A project of the Shakopee Educational Endowment Foundation in support of education past, present, and future. Dedicated August 2008.
In 2005 the Shakopee Educational Endowment Foundation (SEEF), with the approval of the Shakopee School Board, embarked on an exciting project to commemorate the history of education in Shakopee. SEEF commissioned former Shakopee resident and renowned artist and sculptor Frederick W. “Bill” Huber (SHS ’62) to create a life-sized bronze sculpture to grace the entrance of Shakopee High School, which opened in September 2007. This was Mr. Huber’s last project before he died in December 2007.
The sculpture depicts two leaders instrumental in the history of the City of Shakopee – Samuel W. Pond, educator and missionary, and Chief Shakpe, leader of Mdewakanton Tribe of the Dakota Sioux, meeting at the Mill Pond in Shakopee in 1846. Mr. Pond is holding a copy of his Sioux language dictionary, and Chief Shakpe is holding a peace pipe. While each figure is reaching an open hand to the other figure, they are also reaching out to all who enter the building. The water flowing between the men symbolizes the flow of knowledge and the granite backdrop reflects the viewer’s face, connecting the present with the area’s rich past.
Major donors to the project received a limited edition abstract sculpture created by Mr. Huber composed of the hand of Chief Shakpe holding his peace pipe and the hand of Samuel W. Pond holding a copy of his Sioux language dictionary.
The Shakopee Educational Endowment Foundation is extremely proud of our organization’s role in this magnificent project and is forever grateful to Mr. Huber and the many donors who made this sculpture possible.