Overview
- Chauntyll Allen, a St. Paul school board member, posted on Facebook on June 21 that dogs should relieve themselves on “White Christian cemeteries” rather than on Indigenous land, language that drew widespread backlash.
- Allen is a co‑founder of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities and a board clerk who is also facing federal felony charges tied to a January 18 protest that prosecutors say involved storming Cities Church during services.
- The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted 8–1 in mid June to close the Minnehaha Off‑Leash Dog Park by year‑end, saying the six‑acre site lies within the Mni Owe Sni (Coldwater Spring) Traditional Cultural Place sacred to Dakota tribes.
- City officials have not publicly produced documentation proving human remains inside the dog park boundaries, and St. Paul Public Schools said it was aware of Allen’s post but declined further comment.
- The dispute highlights local tensions over protecting Indigenous sacred sites, transparency about burial‑site evidence, and how schools and parks respond to elected officials who face legal exposure; observers will watch for any formal district censure or new developments in the federal case.