Feds: 'Bde Maka Ska' Remains Official Lake Name, Not 'Calhoun'

MINNEAPOLIS — There's yet another development in the fight over renaming one of the most popular bodies of water in the Twin Cities. A federal official Tuesday confirmed that despite yesterday's court ruling, "Bde Maka Ska" is the official name of the city's largest lake, not "Lake Calhoun."

On Monday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that Tom Landwehr, the previous Department of Natural Resources commissioner, did not have the power to change the name of the lake last year.

However, Lou Yost — the Executive Secretary of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names — says that ruling won't matter on a federal level.

"As per Public Law 80-242 the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) decides the official name for use by the Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government, and as you know State legislation (or court ruling) is not binding on the Federal Government," Yost told KSTP in a statement.

"The name at the Federal level will remain Bde Maka Ska as was approved at the BGN's June 21, 2018 meeting," Yost added.

Yost's statement will bolster advocates of the name change.

After the ruling Monday, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board President Brad Bourn posted the following statement on Facebook:

The most beautiful lake in Minneapolis has been called Bde Maka Ska for generations before white settlers stole it from the Dakota. It will continue to be Bde Maka Ska for generations to come.I take heart in the fact that every democratically elected body and the Commissioner of the DNR has supported the name restoration.

While it saddens me that 318 property “owners” on stolen Dakota land around Bde Maka Ska calling themselves “Save Lake Calhoun” have prevailed at this stage, I know that we’re standing on the right side of history and that its arc bends towards justice.

In the meantime, as president of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, 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.

Lake Calhoun was named after John C. Calhoun, the South Carolina senator who became vice president in 1825. Supporters of the change want to distance the lake from Calhoun, a documented supporter of slavery.

In 1837, Calhoun gave a speech on "the positive good" of slavery. He also authored the Indian Removal Act.