Annual Pioneer Press treasure hunt becomes controversial when medallion is found at sacred Dakota site

An annual treasure hunt has become a controversial event after the prize was found at a site sacred to the Dakota people.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press Medallion Hunt is held each year to coincide with the Winter Carnival. Using clues released by the news agency, hunters search for the medallion hidden somewhere in St. Paul. This year’s searchers found it at the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, where Wakaŋ Tipi is located.

Wakaŋ Tipi is a sacred site where the Dakota people have gathered for private ceremonies and storytelling traditions for thousands of years. Some of the petroglyphs in the cave have been destroyed over the generations by vandalism and railroad expansion.

The Pioneer Press even used Wakaŋ Tipi as a hunting clue, using an anagram to warn hunters.

The non-profit organisation Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi is working to restore the site with the aim of finding a new use for it. It currently manages about three hectares on which an interpretive centre is being built, and is also in discussions with St Paul about a joint management arrangement to have more say in decisions about the rest of the 20-plus hectares of land the reserve occupies.

“We were just pretty disappointed because this is a sacred place for the Dakota,” said Jenna Gray Eagle, who leads environmental justice and conservation programs for the nonprofit organization.

“We have been informed that some people have been digging and this is directly contrary to our restoration efforts on site,” she said.

Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi was not consulted by the Pioneer Press about using the Bruce Vento Sanctuary as a site for medallion hunting, according to Environmental Restoration Manager Gabby Menomin, who calls the placement of a sacred site in an urban area “very rare” in this country.

“It’s really disappointing that a major journal agency has no contact with an Indigenous organization that actively manages and maintains the site.”

This is not the first time that the Pioneer Press has used sacred soil for a treasure hunt. In 1987, the medallion was found wrapped in clay and grass in Indian Mounds Regional Park, a sacred burial site.

“I don’t think the Pioneer Press necessarily acted in bad faith in their choice,” said Grey Eagle, adding that she believes it can be difficult for mainstream society to understand that some sacred sites are strictly anchored on land.

“It’s not necessarily a 1,000-year-old church or a stone and mortar building that you can say, ‘Well, that’s thousands of years old’ … When the Dakota say we have thousands of years of oral history associated with this place and thousands of years of caring for this place, believe them, because it’s true.”

When MPR News reached out to the newspaper for comment, Pioneer Press representatives said an article about the situation would be published shortly.

“As a small nonprofit organization, we do our best to educate the public about the site and its cultural significance,” says Maggie Lorenz, executive director of Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi.

Lorenz said she was disheartened when she first learned of the situation, but was encouraged by the response of city officials who worked to resolve the issue, as well as contacting the Pioneer Press to discuss solutions and apologize.

“I was really surprised and encouraged by the amount of public comments online saying, ‘The Pioneer Press should have known better than to hold their treasure hunt at a sacred site.'”

For Lorenz, the most important conclusion from the incident is that unless the official name of the site is changed to reflect the significance of the site to the Dakota people, “the community will continue to unknowingly participate in activities that do not truly conform to proper protocols and etiquette at a sacred site.”

MPR News reporter Melissa Olson contributed to this article.