Podcasts about bois forte band

Today's episode is all about the best breakfast topping, the sap that slaps…maple syrup! If you've ever had maple syrup on your pancakes or waffles, you have the Native people of what's now called North America to thank for that. Native people have been making maple syrup for hundreds, if not thousands of years.Tag along with Joy and cohost Marvin as they explain how syrup is made. Minnesota Public Radio reporter Chandra Colvin also drops by to share how Native communities continue this centuries-old syrup tradition. Plus, you won't want to miss a new First Things First, so stick around!Featured Experts:Chandra Colvin is a reporter for Native News at Minnesota Public Radio. She's also a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. You can find more of her work here.Forest Hunt is a plant scientist with the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute. They are a direct descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota.Shirley Boyd and Bette Sam are elders in the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

Part 3 March is Women's History Month, a time to honor the powerful stories of women throughout history. So today, we're celebrating both history and healing! Join us as Sharon Day, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, shares her ancestral stories and her work leading healing water walks. Wondering what a water walk is? Tune in to discover its significance, along with Sharon's inspiring journey of sobriety, healing, and giving back as the Executive Director of the Indigenous People's Task Force. Nibi (Water) Walk: https://www.nibiwalk.org/ Indigenous People's Task Force: https://indigenouspeoplestf.org/ Native ChocTalk Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nativechoctalkpodcast All Podcast Episodes: https://nativechoctalk.com/podcasts/

March is Women's History Month, a time to honor the powerful stories of women throughout history. So today, we're celebrating both history and healing! Join us as Sharon Day, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, shares her ancestral stories and her work leading healing water walks. Wondering what a water walk is? Tune in to discover its significance, along with Sharon's inspiring journey of sobriety, healing, and giving back as the Executive Director of the Indigenous People's Task Force. Check out Indigenous People's Task Force here: https://indigenouspeoplestf.org/ Native ChocTalk Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nativechoctalkpodcast All Podcast Episodes: https://nativechoctalk.com/podcasts/

March is Women's History Month, a time to honor the powerful stories of women throughout history. So today, we're celebrating both history and healing! Join us as Sharon Day, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, shares her ancestral stories and her work leading healing water walks. Wondering what a water walk is? Tune in to discover its significance, along with Sharon's inspiring journey of sobriety, healing, and giving back as the Executive Director of the Indigenous People's Task Force. Nibi (Water) Walk: https://www.nibiwalk.org/ Indigenous People's Task Force: https://indigenouspeoplestf.org/ Native ChocTalk Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nativechoctalkpodcast All Podcast Episodes: https://nativechoctalk.com/podcasts/

The National Congress of American Indians annual winter conference comes as the federal government is actively dismantling the diversity initiatives that help establish Native representation in the workplace and in the public sphere. The nation's oldest and largest Native advocacy group is shaping its strategy for carrying a unified voice to a fractured government and public on issues that matter most: sovereignty, consultation, environmental sustainability, the Trust Responsibility, and economic development. We'll hear NCAI President Mark Macarro's 2025 State of Indian Nations address and get perspectives on the organization's coming year. You can watch the entire NCAI 2025 State of Indian Nations Address here. GUESTS Tadd Johnson (Bois Forte Band of Chippewa), Regent at the University of Minnesota, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and attorney

The National Congress of American Indians annual winter conference comes as the federal government is actively dismantling the diversity initiatives that help establish Native representation in the workplace and in the public sphere. The nation's oldest and largest Native advocacy group is shaping its strategy for carrying a unified voice to a fractured government and public on issues that matter most: sovereignty, consultation, environmental sustainability, the Trust Responsibility, and economic development. We'll hear NCAI President Mark Macarro's 2025 State of Indian Nations address and get perspectives on the organization's coming year. You can watch the entire NCAI 2025 State of Indian Nations Address here. GUESTS Tadd Johnson (Bois Forte Band of Chippewa), Regent at the University of Minnesota, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and attorney

In this episode, we talk with grantmaking officer and former educator and historian Mattie Harper DeCarlo, PhD.  Mattie, a Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe citizen who grew up on Leech Lake Reservation, works in philanthropy at the Bush Foundation, focusing on Indigenous communities. She speaks with us about the nuance of supporting 23 Native nations through philanthropy, how to provide context to non-Native donors on what investment can look like, and her affection for Ojibwe language revitalization. Mattie also shares how journey of learning about herself and the history her people, and how it helped her fostered a sense of awe for the beauty of Ojibwe community. Tune in for an engaging conversation about investing in Indigenous self-sustainability through philanthropy!

It was such a privilege to have Jenae Nelson come to my home. Jenae is a professor of psychology, so our conversation was definitely unique. Some of the best parts included her analogy of trying to expand our vision and see things like bees' eyes do. Are we looking through a tunnel, or are we looking with compound vision? There is always room to expand our vision. Another thing that really struck home was that she mentions how her relationship with Heavenly Father hasn't always been "good." In fact, there were many years when she didn't even believe that He could be real because of all the hard things she has gone through. But, now she says that she realizes she had to go through things so that He could help shape her character. There are truly so many good things to glean from Jenae in this episode!

Kay Gibson and Valerie Badhorse are the co-chairs of the American Indian Center of Springfield. Kay's tribe is Cherokee and Valerie's tribe is the– Bois Forte Band (boys fort band) of the Minnesota Chippewa. They spoke a little about why they started the center in the first place.

Thank you for listening to The Watershed, a podcast of We Are Water MN. In this episode, we hear from Sharon Day, a writer, artist, activist, educator, and leader of water protection efforts including Nibi Walks. She is also an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. Sharon Day explores some of her water memories, as well as themes around caring for and being in relationship with water. We'll also probe questions about our responsibility to past and future generations. What will you do for the water? The We Are Water MN exhibit will be hosted in Chisago County from June 20 through August 12, 2024. The main exhibit will be at the North Branch Area Library, while additional indoor exhibits will be on view at the Chisago County History Center. Lindstrom Memorial Park will have an outdoor display. After Chisago County, the exhibit will move to Cass Lake (Leech Lake Tribal College), and Shakopee (Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community). You can learn more about We Are Water MN at www.mnhum.org/water. Learn more about Chisago County's hosting of the exhibit, plus related events, at https://www.chisagocountymn.gov/1349/We-Are-Water-MN-Exhibit---June-20-to-Aug. This episode of The Watershed was produced by Angela Hugunin, and by We Are Water MN, which is led by the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; the Minnesota Historical Society; the Board of Water and Soil Resources; the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources; and University of Minnesota Extension. We are Water MN is funded in part with money from the Clean Water, Land, & Legacy Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 and by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Special thanks to Emma Needham, who conducted this interview, which was initially featured in Hartley Nature Center's hosting. Thank you to Sharon Day, our interviewee for this episode. You can learn more about Nibi Walks at http://www.nibiwalk.org/. You can find We Are Water MN on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/wearewatermn/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/wearewatermn/), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/wearewatermn). Follow along for the latest updates! Music credits: These Times, Drone Pine, McCarthy, So We Go, and Waterbourne by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). 

Thank you for listening to The Watershed, a podcast of We Are Water MN. In this episode, we hear from Sharon Day, a writer, artist, activist, educator, and leader of water protection efforts including Nibi Walks. Sharon is also an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. In this episode, Sharon Day shares water memories and an exploration of themes around caring for and being in relationship with water, plus our responsibility to past and future generations. What will you do for the water? The We Are Water MN exhibit will be hosted by Hartley Nature Center in Duluth from February 29 through April 22, 2024. After Hartley, it will move to four other communities throughout the state of Minnesota: Holdingford (Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District in partnership with Art in Motion on the Lake Wobegon Trail), Chisago County, Cass Lake (Leech Lake Tribal College), and Shakopee (Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community). You can learn more about We Are Water MN at www.mnhum.org/water. Learn more about Hartley Nature Center's hosting of the exhibit, plus related events, at https://hartleynature.org/hartley-nature-center-programs/we-are-water-mn/. We Are Water MN is led by the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; the Minnesota Historical Society; the Board of Water and Soil Resources; the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources; and University of Minnesota Extension. We are Water MN is funded in part with money from the Clean Water, Land, & Legacy Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 and by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Special thanks to Emma Needham, who conducted our interviews in Duluth. Thank you to Sharon Day, our interviewee for this episode. You can find We Are Water MN on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/wearewatermn/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/wearewatermn/), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/wearewatermn). Follow along for the latest updates! Music credits: These Times, Drone Pine, McCarthy, So We Go, Waterbourne, and On Top of It by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). 

Myron Johnson of Minneapolis, former artistic director for Ballet of the Dolls, recommends “The Conference of the Birds” from Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre. The dance piece is based on an epic poem by 12th-century Persian mystic Farīd al-DīnʿAṭṭār.“It's been performed and created by one of my absolute favorite artists in this community, Susana di Palma,” Johnson said. “I can't imagine anyone taking this story and doing an interpretation any better than Susana and her live musicians and singers and flamenco dancers and original music.”“The Conference of the Birds” plays Feb. 10-11 at the Cowles Center in Minneapolis.Minneapolis resident Mary Thomas is an art historian and arts administrator. She is looking forward to “In the Middle of Somewhere,” an exhibit by artist Martin Gonzales.An alum of the University of Minnesota's art department, Gonzales is based in Massachusetts. Thomas sees Gonzales “grappling with questions of how he takes up space and how he can occupy space in different ways.” “The sculptures are a way to think through and meditate on some of those questions through his own life and his own experience,” Thomas said.The exhibit is on display at the Silverwood Park Visitor Center in St. Anthony through Feb. 29. Linda LeGarde Grover, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa in northern Minnesota, is a professor emeritus of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She's very pleased to recommend the Indigenous Writer Series at AICHO in Duluth. The series features Indigenous writers from around the region. “Some of them will actually have drawings for some of their books, and the community will get to listen to them, ask questions of them and especially hear them talking about their writing,” Grover said. The event Saturday will include authors Tashia Hart of Red Lake Nation and Staci L. Drouillard of Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, from 2-4 p.m. at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center in Duluth.

Description: In this episode, podcast host Deanna “DeDe” Drift and co-host Mickey Foley explore the concept of food sovereignty with Dani Pieratos, a farmer of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, and Sasha Houston-Brown, Senior Communications and Advocacy Consultant with the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. By rediscovering traditional indigenous foods and methods of growing, gathering, or hunting food, we can improve our health and reconnect with our cultural roots. Episode guests and host Deanna Drift discuss how their food sovereignty practices have helped them and their communities physically, economically, and spiritually.   Survey: Please take our survey! Now that you've listened to us, we want to hear from you. Tell us what you think in a brief survey by going to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/podcastRR.  Show Notes:In this episode the guests reference the following resources: -         Northland Food Network-         Dream of Wild Health-         Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI)-         Center for Prevention, Blue Cross Blue Shield MN-         NDN Collective-         Minnesota Department of HealthMusicians:You can find more from the musicians who contributed to this episode here: -         Wade Fernandez  – https://wadefernandezmusic.com/-         Reuben Kitto Stately (Kitto) – https://linktr.ee/yungkitto-         Corey Medina (Corey Medina & Brothers Band) – http://coreymedina.com/index.html Content warning: The Remembering Resilience podcast episodes include content that may bring up a strong emotional response. Please do what you need to take care of yourself while you listen, and perhaps think of someone you could call for emotional support if necessary. If you or a loved one is having thoughts of suicide, there are resources to help. If you're in Minnesota, you can connect with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 9-8-8 or using the Online Chat feature. Otherwise, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Both of these resources are available 24/7 to offer support.  Thank you:Miigwech - Pidamayaye - Thank you. We are grateful to our many partners who made this podcast possible. This podcast was developed through a Health POWER project at Minnesota Communities Caring for Children & FamilyWise Services, with support from the Center for Prevention at BlueCross and BlueShield of Minnesota & the University of Minnesota Extension. Kalen Keir did the sound design for this season, and Sadie Luetmer provided additional producing. 

