Public comment sought on new Monument exhibits


This diorama installed in 1958 at the Monument was effective for visitors of that time, but will now be changed with new exhibits that will offer today’s visitor a more multi-media experience. D. Fitzgerald


The public is also invited to provide written comments on the proposed new exhibits for Pipestone National Monument.
Supporting documents about the new exhibits can be found by visiting parkplanning.nps.gov/pipe1, the website for the NPS Planning Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) system. Look for “Museum Exhibit Replacement Project.” Comments may also be mailed to: Superintendent, Pipestone National Monument, 36 Reservation Ave., Pipestone, MN 56164-1269.
Comments will be accepted until Dec. 31.


A process to change the exhibits at Pipestone National Monument is drawing to a close and the public has been invited to see what has been envisioned and to offer feedback until Dec. 31.

Kicking off that public comment period, Monument staff will host a public meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 13, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Meinders Community Library.

The current museum exhibits were designed and installed during construction of the Visitor Center in 1958. No archaeological or ethnographic resources will be affected, but under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, federal agencies are required to take into account the effect of their actions on historic properties and the Mission 66-style Visitor Center is an historic structure, listed as a cultural resource on the  National Register of Historic Places. Given that the new museum exhibits will change historic features, those alterations are deemed by the language of the law to have an “adverse effect” on the Visitor Center.

“That said, there are still tremendous benefits to doing this,” said Lauren Blacik, Monument superintendent.

It’s been 60 years since the current exhibits were installed. While Blacik can’t say the Monument is the only National Park Service (NPS) site that has not updated its exhibits going on six decades, she did say it’s more typical practice for exhibits to be updated on a “fairly regular basis.”

Those 1958 visitors learned a lot of interesting facts from the exhibits, but the new designs tell a more cohesive story, Blacik said. That story contains the voices of the site’s diversity, and have been “updated to reflect our evolving understanding of the story,” Blacik said.

The planned new exhibit is titled, “Pipestone: A Sacred Place; A Spiritual Practice.”

The Monument is working with the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office to develop appropriate mitigation measures for the adverse effects and the current exhibits will be retained and preserved as part of the Monument’s history.

The footprint of the 1,400-square foot gallery space will remain the same, but the new exhibits will have interactive, multi-media features that engage all the senses to create a greater impact and enable a deeper connection between visitors and the NPS site. Whether picking up a bucket of Sioux quartzite to feel its heft or smelling the various native prairie plants that were smoked in the pipestone pipes, visitors should come away with an increased understanding of the Monument’s American Indian significance.

“Its cultural significance is tangible here,” Blacik said. “This is a living story, an active site.”

Federal agencies are obligated to engage with Indian Tribes on a government-to-government basis and consultation has been ongoing with the Monument’s 23 affiliated tribes throughout the process, which began in 2012, and included a tribal consultation in 2013. In addition, Dr. Gwen Westerman, a Dakota history and language scholar and instructor at Minnesota State University in Mankato, is the subject matter expert for the new exhibits.

All that input has been “tremendously important,” Blacik said. “It’s had a direct impact on where the design has gone.”

The new exhibits will incorporate American Indian Tribal perspectives on the cultural and historical significance of the quarry and related spiritual practice. A pipe will be displayed in order to convey this significance, but there will only be one pipe and the stem and bowl will not be attached.

“It’s an object they’d [the tribes] prefer not to see in a display case,” Blacik said.

The pipe chosen for the display is plain to broadly represent its significance, rather than the significance of any one carver ––  though individual carvers are certainly a part of the exhibits, Blacik said.

“Those first-person connections are so important,” she said.

While the meeting scheduled for Nov. 13 is not a required step in the NPS’s process for changing museum exhibits, Blacik said she agreed with both state and federal officials that it would be a good idea to share the plans with the public to let them know what to expect and to accept feedback and answer any questions.

They are also very excited to be able to share what’s coming.

“It represents the work of a lot of people,” Blacik said, “and we know the community cares so much about this place.”

Overall, the multi-year project to plan, design, fabricate and install the exhibit will likely cost about $900,000, Blacik said. The actual installation is scheduled for the summer of 2019, but the designs have not been finalized and there’s still an opportunity for the NPS to utilize any feedback they receive during the public comment period.