Minneapolis officials say they won’t change Lake Calhoun signs back to Lake Calhoun; Bde Maka Ska to remain

Before I update this story, an aside that you must hear and use at parties all summer long: my colleague John Hinderaker relayed the best comment yet on all this: a friend of his was standing near a “beach read” book display at Barnes & Nobles marked as Bde Maka Ska. A lady asked a clerk, “How do you pronounce that?” The clerk said, “Calhoun.”

Another good joke: “Cal-Who?”

We have to laugh or we will cry.

Okay, now for the update on Minneapolis, which gets more silly with every election:

We reported yesterday that a neighborhood group won their case at the Minnesota Court of Appeals to keep the name Lake Calhoun instead of calling it “Bda Maka Ska.” The DNR did not have the authority to help Minneapolis in its quest to engage in virtue signaling and chest beating when it approved the name change.

But city officials are resisting carrying out the court order, which would require them to change the signs back to say “Lake Calhoun.” The park board and mayor are saying they will not honor that ruling, and want the DNR to appeal.

According to Fox 9 News:

“The most beautiful lake in Minneapolis has been called Bde Maka Ska for generations before white settlers stole it from the Dakota,” MPRB President Brad Bourn said. “It will continue to be Bde Maka Ska for generations to come.”

Bourn also said the park board has no plans to change the signage around the lake.

“I have no intention of spending any public resources honoring Vice President John C. Calhoun’s blood-soaked legacy of systemic violence against all our communities,” Bourn said.

The park board is encouraging the DNR to appeal the ruling, according to a spokesperson. The DNR is considering its options and has 30 days to submit a petition.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said despite the ruling, the lake will always be its native name to him.

“I personally am going to continue calling Bde Maka Ska by its rightful name, which is Bde Maka Ska. That was its name long before people who looked like me decided to change it to the name of someone who was an apologist for slavery, so that’s what I think we should continue to call it,” he said.

So the silly saga continues; apparently the City of Minneapolis will remain focused on ways to divide people, and pick old wounds, rather than filling potholes. No word yet (that I have seen) from the DNR, which I hope determines that it must follow a court order. But hard to say just how emboldened state agencies are feeling under the leadership of Governor “One Minnesota” Tim Walz.