DULUTH, MN (CBS-3) – Three years after construction crews dug up human remains on a Native American burial ground, a final design plan has been announced to restore that sacred space.
The Mission Creek Cemetery in the Fond du Lac neighborhood was accidentally disturbed in 2017 during MnDOT’s Hwy. 23 bridge replacement project.
After that discovery, the construction project was put on hold while MnDOT and the Fond du Lac Band explored ways to preserve the burial ground.
Complex yet simple. That’s what landscape officials call the final design meant to restore Mission Creek and honor those natives who were buried there and were disturbed.
Urban Ecosystems, a landscape architect company, created a preferred concept design that was unveiled Wednesday night at Black Bear Casino.
The design is a composite of the previous concepts after feedback and recommendations from the Fond du Lac community.
It’s named “Sacred Space” and it’s designed to fit in with the native culture and beliefs. It includes a boundary stone wall, water space, a woodland trail, forest restoration for mixed forest species, and Anishinaabe imagery.
One of the concept’s main goals is to prioritize long term protection of the ancestors.
Some band members were still skeptical of the design, saying nature should heal the site on its own without the use of design and construction.
Urban Ecosystems is still taking feedback from the native community.
MnDOT and landscape officials hope to start construction on the sacred space in May.
(from CBS 3-Duluth)
