Take Survey
2021-01-01 - 2021-12-01 | MN
Share your initial feedback as we begin the conversation to shape the future Upper Lock. Your goals, values and ideas will frame upcoming community conversations and inform project planning.
https://thefalls.org/survey/

Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Organization Meeting
2021-06-21 17:45 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Friends of the Falls presents a joint engagement proposal at the DMNA board meeting.

Coffee with Council Member Steve Fletcher
2021-06-24 17:00 - 18:00 | Water Works at Mill Ruins Park, 102 Portland Avenue South, Minneapolis, 55401, United States
The Lock and Dam Project & A Proposal for Partnership with the Four Dakota Tribes
with Robert Lilligren, President of Native American Community Development Institute & Mark Andrew, President of Friends of the Falls
Join Council Member Steve Fletcher as he leads a discussion surrounding the St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam Project and work he, the organization Friends of the Falls, and the Native American Community Development Institute have been doing with Minnesota’s four Dakota tribes.

Saint Anthony Falls Heritage Board
2021-07-12 15:30 - 16:30 | Online
Friends of the Falls attends the Saint Anthony Falls Heritage Board meeting to provide an update on The Falls Initiative and engagement with the Native American community.

Aquatennial Open House
2021-07-24 10:00 - 17:00 | St. Anthony Falls Upper Lock Visitor Center, 1 Portland Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55401, United States
Friends of the Falls joins National Park Service rangers and Mississippi Park Connection on the Upper Lock. Stop by between 10am – 5pm to learn about the Falls, lock operations and future revitalization efforts.

Meet Minneapolis & MDC Networking Event
2021-08-12 10:00 - 12:00 | St. Anthony Falls Upper Lock Visitor Center, 1 Portland Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55401, United States
Business and tourism leaders meet at the Upper Lock for a summer social and networking event. Friends of the Falls joins Meet Minneapolis, Minneapolis Downtown Council, National Park Service, Mississippi Park Connection and other river partners.

Picnic for the Park
2021-08-31 17:30 - 19:30 | Harriet Island
Friends of the Falls is proud to sponsor Picnic for the Park, an annual event supporting Mississippi Park Connection and the National Park Service.

What's Out There Weekend - Twin Cities
2021-09-18 14:30 - 16:30 | Water Works at Mill Ruins Park, 102 Portland Avenue South, Minneapolis, 55401, United States
Join The Cultural Landscape Foundation for a weekend of free tours that will reveal the Twin Cities’ history and cultural heritage.

Drawing on the cultural landscape legacy of Minneapolis and St. Paul, this weekend of free, expert-led tours will feature dozens of sites, including gardens, campuses, plazas, public parks, and cultural institutions. An online city guide and printed guidebook will be produced in tandem with the Weekend.

West Bank – Water Works, Mill Ruins Park, Repurposing the Upper Lock, Stone Arch Bridge, Gold Medal Park | led by Kate Lamers (Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board), Bruce Chamberlain (HKGi), Tom Evers (Minneapolis Parks Foundation), Jean Garbarini (Damon Farber), Kjersti Monson (Duval Companies), Mark Andrew (GreenMark Enterprises LLC), John Anfinson (National Park Service), Mary Lynn Pulsher (Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board), and Han Zhang (O2)
Registration required.

City of Minneapolis Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC) Meeting
2021-09-23 17:00 - 19:00 | Online
Friends of the Falls, Friends of the Mississippi River and our partners at the City of Minneapolis present to the Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC) on conveyance of property and the ongoing disposition study at the Upper Lock.

Native Partnership Council - Opening Feast & Ceremony
2021-09-24 15:00 - 17:00 | MN
The Native Partnership Council – voices who will lead planning and decision-making for the Falls Initiative – convenes for an opening feast and ceremony.

Meet you at the Falls! with Comm. Cowgill & Forney
2021-09-25 10:30 - 11:30 | Water Works at Mill Ruins Park, 102 Portland Avenue South, Minneapolis, 55401, United States
Drop in to learn about The Falls Initiative – an effort to create a shared vision for the Upper Lock at Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls) centered on Native American voices.
Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Commissioners Jono Cowgill and Meg Forney join Friends of the Falls to discuss how the project can support the goals of the Park Board and create a more seamless riverfront experience.

