By Winona LaDuke Napoleon LaDuke was my great uncle. I’ve always had a liking for that name. My great uncle was a brown man from the Northwoods who was in World War I and came back “shell shocked.” He wasn’t even a citizen of the US at the time but, nevertheless — like many Native […]
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Vaccines are a very important part of protecting your children and yourself from some serious diseases. Anyone who has seen a person die or get very sick from a disease that could be prevented by a vaccine knows how important they are. Immunizing your child is one of the most loving things you can […]
Historical trauma for American Indian peoples have encompassed wars, massacres, genocide, imprisonment, reservations, boarding schools and continued oppression and racism. The effects of historical trauma have had a horrific impact on the health and welfare of American Indian peoples for over 500 years – alcoholism and drug addiction, many health (including mental) issues, poor education, […]
PolyMet’s Tailings “Pond” could someday create a dead St. Louis River and a dying Lake Superior. Is that an acceptable risk to take? In the December 23rd edition of the Duluth News-Tribune, a staff writer, using the byline of “News Tribune”, wrote a Local News article with the title “EPA signals its support for final PolyMet review”. The […]
On October l6, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson filed an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn a recent MN Court of Appeals ruling, which revoked the Certificate of Need for the Sandpiper pipeline and required the Minnesota Public Utility Commission (PUC) to complete a full Environmental Impact Statement before proceeding […]
It is apparent from Governor Dayton’s recent announcement (in reaction to the Minnesota House Speaker’s allegations of appellate court meddling) that he supports the Sandpiper crude oil pipeline and that the Governor does not understand climate change, pipelines or the associated, compounded, environmental risks for Minnesota. Sandpiper, if approved, will be the first domino in […]
In this issue, we’ve explored the acts of Ojibwe citizens who are exercising their treaty rights by harvesting wild rice in off-reservation territory as well as the impacts of other tribes asserting their authority in economic, land and environmental concerns. One of the more outstanding speeches on the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council floor while I […]
Every six months, Isaac Iron Shell, Sr. would take his cattle to the stock market and sell what he could. Shortly thereafter, his wife, Susan Standing Bull-Iron Shell would sit with her six children and go through the Sears-Roebuck and JC Penny catalogs and they would pick out dresses, shoes and coats for the coming […]
Presidential Debate season begins on Aug. 6 What do you do with sixteen candidates? It’s a thorny problem for Republicans. Why’s that? Because right now one of those candidates, Donald Trump, is loud enough to drown out all the other “major” candidates. Wouldn’t it be fun if the nomination contest was more like a basketball […]
It’s hard to believe we’re approaching yet another school year here in Minneapolis. Native families will spend this month scrambling to hold onto remnants of summer living while preparing their children for focusing on their academics. As the Family Engagement Coordinator for Minneapolis Indian Education, I would like to extend an invitation to connect with […]
My father was a man of great faith. Whether he expressed it in traditional spiritual practices, what we now call Wolakota, or through his Protestant Christian understanding, faith is what guided him by a set of principles of always being prepared. Once, when new cable and pipes were laid on the reservation, he clicked his […]
