Dry conditions boost MN’s wild rice crop, but climate change leaves future uncertain

By Yasmine Askari/MinnPost For years, Nancy Schuldt has taken part in the time-honored tradition of harvesting wild rice in northern Minnesota. And while this year’s historic drought has actually helped in yielding a good crop of wild rice according to many experts, accessing the wild rice this year has proven difficult in some regions. For […]
Line 3 construction brings complication, controversy to Fond du Lac Reservation

By Dan Kraker/MPR About a month ago, Taysha Martineau walked out of the protest camp she built in a small patch of woods near her home on the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation and knelt in the middle of the road. Elders from her community surrounded her, scolding, telling her to leave. “Go!” they shouted. […]
Duluth renames city park in Ojibwe language

By Dan Kraker/MPR News It’s official. After unanimous approval from the Duluth City Council last December, a downtown park has now been renamed in the Ojibwe language. What was previously Lake Place Park is now Gichi-Ode’ Akiing, which means “a grand heart place.” The park sits atop a tunnel that carries Interstate 35 on the […]
High-speed telecommunications coming to Fond du Lac

By Lee Egerstrom The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is busily laying cable throughout its northeastern Minnesota reservation and is now seeking Federal Communications Commission approval to qualify as a licensed carrier for accessing federal subsidies to low-income and underserved communities. The band has created a new corporation, called Aaniin (a greeting […]
NEWS BRIEFS: Jan 2018

LEECH LAKE FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST OPIOID MAKERS CASS LAKE, MN – On December 19, 2017 the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe approved the filing of a lawsuit in federal district court against six of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers – including Purdue Pharma, Cephalon, Inc., and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and the three largest distributors of prescription […]
LOCAL BRIEFS (Jan 2017)

NOT JUST STANDING ROCK: WATER SOURCES ALONG PIPELINE AT RISK DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Native American tribe’s fight over its water source has grown into an international cause, with all attention focused on the Dakota Access pipeline’s route in southern North Dakota. But contractors on the project, which passes through three other states, […]