Pilot Knob/Oheyawahi
Authored by Carrie Cox in 2015 with contributions by Duncan Krisa. Edited by Laura Levitt
Chief Arvol Looking Horse at Pilot Knob
Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the Nineteenth Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf, held a pipe ceremony at Pilot Knob in 1999 and again in 2009. Looking Horse is pictured here the third from the left.
Photo Credit: Bruce White
1851 Treaty with the Dakota at Pilot Knob
This plaque commemorates the signing of the 1851 Treaty of Traverse de Sioux atop Pilot Knob.
Photo Credit: Minnesota Public Radio
Pilot Knob, Oheyawahi in Dakota, is an easily recognizable region of elevated terrain at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Located near what is modern-day Minneapolis, Pilot Knob is a religiously and culturally significant site to the Dakota and other tribes. The Dakota used Oheyawahi for Medicine Ceremonies and gatherings to pray to the great being Unktehi. They also used it as a burial ground. In 2002, Minnstar Builders, a contracting company, submitted a proposal to the City of Mendota Heights to purchase privately owned land at Pilot Knob and develop a 157-townhouse subdivision. The Dakota community was concerned about access to their sacred site and the treatment of the remains of their ancestors buried on the hill. For this reason, they used legal tools and garnered public support from the local community in order to block the development of the hill. Eventually, they worked with a private conservation group to buy the land and create a land trust controlled by the City of Mendota Heights. Ultimately, Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob has become a multi-use open space securing access for Indigenous religious use as well as for public enjoyment.
