Bde Maka Ska (White Shore or White Beach Lake) is one name that the Dakota and other indigenous nations have used for centuries to describe the body of water that is now surrounded by south Minneapolis. In about 1819, U.S. surveyors renamed the lake after John C. Calhoun – Secretary of War, proponent of slavery and author of the Indian Removal Act.  

Ten years later, government agent Lawrence Taliaferro encouraged Dakota people to establish an agricultural community on the shores of Bde Maka Ska. The Dakota people called their village Ȟeyáta Othúŋwe – The Village Set Back.  But Taliaferro always called the village Eatonville, after the new US Secretary of War John Eaton.

These new names – Calhoun, Eaton – indicate how newcomers to the area wrote over traditional Dakota names for virtually every element of the landscape. It was the start of an historical process – culminating in forced exile — that made Dakota people unwelcome in their own homeland. By restoring an original name for this place, Dakota people and the City of Minneapolis hope to underscore that everyone should feel welcome here.

Subpages offer voices talking about Dakota absence at the site, the effects of homecoming, and the hope that all visitors at Bde Maka Ska feel welcome.