MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Twin Cities suburb is looking to rename its Pocahontas Park and is considering paying Native Americans for their input in the process.
The city of Roseville is says it wants to rename the park, located at 2540 Pascal Street, after concerns were expressed that its name might be offensive. According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, this has been a concern for the city since 2020, when a high schooler serving as a youth commissioner told city council members that he’d heard concerns the name was offensive.
After reaching out to hear what residents had to say about a possible name change, the city learned that the most who commented were in favor of changing it, the newspaper reported.
According to the city’s website, council members began learning more about Pocahontas and found that the story most people know about her is inaccurate and contains stereotypes, that romanticizing the past and inaccurate portrayals of Native peoples is harmful to those communities today, and that Pocahontas doesn’t have ties to Minnesota or the tribes that live here.
At a meeting last week, parks commissioners recommended paying a stipend for Native Americans to participate in the naming process, the newspaper reported. One commissioner likened the idea to the city paying a consultant for their professional guidance. No dollar amount was specified.
There is currently no timeline set for renaming the park. Along with speaking to Native Americans, the city also looks to speak to those who live near the park, which the city estimates serves roughly 600 people as their “neighborhood park.”
In the renaming process, the city says its objective is to engage impacted communities and to assess their feeling on being “welcomed, included and respected” in Roseville.
Source: CBS Minnesota
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