You may have heard of Betty Whiteout, Ctrl Salt Delete, Sleetwood Mac or Plowy McPlowface — past winners of the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Name a Snowplow Contest. And while the now-annual event garners thousands of punny monikers, some plow drivers are hoping it's an opportunity to keep Indigenous languages alive, one truck at a time. The contest was born in December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It became wildly popular — 24,000 entries strong — as a much-needed moment of levity for Minnesotans during a dark, isolated time. Anne Meyer, who works for MnDOT, said the idea came from Scotland, where people have been naming snowplows for years.MnDOT now has 24 named plows on the road, and while the contest is fun for everyone, it's also a chance to build cultural awareness. Christopher Chee, a member of the Diné Nation, works for MnDOT out of Redwood Falls in southwest Minnesota. He lives in the Lower Sioux Indian community where his wife is from, plowing in the winter and doing road maintenance in the summer. In his previous job as roads director for the Lower Sioux Community, he worked with the city of Redwood Falls, Redwood County, the tribal council and MnDOT to become the first tribal nation in the state to have dual-language road signs welcoming people in Dakota and English. The signs went up in 2016. During last year's Name a Snowplow Contest, he wanted to build on his work. He encouraged friends to send in Native language names, and he submitted one in Dakota. “‘Ičamna' means ‘snowstorm' or ‘blizzard,'” Chee said. “And being a snowplow driver, we're out there in the blizzards, in the snowstorms keeping the roads open, rescuing people if we have to, making way for troopers and paramedics.” Ičamna made it to the second to last round of the contest but didn't make the final cut. One of his supervisors noticed Chee's disappointment, and promised to see what he could do. Sure enough, two weeks later, Chee walked into the breakroom and saw an Ičamna vinyl sticker on the table. Now Chee and his truck partner of three years, Jovi Lund — who is a tribal member of the Lower Sioux Indian Community — drive their plow with pride. Mike Connor is another driver who helped push for a plow with an Indigenous name: Giiwedin, Ojibwe for “the North Wind.”“Naming this plow helps with building cultural awareness between the state and tribal entities,” said Connor, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and a MnDOT driver. “It's important to show the traditions and language.”Connor said the state and tribal governments have had a formal relationship, but dubbing the plow with an Indigenous name was a sign of goodwill. “There's a lot of policies and procedures between tribes and MnDOT, and it is encouraging to see the engagement with the tribes,” he said. A second plow in northeast Minnesota bears the name Goonodaabaan. It's a combination of the Ojibwe words “goon” and “odaabaan,” which translate to “snow,” and “sleigh” or “sled.“This year's contest closes at noon on Friday — and submissions have been pouring in. MnDOT staff will select a few dozen from the more than 7,000 entries for the public to vote on in January, Meyer said. Chee hopes more tribal nations and ethnic groups from around the state will submit names in languages other than English this year. He hopes for at least one truck with an Indigenous name on each of Minnesota's 11 tribal nations. “Have another up by Red Lake, have another around Shakopee, have another one at Treasure Island, Upper Sioux, and from there, White Earth,” he said. Chee said he's happy that many Indigenous communities are investing in teaching young people their native languages. And, he said, something as simple as a dual language road sign or a name on a snowplow can help with that mission.

Guests Linda LeGarde Grover, Ellie Shoenfeld, and Tina Higgins Wussow are all writers and poets, and today they sit down with hosts Jason and Terry to talk all about it!Ellie Shoenfeld is a Duluth writer and poet, the 2016-18 Duluth Poet Laureate, and co-founder of Duluth's Poetry Harbor alongside Pat McKinnon.Linda LeGarde Grover is a professor-emeritus of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, and award winning author of several Ojibwe novels, short stories, and poems. Her lastest book, "A Song Over Miskwaa Rapids" is available at Zenith Bookstore, next door to Wussow's Concert Cafe in West Duluth, or wherever you buy your books.Tina Higgins Wussow is a writing teacher at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, as well as a poet, curator and host of the Homegrown Music Fest Poetry Showcase, and the Writer's Salon on the third Thursday over every month at Wussow's Concert Cafe.

Luverne Seifert is a Twin Cities actor and acting teacher. He recommends going to see “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” from Dark & Stormy Productions.In this edgy production, set at Marcia Blaine School for Girls in 1930s Scotland, the lessons are less about math and reading than they are about love and sex. “It's a very provocative play,” Seifert said. “And at times I think your jaw will drop.” The cast consists of University of Minnesota students making their professional stage debut, and the production runs through Sept. 17 at the Gremlin Theater in St. Paul.Duluth filmmaker Khayman Goodsky, of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, loves a good book. That's why Goodsky suggests going to the “Meet the Artist” series at Two Loons Gallery in Duluth any time, but especially on Aug. 26, when Thomas and Betsy Peacock are the artists in question. The two co-own Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing, which specializes in Native written and illustrated books. “Everything they've put out has been researched and carefully developed, so, I mean you can't go wrong with reading their books,” Goodsky said.You can meet Thomas and Betsy Peacock, Saturday, Aug. 26, at Two Loons Gallery, 2025 W. Superior St., Duluth.Luis Fitch is a Mexican artist, designer and creative entrepreneur based in Minneapolis. His recommendation is “Immigrant Roads,” a solo exhibition of largescale paintings exploring the legacy of Mexican-born families who built the Santa Fe railroad in the early part of the 20th century.“What I'm excited about in this exhibition is the hope that the artist brings to restore some of the stolen dignity from Latinx workers,” Fitch said.“Immigrant Roads” is on display through Sept. 22 at the CLUES Latino Art Gallery, 797 East Seventh St., St. Paul.

Today Leah and Cole chat with An Garagiola, a descendent of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, and the University Coordinator and a Lead Researcher on the TRUTH Project. An shares about researching archives from the University of MN and the MN Historical Society, findings from the TRUTH Project, and how she's bringing Indigenous values to Academia and research.The Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing (TRUTH) project has released a report detailing the “persistent, systemic mistreatment” of Indigenous people by the University of Minnesota. As a land grab/grant university, the U of MN received stolen land as investment capitol from the US Government through the Morrill Act in 1862. The TRUTH project looks at different points of history within the U of MN and how it affected Native people, with input and research from the 11 Tribal nations in Minnesota.This is the third episode of a series with some of the leaders of the TRUTH research project: Listen to our interview with Misty Blue, and Audrianna Goodwin as well. Find out more about the TRUTH project: https://mn.gov/indian-affairs/truth-project/ In a statement to MN Native News, the University of Minnesota said “In recent years the University has committed to acknowledging the past and doing the necessary work to begin rebuilding and strengthening relationships with Tribal Nations and Native people. Openly receiving this report is another step toward honoring that commitment. While documenting the past, the TRUTH Report also provides guidance as to how the University can solidify lasting relationships with Tribes and Indigenous peoples built on respect, open communication and action. As we engage in the important discussions that will now follow, that guidance will be invaluable.”Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine Native Lights is a weekly, half-hour radio program hosted by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Native Lights is a space for people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce -- a.k.a. Minnesota -- to tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community.    Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers, Diverse Radio for Minnesota's Communities with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund. Online at https://minnesotanativenews.org/

