Another Neighborhood Around Bde Maka Ska Could Change Its Name

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Renaming efforts surrounding Bde Maka Ska continue, most recently in a neighborhood adjacent to the lake. 

The East Calhoun Community Organization, or ECCO, is now considering a possible rebranding in light of the lake's recent name change. 

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources approved changing the lake's name from Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska in January. Advocates of changing the lake's name to Bde Maka Ska, its original Dakota name, point to former U.S. Secretary of War John C. Calhoun's support of slavery. 

Those efforts have since been challenged by a group of locals, who call themselves "Save Lake Calhoun." The group took up the issue with a Minnesota appeals court, where a three-judge panel agreed in April that former DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr did not have the authority to change the name. The judges determined only the state Legislature can take that action. 

The issue has since been taken up with the Minnesota Supreme Court. 

But efforts to rid the area of the Calhoun name have not stopped at the lake. The Park board voted in June to rename the nearby park and in August to rename the roads around the lake to reflect Lake Bde Maka Ska's name. 

ECCO neighborhood residents originally voted to change the name in July, with around 64% of residents in favor. 

Possible new names for the neighborhood, announced earlier this month, include East Bde Maka Ska, East Lakeside, Hennepin Heights, Lakeside Village, Lakewood, Loon Lake, North Lakewood, Uptown Lakeside, and Uptown Village. The neighborhood could also rebrand to just ECCO (not used as an abbreviation). 

Residents will vote on these preliminary name options at the organization's meeting Oct. 3.