Owámniyomni Okhódayapi is a Dakota-led non-profit creating a future where Dakota culture has a vital presence and Dakota values – such as mni wičóni, or water is life – are embedded into our communal existence. We are currently working to transform five acres of land at Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls) into a place of restoration, education, healing and connection.

The Owámniyomni project is a groundbreaking effort to heal a sacred Dakota site desecrated through colonization and industrialization. We are demonstrating an operational framework rooted in traditional Dakota values. Already, our organization serves as a model for other Native-led initiatives and illustrates the power and possibility of professional practices grounded in Native traditions.

Our work is grounded in the following principles:

• This is Dakota homeland. Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls) and Wíta Wanáǧi (Spirit Island) are central to Dakota culture and were desecrated through industrialization and colonization.
• We implement the vision of the four Dakota Tribes in Mni Sota – the Shakopee Mdewakanton (Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community), Tinta Wita (Prairie Island Indian Community), Cansa’yapi (Lower Sioux Indian Community), and Peżihutazizi (Upper Sioux Community).
• Dakota people have been actively erased from Owámniyomni, the Twin Cities, and their broader homelands. We center Dakota voices, strengthen connections to Dakota relatives, and uplift the actively silenced stories of all Dakota people.
• Our work is grounded in Indigenous values, like Mitákuye Owas’iƞ (We Are All Relatives) and Mní Wičóni (Water is Life).

We are dedicated to centering Native voices, strengthening our connections to Dakota relatives, and uplifting the actively silenced stories of Dakota people through our work at the Falls. We will continue this work in a good way.