Updated: 8:30 a.m. A massive new report details the University of Minnesota's long history of mistreating the state's Native people and lays out recommendations, including “perpetual reparations,” to improve relations between the university and Minnesota's 11 tribal nations.Among its troubling findings, the report by the TRUTH (Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing) Project concludes:The U's founding board of regents “committed genocide and ethnic cleansing of Indigenous peoples for financial gain, using the institution as a shell corporation through which to launder lands and resources.”The U's permanent trust fund controls roughly $600 million in royalties from iron ore mining, timber sales and other revenues derived from land taken from the Ojibwe and the Dakota.The university has contributed to the “erasure” of Native people by failing to teach a full history of the land on which it was founded.Researchers didn't put a dollar figure to their call for reparations but urged the University to do more to help tribal nations, including providing full tuition waivers to “all Indigenous people and descendants” and hiring more Native staff and faculty.Totaling more than 500 pages, the report released Tuesday marks the first time a major American university has critically examined its history with Native people, said Shannon Geshick, executive director of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.While Geshick praised the U's willingness to help unmask its past, she said the reckoning around that awful history was long overdue. “The TRUTH Project just rips that open and really reveals a narrative that a lot of people I think just don't know.” ‘We carry all of that trauma'The TRUTH effort draws on archival records, oral histories and other sources to examine through an Indigenous lens the troubled history between Native people and the state's flagship university.It launched following a series of reports in the publication High Country News in 2020 revealing how universities around the country were founded on the proceeds of land taken from tribes through the 1862 Morrill Act.That included a financial bonanza — dubbed the “Minnesota windfall” — that channeled more than $500 million to the fledgling University of Minnesota from leases and sales of land taken from the Dakota after the federal government hanged 38 Dakota men in Mankato, Minn., in December 1862, ending the U.S.-Dakota war.Following the High Country News stories, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council called on the university to acknowledge its exploitation of Native peoples dating back to the U's 1851 founding.A team of Indigenous researchers began digging into university archives, cataloging and studying more than 5,000 pages related to the university's founding. Early on, they realized the work would be much more emotionally taxing than they had anticipated.“I remember a couple of times just sitting at a table and starting to cry,” recalled An Garagiola, a TRUTH Project coordinator and researcher who works for the Office of Native Affairs at the University of Minnesota.In the archives, “you're reading communications and policy and decisions that were made on a daily basis to commit genocide against people … millions of little cuts that we don't think about.” Tuition controversy Students urge University of Minnesota to better fund scholarship, Native American studies From February U recommends returning Cloquet Forestry Center land to Fond du Lac Band Troubling stories surface U probes its history with Native people For Garagiola, a descendant of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the research hit close to home when fellow researcher Audrianna Goodwin came across documents showing the involvement of the University of Minnesota's extension service in relocating 36 families on the Bois Forte reservation in the mid-20th century.The names of the families weren't mentioned in the documents. But her grandmother was relocated around that same time, and “thinking then of the trajectory that that set my family on, I guess I'm still trying to process that,” Goodwin said. “That was kind of the point where I knew I had to step away from the archives, because I couldn't take in any more of that at the time.”Goodwin, a research assistant for the TRUTH Project also appointed by the Red Lake Nation as a tribal research fellow, said she felt the sad weight of a brutal history as she pored over documents.“As soon as we got into the archives, and started to read through some of these firsthand accounts of what we experienced as a people, it was really hard to read and to learn about,” she said. “You start to see the connections from the past with what we're experiencing today.”Native people have some of the highest rates of fatal overdoses from the opioid epidemic; some of the highest rates of suicide and diabetes, and of other health and social disparities.The project received additional funding to pay for a Native American grief counselor and a spiritual advisor for researchers. The Mellon Foundation, which supported the TRUTH report through a $5 million higher education racial justice program called Minnesota Transform, paid for the added support.For Goodwin, to see and touch documents detailing how Native people were dispossessed of their land provided powerful evidence of how actions from the university and other governmental entities in the early 1800s have resulted in intergenerational trauma 200 years later.“Sometimes when we were researching, we would just have to stop,” she said. “Those emotions would become so overpowering, because we carry all of that trauma and all of that pain. Hopefully with this report, we won't have to carry that alone.”‘Used as test subjects'Researchers say the TRUTH report is notable for its Native-centered, community-driven approach. Each tribe appointed a research fellow to explore histories important to their communities.For the Red Lake Nation in northwestern Minnesota, Goodwin explored the history of medical research that was conducted by University of Minnesota doctors on young Red Lake children in the 1960s.After a disease outbreak in the 1950s killed a 2-year-old on the Red Lake reservation, U researchers planned a study around a decade later in which they enrolled about 100 children to conduct kidney biopsies. During that follow-up study, a second outbreak occurred.According to Goodwin's report, U researchers concluded during the first outbreak that a shot of penicillin was a viable cure for the disease. Yet in the second outbreak, they did not share that information with local doctors, the report said. Rather they enrolled more children in their study.“Our tribal members were used as test subjects,” said Red Lake Tribal Secretary Sam Strong.A companion report commissioned by the university tells a different story. The three physicians who compiled the report said there was no evidence penicillin would have helped stop the second outbreak, and said they were unable to determine whether parents had consented, in part because the tribe refused to share records.“Not having seen the consent forms (or patient charts) used for this work, despite repeated requests, we were unable to draw a conclusion as to the adequacy of the consent process,” the researchers concluded.That approach angers Strong, who says the university failed to keep records of the research. He said the university report also ignored strong circumstantial evidence that consent was not obtained in many cases.“I was hoping for a more transparent and accountable university system. And it's really disheartening to see that they're trying to silence our voice, the harm that they caused to our community.”In northeastern Minnesota, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has long pressed for the return of land that's now home to the Cloquet Forestry Center — 3,400 acres of land that was guaranteed to the Fond du Lac in an 1854 treaty was later transferred to the university without consent for use as an experimental forestry station.The TRUTH report notes a frustrating reality: Band members aren't allowed to hunt, fish or gather on the land, which is located entirely within the Fond du Lac reservation. But the U profits from the land through timber sales, tuition from forestry students and recognition for its forestry research.University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel, who is leaving the U to take over the University of Pittsburgh, recently recommended returning the Cloquet center to the Fond du Lac Band, a step it says would help restore its homeland.In response to the report, the University of Minnesota made a statement Tuesday morning.“First and foremost, we recognize that the countless hours of work reflected in this report and the truth-telling that will benefit us all going forward is built upon the time, effort and emotional labor of every individual involved. We want to reiterate our appreciation for each of you.In recent years the University has committed to acknowledging the past and doing the necessary work to begin rebuilding and strengthening relationships with Tribal Nations and Native people. Openly receiving this report is another step toward honoring that commitment. While documenting the past, the TRUTH report also provides guidance as to how the University can solidify lasting relationships with Tribes and Indigenous peoples built on respect, open communication and action. As we engage in the important discussions that will now follow, that guidance will be invaluable.”‘Can't do better until people know the truth'While the TRUTH report offers a damning assessment of the university's relationship with Native people over the decades, there are also passages reflecting slow, hopeful change.Researchers, for instance, detail for the first time the recent return of a sacred arborglyph to the Fond Du Lac Band. Standing about 5 feet tall, the artifact was kept by the Cloquet Forestry Center when student researchers cut the tree down decades ago.“It is a depiction of a spirit, completely unique to our people,” Charles Smith, Anishinaabe language specialist for the Fond Du Lac Band, explained in the report. “This ancestral artifact is rare. As this artifact is studied and grows older — its cultural significance will grow.”Fond Du Lac Band leaders learned of the arborglyph's existence in 2021 when forestry center staffers reached out.“It sat in the campus for over 60 years, knowing Fond Du Lac reservation is literally down the road,” wrote Kami Diver, the research fellow for the project appointed by the band.Researchers involved with the report understand that change won't occur overnight. But Misty Blue, coordinator of the TRUTH Project, remains hopeful that the university can “move from a place of harm to a place of healing.”That's a tall order, she acknowledged; “But I think that transformation can happen.”The University has taken meaningful steps toward addressing some of their concerns, tribal leaders say. In 2021, the U created a program that offers free or substantially reduced tuition to many enrolled members of the state's 11 federally recognized tribes.Gabel created high-level positions within her administration focusing on Native American issues and tribal relations and held quarterly, face-to-face meetings with tribal leaders. But Geshick, with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, said a lot more could have been done.For example, she and others have called for an expansion of the scholarship program, which has been criticized for only benefiting a fraction of Native students.“It's a great start. But it shouldn't be the end,” said Robert Larsen, president of the Lower Sioux Indian Community and chair of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council.Tribal leaders who pushed for a full accounting of university-tribal relations were fueled by a desire for more people to understand the true history of how the university was built on the proceeds of land stolen from Native people, he added.“It's not to shame or blame anybody here and now, but to put that simple truth out there,” Larsen said. “We really can't do better until people know the truth.”

Minnesota's opioid problem continues to worsen. Opioid-involved overdose deaths in the state increased 43% from 2020 to 2021. Several bills in the legislature focus on opioids -- they propose giving schools opioid-overdose antidotes and having bigger penalties for selling fentanyl. A proposal presented to legislators in March from the Minnesota Department of Human Services takes aim at the racial disparities in opioid deaths. Eric Grumdahl from the Minnesota Department of Human Services joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. Grumdahl is Assistant Commissioner of the Behavioral Health, Housing and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Administration and helped put together the equity proposal. The opioid epidemic isn't affecting all groups of Minnesotans equally. Data shows Native people in Minnesota were ten times as likely to die from a drug overdose than white Minnesotans. This is not news to Native leaders. And many are mobilized around solutions both in the state legislature and in their own communities. Sharon Day is an elder and leader in the Minneapolis urban Native community. She is a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and the Executive Director of Indigenous People's Task Force that offers harm reduction in south Minneapolis. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her efforts.

Minnesota's opioid problem continues to worsen. Opioid-involved overdose deaths in the state increased 43% from 2020 to 2021. Several bills in the legislature focus on opioids -- they propose giving schools opioid-overdose antidotes and having bigger penalties for selling fentanyl. A proposal presented to legislators in March from the Minnesota Department of Human Services takes aim at the racial disparities in opioid deaths. Eric Grumdahl from the Minnesota Department of Human Services joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. Grumdahl is Assistant Commissioner of the Behavioral Health, Housing and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Administration and helped put together the equity proposal.The opioid epidemic isn't affecting all groups of Minnesotans equally. Data shows Native people in Minnesota were ten times as likely to die from a drug overdose than white Minnesotans. This is not news to Native leaders. And many are mobilized around solutions both in the state legislature and in their own communities. Sharon Day is an elder and leader in the Minneapolis urban Native community. She is a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and the Executive Director of Indigenous People's Task Force that offers harm reduction in south Minneapolis. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her efforts.

Anishinaabe author Linda LaGarde Grover, Bois Forte Band, talks with host Cathy Wurzer about the power of stories to strengthen families and cultural connections. LaGarde is professor emeritus of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and her latest book is called “Gichigami Hearts.”

Citizenship is one of the keystones of sovereignty for every tribe. And it's absolute: you're either a tribal citizen through lineal descendancy, blood quantum, or another agreed-up measurement, or you're not. But Native identity sometimes extends beyond citizenship and there's little agreement about those boundaries. Today on Native America Calling, at a time of increasing scrutiny of those who claim—and build careers on—Native identity, Shawn Spruce gets the perspectives from tribal leaders on what makes identity and why it's so important to get it right with Cathy Chavers, chairwoman of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians and the president of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; Dr. Aaron Payment, former chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians; Nathan McCowan (Tlingit and Haida), president and CEO of St. George Tanaq Corporation; Patt Iron Cloud AKA “GrandmaPatt”, councilwoman for the Fort Peck Tribes; and Harold “Buster” Hatcher, chief of the Waccamaw Indian People.

Citizenship is one of the keystones of sovereignty for every tribe. And it's absolute: you're either a tribal citizen through lineal descendancy, blood quantum, or another agreed-up measurement, or you're not. But Native identity sometimes extends beyond citizenship and there's little agreement about those boundaries. Today on Native America Calling, at a time of increasing scrutiny of those who claim—and build careers on—Native identity, Shawn Spruce gets the perspectives from tribal leaders on what makes identity and why it's so important to get it right with Cathy Chavers, chairwoman of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians and the president of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; Dr. Aaron Payment, former chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians; Nathan McCowan (Tlingit and Haida), president and CEO of St. George Tanaq Corporation; Patt Iron Cloud AKA “GrandmaPatt”, councilwoman for the Fort Peck Tribes; and Harold “Buster” Hatcher, chief of the Waccamaw Indian People.

