A strong sense of place

Reflections off the pond behind the visitors center at Sibley State Park near New London. Symbolic of the Dakota name for Minnesota — Mni Sota Makoce — or "land where the waters reflect the sky." Photo by John Kellen

BY JOHN KELLEN Willmar

People can become very attached to the places where they’re born and where they live out their lives.

For some, that place is one and the same and they never venture far from home. For others, like myself, we scatter like leaves on the wind and end up in places throughout the country and the world.

Having come into this world in Marshall and moving to Willmar the summer before entering first grade, this place in Kandiyohi County became the focal point of my formative years.

Many fond memories have been conjured up over the past two years since moving back to Willmar to care for aging parents after an absence of 32 years. Although much has changed, much remains the same.

My perception of place has evolved on a much deeper level given time to contemplate a lifetime of travel and subsequent homecoming.

In hindsight a lot has been taken for granted.

Great Great Grandparents Nicolas Kellen, front row center, and Catherine Kellen, back row second from left, who immigrated to Caledonia, Minnesota, in 1867. My Great Grandfather William is sitting front row right.

Photo courtesy of John Kellen

The idyllic qualities of a life in a rural setting, growing up with so many freedoms and few worries other than making it home for supper on time, wax nostalgic. Given the current challenges we face with regards to public health, climate

change, civil unrest and economic inequities, the pressures people face have been mounting.

Life is definitely more complex and can be stressful, yet I attempt to remain grounded and focus on being grateful for what we have rather than on what’s missing.

That brings me back to a strong sense of place.

This place we call home means different things to different people.

This family photo features my Grandfather who I’m named after, John Kellen, and Grandmother Liz along with my father, Don, third from right taken on the family farm north of Madison. This photo was taken shortly before dad enlisted in the Navy at 17 years of age.

Photo courtesy of John Kellen

As a fourth-generation immigrant from Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland and Germany my perspective is different from Indigenous peoples.

My great-great-grandparents Nicolas and Catherine Kellen from Luxembourg first came to Minnesota in 1867 with their children and started farming five years after the Dakota Wars ended in this part of the country.

Interestingly, we were never taught this aspect of local history in school other than a brief footnote. It’s only later as an adult interested in history that I’m learning more about local places, events and names from a new perspective. Kandiyohi, for example, means “Where Buffalo fish abound.”

Imagining what life must have been like for Indigenous peoples before Europeans came to this place gives me pause.

My father did extensive genealogy research on his side of our family and we were fortunate enough to visit our ancestor’s homes, farms and villages in Luxembourg. That experience was profound and left me with a sense of wonder and curiosity.

What must it have been like to live during those times and to leave your homeland for foreign soil? Conversely, just as there are two sides to a coin there are other stories of this place and different viewpoints.

It is not my intent to litigate the past, rather to examine what this place means not only to me and my family, but what it might mean to Indigenous people as well as to more recent immigrant groups that make up our community.

As a photographer and a writer, my more recent exploration of Minnesota has impacted me in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

The intense beauty, the familiar sites and discovering much of what was often overlooked in my youth has given me a newfound appreciation for this place. Connecting with community and physical space here in Willmar and surrounding towns is molding me into a new being shaped by ancient – as well as contemporary – wisdom.

From the “Dakota Wicohan” or way of life, their worldview of “Mni Sota Makoce”— which translates to land where the waters reflect the sky is “Mitakuye Oyasin” or we are all related.

This includes not only people but all living things as well as the land, sky and water. Personally, I find the Indigenous connection to nature resonates with my sensibilities and the more I learn about my relationship to this place I call home, the more I wonder how to be a good neighbor to all who share this space.

Both past and present experiences have led to developing a strong sense of place here in West Central Minnesota – and for that I am extremely grateful. �

Sunset reflections off of Lake Andrew west of New London in September 2020.

Photo by John Kellen