‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Design Plans for Owámniyomni Restoration Unveiled
By OWÁMNIYOMNI OKHÓDAYAPI The Owámniyomni Project, View of the Mill Race. Rendering: GGN After nearly a decade of relationship building, community conversations, and reimagining what the riverfront could be, Dakota-led nonprofit Owámniyomni Okhódayapi has unveiled its design for restoring the land and water at Owámniyomni, just north of the Phillips neighborhood. The project area includes a five-acre site adjacent to the Upper Lock on the Mississippi Riverfront, along with three additional acres managed by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board. Owámniyomni, known to many as St. Anthony Falls, has been a sacred place for Dakota and other Indigenous peoples since long before Minneapolis existed. The land holds significant spiritual power for the community as a space where families have gathered to pray, hold ceremonies, and welcome new life into the world. Settler industrialization of the Mississippi River reshaped the land for milling, power, and other industries [...]
The alley, Like a Cat
By HARVEY WINJE Cats sense by sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Their sensory world is much richer than ours because of unique night vision, incredibly sensitive whiskers (vibrissae) for feeling surroundings, excellent hearing for high frequencies, and a strong reliance on smell, plus a specialized “sixth sense” through their Jacobson’s organ for detecting pheromones, They love any fish except a ‘red herring’ and seldom “bite” on clickbait. A cat won’t miss a chance to play, cautiously. Cats are exceptionally flexible due to fifty-three vertebrae, elastic cushioning discs, and loose pelvic connections, allowing for a nearly 180-degree rotation enabling twisting and maneuvering with great agility; thereby always landing on their feet. The alley Newspaper’s several lives show its adaptability and resilience, too. Always “landing on its feet” through seven phases with leadership by forty people who produced 569 issues adapting to the needs and means [...]
Gratitude to Readers
Image: Mattie Wong, black cat by Chelsi at Noun Project The Alley NameThe space between dwellings of people is an alley. It is called an alley between two dwellings or rows of dwellings. The space between two rows of trees is an allee’ or an alley. The sounds and sights in those spaces are common and include everyday activities like taking out the trash, fixing one’s car, greeting neighbors, etc. The alley seemed a proper name for a newspaper that helped people engage with one another. The Black Cat LogoA logo for the alley naturally became a black cat because of its ability to be independent yet friendly, curious yet polite, pensive yet joyful, loves fish and mice yet won’t chase red herring, and watchful yet playful. Some cultures see a black cat as good fortune and other cultures the opposite which also fits for the alley’s community that includes many cultures and diverse ethnic origins. The CommunityThe alley newspaper began in 1975 as the Newspaper of the [...]