Native Lights is a weekly, half-hour radio program hosted by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Native Lights is a space for people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce -- a.k.a. Minnesota -- to tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community. Today Leah and Cole chat with Dani Pieratos of Harvest Nation, an indoor CSA aeroponic farm concept in northern Minnesota. She hails from Lake Vermillion on the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa reservation. Dani is also the co-founder of Bois Forte Sovereignty & Sustainable Agriculture Community Group. Dani, and a community of people interested in food sovereignty, are planning to bring fresh food to the Bois Forte community year around using aeroponic indoor growing systems. Her passion for reclaiming Native food sovereignty leads her work and is driven by a care for community health and undoing the effects of historical trauma and colonization. Chi-Miigwech to Dani for being on the show!More information about Harvest Nation can be found here: https://www.harvestnationinc.com/

Laura Burlis of Minneapolis appreciates the work of the organization “Art to Change the World,” and she's looking forward to attending the artist talks at Saturday's closing event for their “Age of Age” project. The exhibit features 10 pairs of artists, roughly 20 years apart, who create art works either together or in conversation with one another. The artists' ages span from 25 to 103 years old, and they vary in experience level. Burlis enjoyed hearing about the connections that the creatives formed. Courtesy of Barbara Bridges. "Resilience" on acrylic and mixed media by Rebecca Davis and Bronwyn Waid. One pair, Madalina Kelner, 25, and Layl McDill, 51, reached back to their childhoods to create habitats for fairies and Smurfs from found objects. Other pairings created paintings and self-portraits, and other works sure to spark conversation in this exhibit designed to spark conversation about age. The exhibit at Homewood Studios in Minneapolis is on view Friday 1 to 6 p.m., with a closing event Saturday from 2-4:30 p.m. The Saturday event is one of many taking place during the FLOW Northside Art Crawl Thursday through Saturday. Painter Alena Hrabcakova is at an artist residency in Pennington, Minn., and she's heading to Puposky, north of Bemidji, this weekend to see a concert performance of a new musical. “Water from Snow” was written and directed by Minneapolis playwright Janet Preus, with music co-composed and co-arranged by Fred Steele, of the singing family The Steeles, and Robert Elhai, Tony-nominated for his work on Broadway's Lion King, also of Minneapolis. Set in northern Minnesota, the musical tells the story of a single mother finding her way in the world, who returns to her hometown to make peace with her teenage daughter. Produced by Mask and Rose Women's Theater Collective, which lifts up work by women playwrights, the concert performance has three showings: Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2. Novelist Linda LeGarde Grover of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe has a recommendation for families in Duluth. Every Wednesday and Saturday at 1 p.m. through Labor Day, there is an Ojibwe story time at the Lake Superior Ojibwe Gallery, located on the fourth floor of The Depot. Through the stories told each session, listeners can learn about Ojibwe cultural teachings. Books were selected by the St. Louis County Historical Society American Indian committee. Story time is aimed at children ages two to 12, but all are welcome and it's free.

Laura Burlis of Minneapolis appreciates the work of the organization “Art to Change the World,” and she's looking forward to attending the artist talks at Saturday's closing event for their “Age of Age” project. The exhibit features 10 pairs of artists, roughly 20 years apart, who create art works either together or in conversation with one another. The artists' ages span from 25 to 103 years old, and they vary in experience level. Burlis enjoyed hearing about the connections that the creatives formed. Courtesy of Barbara Bridges. "Resilience" on acrylic and mixed media by Rebecca Davis and Bronwyn Waid. One pair, Madalina Kelner, 25, and Layl McDill, 51, reached back to their childhoods to create habitats for fairies and Smurfs from found objects. Other pairings created paintings and self-portraits, and other works sure to spark conversation in this exhibit designed to spark conversation about age. The exhibit at Homewood Studios in Minneapolis is on view Friday 1 to 6 p.m., with a closing event Saturday from 2-4:30 p.m. The Saturday event is one of many taking place during the FLOW Northside Art Crawl Thursday through Saturday. Painter Alena Hrabcakova is at an artist residency in Pennington, Minn., and she's heading to Puposky, north of Bemidji, this weekend to see a concert performance of a new musical. “Water from Snow” was written and directed by Minneapolis playwright Janet Preus, with music co-composed and co-arranged by Fred Steele, of the singing family The Steeles, and Robert Elhai, Tony-nominated for his work on Broadway's Lion King, also of Minneapolis. Set in northern Minnesota, the musical tells the story of a single mother finding her way in the world, who returns to her hometown to make peace with her teenage daughter. Produced by Mask and Rose Women's Theater Collective, which lifts up work by women playwrights, the concert performance has three showings: Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2. Novelist Linda LeGarde Grover of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe has a recommendation for families in Duluth. Every Wednesday and Saturday at 1 p.m. through Labor Day, there is an Ojibwe story time at the Lake Superior Ojibwe Gallery, located on the fourth floor of The Depot. Through the stories told each session, listeners can learn about Ojibwe cultural teachings. Books were selected by the St. Louis County Historical Society American Indian committee. Story time is aimed at children ages two to 12, but all are welcome and it's free.

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Field Hearing titled “Investing in Native Communities: Transformative Opportunities in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” Tuesday, June 28 2022 - 12:00 PM Location: Mystic Lake Center, of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Room Number: Minnetonka Conference Room NOTE: Adam Savariego of the Upper Sioux Community was an additional witness. A dropout in audio occurred toward the end of the hearing, during the question and answer period. WITNESS LIST (As originally scheduled) The Honorable Bryan Newland Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, DC *Accompanied by Jason Freihage, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington DC Ms. Elizabeth Fowler Acting Director, Indian Health Service U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Washington, DC Mr. Jeremiah Baumann Chief of Staff, Office of the Under Secretary for Infrastructure U.S. Department of Energy Washington, DC The Honorable Cathy Chavers Chairwoman Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Orr, Minnesota The Honorable Melanie Benjamin Chief Executive Officer Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Onamia, Minnesota The Honorable Kevin Dupuis, Sr. Chairman Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Cloquet, Minnesota The Honorable Keith Anderson Chairman Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Business Council Prior Lake, Minnesota The Honorable Robert Larsen President Lower Sioux Indian Community Morton, Minnesota ADDITIONAL WITNESS The Honorable Adam Savariego Tribal Secretary Upper Sioux Community Granite Falls, Minnesota Committee Notice: https://www.indian.senate.gov/hearing/field-hearing-titled-investing-native-communities-transformative-opportunities

The number of businesses started by women of color is on the rise, despite deeply entrenched barriers to success. MPR News with Angela Davis shares the stories of several women of color entrepreneurs in a special broadcast of the podcast “small change: Money Stories from the Neighborhood.” Podcast co-hosts Chris Farrell and Twila Dang talk with the founders of four Minnesota small businesses about solving problems, leaving a legacy, building wealth and the importance of their businesses to their communities. “small change” highlights smart, practical, and collaborative money skills developed by people living with lower and unstable incomes. Guests: Sabrina Jones is the founder of SJC Body Love Products in the Twin Cities. Esperanza Lopez and her daughter Stephanie Lopez are the founders of Spurs Bar & Grill in Willmar. Denise Paradas, sister Tracey Dagen and daughters Dani Pieratos and Nikki Pieratos are members of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and founders of Harvest Nation in Tower. Arielle Grant is founder of Render Free in Minneapolis Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Alex and Lindsay talk with Linda LeGarde Grover (Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong) about making a book that is fiction, memoir, myth, truth, and poetry; the many wonders of Duluth and Lake Superior; the “ghost presence” in her book; showing a sense of time and change in her work; and more! Linda LeGarde Grover is professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her novel The Road Back to Sweetgrass (Minnesota, 2014) received the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Fiction Award as well as the Native Writers Circle of the Americas First Book Award. The Dance Boots, a book of stories, received the Flannery O'Connor Award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and her poetry collection The Sky Watched: Poems of Ojibwe Lives received the Red Mountain Press Editor's Award and the 2017 Northeastern Minnesota Book Award for Poetry. Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year (Minnesota, 2017) won the 2018 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction and the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What makes the Tiwahe Foundation intrinsically distinct from mainstream philanthropy is rooted in its name. In the Dakota language tiwahe means family, symbolizing the connection of Native people to all living things and their collective responsibility to family, community, and Mother Earth. Native philanthropy uses a seventh-generation mindset, based in Iroquois philosophy, to ensure that decisions made today will produce a sustainable world 7 generations into the future. For Nikki Pieratos, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa who leads the Tiwahe Foundation, these values guide every aspect of its grantmaking. It starts with investing directly in individuals and families without the proscriptive requirements of most foundations. It makes grants to urban Native people, largely Dakota and Ojibwe, displaced from their land by early relocation era policies, in the Metro Minneapolis region. As Nikki explains, Native Americans receive only 0.4% of philanthropic dollars but they are making impactful changes in  philanthropic practice. It is telling that Tiwahe Foundation's endowment was funded by small but collectively significant contributions of grantees who have become donors. There are many lessons here for “big” philanthropy.  

MINNESOTA NATIVE NEWSArtist Carl Gawboy is showing brand new work in Duluth. The art exhibit, "New Paintings, Old Stories," features Anishinaabe and Finnish culture, landscapes, and teachings. The exhibit is located at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center and was curated by Wendy Savage.///TRANSCRIPT:Reporter: This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Leah Lemm, in for Marie Rock. Coming up, artist Carl Gawboy is showing brand new work in Duluth. The art exhibit, “New Paintings, Old Stories," features Anishinaabe and Finnish culture, landscapes, and teachings. The exhibit is located at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center and was curated by Wendy Savage. Here's the story. Reporter: Carl Gawboy's works have appeared in over 75 exhibits. Some of his works live in permanent collections, including at the Minnesota Historical Society, the Department of Interior, and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Carl Gawboy is from the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and is of Finnish descent. Carl Gawboy: I'm Carl Gawboy. I'm a retired teacher. And I'm from Ely, originally. Reporter: Outside the American Indian Community Housing Organization in Duluth is a billboard showcasing the latest Carl Gawboy art exhibit. To one side, features a photo of the artist. And the other side shows the watercolor painting, Vainomoinen and Nanaboojoo. These are the names of two beings from Finnish and Ojibwe tales. Though the painting depicts two men around a campfire, a tent among tall trees, an ax to the side. And you can almost hear the crackle of the fire. They are fishing buddies. Scenes like this is what Carl Gawboy is known for, showing how people lived their lives in their time. Carl Gawboy: That's what I kind of specialized in because I just looked around and saw other Indian artists weren't showing the mundane acts of everyday life in the past that I was really interested in. So that's the Art of the Everyday, but... Reporter: There are over 30 pieces on display and many of them are new. Carl Gawboy: So about 15 of these are new works. And the other half of the gallery are some older things, some illustrations that I did for a publication, a couple of prints, clay prints of works I had done earlier. So it's a pretty good show, showing the older work and the brand new work. The new work that I did since 2021 is back to my Art of the Everyday, so. Reporter: Carl Gawboy has had diverse subject matter throughout his career. And he brings us through a few of his works in the gallery. Carl Gawboy: I've got men planting trees in the 1930s with an organization called the Indian CCCs, The Civilian Conservation Corps that was started up in during the depression to give unemployed people work. There's a couple of scenes from homesteaders, separating milk and plowing new ground for a homesteading scene. You have an old man with his tobacco drawing in a shed. Two paintings of guides. One of guide's filleting fish for his clients. Reporter: Wendy Savage curated the exhibit. Wendy Savage: I'm Wendy Savage. And I'm an enrolled member at the Fond du Lac Reservation. And I'm also an artist and a curator. Reporter: Carl Gawboy has been a mentor to Wendy Savage. And she considers him a National Treasure. Wendy Savage: And I was lucky enough to meet Carl back in the '80s. And Carl invited me to come on with a group with him and George Morrison, and Bonnie Wallace, and Kent Smith to be part of the Ojibwe Art Expo. And so, I did that for 17 years with him. And then, I was fortunate enough to have him also as a teacher of mine. Reporter: Carl Gawboy, being a National Treasure extends beyond his prolific artistry. His influence on and support of other artists has rippled throughout the art world. Wendy Savage: He's been a great influence. He's been like a mentor to me. And he has also always encouraged me in all of my artwork. Because back in the '70s and the '80, there wasn't a place for Native American art. And most galleries were shunning it, especially in this area because it wasn't considered fine art. So many galleries, even in my senior show of my BFA, they didn't want to show a fully-beaded cradle board, because it wasn't fine art. But when I would show my work to Carl, Carl was always encouraging… Reporter: The exhibit, New Paintings, Old Stories, is on display every Friday through May 27th. More information is on the American Indian Community Housing Organization website, aicho.org, A-I-C-H-O DOT O-R-G. For Minnesota Native News, I'm Leah Lemm.

