Pioneering Art Work

I've been in Minnesota for more than 30 years (living in the capital city for 24 of those), yet I've spent almost no time in our State Capitol building. Never even been on a tour.

But since the Turnip was elected and our legislature now has a Republican majority in both houses, I've been there more times than in all previous 30 years. Last week was my first time in the House chamber.

This is the sculpture above the place where the Speaker stands:


Very pretty, yes, but my eye zeroes in on the words at the bottom. They say, "The trail of the pioneer bore the footprints of liberty." Note the native man standing in the lower left spot and the native woman sitting at his feet.

Think about the irony of proclaiming liberty to these people along the trail of the pioneer. People who whose land was stolen through forced treaties or directly taken through war. Whose state is this? Whose liberty?

Watching the Republicans vote in their preemption bill beneath this sculpture made bitter sense, but it was no comfort.