PASSING ON: August 2017
Brittany Renae Olson July 3, 1991 – June 30, 2017 Brittany Renae Olson, WANKATIYA OKINYAN WINYAN, meaning Soars High Above Them Woman, age 25 of Redwood Falls passed away Friday, June 30, 2017 as the result of a motor vehicle accident. Memorial services were held at St. Cornelia’s Guild Hall at the Lower Sioux. Brittany […]
The need for organ donors affects everyone
Trinidad Flores was a leader. In the American Indian community of Little Earth in Minneapolis, Trinidad was widely known and highly respected. He played football, baseball and basketball. If there was a program in the community, Trinidad was involved. He circulated a petition to save the community’s Ojibwe language class. He was a role model, a […]
Reconciling history: Views on two Minnesota paintings
Two paintings that once hung in the Governor’s Reception Room, “Father Hennepin Discovering the Falls of St. Anthony” and “The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux,” are moving to newly created exhibit space on the third floor of the renovated Capitol where expanded interpretation can be provided. The new exhibit “Reconciling History: Views on Two Minnesota Paintings,” opening Aug. 11, […]
Native Caucus = Strength in Numbers
By Lee Egerstrom From winning state bonding funds for redesign and improvements for the Minneapolis American Indian Center to preserving funding for Indian education programs, the newly-formed Native Caucus in the Minnesota Legislature is showing again there is strength in numbers. Voters in the last election added two more Native Americans to the Minnesota House of […]
NATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS (August 2017)
TRUMP MOVES COBELL BUY-BACK IN NEW DIRECTION WASHINGTON, DC – The Trump administration is changing course when it comes to the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations. In an announcement in late July, the Department of the Interior dramatically cut back the number of reservations where landowners can expect to receive offers for their fractional […]
“You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” is a story of survival, humor and wisdom
By Deborah Locke Sherman Alexie’s latest book is a memoir about his mother Lillian and a whole lot more. It’s a book that sits inside your head after you finish it, forcing you to feel what you’d rather not feel, and above all else, ensuring that you will never ever forget Lillian Alexie. Or her son, […]
Farm Bill important to Indian Country
By Lee Egerstrom The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) is reminding Indian Country that it needs to work with Congress and naturally allied groups to support programs that cover the entire food chain, from producers to consumers, who are all bunched together under what is called “the farm bill.” Two researchers with the Indigenous Food and […]
Courts, Pipelines and Liabilities: Minnesota may want to take note
By Winona LaDuke “We applaud the courts for protecting our laws and regulations from undue political influence, and will ask the Court to shut down pipeline operations immediately.” – Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II For the past two weeks, Minnesotans and tribal members have packed Department of Commerce meetings on the Draft Environmental […]
Mankato hangings an uneasy topic for MN schools
By SOLVEJG WASTVEDT/MPR NEWS It’s a troubling piece of Minnesota’s past: Thirty-eight Dakota men hanged from a Mankato gallows in December 1862. Their deaths scarred generations of Native people and cemented Minnesota as home to the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Despite that infamy, if you’re a Minnesotan in your 30s or older, it’s […]
Red Lake housing project in Mpls to house elders, wellness center
By LEE EGERSTROM The city of Minneapolis has approved more than $2.7 million from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund to assist the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe in launching its Mino-bimaadiziwin housing project on the edge of the American Indian Cultural Corridor in South Minneapolis. The Red Lake Band announced in July last year it had purchased […]
Hearings on new Line 3 tar sands pipeline to be held in June
By Winona LaDuke Line 3: It’s the sequel to the Sandpiper but larger. Last year, the White Earth Ojibwe people joined with many others to stop the Sandpiper, the fracked oil pipeline. Now Enbridge is back with another line – same route, same problems. This month, people will have an opportunity to ask questions and comment […]
NATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS (June 2017)
TRUMP SEEKS CUTS IN INDIAN COUNTRY BUDGET WASHINGTON, DC – Donald Trump is seeking drastic cuts in education, health, housing and other key programs in Indian Country. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service are among the many losers in Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget. Budget details show both agencies being reduced […]
