'Bde Maka Ska': Minneapolis Park Board Adds Dakota Name To Lake Calhoun Signs

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A second name is being added to signs around Minneapolis' largest lake.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will add placards bearing the Dakota name "Bde Maka Ska" to all entry signs surrounding Lake Calhoun Friday afternoon.

Activists called for the lake's name to be changed following the massacre at an African-American church in Charleston, S.C. The lake is named after John C. Calhoun, a former U.S. Secretary of War who helped bring Fort Snelling to Minnesota, and an outspoken supporter of slavery.

Legal counsel advised the Park Board that it has no authority to change the lake's name, but Commissioners took action to add the placards on September 2 following a report on the lake's name and history.

In order to officially change the name, legislators would have to rewrite and vote upon state law, then the U.S. Geographic Board would have to approve the change.