The Anishinaabe  Cultural Center and other Native organizations and businesses in Callaway, Minnesota have partnered with the new eco-tourism service Journeys with First Nations  (JWFN), which was created to develop green tourism destinations in Indian Country.

JWFN, part of Greenroutes, the tourism arm of Renewing the Countryside, worked with Tribal Chair Erma Visenor and other programs at the White Earth Reservation to undertake the pilot project. Deborah McLaren, who works for JWRN, says they were initially invited to White Earth by author and activist Winona LaDuke, who had already done a tourism survey at White Earth. McLaren said start up grants from the Minneapolis Foundation and Otto Bremer were used to create Journeys with First Nations.

McLaren said the numerous small businesses and organizations were identified through public outreach, presentations, and informal visits to local businesses that want to go “green.” She said Greenroute and JWFN’s goal is to help small businesses and organizations bring tourism to their communities,   with the emphasis on sustainable, environmental tourism. 

Photos by Jon Lurie

In June, two Dakota youth from Minneapolis participated in a Healthy Nations canoe trip down the Wakan Wakpa (Sacred River), also known as the Rum River. The canoe trip, part of a larger effort to help Native people reclaim their tribal legacy, exposed serious problems with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ maintenance of the river.

Native youth Ches Lorenzi and Joe Deala, and Healthy Nations’ Active Lifestyles Facilitator Jon Lurie set out on a165-mile canoe trip from Mde Wakan (Spirit Lake), or Lake Mille Lacs, to Minneapolis. The expedition was to both commemorate and renew important aspects of Dakota culture.

“When something bad happens, people are there to help you.” That, says Angela Haeny, is one of the lessons that the Waite House kids in that bus on the bridge last August 1 took away from the tragedy. This summer, more than 50 young artists, ages 9-17, came together to design and create a public mural giving voice to their experiences as survivors of the 2007 I-35W bridge collapse.

The mural at Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, was unveiled in a ceremony on August 1. There is also another mural on Lake St. and 13th Avenue.

(This piece was originally written for Chicago-based In These Times magazine (www.inthesetimes.com) Reprinted with permission.)

When it comes to their health, American Indian women face extraordinary barriers – from high disease risks to increased incidents of sexual violence. They now face another obstacle, rooted in the political battleground of abortion.

The Senate’s recent passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act was a breakthrough for advocacy groups that have long pushed for the bill’s provisions – new programs, improved facilities and funding for the Indian Health Services (IHS) system, which serves about 1.9 million people nationwide.

But the victory is dampened by a poison pill provision slipped in by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that explicitly restricts abortions under IHS programs. The amendment was approved along with the bill in February. As In These Times went to press, it was unclear whether the House would vote on companion legislation carrying a similar amendment.