This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. Coming up…At the University of Minnesota, a $5 million grant is funding projects to address racial justice... with the aim of leading social and cultural transformations. One project examines the University's history with the state's Tribal Nations. Here's reporter Feven Gerezgiher with more. In the wake of a racial reckoning and thirty years after the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council first asked the University of Minnesota to repatriate American Indian human remains, the Council in 2020 passed a series of resolutions demanding “a truthful historic accounting” of the university's impact. Two high level people are working to make this happen from within the University. Last year, UofM President Joan Gabel hired Fond du Lac member Karen Diver to her senior leadership team. Professor[1] Tadd Johnson, member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, serves as liaison between the UofM system and Tribal Nations. Johnson says the U has to contend with its grim founding story. The University of Minnesota benefited from the genocide of Native American people, and kicking them out, and actually killing them, hanging them. And granted, there were people that were killed on both sides of the Dakota War, but it was the Dakota that had to pay. So to me, Minnesota has a special obligation because I mean, there's some shame in having the largest mass execution in American history and then the U of M ended up benefiting from it. The project is called the Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing or TRUTH Project. It is led by research fellows from and selected by each Tribal Nation so the University can reckon with how it has harmed and continues to harm each sovereign nation. The[2]  Ojibwe up north are saying, “Hey, you took the DNA of our wild rice and put our wild rice businesses out of business.” And the Dakota are saying, “Hey, you took all of our land and sold it, and kicked us out of Minnesota and made a ton of money to endow your university.” The TRUTH Project is funded through a larger system-wide initiative called Minnesota Transform that was established through a $5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Minnesota Transform seeks to make changes for the region's Black, Indigenous, immigrant, and refugee communities. In addition to the TRUTH Project, it supports access to UMN Dakota language classes for community members[3] and creates Ojibwe language immersion housing for students. An Garagiola is a research assistant with the TRUTH Project. Boozhoo, An indizhinikaaz. My name is An. I am a descendant of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, where my mom and my grandma are enrolled members.  Garagiola said part of the research has been delving into the impact of the 1862 Morrill Act and other land grabs. So often the narrative that we hear about land grant universities or the founding of land grant universities is this positive spin, as you know, this was for the betterment of the country, right? For the public good, if you will. But we don't really talk about who the public is or whose expense that came at. According to data from High Country News, the U.S. government bought Dakota land in one treaty at $0.02 per acre. In contrast, the University of Minnesota sold those lands for $5 per acre, or 251 times that amount[4] . Garagiola points to the U's far reach in the state - from education to the business sector - as reason why it should lead this work. She says many professionals are unaware about sovereign rights or consultation policies for Tribal communities[5] . I think that the university has a great responsibility, one, to teach everybody, Native and non-native, the accurate truth, and to prepare them to go out into their future careers accurately informed. And more broadly, the University has a responsibility to Indigenous people because of the anti-Indigenous policies that were created in order to found the institution.  The TRUTH Project's report is expected to be released in June. Garagiola said Tribal research fellows will hold a symposium in April to share their research with community and get final feedback before its release. In the meantime, the UofM Board of Regents recently voted to return artifacts belonging to the Mimbres people. For Minnesota Native News, I'm Feven Gerezgiher.    Senior Director of the Office of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations for the university system."What the tribes' request was to look at the past, present, and future of the University of Minnesota's relationship with the tribes of Minnesota. And so.."reduces the cost of language classes for community membersThe U and 32 other universities enriched their endowments with these massive land transfers.We have, you know, people going on to be doctors, lawyers, politicians, who have no idea about the sovereign rights that Native Americans hold, or what it means to go into consultation policies, or when consultation policy should be enacted, or the unique political place that Natives hold, you know, as a category rather than a racial category, which I think a lot of folks just see it, as, you know, because they don't know.

Stephanie Khattak speaks with Dr. Linda Legarde Grover, an award-winning author whose latest book interweaves family and Ojibwe history with stories from Misaabekong (the place of the giants) on Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota: Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong (U Minnesota Press, 2021) Dr. Grover is an Anishinaabe novelist and short story writer. She is a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her work, which spans fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, recounts stories of Ojibwe life in northeastern Minnesota individuals, families and communities set against the backdrop of indigenous tradition and impacts of historical and current events. In this interview, Dr. Grover shares the importance of stories and folklore traditions; her perspective as a scholar and storyteller, and the intrinsic value of maintaining - and strengthening - connections with people, places and communities beyond ourselves. Stephanie Khattak is a writer, artist, historian and folklore enthusiast. Visit stephaniekhattak.com to learn more, and connect on Twitter: @steph_khattak, Facebook: @khattakstudios or Instagram: @pinecurtainproject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/native-american-studies

Stephanie Khattak speaks with Dr. Linda Legarde Grover, an award-winning author whose latest book interweaves family and Ojibwe history with stories from Misaabekong (the place of the giants) on Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota: Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong (U Minnesota Press, 2021) Dr. Grover is an Anishinaabe novelist and short story writer. She is a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her work, which spans fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, recounts stories of Ojibwe life in northeastern Minnesota individuals, families and communities set against the backdrop of indigenous tradition and impacts of historical and current events. In this interview, Dr. Grover shares the importance of stories and folklore traditions; her perspective as a scholar and storyteller, and the intrinsic value of maintaining - and strengthening - connections with people, places and communities beyond ourselves. Stephanie Khattak is a writer, artist, historian and folklore enthusiast. Visit stephaniekhattak.com to learn more, and connect on Twitter: @steph_khattak, Facebook: @khattakstudios or Instagram: @pinecurtainproject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/folkore

Stephanie Khattak speaks with Dr. Linda Legarde Grover, an award-winning author whose latest book interweaves family and Ojibwe history with stories from Misaabekong (the place of the giants) on Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota: Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong (U Minnesota Press, 2021) Dr. Grover is an Anishinaabe novelist and short story writer. She is a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her work, which spans fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, recounts stories of Ojibwe life in northeastern Minnesota individuals, families and communities set against the backdrop of indigenous tradition and impacts of historical and current events. In this interview, Dr. Grover shares the importance of stories and folklore traditions; her perspective as a scholar and storyteller, and the intrinsic value of maintaining - and strengthening - connections with people, places and communities beyond ourselves. Stephanie Khattak is a writer, artist, historian and folklore enthusiast. Visit stephaniekhattak.com to learn more, and connect on Twitter: @steph_khattak, Facebook: @khattakstudios or Instagram: @pinecurtainproject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Stephanie Khattak speaks with Dr. Linda Legarde Grover, an award-winning author whose latest book interweaves family and Ojibwe history with stories from Misaabekong (the place of the giants) on Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota: Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong (U Minnesota Press, 2021) Dr. Grover is an Anishinaabe novelist and short story writer. She is a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her work, which spans fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, recounts stories of Ojibwe life in northeastern Minnesota individuals, families and communities set against the backdrop of indigenous tradition and impacts of historical and current events. In this interview, Dr. Grover shares the importance of stories and folklore traditions; her perspective as a scholar and storyteller, and the intrinsic value of maintaining - and strengthening - connections with people, places and communities beyond ourselves. Stephanie Khattak is a writer, artist, historian and folklore enthusiast. Visit stephaniekhattak.com to learn more, and connect on Twitter: @steph_khattak, Facebook: @khattakstudios or Instagram: @pinecurtainproject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Stephanie Khattak speaks with Dr. Linda Legarde Grover, an award-winning author whose latest book interweaves family and Ojibwe history with stories from Misaabekong (the place of the giants) on Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota: Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories from Misaabekong (U Minnesota Press, 2021) Dr. Grover is an Anishinaabe novelist and short story writer. She is a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Her work, which spans fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, recounts stories of Ojibwe life in northeastern Minnesota individuals, families and communities set against the backdrop of indigenous tradition and impacts of historical and current events. In this interview, Dr. Grover shares the importance of stories and folklore traditions; her perspective as a scholar and storyteller, and the intrinsic value of maintaining - and strengthening - connections with people, places and communities beyond ourselves. Stephanie Khattak is a writer, artist, historian and folklore enthusiast. Visit stephaniekhattak.com to learn more, and connect on Twitter: @steph_khattak, Facebook: @khattakstudios or Instagram: @pinecurtainproject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

In this final episode for Season One of the Podcast to Save the Boundary Waters, Matthew joins Ingrid and Megan at the Campaign headquarters in Minneapolis. Featured in the episode are the voices of two Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Band Members: Tadd Johnson and Chaz Wagner. Minnesota's Indigenous communities continue to play an important role in the Boundary Waters region. They share their perspective in this episode. Also in this episode, Matthew, Ingrid and Megan reflect on all the people they met over the course of their travels in the Boundary Waters region during the summer and fall months in 2021. They also look to the future, including plans for Season Two.(coming in winter 2022!) Many thanks to War Bonnet for their musical contributions on this episode.

Denise Pieratos, along with her sister Tracey and her two daughters Dani and Nikki are creating Harvest Nation, an innovative company with ambitions to transform agriculture in Minnesota. Members of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, we met with Denise and Dani at their home on the Bois Forte reservation in northern Minnesota.  Worried about global climate change, sustainability and healthy diets, Harvest Nation plans on growing crops and fresh produce year round at an indoor aeroponics farm that would initially supply the reservation and nearby community. (Plants are suspended with aeroponics so that roots are free hanging and exposed to air; roots are misted at certain intervals with a nutrient-water mix optimal for the type of crop being grown.)  Entrepreneurship is never easy. A classic bootstrap startup business, they're building Harvest Nation on the side,  putting their own money and time into it. These remarkable native women confront additional barriers to funding: They're native; they're women; and they live in a rural area.  “I think the challenge is what we've faced all our life. We do not look like the face of American business,” says Denise. “We don't.” 

