January 2022

The Department of Public Transformation in Granite Falls announced in December that two new employees will be joining the staff this month. Holly Doll will be joining the staff as the Ignite Rural Program Coordinator, and Sarina Otaibi will be joining the staff as the Creative Rural Building Program Director. The Department of Public Transformation (or DoPT), is an artist-led organization working to develop creative strategies for increased community connection, civic pride, and equitable participation in rural areas.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the conception of Yellow Medicine County, Yellow Medicine City, Minnesota Falls, Granite Falls, and the 25 townships. In 1803, Minnesota became part of what was then the Louisiana Purchase. By spring of 1849, what would be called the Minnesota Territory (including the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana) was formed from what was then Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa. That summer, the northern tier of townships in Yellow Medicine County was a part of what was then “Dahkota” County and the southern tier of townships in Yellow Medicine County were a part of what was them “Waubashaw” County. These were two of nine counties forming what was then Minnesota Territory. The western boundary of the State of Minnesota was set at the Red River of the North, Lake Travers, Big Stone Lake, and the Corteau des Prairie boundary between Minnesota and South Dakota. Everything to the east of this boundary was in the state of Minnesota and everything to the west was in the newly formed “Dakota Territory.”

Christine Utz, of Minneapolis, and Jessie Hennen, of Wood Lake, recently formed a business called Prairie Fire Wordsmiths, offering editing services and education to those with an interest in the art of the written word.

Storytelling has always been a part of Walter LaBatte Jr.’s life. Growing up in the Upper Sioux Community, Walter says that there were many childhood evenings spent listening to his father’s stories. “When I grew up, we didn’t have electricity, and so the only entertainment we had was my dad telling us stories,” Walter recalls. “We have a mythical creature called Unktomi, which means spider, and he’s a trickster. There are tons and tons of stories and he would tell us those Unktomi stories at night. These stories had morals in them. Because he was a trickster, he would do bad things, and through telling those stories they were sending a message how to act, how to behave.”