An official website of the Land, water, and people acknowledgment and Met Council commitments to act
Indigenous people are the first people of this country. The land we all occupy in the seven-county Twin Cities region is historic and contemporary Dakota land taken from an innocent population by force through intentional genocide and broken treaties. As of the 2020 Census, the Twin Cities region has approximately 72,000 American Indian residents.162 American Indians consistently have the worst disparities in income,163 health,164 and education165 and higher rates of homelessness166 than any other vulnerable population or racial group in the region. The effects of systematic genocide persist in the perceived invisibility of the modern American Indian population despite the robust, connected, and vibrant community that lives within the seven-county region.
American Indians have inherent sovereignty and are a political group, not a racial group. Sovereignty necessitates a government-to-government relationship and as a government agency, requires the Met Council not only to take responsibility but to take action to repair harm. Sovereignty requires a different type of commitment, respect, and response. The Met Council is compelled to action to address not only historic harm, but harm the Met Council itself has perpetuated through ongoing investment, occupation and control of sacred sites, discriminatory policies, and long-standing systems that support historic bad actions.
Methodology
To acknowledge the historic harm that American Indian people in this region have survived, the Met Council established an American Indian Advisory Council to co-create a land, water, and people acknowledgment along with recommendations for Met Council commitments to action. The Advisory Council included highly respected members of the American Indian community in this region. Members represented Dakota, Ojibwe, Ho-Chunk, and Lakota communities and ranged from youth advocates to community elders.
The Advisory Council met 13 times starting in March 2024. The structure of each meeting employed an Inside-Outside Circle format in which the Advisory Council members spoke first and led conversations while Met Council staff listened, took notes, and shared meeting summaries. Early in the process, the Advisory Council recommended that Met Council commitments to action would be more valuable and impactful than a land acknowledgement. The Advisory Council then met with Met Council staff from each regional policy area to understand Met Council roles and responsibilities and develop effective recommendations for commitments.
Commitments
The Advisory Council presented recommended commitments to the Met Council in September. Recommended commitments covered a wide range of Met Council work and highlighted the opportunities for organizational, operational, and policy change. Recommended commitments were developed for the Met Council overall as well as for each policy area.
- An overarching recommended commitment stated that the Met Council should lead in publicly recognizing the genocide and displacement that American Indian communities survived and continue to endure. One aspect of meeting this commitment is the inclusion of the Land, Water, and People Acknowledgement Statement at the beginning of Imagine 2050. The Acknowledgement Statement was written by the Advisory Council and presented to the Met Council with recommendations for use. The Met Council will determine the final uses of the statement including when it will read a statement at official Met Council meetings and where the full statement will be used such as at facilities, in its plans and resources, and on the Met Council website.
- From their first meeting, the Advisory Council clearly affirmed that an acknowledgement statement alone is not enough. The Advisory Council put together recommendations for the Met Council’s organization and culture. These commitments include updating the Met Council’s Tribal Consultation Policy, increasing American Indian staff representation, and developing training materials for internal staff and regional partners. Actions to address these recommendations are led by the Regional Administration leadership. Additionally, the Met Council commits to reporting annually to the American Indian Advisory Council on its progress towards meeting its commitments.
The Advisory Council also created recommended commitments for each policy area and many of those commitments are included in each policy plan. A summary of the commitments is included below, with more detail found in each of the policy chapters.
In the Regional Parks and Trails Policy Plan, a new subclassification for Cultural Landscapes will allow regional parks agencies to recognize and protect land of significant cultural value to American Indian Tribes. Lands in this subclassification are not required to be open for recreation, and the designation will help visitors understand the significance of the landscape. The Met Council will work with partners including American Indian organizations to further refine the new classification. Additionally, the policy work plan includes an action to partner with American Indian organizations and parks agencies to create an inventory and guidelines for harvesting edible plants and develop a cultural inventory requirement for long-range planning.
In the Transportation Policy Plan, one policy focuses on engaging with underrepresented communities in policy, planning, and project development for transportation infrastructure. One action within this policy directly addresses the Advisory Council’s recommendations. It specifies providing guidance around the best practices for Tribal engagement in transportation projects and identifying opportunities to document the full, equal, and effective participation from Tribal Nations.
The Land Use Policy includes actions to formalize an American Indian Advisory Council to address implementation of Imagine 2050, work with Tribal nations and American Indian partners to develop regional tools that benefit local planning practices and explore the establishment of a reparative actions fund to finance mitigation efforts for past harms including to American Indian communities. These actions all reflect recommendations from the Advisory Council.
In the Water Policy Plan, the Met Council holds that water is a human right and commits to building trust with Tribal Nations and Tribal communities by amplifying and honoring Indigenous values, perspectives, and experiences to collaborate on solutions that ensure sustainable and equitable water for the region. The orientation and direction of the Water Policy Plan will help address the Advisory Council’s recommendation that the Met Council advocate for a new political imagination for water policy and standard that integrates a framework of water as a relative.
The Housing Policy Plan includes actions to address the Advisory Council’s recommended commitments focused on increasing housing access and reducing homelessness in the American Indian communities. The plan commits the Met Council to prioritize American Indian-led organizations when funding projects to address housing issues in American Indian communities and reach out to these organizations when funding through related partnerships becomes available. The plan also includes an action to partner with American Indian communities in targeted outreach about new housing voucher programs. Additionally, the plan addresses issues related to American Indian homeownership through actions to engage American Indian housing voucher holders in wealth building and homeownership programs and work with American Indian organizations to develop and distribute resources about existing American Indian homeownership programs. Finally, the plan states that the Met Council will explore including fair housing guidance specific to Tribal citizens as part of housing resources provided to local government seeking Livable Communities Act grants.
Recommended commitments from the American Indian Advisory Council emphasize key themes for changes to Met Council work. The Met Council has a role in setting the tone for the region when it comes to Tribal and American Indian relations. Showing leadership in recognizing harms and consistently implementing a Tribal consultation and American Indian community engagement policy will help build trust between the Met Council and Tribes and American Indian communities. Changes to organizational culture and operations need to be formalized so they do not depend on the support of individual staff or individual Met Council members. Making commitments and transparently reporting on progress will ensure the Met Council remains accountable as it builds and deepens relationships with Tribes and American Indian communities.
Ultimately, the Met Council’s actions reflect its understanding, promoted by the Advisory Council, that partnering with American Indian communities and Tribes brings value to all aspects of Met Council work as it works towards a region with abundant opportunities for all.
