PKPA.
It was a particularly cold day for mid-October, but the folks from the PKPA provided some much-appreciated warmth with a nice fire and some blankets!
Centerpiece provided by MNWWN
Circling back around to the Women’s Chainsaw Course held the weekend before the Women’s Forest Congress at MNWWN Board Member Cheryl Jirik’s home, the tree cookies created by the women attending the course were collected and added to white cedar twigs (also from Cheryl’s) and a variety of colorful fall leaves graced the 50 banquet tables for the opening banquet.
MNWWN was honored and pleased to be so involved in the Inaugural Women’s Forest Congress! It allowed us to welcome forestry women from around the US and world to Minnesota to showcase our hospitality, culture and forests, and to tell our story of women who are passionate about and engaged in sustaining family-owned woodlands through peer learning and building relationships.
MNWWN board members and chainsaw instructor aids: Cheryl Jirik and Rachel Poppe.