ST. CLOUD TIMES — You might have noticed the new road sign in town — but you might not know what it means. Or how to say it.
St. Cloud’s newest road — named Mni Sota Makoce Street — is the first street in the city with a Native American origin, city staff believe.
The street is off 33rd Avenue South, south of Second Street near the Costco development.
The road provides access to Heritage Park and Stearns History Museum — and that connection to heritage and history is part of the reason Mayor Dave Kleis decided to name the street Mni Sota Makoce (pronounced “mini so-ta muh-co-chay”).
The name is a Dakota phrase meaning “land where the waters reflect the skies/clouds,” according to Jim Knutson-Kolodzne, director of the American Indian Center at St. Cloud State University.
“Mni” means water. “Sota” means clear, but not perfectly clear, so maybe cloudy. And “Makoce” means place, land or country, according to Knutson-Kolodzne.
