Sept. 7- 9
13th Annual Welcome Home Traditional Wacipi
St. Peter's Church Grounds, 1405 Sibley Memorial Hwy. Mendota, MN. Emcee: Mitch Walking Elk. Arena Director: Windy Downwind. Host Drum: Scotty Brown Eyes/Oyate Teca. Co Host Drum: Little Thunder Birds. Men's Head Dancer: Lenny Butcher. Women's Head Dancer: Mary So Happy. First 10 Drums Paid. $5 Entry Button Donation. No one t­urned away. Bring your own lawn chairs. Donations needed. For info call 651-452-4141. Sponsored by the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community. FMI:? This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.mendotadakota.com. 

Sept. 4
Anton Treuer Reading
Seniors in Mind: "Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask" by Anton Treuer.?White/Indian relations are often characterized by guilt and anger. Ojibwe scholar, writer and cultural preservationist, Anton Treuer cuts through the emotion and gives a frank, funny and informative discussion on the topic. His interactive presentation based on his new book helps people build a foundation for understanding and positive action.10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Free. Doesn't include $9 senior admission. Reservations required: call 651-259-3015. MN History Center, 345 Kellogg Blvd W., St. Paul.

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. - Dakota War of 1862, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska, and the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe are sponsoring a two-and-a-half day event in Flandreau, South Dakota. Legacy of Survival: A Coming Home is the first such event sponsored by Dakota tribal governments from outside of Minnesota, and also the first event to focus on celebrating and discussing the histories and current vitality of exiled Dakota communities.
"Here we are, the direct descendants of the exiles, and we weren't even being considered or remembered," said Cora Jones, the Secretary of the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska. "We wanted input on how the 150th anniversary was going to be commemorated."
Although Minnesota is the original homeland of all Dakota people, many were forcibly removed from the state via the Sioux-Dakota Removal Act of 1863 and relocated to reservations or reserves in North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Canada. As a result, 90% of the total Dakota population now resides outside of Minnesota. This act still bans members of these exiled Dakota tribes from returning to Minnesota and denies them rights to sacred sites located within the boundaries of the state.
One of the main goals of the event is to make the general population aware that this act is still on the books and currently impacting tribes. Although the call to amend the act is largely symbolic and would not result in any land or money being transferred to exiled tribes, it would open the door to more tribes being involved with cultural preservation and resource management in Minnesota.
"This is the first step in meaningful government to government consultation and relationship-building with regards to sacred sites," said Franky Jackson (Sisseton Wapton Dakota Oyate), Cultural Research Consultant and one of the main organizers of the event. "Until that is addressed, a lot of the tribes who currently reside out of Minnesota will never really feel that true reconciliation has taken place."
Another byproduct of the exile of Dakota people from Minnesota is that many of the tribes have lost contact with one another.
"The goal here is to reintroduce ourselves so we know our history and our journey," said Melvin Houston, spokesperson for Minnesota affairs for the Santee Sioux Nation of Nebraska and another key organizer of the event.

The American Indian Family Center (AIFC) in East St. Paul has partnered with the Minneapolis-based company Z Puppets Rosenschnoz to bring a series of workshops and a puppetry production to Native American families.
Through the course of the workshops, families create puppets, sing, dance, write songs, and learn yoga and mindfulness techniques that culminate in a live community performance of the award-winning Monkey Mind Pirates play.
Monkey Mind Pirates follows the journey of Captain Fitz and the participating families as the "Sailor Chorus" as they search for the "Legendary Waters of Calm." Along the way, they are besieged by "Monkey Mind Pirates," each of which represents a different stress-inducing emotion (distraction, depression, and anxiety). They must discover techniques to tame these monkeys in order to complete the quest.  
Chris Griffith and Shari Aronson, the founders of Z Puppets Rosenschnoz, see the workshops and performance as a way to solidify personal connections through art, humor, and playfulness.
"That's where community is formed, where bonds are created and where we learn best, in humor and laughter," said Griffith.
Janice LaFloe, the Director of Development and Marketing at AIFC, envisions the partnership as an opportunity to connect families to crucial stress management skills.
"This allows us to take the creative part of us as Native people and wrap it around some real skill sets that our families could benefit from," said LaFloe. "I see it as a healthy, creative alternative to addressing historical trauma."

More than 7,000 archaeological materials as old as 800 to 3000 years were returned to the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa in July by the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS).
The collection includes stone tools, arrowheads, fragments of ceramic vessels and copper artifacts. The materials were excavated in 1948 from Bois Forte Band tribal land on Nett Lake in Koochiching County without permission from the Band. The artifacts were obtained and held by the University of Minnesota until 1999, when they were turned over to MHS.
Responding to a request from the Bois Forte Tribal Council, MHS has returned the artifacts, some of which may eventually be displayed at the Bois Forte Heritage Museum at Fortune Bay Resort on Lake Vermillion. The museum has the specialized facilities and professional staff to care for the collection.
"The Bois Forte people are the best stewards of our history and the best tellers of our story. The objects are home where they belong, where we can learn from them and use them to educate people about Bois Forte," said Kevin Leecy, Chairman of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.

A federal court ruled in July that Flambeau Mining Company (FMC) violated the Clean Water Act on numerous occasions by allowing pollution from its Flambeau Mine site, near Ladysmith, Wis., to enter the Flambeau River and a nearby tributary known as Stream C.
The lawsuit was filed last year by the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council (WRPC), the Center for Biological Diversity, and Laura Gauger. The complaint charged that Flambeau Mining Company (a subsidiary of Kennecott Minerals Company / Rio Tinto) was violating the Clean Water Act by discharging stormwater runoff containing pollutants, including toxic metals, from a detention basin known as a biofilter.  
The Flambeau Mine near Ladysmith, Wisc. has a long history of controversy due, in part, to the proximity of the mine to the Flambeau River. A federal court ruled that the mine, which ceased operations in 1997 and has since been reclaimed, violated the federal Clean Water Act on numerous occasions over the past 6 years.
The Flambeau is a popular river for fishing and canoeing and provides habitat for a wide variety of aquatic and wildlife species, including bald eagles and osprey. The Flambeau Mine operated near the river from 1993 to 1997. Since the close of mining operations, Flambeau Mining Company has faced persistent groundwater and surface water quality problems at the site, most notably at a 32-acre industrial park that remains operational.