Organization
Owamniyomni Okhodayapi (formerly Friends of the Falls)
Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.
Owámniyomni Okhódayapi, a Dakota-led nonprofit in Minneapolis, is working to transform five acres at the Upper Lock beside St. Anthony Falls.
- Kind
- 501(c)(3) Dakota-led nonprofit
- Native-led
- yes-self-described
- Works with
- Dakota people (Minnesota)
- Region
- Great Lakes; MN
- Focus
- Dakota-led restoration and return of care for sacred St. Anthony Falls (Owamniyomni) site in Minneapolis, with education and healing programs
- Registry
- EIN 81-1716095 (ProPublica, Minneapolis MN)
What happened
Owámniyomni Okhódayapi is a Dakota-led nonprofit in Minneapolis. Its About page says it was founded in 2016 by Paul Reyelts and Mark Wilson, who are not described as Native, as the St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam Conservancy. It was renamed Friends of the Lock & Dam, then Friends of the Falls in 2020, and later took its Dakota name. The page says the organization is Dakota-led with a Native American majority board. Shelley Buck, an enrolled member of the Prairie Island Indian Community, is its president.
Its project is the Upper Lock site. The About page says the lock and the land around it are owned by the federal government through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and that the lock closed to commercial navigation in 2015. The vision is to transform five acres there into a place of healing, restoration, education and connection. The organization is designing the project in coordination with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. It says it follows the vision of the four Dakota Nations in Minnesota.
The page describes a conveyance process involving the Dakota Nations, the City, the Park Board and the Corps. It does not say the land has been transferred. It lists planned seasons of work, with cultural and environmental restoration set for 2026 to 2027.
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer lists the organization as a Minneapolis 501(c)(3), tax exemption issued May 2016.
Good to know. The Upper Lock land is still owned by the federal government; a transfer is being worked out but has not happened.
Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
The organization was founded in 2016 by Paul Reyelts and Mark Wilson in response to the closure of the Upper Lock to commercial navigation.
About - Owámniyomni OkhódayapiOwámniyomni Okhódayapi is Dakota-led and the organization has a Native American majority board of directors.
About - Owámniyomni OkhódayapiThe Upper Lock and the land around it is currently owned by the federal government via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
About - Owámniyomni OkhódayapiWe are currently working to transform five acres of land at Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls) into a place of restoration, education, healing and connection.
Owámniyomni OkhódayapiTax exemption issued: May 2016 EIN: 81-1716095
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Owamniyomni Okhodayapi
Research notes. No transfer of title is documented on the pages read; the land is described as still federally owned. The organization's origin was non-Native founders; its Dakota-led and majority-Native-board statements are its own. A donation goes to a Neon CRM checkout whose payee was not shown in the text read.
Visit the organization’s website or give directly on its own page. This site takes no money.
Connections
These links were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Works in 1
Works with 1
Sources
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The record’s fields
- Vetting notes
- 2026-10-17: ProPublica hit Owamniyomni Okhodayapi, Minneapolis MN, EIN 811716095, 501(c)(3). Own About page says Dakota-led with a Native American majority board and names board members (e.g. a former Prairie Island Tribal Council president). Founded 2016 by two non-Native founders as Friends of the Falls; renamed 2020s. Donate page on own domain redirects to a Neon CRM checkout (payee not shown in text read). Source: https://owamniyomni.org/about/ ("Owámniyomni Okhódayapi is Dakota-led and the organization has a Native American majority board of directors.")
- Kind
- Organization
- Confidence
- High
- Nation review
- Not yet reviewed by this nation