Sometimes people without a lot of money can teach us the most about entrepreneurship, success and community. That's a key takeaway from the podcast small change: Money Stories from the Neighborhood. MPR News Host Angela Davis talks with the podcast co-hosts Chris Farrell and Twila Dang about what's coming up in their second season, including a profile of a farm business called Harvest Nation started by four women from the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa in northern Minnesota. Guests: Chris Farrell is MPR News' senior economics contributor and co-host of the podcast small change: Money Stories from the Neighborhood  Twila Dang is founder of Matriarch Digital Media and co-host of small change: Money Stories from the Neighborhood.  Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

This week on Minnesota Native News, we dive into the new hit series Reservation Dogs, which is mid-way through its first season.Reservation Dogs is an all indigenous production. Diego Luke reports.Growing up, I never liked how Native Americans were shown in film and TV.  Dances With Wolves, The Lone Ranger, The Last of the Mohicans , Pocahontas - those struck me as offensive at best. But Reservation Dogs is different.Kyleisha: You could tell that it's not ran by white people, like it's Native Americans actually living their life rather than the white perspective. This is Kyleisha, a 17-year-old citizen of Red Lake Nation.Kyleisha: I feel like this one is the more closer one that actually represents us and our culture and what the kids do, and the dogs running around, IHS.Kyleisha is a highschool student who takes classes at Bemidji State and a member of Red Lake's Youth Council. Bianca Mendoza is coordinator of the Youth Council.Bianca: The IHS scene where the doctor was like, “I didn't wanna stay here this long, like, I've been here for 10 years and want to go home.”Bear: Aren't you the eye doctor?Doctor: I'm the everything doctor: toes, backs, a****les…. Wait till you get older! Life gets much harder, look at me, you think I like having this job? You think I wanted to be out here this long? 10 fu***** years… I don't have a family, I got nothing. Don't get me wrong I love the Native American people, very sweet, majestic, very special.Bianca: I think we can all see that and it's an inside joke within the community but to see it on the TV and see it played out and to know there are other communities laughing with us. It kind of brings to light that we're not all just living in teepees on a rez somewhere.Diego: Reservation Dogs takes place on a reservation in Oklahoma and introduces several new, young Native actors. In fact, nearly the entire cast in Native, and as well the directors, writers, the crew and producers.. Diego: Your first impression of Reservation Dogs?Christina: It is so funny! Diego: I ran into Christina Woods while doing a report on New Native Theatre, where she's in the cast. She's a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.Christina And it's funny based on the extreme examples of the stereotypes that we have to deal with., and the approach using a lot of Native humour about it and just really stretching it out and making it very extreme is just so funny. I feel representedDiego: In less than a month on air, social media has been all over the show, creating memes, memories and instilled a new sense of indigenous pride. This is Mendoza again, head of the Red Lake's Youth Council.Bianca: We have some kids that are just starting High School, we have some kids that are in college and for them to be able to see themselves on TV, and know that there's more to life out there than just the rez.Diego: On Red Lake, the youth are recreating scenes from the show and plan on inviting cast members to their upcoming annual Conference.Spirit: Aho! Young warrior, it looks as though you've tasted the white mans ledBear: Are your Crazy Horse, or Sitting B-Spirit: No, no, no I'm not one of those awesome guys, no. I'm more of your uh, I'm more of your unknown warrior, yeah. You know my name? William Knifeman (War cry). Diego: William Knifeman is played by Bemidji's own Dallas Goldtooth, who's Dakota & Dińe.The show uses humour to address the trauma that Native Americans have endured. The main character's address is 1491, the year before Columbus ruined everything. There are many easter eggs like this as well as other tributes to pop culture throughout the show, some obvious and others not so much. Yet this feels as if the writers recognize these traumatic experiences, and decide to own it, embrace it and make fun of it, as if to say, “yes this happened, and yes we are still here.”Bianca: Laughter is medicine for Native people. All tribes are different but our humour is pretty much the same. Our humour is what gets us through all of the tragedies we've prevailed and gone through.The show stays true to life on a reservation according to Brendan, also of Red Lake.Brendan: Probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen in so long you know, especially representing our culture too but also knowing we're actually getting that kind of recognition to show that we have talents as well, and expressing our way of life you know? And that's really [one of the] most honourable things we've seen in awhile. This show gives Native people a national platform and voice. It has inspired many kids on reservations. For the first time, they are able to see themselves being represented on screen, not as a savage, not as a love interest, and not portrayed by a white person. Reservation Dogs is now streaming exclusively on FX on Hulu. For Minnesota Native News, I'm Diego Luke.

This week on Minnesota Native News, the Line Three protest comes to the capitol and – New Native Theater takes its new show to the street. I'm Marie Rock.MARIE Story 1If you drove past  the state capitol this week, you saw lots of state patrol – and you couldn't miss the teepees occupying capitol grounds. Laurie Stern explains:Laurie: Enbridge's Line 3 is almost complete, yet, if anything, opposition to it keeps mounting. This week indigenous-led environmental groups held ceremonies of prayer and protest at the state capitol.One of the organizers  is Simone Senogles, a Red Laker with The Indigenous Environmental Network.SG: it's crazy to embrace an fossil fuel project of this magnitude, you know, the largest fossil fuel project that this company Enbridge has ever undertaken, in the time when really, we should be phasing out fossil fuels. And I think that we're at this kind of moment in time where we have to make the decision for life or for death. And the fossil fuel industry needs to go and I feel like it's on its last legs. But just like an abuser who finally knows it's their time to go, you know, that's when they're the most dangerous.Laurie: Another organizer is a new coalition called   including RISE - Resilient Indigenous Sisters Engaging. Dawn Goodwin from White Earth is a founding member of RISE. She's been a water protector since she was a young girl.I went to my dad and said, Dad, what are we going to do if the water gets poisoned? And he said, Don't worry, my girl. There's the Clean Water Act. So I just went forward thinking, yep, it's going to be protected.Laurie: Dawn Goodwin lives on Lower Rice Lake in Clearwater County, which officials say is experiencing exceptional drought this summer. Goodwin says the lake is so dry it looks like a field. In her experience, The Clean Water Act has not been enough. State regulation has not been enough. And that all goes back to treaty rights that were supposedly enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.And so like one of my grandma's said that these treaties have been ignored for so long, that people think it's okay. But it's not. It's not okay. Laurie: Goodwin and the others are here to make a stand. Against the new  pipeline. In favor of a more sustainable path. FOR MNN I'm Laurie Stern.Because if we can be honored, and have our treaties upheld, we can have a say about how things go forward. So that we can protect all that we have left, the little bit of natural environment that we have left.  Marie: Also this week - New Native Theater is getting ready to perform for a live audience. It will be the first time since the pandemic, and performances will be outdoors. Diego Luke reports: Here's Laurie Stern again:New Native Theater has been practicing over Zoom most of the summer, but now actors directors and crew are rehearsing in person at the Gremlin Theater in Saint Paul.[hi scene]The play is called The Unplugging, based on the bestselling book “Two Old Women” by Alabascan author Velma Wallis, who lives near Fairbanks Alaska.The Unplugging takes place after the apocalypse. Two old women are exiled from their village but learn to survive by traditional ways. Then they meet a stranger from the village that rejected them. YN: It's sadly still as relevant as it was when I wrote it 10 years ago, when I was worried about what happens if the lights go out.This is playwright Yvette Nolan from the Gitigan Zibi Algonquin First Nation.And so they have to make a decision about whether they want to be part of a society. And so the scene you saw, the scene that we were that we were doing when you guys arrived was about the arrival of the outside world to their life.Scene excerptActor Christina Woods from the Bois Forte Band, plays one of the old women.There's a number of moments in the play that choke me up. One is when we're talking about community, and when we think about the historical impact of government, on our tribal communities, it's, it's rough, it's hard.Christina Woods is a first-time actor, but she has long experience in the arts. She is executive director of the Duluth Art Institute.I'm the first Anishinabe to be in this leadership role. And it makes a really big difference to come in with a lens that can see the absent narratives.Telling those missing stories is the purpose of New Native Theater, which is one of just a handful of indigenous-led theater companies in North America.CW: The main impact is having people that look like us on stage, and you'll see a lot of people in the audience who look like us on stage. Another impact is having space to really enjoy our unique native humor that you're not going to get in other places.Unplugging tickets are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $35. The play will be performed at the former Migizi Communications & Gandhi Mahal Site 27th Ave South and Lake Street at 2pm from Sept 2 through Sept. 19. For more information visit newnativetheatre.org. For MNN I'm Laurie Stern

This week on the Minnesota Native News health report, getting the word out to tribal citizens on the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine remains a top priority for tribal leaders and tribal hWealth officials. Reporter Dalton Walker explains in this week's story.The message is simple: Get vaccinated to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.What is not so simple is convincing people, especially young adults, to get fully vaccinated.It may feel like things are finally getting back to how life used to be before COVID-19. Especially during our beautiful Minnesota summers. But tribal leaders and health officials remain cautious and continue to stress the importance of getting vaccinated. Remember, we are still in a pandemic and health experts agree that one of the ways to move forward is for people to get vaccinated. Tribes across the state have been the frontrunner in getting shots in arms, but still, more needs to be done. Now, a more dangerous and highly contagious variant known as delta is out there. It was first detected in the United States in March and now accounts for 83 percent of COVID-19 infections, according to the CDC. That's the bad news. The good news is that being fully vaccinated decreases your chances of catching the delta and other variants drastically. In other words, a potential new wave is mostly preventable. Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Medical Director Dr. Charity Reynolds said she has been answering more questions about the delta variant. She explains in a recent public service announcement aimed towards tribal citizens.  Reynolds1: The delta variant is becoming the leading variant in the U.S., we know by observing other countries that its highly contagious and spreading quickly, which causes surges of hospitalizations and deaths. We also know that the unvaccinated are at greatest risk for the delta variant. The covid 19 vaccine is protective against the delta variant. To prevent severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths, it's important to get both doses as one dose is only 35 percent protective while two doses is 88 percent effective. 34 seconds Reynolds said the two-dose Moderna vaccine remains readily available at tribal health facilities. Reynolds2: Remember to talk to your family and friends about getting vaccinated as well. The more we are protected, the less likely the delta variant will spread and we will continue to keep our community safe. 11 secondsOther tribes in Minnesota continue to share the latest coronavirus information on social media pages.Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Chairwoman Cathy Chavers reported no new positive cases in her weekly report on July 15. Her report also touched on the seriousness of the delta variant and how it could affect the tribe's young people. Chavers: I do still want to urge the people that haven't been vaccinated to get vaccinated. Please think of your children. As you can see, the delta variant and other variants are going across the United States, and other countries and they are affecting a lot of kids so please be thoughtful and mindful of children if you don't want to get vaccinated.22 secondsVaccines are readily available to anyone 12 years old and older. Reports say the vaccine could be made available for children as young as 5 later this year. For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine and how to get it, contact your local health provider. For Minnesota Native News health report, I'm Dalton Walker

