By Chandra Colvin/MPR News
Community gathered in south Minneapolis on June 1st morning to kick off the American Indian Month parade. American Indian Month in Minnesota honors the heritage and contributions of American Indian people.
Nearly a month ago, people came together to mourn the victims of gunfire in the very spot the parade started — Cedar Field Park. Several events, including the parade, had been scheduled for the start of American Indian Month, May 1, but were postponed due to violence.
The event was a celebration, and the atmosphere felt joyful as people arrived wearing red shirts and ribbon skirts or their regalia. People held signs representing tribal communities, as well as some that read “Landback.”
Leaders and community members took a moment to acknowledge the reason the event was postponed, and prayers were shared.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan spoke to the crowd before the parade began.
“Today as we are here lifting each other up and celebrating our community together, I hope that you also are able to find some joy and know that we’re here together, and that is a powerful thing,” Flanagan said.
The theme of the parade was “Strong Like Our Ancestors.”
“We want to be like our ancestors in a way that we want to preserve what we can and fight for what we need for our seven generations forward, because we love them already,” said Cassandra Holmes, who works at the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis.
The parade route was nearly two miles long and weaved through the south Minneapolis neighborhood. The route followed the American Indian Cultural Corridor on Franklin Avenue and ended back at Cedar Field Park.
Parade floats highlighted the theme. One float was decorated with colors of the medicine wheel: red, yellow, black and white. Signs in bold print reading “Strong Like Our Ancestors” hung from the float.
Another float referenced a well-known movie in the Native community, “Smoke Signals” – a comedy-drama about two Native men traveling cross-country. Various urban organizations and tribal schools were represented in the parade. Dancers also were among the floats.
Participants in the parade had a chance to win a trophy topped with an eagle figure.
Jacque Wilson is the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa’s urban office coordinator and participated as a judge in the contest. She says she feels that the community is coming out more compared to the beginning of the month.
“I do believe that we are healing,” Wilson said. “We’re resilient, you know. We’re strong and we’re not letting anybody shut us down.”
About 200 people gathered for the parade, which community members say is a smaller crowd than last year. Although there were fewer people this year, Robert Lilligren, president and CEO of the Native American Community Development Institute, says there has been an overall rise in participation over the last decade from both community members and organizations at the American Indian Month celebrations.
He says he is glad the celebratory events were not canceled.
“I feel like we needed this, and we needed some time to kind of process what happened last month, but now to really recommit ourselves to positive growth in the community,” Lilligren said.
Celebrations continued at the Minneapolis American Indian Center on Friday, with a powwow that started at 6 p.m. The center celebrated 50 years as a community hub in the Twin Cities urban Native community.
