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 […]
First Person Productions Goes Entrepreneurial
By Lee Egerstrom A multimedia training program for Native American youth in the Twin Cities is taking a large step forward and becoming a competitive media production company serving a variety of clients in the metro area. Since the beginning of this year, First Person Productions is attempting to be a self-sustaining and competitive multimedia production […]
WHAT’S NEW IN THE COMMUNITY (June 2017)
Grand Opening Held for New Redby Community Center (By Michael Meuers) – The new Redby Community on the Red Lake Indian Reservation held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Community Center on May 23. Even though the center is officially open, there is still more work to be done, including adding artwork to the exterior, […]
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 […]
LOCAL BRIEFS (June 2017)
LEECH LAKE APPROVES NEW PALACE CASINO PROJECT CASS LAKE, MN – Leech Lake Ojibwe members took to the polls in May to decide whether the tribe should move forward with a new casino construction project to replace the existing Palace Casino & Hotel in Cass Lake. Approximately 78% of the votes cast were in favor […]
“Scaffold” at Walker Art Center to be dismantled and burned
By Cat Whipple Outrage from the Native community in Minneapolis has put the Walker Art Center in the hot seat. The Center’s installation of a two-story gallows structure entitled “Scaffold”, by artist Sam Durant, includes references to the hanging of 38 Dakota men in Mankato in 1862 by the US government. “Scaffold” is a collection of […]
AIM Interpretive Center takes wild rice and Native culture to France
By Norma Renville and Jack Swanson After two years of planning and development work conducted by American Indian Movement Interpretive Center (AIMIC) board members, staff and consultants, the AIMIC sent a delegation to the Foire de Tours in Tours, France to introduce its citizens to real wild rice and to share their culture. The Foire, which […]
Am. Indian Cultural Corridor to be part of Minneapolis “Green Zone”
By Lee Egerstrom The city of Minneapolis has designated the Phillips Neighborhood, including the American Indian Cultural Corridor along Franklin Avenue, as one of two geographic areas to be “Green Zones” for future environmental and economic development. The city will be reaching out to Native and Indigenous organizations this month for participants to serve on […]
POLITICAL MATTERS (June 2017)
By Mordecai Specktor Offensive art On Sunday, May 28, I drove over to the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden to see “Scaffold,” a construction by Sam Durant, a Los Angeles-based artist. The two-story piece, which resembles an elaborate wood and metal jungle gym (when I first saw a photo of it, I thought it was […]
Patriot Nations: Native Americans in Our Nation’s Armed Forces
The Historic Fort Snelling in Minnesota will host “Patriot Nations: Native Americans in Our Nation’s Armed Forces”, an exhibit that tells the history of the brave American Indian and Alaska Native men and women who have served in the US military. Using art, photography and essays, the show examines more than 300 years of Native people’s […]
Urban farming in South Minneapolis: May 2017
By LEE EGERSTROM A collaborative of Minneapolis faith-based, cultural and health organizations will soon start a second year of serious urban farming in an effort to change how Native Americans live and eat and take their neighbors along on the same healthy journey. Weather permitting, volunteers and staff from involved groups will transplant crops May 12 […]
LOCAL BRIEFS: May 2017
ATTORNEY: N.D. VOTER LAW STILL UNCONSTITUTIONAL BISMARCK, ND (AP) – Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill in April that reworks North Dakota’s voter identification laws though a lawyer representing a group of American Indians in federal court say requirements still don’t comply with a federal judge’s ruling last year. “It’s just a reconfigured voter-suppression […]