Host: This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. Coming up… Northern Spark, the annual art festival, opens June 12th. The theme this year is Alchemy, which has different meanings, one of which being the process of transformation, creation, or combination. One of the opening public art pieces is called Braiding Our Stories Together. Reporter Leah Lemm has more.Reporter: Northern Spark is taking on a new form this year. Instead of the two night gathering, the art festival will take place in person over two weeks in St. Paul. There are also online aspects and outreach through the postal service. The opening weekend event includes a virtual and public art storytelling project called Braiding Our Stories Together on Sunday, June 13th.Reyna Day: Boozhoo, my name is Reyna Day. So there's two main parts of the Braiding our Stories project.Reporter: Reyna Day is Mexica and Anishinaabe from the Bois Forte Band. And is co-leading the interactive and intergenerational public art display with Ruti Mejia.Reyna Day: And so we were pulled into this project specifically as youth organizers.Reporter: Reyna Day and Ruti Mejia are both youth organizers of the Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center. And they're on the International Indigenous Youth Council, Twin Cities Chapter. Reyna explains Braiding Our Stories Together takes on two forms.Reyna Day: And so that's going to be the virtual aspect, which is going to be the revealing of the storytelling portion, which was led by the youth and kind of created by the youth. And then also the other aspect, which is going to be the public display. So the public display will be there throughout the end of the summer. And Ham Park is like, it's a free park. And so you can just go in there anytime.Reporter: The art piece is a large 3D representation of stories, teachings, poems, and songs passed down through generations. It can be found at [inaudible 00:01:56] also known as Ham Park, which is along the Seventh Street cultural corridor on St. Paul's East side. Braiding Our Stories Together was created with artist and elder Gustavo Boada.Gustavo Boada: My name is Gustavo Boada from Peru.Reporter: Gustavo helped bring the artistic ideas into existence.Gustavo Boada: And then I say, wow, we can work together and do this project that you have already in mind. And guess just tell me. I can help you to decide what to do and how to do it.Reporter: Together, they thoughtfully went through ideas and landed on what ultimately was created.Gustavo Boada: I usually do puppetry, but I make a big things and also three-dimensional murals and big sculptures. So I told her the options and they finally choose to make something three dimensional.Reporter: And the sculpture of the person with braids is larger than life. Formed with natural objects, papier-mache and more, Reyna Day talks about how it's more than what meets the eye.Reyna Day: And you'll see a figure, and then you're going to see two braids. And each of these braids are 25 feet. And the reason that we chose braids was, in indigenous culture, like, we view hair to be very significant. And we view our hair to carry our stories, our essences, our spirits. And so as you go through the braid, you're going to be seeing just the beautiful decorations on the braid, but you're also going to be seeing QR codes. These QR codes are going to take you to a website. And these websites are going to be split. The website's going to be split into different portions, into three portions, which are going to be songs, stories, and poems.Gustavo Boada: For me the braids are very important part of this project. And secondly, I think it has so much love put in this work. One I recall is that the braids are the weaving, the connection, the blending of all the roots. The braids are the roots from the ground, but become in a hair in the braid also. So that metaphor for me, it was so amazing.Reporter: More details about Braiding Our Stories Together and Northern Spark can be found online at 2021.northernspark.org. If you miss the virtual event on June 13th, it can be found on the Facebook pages of Indigenous Roots and the International Indigenous Youth Council, Twin Cities chapter. For Minnesota Native News. I'm Leah Lemm.

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I'm Marie Rock. Coming up...Duluth Superior Film Festival Is Partnering Again With The American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO) For A Virtual Indigenous Film Series.Reporter Leah Lemm recently had a conversation with Local filmmaker Khayman Goodsky, who will host the series. Here's Leah with the story.STORY #1: VIRTUAL INDIGENOUS FILM SERIESApril 21st Kicks off the 2021 Indigenous Film Series lineup. The third Wednesday of each month through July will spotlight Indigenous Filmmakers.Here's my conversation with the host of the series, Khayman Goodsky:Leah: Boozhoo Khayman - can you please introduce yourself?Khayman Goodsky: My name is Khayman Goodsky. I'm  from the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa from Minnesota, I live in Duluth, Minnesota here with my family. Leah: I want to talk about the Indigenous Film Series, which you'll be hosting. And you have a particular experience with film, since you're also a filmmaker yourself! Can you talk a little about your work?Khayman Goodsky: So right now I produce my own DIY like very do-it-yourself videos. I usually try to go for telling Indigenous stories or having core Indigenous values come through my videos, which comes as a little odd because it is contemporary. And I do try to go for that like very comic book, whimsical feel. So it's, it's a mesh of what I was raised with.Leah: Fantastic! Okay, so the Indigenous Film Festival is coming up - Can you tell me more about the festival and what people can expect?Khayman Goodsky: Yes. So I'm actually working for the Duluth Superior Film Festival and we're having an Indigenous Film Series once a month and it'll be online so you can you know, go on the thing it's free, which is beautiful. And then after each, um, short and each feature, we're going to have a Q&A hosted by me and we'll have guests come on and we'll talk about the film. We'll talk about like, you know, what the effects is... And the first one is on April 21st. And it's going to be the first one will be, um, a film by Jonathan Thunder. It's MAAMAWI. And it was about five minutes long and it's beautiful. It's striking. It has like such vivid colors that Jonathan usually uses in his work. And the second one will be The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open. Just a trigger warning. It is, it does feature domestic violence and things like that. And after that, we'll be having a panel hosted with Jonathan Thunder and then a domestic violence advocate provider.That goes on then for a couple months. And then we will be having, um, our actual film festival in August, which we are, um, you know, accepting submissions for. And, um, I'm very excited to be a part of a team where we highlight and uphold Indigenous artists. I think that's super great.Leah: And your film DREAM WANDERER is also a part of the series. It'll be featured as a part of the May event, the May Can you tell us a little bit about DREAM WANDERER?Khayman Goodsky: What DREAM WANDERER is about this young Ojibwe Ojibwe woman who has the ability to hop into other people's streams, but she doesn't always control it. And so, uh, one night she's out at a bar on the town and she sees, um, a man with red eyes, which we commonly call demons. She subconsciously becomes to this, um, demon and ends up in his dreams and finds out like why he is the way he is. And she gets stuck in his dreams and they both have to figure out a way to, you know, get out with each other's help, even though they don't like each other. And, um, yeah, it's a 10 minute short video, and it's using three of my favorite people to like work with.Leah: To find out more and register for the Virtual Indigenous Film Series… visit the Duluth Superior Film Festival website. www.ds-ff.comFor MN Native News, I'm Leah Lemm.

Minnesota got a glimmer of good news recently. For the first time since last April, the state reported zero coronavirus deaths in a daily situation. Progress, perhaps. But state and tribal health officials continue to stress vaccinations and safety precautions.To date, 6,800 Minnesotans have lost their lives to COVID-19.  Positive cases across Minnesota's Indian Country continue to go down. Since the vaccine rollout late last year, tribes have been the frontrunner in getting their citizens vaccinated. In a recent video update, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa tribal chairwoman Cathy Chavers said towns in the area have seen an increase in positive cases among young adults. The tribe in northeastern Minnesota is working with Indian Health Service on vaccinations. Chavers encourages tribal citizens 18 and older to contact the tribal health clinic to schedule their vaccine. So far, the tribe has administered more than 2,100 vaccines, she said.Chavers: Bois Forte would like to remind the community that now is not the time to let our guard down. This is not over. We need to continue to wear our masks, social distance, especially when out in public, or having contact with people that have not been fully vaccinated. Indian Health Service is working with tribal partners on vaccine distribution. Minnesota tribes that work closely with IHS fall under the Bemidji Area Office, which also includes Wisconsin, Michigan and parts of Indiana. IHS is nearing 93,000 in total doses distributed to the Bemidji Area Office. Indian Health Service is a federal agency under Health and Human Services. The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe were the first in Indian Country to receive the vaccines from IHS back in December. The tribe regularly posts updated numbers related to the coronavirus on its Facebook page. For most of March, active cases have been in the low single digits, and on some occasions, zero cases. Vince Rock, interim health director for the tribe, said daily positive numbers were in the 50s before the vaccine rollout. Rock: So we want to build a firewall, we know that we have to protect the whole community. And that's also what we're looking at right now and these are where our plans are. We want to get all the towns on the reservation, Native and non-Native. And then we want to bolster some of those towns on the borders when we get there. The reason we can do this is because we have been given enough vaccines to do that. This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government's top infectious disease expert, continued his message that public health measures need to remain in place. Fauci: I'm often asked, are we turning the corner? My response is really more like we are at the corner. Whether or not we're going to be turning that corner still remains to be seen.23:00-23:11For Minnesota Native News health report, I'm Dalton Walker

This week we are speaking with Dr. John Littlewolf about compassion.  Annalisa and John discuss compassion at work and in our communities. John is a law enforcement officer focused in Native and First Nation communities. We discuss how compassion is needed in law enforcement, collective trauma, and how recent conversations of defunding the police and police brutality tie into this.  John grew up on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation and is an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. He is a law enforcement officer, and during his career his duties have included Patrol Officer, Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Investigator, and Criminal Investigator. He was recently appointed to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Conviction Review Advisory Board. His education includes a B.S. in Criminal Justice, a M.S. in Public Safety Executive Leadership, and a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change.  He focused on law enforcement culture and trauma during his doctoral studies. He has always been an advocate for his Indigenous community, and among other things, he serves as a Board Member for the American Indian Family Center in Saint Paul. Hosted by: Annalisa Holcombe.

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. Coming up, from a 2020 report by the Minnesota Task Force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, "While Indigenous people make up just 1% of the state's population, 9% of all murdered girls and women in Minnesota from 2010 to 2019 were American Indian."February 14th marks a day of honoring for those who are missing and murdered. Events are held, bringing awareness to the epidemic. This year during the pandemic, some events are now online. What is consistent is the support shared for one another and the color red, which is often worn and used in art and signs.Reporter Leah Lemm speaks with three survivors about the significance of the color red in the search and honoring of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives.STORY #1: MMIWR AND THE COLOR REDReporter: Thanks for taking some time today to talk with me about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives. Can you each please introduce yourself starting with Jessica?Jessica Smith: [Ojibwemowin]. My name is Jessica Smith. I am a two-spirit enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa tribe. I am a survivor of human trafficking, sexual assault and domestic abuse. So I work with Sovereign Bodies Institute. I'm on their survivor leadership council and all the work that I do nationally is surrounding those issues and how they correlate with the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.Mysti Babineau: Hello, my name is Mysti Babineau. I am a citizen of the Red Lake nation. Like Jessica, I'm a survivor of trafficking, sexual assault, violence, domestic violence, and I'm a climate justice organizer.Taysha Martineau: [Ojibwemowin]. My name is Taysha Martineau. I am a two-spirit Indigenous rights anarchist from the Fond du Lac reservation. I am a single mother of four and I'm a survivor of abuse.Reporter: Miigwech for sharing. In attending the rallies and marches and other honorings myself, red is a significant color. Signs, clothing, ribbon, skirts, and red dresses are often displayed. Can you talk a bit about the significance of red and the red dresses?Jessica Smith: Red is, we are told, that is the only color that spirits can see. So by wearing red or putting out these red dresses is to call back the spirits of these women and allowing their voices to be heard through our bodies and do the things that we do.Mysti Babineau: Just like Jessica said, that's what I was taught too. And also that's just a very sacred color, at least to the Ojibwe people. We often use it for protection as well, and I think that's also the thing that's really beautiful about our culture and our traditions is the way that they can also shift.Taysha Martineau: So when we wear red, we're calling those spirits back to us. We're wearing that red so that they come to us so that while we're searching for them, they know who it is we're calling.Reporter: And wearing a red dress and displaying red dresses are a continuation of that?Jessica Smith: The red dress project and everything that stemmed from that actually originated in Canada from a woman named Jamie Black. It started out as just a project to show that these women are missing.Taysha Martineau: The red dress signifies women and it signifies solidarity with the families who are going through this with those mothers who are sitting at home, just waiting for a phone call. The MMIW epidemic has been an epidemic since first contact, and that color, it signifies not only that a woman's missing, but it signifies our love for that person and our love for that family and our support for them.Reporter: So red is a call to spirits and showing solidarity with those lost and their loved ones and community. Well, thank you, Jessica Smith, Mysti Babineau, and Taysha Martineau for sharing today.If you need help, there are free resources available. Strong Hearts Native helpline (www.strongheartshelpline.org) provides culturally appropriate support and advocacy for American Indians and Alaskan natives. And that hotline is 1-844-7NATIVE. It's anonymous and confidential. That's 1-844-762-8483. This information can be found on the Minnesota Native News website, www.mnnativenews.org.For Minnesota Native News, I'm Leah Lemm.

