After a century during which St. Paul’s rich German roots were suppressed — first by prejudice, then by ignorance — Germanic culture is undergoing a renaissance, especially along West Seventh Street, where the Schmidt brewery once again pulses with the heartbeat of the city.
It’s hard to exaggerate how important University Avenue is to St. Paul, even if it has been by-passed by the multitudes driving in the blind trench of Interstate 94… University Avenue — the Central Corridor — is the artery, carrying not just cars, but life.
They carried Pfc. Sheldon Hawk Eagle to the heart of all that is and laid him to rest Tuesday after a 24-hour outpouring of grief and pride that sent a message from the Lakota Nation to the nation at large.
Hawk Eagle, a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, died in Iraq on Nov. 15 when two Army helicopters crashed. His homecoming to Eagle Butte and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was the occasion for an extraordinary display of a community’s sense of loss and a traditional sense of honor.
Calling it, “A day we have waited for for a long time,” White Earth Nation Chair Erma Vizenor presided over a belated ceremony at the Minnesota State Capitol Thursday honoring the state’s thousands of American Indian veterans of the U.S. military.
Is there an echo in here? Nick’s old story about the visit of the owner of the Minnesota Twins to Waseca 35-plus years ago is still relevant today in the wake of the furor over NBA team owner Donald Sterling’s racist remarks.