Native Partnership Council Meeting
2021-10-15 15:00 - 17:00, 2021-11-05 15:00 - 17:00, 2021-12-03 15:00 - 17:00, 2022-01-07 15:00, 2022-03-01 13:00 - 16:00, 2022-03-30 13:00 | MN
Convening of the Native Partnership Council – voices who will lead planning and decision-making for the Falls Initiative.

DMNA HOA Advisory Group Meeting
2021-10-21 17:30 - 18:30 | Online
Friends of the Falls shares an update on community engagement and the Upper Lock Disposition Study at the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association’s HOA Advisory Group Meeting. Register online to attend.

Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors Meeting
2021-10-26 14:30 - 16:30 | Minneapolis American Indian Center
Friends of the Falls presents at the MUID board meeting, discussing recent meetings of the Native Partnership Council and upcoming Community Conversations.

Community Conversation | A Story Disrupted: Indigenous Perspectives
2022-02-15 17:00 - 19:00 | Zoom
Attend an upcoming Community Conversation to connect with Native leaders, the design team, and neighbors and discuss topics like restoration, programming, connectivity, and economic opportunity.
The first session will be held virtually on February 15 from 5-7pm. Robert Lilligren, Carrie Day Aspinwall and Karen Diver will be joined by Native Partnership Council members Jewell Arcoren, Juanita Espinosa and Wakinyan LaPointe to discuss how we can approach this project from an Indigenous perspective.
We invite all in our Minneapolis community to join the conversation and shape the future of the Falls.
Click here to register to attend the virtual event.
About the panelists:

Robert Lilligren is President and CEO of NACDI, an appointed member of the Metropolitan Council, and Vice Chair of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors (MUID). Robert served for 12 years as the Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council, the first Tribal member elected to public office in the City of Minneapolis. He is enrolled in the White Earth Ojibwe Nation.
Carrie Day Aspinwall, CDA Enterprises, facilitates meetings of the Native Partnership Council. Previously Carrie engaged residents, stakeholders and institutions across Minneapolis’ seventy-one neighborhoods in her role with the Neighborhood and Community Relations Department. Carrie is an enrolled citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe/Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
Karen Diver is currently serving as the Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs at the University of Minnesota after previous roles at the University of Arizona and the College of St. Scholastica. Karen was also an appointee of President Obama as the Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs, and she served as Chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa from 2007-2015.
Jewell Arcoren is a ‘change agent’ and community activist. She is currently serving as Executive Director for Wicoie Nandagikendan and is committed to Dakota and Ojibwe language revitalization at the early childhood level. Jewell has a strong interest in behavioral health as it relates to recovering our spirits and transcending intergenerational historical trauma in the American Indian community as well as in the non-Native communities. Jewell is an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Nation.
Juanita G. Corbine Espinosa is an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota with blood lines that connect to the Ojibwe of Lac Courte Oreilles in Wisconsin and Turtle Mountain Ojibwe in North Dakota. Juanita is a dedicated community organizer, currently working at the University of Minnesota-Department of Medicine Northern Range Satellite Center. She coordinates with 10 institutions across the US focused on American Indian research.
Wakinyan Skye LaPointe is Sicangu Lakota, an Indigenous Human Rights advocate, and Co-Convener of the Mni Ki Wakan: Indigenous Water Decade. He centers Lakota knowledge, language, and ways of life in his work across human rights, working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and youth.

Future events:
March 16 – Relationships with the River: Water is Life
April 12 – Restoring a Story Disrupted: What Can This Place Become?
May 21 – Building Connections
June 15 – A Powerful Place for Partnerships

St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board Meeting
2022-02-18 13:30 - 15:00 | Zoom
Friends of the Falls provides project updates and presents a grant application for 2022 funding. SAFHB members and community members are also invited to the Community Conversation event series.

Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association Meeting
2022-02-28 17:45 - 19:00 | Zoom
Friends of the Falls provides project updates and invites community members to the Community Conversation event series.