HOST INTRO:This week on Minnesota Native News, we get a picture from the polls on election day in Indian country. Reporter Melissa Townsend has that story and more. STORY #1 - VOTING STORYMORE THAN 3 million Minnesotans voted in this election.  About half of them cast their ballots early with absentee voting. And the other half voted in person on election day November 3rd.  Ahead of election day there were widespread concerns about voter intimidation at the polls - so we checked in with a few Native folks on tribal lands to see how it went when they cast their ballots.  Marie Rock who lives near the Leech Lake reservation - and is host of this newscast - voted with her husband and her son at the Cass Lake City Hall. ROCK: We vote in the primaries, we vote in the regular elections - it's our big thing. We make sure we always vote. (:06)She had heard the buzz about possible voter intimidation at the polls, but she jokes she wasn't worried. ROCK: To me, if anyone tries to interfere with me I'll go to jail, ‘cause I'll fight them. But that didn't happens and I kind of knew it wouldn't. Overall Rock says  it was a pretty sleepy scene.A little northwest of Marie Rock, George Strong, citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe,  says the same was true for him STRONG: I just walked right in, greeted friendly and just kind of moved along the line.He voted at at about 9 in the morning at his polling place, the Greenwood Township Hall near Tower Minnesota. He said the only thing out of the ordinary was the weather.STRONG: It's so beautiful!  What it's like 57/59 degrees. It was just a picture perfect fall day. Strong says one of the most important issues for him this election was a return to real civic dialogue.STRONG: That we bring some civility and talk about issues rather than create these monsters against each other. And finally down in southwestern Minnesota, Cheyanne St John, member of the Lower Sioux Indian Community says it was peaceful at her polling place too.  She says there were just a handful of voters at the Redwood Falls Fire Station.ST JOHN: It was really neat because when the other voter got up and left, I noticed the greeter immediately came into the room and began to sanitize the area where that person was sitting.  I thought it was really neat they were doing things in a safe way. Joe Biden won the vote for President in Minnesota but as of the time of this newscast - the overall winner has not yet been announced.   STORY #2 - BUGONAYGESHIG SCHOOL AMPS UPS WIFI FOR STUDENTS In other news— a story from the BUGONAYGESHIG school on the Leech Lake reservation.  The school serves 220 Native students in northern Minnesota. When they started distance learning last March, Dan McKeaon, the school's administrator says they knew they couldn't do online learning.MCKEON: We knew that that wouldn't work because there were roughly 50% of our households without reliable internet connection.  (:07)Internet access is patchy across rural parts of Minnesota. So last spring, school buses traveled door to door handing out  paper learning packets and food to BUGONAYGESHIG families. But McKeon says that didnt' really work very well.MCKEON: Boy to be frank, a distance learning program that's not online that we operated las spring - it failed pretty miserably.  There wasn't much teaching happening and there certainly wasn't much learning happening.  It's just such an extraordinarily difficult to try to teach to put together a packet of things and send it on a bus to get dropped off. It's jut no way to do it. (:22)So after a summer of planning, the school has used federal CARES act money to connect more than 90% of their students to the internet.  MCKEON: This summer we grouped our households into three different priority groups. (:06)The first priority group had no internet access because they lived in a location were there is no internet access. For them, the school bought hot spots and gave families instructions on how to use them. The second priority group were families who didn't have internet but lived in areas where they could get hooked up.  For them, the school paid for an internet subscription. And finally a third priority group had internet access, and the school took over payments for it.MCKEON: So we just make it a blanket thing that we are going to pay for internet subscription for each household that has a BUGONAYGESHIG student. (:08)McKeon says now almost all the families at the BUGONAYGESHIG school are connected to the internet - but they have a ways to go to engage with all their students in distance learning. MCKEON: To me, this process is like casting a net. And right now the network casting is catching. So to speak maybe 50% of our kids. So now it's like, okay, how do we adjust this net that we're casting so that we pull in another 10% and another 10%, so that if we have to do this all year we're engaging 90% of our kids, rather than 50% of our kids. Dan Mckeon BUGONAYGESHIG  school administrator says it's a work in progress.  For Minnesota Native News, I'm Melissa Townsend.

Host Leah Lemm explores how Indian Country in MN is responding and adapting to the current pandemic health crisis. Lung disease, cancer, and now complications due to COVID19 are a few of the many dangers that smoking cigarettes or using commercial tobacco causes. Today’s show looks at how Indian Country is helping our communities reduce commercial tobacco use. Leah talks with Mille Lacs Band member Bobby Eagle, who is a cultural advisor for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Health and Human Services Department at Four Winds treatment center. And she talks with Madge Ducheneaux, who works at the Division of Indian work in the Youth Leadership Development Program MN Native News reporter Melissa Townsend speaks with Sharon Day, an elder from the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, and is the Executive Director of the Indigenous People’s Task Force in Minneapolis. The Indigenous Peoples Task Force has hosted programs to teach youth and adults about traditional tobacco and to help and support those wanting to quit commercial tobacco.

Host Leah Lemm explores how Indian Country in MN is responding and adapting to the current pandemic health crisis. Lung disease, cancer, and now complications due to COVID19 are a few of the many dangers that smoking cigarettes or using commercial tobacco causes. Today’s show looks at how Indian Country is helping our communities reduce commercial tobacco use. Leah talks with Mille Lacs Band member Bobby Eagle, who is a cultural advisor for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Health and Human Services Department at Four Winds treatment center. And she talks with Madge Ducheneaux, who works at the Division of Indian work in the Youth Leadership Development Program MN Native News reporter Melissa Townsend speaks with Sharon Day, an elder from the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, and is the Executive Director of the Indigenous People’s Task Force in Minneapolis. The Indigenous Peoples Task Force has hosted programs to teach youth and adults about traditional tobacco and to help and support those wanting to quit commercial tobacco.

This week on Minnesota Native News - tribes make decisions about how to handle the Covid-19 virus outbreak and a reminder that humor helps heal. Here's Reporter Melissa Townsend with those stories and more.STORY #1 - COVID-19 RESPONSES[Governor Walz]In his press conference on March 13th, Governor Tim Walz said that the state is working with tribal governments to handle the Covid-19 outbreak.WALZ: The tribal leadership has sovereignty over making sure… (:05)Patina Park is the state's tribal liaison in this matter. Leaders of each of the tribes in Minnesota are taking a number of steps to protect their citizens from the virus.CHAVERS: We are meeting every morning with our senior management staff at 8:30 at the tribal government building.Cathy Chavers is Chair of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. She is regularly updating tribal members through the Band's Youtube channel.CHAVERS: Events that are occurring on a minute by minute, hourly basis, we need to be aware of what's to do and procedures and processes to put in place to ensure community safety. (:23)The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is also issuing updates on its Youtube channel.According to online statements, many tribes have activated their emergency preparedness groups. They are following news from the Minnesota Department of Health and the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Across the 11 tribes, meetings, events and gatherings have been cancelled and travel bans for tribal employees are in effect in many places.As of March 18th, the Fond du Lac and Mille Lacs Bands of Ojibwe are the only tribes that have closed their casinos. They have committed to paying hourly and salary workers throughout their furlough.These precautionary measures and more are in effect until further notice.Many tribes have created a link on their webpages to find out more abouut the precautions they are taking.STORY #2 (1:42)In other news…The State's new Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force is moving forward.The group will create a list of recommendations on how the state can better handle the crisis.Those recommendations are due in December.The task force had planned a set of state-wide listening sessions where people could come and share their stories. The first listening session was at the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center in Minneapolis last month.State Representative Mary Kunesh-Podein, a Dakota descendent, is on the task force steering committee.KUNESH-PODEIN:There are plenty more stories to be heard if folks want to share them and it does help us when we go forward with recommendations with real life experiences.But the task force has cancelled the remaining listening session because of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, people can still share their stories on-line, over email or on the phone.You can search for M-M-I-W on the Minnesota Department of Public Safety website.Or you can call this number: 651-280-2661 and leave a message with your story.That's 651-280-2661.Kunesh-Poein says you can opt to keep your story anonymous if you'd like.KUNESH-PODEIN: We won't publicize names, we won't take these stories public, unless the person wanted to. But these are precious stories and we will treat them with the utmost respect.There is no word yet if deadlines for the task force recommendations will be extended due to the Covid-19 outbreak.STORY #3 - COMEDY NIGHT (1:05)And finally… On April first the House of Comedy comedy club at the Mall of America was supposed to feature its first all Indigenous line-up of comediansRed Lake comic Jon Roberts had set it up.ROBERTS: The booker had a post on facebook. He was asking for ideas for a new show and I just messaged him my idea - have a Native comedy, indigenous comedians night. It went from there, I think he ran it by the club owners and so they asked me if I could book some comics and…And he lined up Rez Reporter Rob Fairbanks, Sheldon Starr and Will Spotted Bear. He did call a few female Native comics - just so you know - but they were booked.Roberts says as a Red laker, comedy serves a special purpose.ROBERTS: It's our way of healing - we're just sharing our stories. And we're just here to help each other. (:05)Since the Mall of America is now closed through at least March 31st, you will need to check back with the House of Comedy to find out when this fun show will happen! Eventually, Roberts hopes it will be rescheduled as a monthly event.

Award-winning novelist and poet Linda LeGarde Grover is a poignant chronicler of the modern Native American experience. A member of the Bois Forte Band of the Chippewa Tribe – and long-time professor of American Indian studies at UMN Duluth – Grover first made waves in the literary world with her 2010 short story collection The Dance Boots. This debut garnered […]

Award-winning novelist and poet Linda LeGarde Grover is a poignant chronicler of the modern Native American experience. A member of the Bois Forte Band of the Chippewa Tribe – and […]

Award-winning novelist and poet Linda LeGarde Grover is a poignant chronicler of the modern Native American experience. A member of the Bois Forte Band of the Chippewa Tribe – and long-time professor of American Indian studies at UMN Duluth – Grover first made waves in the literary world with her 2010 short story collection The […]

The novel “In the Night of Memory” by Linda LeGarde Grover of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe weaves a story about family history that includes the people that sometimes get brushed over or are forgotten. Foster placement and war are two of the forces that change the lives of the Natives characters we meet in this month’s literary feature. They must look inside to face challenges and accept the reality that reconnecting with family is not always easy. We’ll sit down with the Native author to get insights on her latest.