Annual Pioneer Press treasure hunt turns controversial when medallion is found on Dakota sacred site

An annual treasure hunt has turned controversial after the prize was found on a site sacred to Dakota people.  

The St. Paul Pioneer Press Medallion Hunt coincides with the Winter Carnival every year. Using clues published by the news outlet, hunters seek the medallion that is hidden somewhere in St. Paul. This year’s seekers found it in Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, which is home to Wakaŋ Tipi.  

Wakaŋ Tipi is a sacred site where Dakota people gathered for thousands of years for private ceremonies and storytelling traditions. Some of the petroglyphs inside the cave have been destroyed over the generations due to vandalism and railroad expansion.  

The Pioneer Press even used Wakaŋ Tipi as a clue for the hunt, using an anagram to tip off hunters.  

The nonprofit Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi has been working to restore the site, with a goal to rededicate the space. It currently manages about three acres where an interpretative center is being built and has also been in talks with St. Paul to enter a co-management agreement to have more say in decisions concerning the rest of the over 20 acres of land the sanctuary occupies.

“We were just pretty disappointed because this is a sacred site to Dakota people,” said Jenna Grey Eagle, who manages the environmental justice and stewardship programs for the nonprofit.  

“We were informed that some people were digging, and that’s directly against our restoration efforts at the site,” she said.

According to Environmental Restoration Manager Gabby Menomin, who describes the placement of a sacred site in an urban area as “very rare” in this country, Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi was not consulted by the Pioneer Press about using Bruce Vento Sanctuary as the site for the medallion hunt.  

“It’s really disappointing from, you know, a large journaling agency not to be in contact with an Indigenous org that's actively stewarding and taking care of the site.”  

This isn’t the first time that the Pioneer Press has used sacred ground for the treasure hunt. In 1987, the medallion was found wrapped in clay and grass at Indian Mounds Regional Park, a sacred burial ground.  

“I don’t think that the Pioneer Press was necessarily being malicious in their choice,” said Grey Eagle, adding that she believes it can be difficult for dominant society to understand that some sacred sites are strictly based on the land. 

“It’s not necessarily like a 1,000-year-old church, or it’s not a brick-and-mortar building that, that you can say, ‘well, this is thousands of years old’... when the Dakota people say, we have thousands of years of oral history tied to this place and thousands of years of taking care of this place, believe them because it's true.”  

When MPR News reached out to the newspaper for comment, Pioneer Press officials said there will be an article published soon about the situation.  

“As a small nonprofit, we’re doing as much as we can to try to help educate the community about the site, and its cultural significance,” said Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi Executive Director Maggie Lorenz.

Lorenz said she felt disheartened when she first learned of the situation but was encouraged by the response of city officials who reached out to problem-solve, as well as the Pioneer Press connecting with her to talk about solutions and apologize.  

“I was really surprised and encouraged by the amount of public comments online, saying, you know, ‘the Pioneer Press should have known better than to, you know, have had their treasure hunt at a sacred site.’”  

For Lorenz, the main take away from the incident is that until the official designation of the site is changed to reflect the importance of the site to the Dakota people, “the community is still going to unknowingly be engaging in activities that are not really conducive to proper protocols and etiquette at a sacred site.” 

MPR News Reporter Melissa Olson contributed reporting to this article.  

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