Guided Tour of Immersive Exhibit
2022-03-02 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-03 15:00 - 16:00 | Immersive Exhibit
Join project leaders Kjersti Duval and Carrie Day Aspinwall on guided tours of The Falls Initiative Immersive Exhibit. Meet your host in the exhibit ‘lobby’ by visiting the Immersive Exhibit page and clicking ‘Enter Exhibit’.

Phillips West Neighborhood Meeting
2022-03-03 18:00 - 19:30 | Zoom

Bottineau Neighborhood Association Meeting
2022-03-08 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom

Guided Tour of Immersive Exhibit
2022-03-10 11:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-17 11:00 - 12:00 | Immersive Exhibit
Join project leaders Kjersti Duval and Carrie Day Aspinwall on guided tours of The Falls Initiative Immersive Exhibit.
Click here to meet your host on Zoom.
You’ll gather as a group and troubleshoot any connection issues. Then you’ll make your way into the gallery using the ‘Enter the Exhibit’ on the Immersive Exhibit page .

Community Conversation | Relationships with the River: Water is Life
2022-03-16 17:00 - 19:00 | Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States
Attend an upcoming Community Conversation to connect with Native leaders, the design team, and neighbors and discuss topics like restoration, programming, connectivity, and economic opportunity.
On March 16, Native leaders Robert Lilligren, Carrie Day Aspinwall, Sharon Day, and Wakinyan LaPointe will be joined by river experts John Shepard and Whitney Clark. We’ll discuss the River, its role at this place, and its relationship to people through time. We’ll consider the interconnected themes of ecology, history, rights of Water, and reciprocity with the River from an Indigenous perspective.
GUESTS MAY PARTICIPATE IN-PERSON OR VIRTUALLY.
In person, food and beverage will be provided!
We invite all in our Minneapolis community to join the conversation and shape the future of the Falls.
Click here to enter the March 16 meeting virtually at 5pm, or use the Zoom information below.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89572579323?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 895 7257 9323
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kcNWZ4Tod

About the panelists:

Robert Lilligren is President and CEO of the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), an appointed member of the Metropolitan Council, and Vice Chair of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors (MUID). Robert served for 12 years as the Vice President of the Minneapolis City Council, the first Tribal member elected to public office in the City of Minneapolis. He is enrolled in the White Earth Ojibwe Nation.
Carrie Day Aspinwall, CDA Enterprises, facilitates meetings of the Native Partnership Council. Previously Carrie engaged residents, stakeholders and institutions across Minneapolis’ seventy-one neighborhoods in her role with the Neighborhood and Community Relations Department. Carrie is an enrolled citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe/Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
Sharon M. Day, Ojibwe, is the Executive Director and a founder of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force (IPTF), formerly known as the Minnesota American Indian AIDS Task Force. She is an environmental activist and has led 20+ Water Walks since 2011, walking over 10,000 miles to offer prayers for these rivers. These extended ceremonies have occurred along the banks of the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Missouri, the Cuyahoga and Salt Rivers.
Wakinyan Skye LaPointe is Sicangu Lakota, an Indigenous Human Rights advocate, and Co-Convener of the Mni Ki Wakan: Indigenous Water Decade. He centers Lakota knowledge, language, and ways of life in his work across human rights, working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and youth.
John Shepard is an Associate Professor in the Hamline University School of Education and Assistant Director of the university’s Center for Global Environmental Education. John’s work as a media producer, writer, and educator is largely focused on the intersection of nature and culture. His public service experience includes board memberships with Project Environment Foundation, The Rivers Council of Minnesota, the YMCA, the International Crane Foundation, and the Trust for Public Land.
Whitney Clark, Executive Director, Friends of the Mississippi River. During his 24-year tenure, Whitney has led FMR’s growth from a start-up group with one full-time employee to one of Minnesota’s largest and most effective conservation organizations. Whitney has extensive experience in environmental policy, lobbying, advocacy and education campaigns, partnership building around environmental issues and fundraising.

Recommended parking for in-person guests:
19th Avenue Parking Ramp
Located across the street from Humphrey School of Public Affairs
300 19th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Future events:
April 12 – Restoring a Story Disrupted: What Can This Place Become?
May 21 – Building Connections
June 15 – A Powerful Place for Partnerships

Nicollet Island East Bank Neighborhood Association Meeting
2022-03-17 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
