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, a playground, and landscaping. Redby’s Community Center is the third center to open thus far. The fourth and final community center will be located at Red Lake. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community provided funds for the large gym.

Artists selected for Bde Maka Ska public art project

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the City of Minneapolis’ Art in Public Places program are collaborating on a public art project in conjunction with construction improvements for Bde Maka Ska. The project focuses on creating a gathering space and public art to honor Mahpiya Wicasta/Cloud Man, and celebrate the history of Heyata Otunwe, a village located on Bde Maka Ska from 1829-1839.

The project was selected by a panel comprised of community members, arts and architecture professionals and the project’s design team. Artists will be working with the project design team on concepts which will be shared with the public in fall 2017. Selected artists include:

• Angela Two Stars (Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux) is a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI with a BFA in Drawing and Printmaking.
• Mona Smith is a visual and multimedia artist of Dakota heritage, co-founder of Healing Place Collaborative, and owner of Allies: Media/Art.
• Sandy Spieler is a visual artist, and founder and director of the annual May Day Parade and Ceremony at Powderhorn Park.

National Sports Center to create new basketball event: Native American Basketball Games

The Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC) and the National Sports Center (NSC) will create a new basketball tournament that will bring together basketball teams from Native American tribes.

The first annual Native American Basketball Games will be held October 19- 22, 2017 at Cass Lake-Bena High School in Cass Lake, Minn. The tournament will be open to 12U, 14U and 18U boys’ and girls’ teams. Players must be Native American, with proof of tribal membership.

Tournament director George Ellis thinks about 25-30 teams will play in the inaugural event. He expects most of the teams will come from Minnesota and the Dakotas, although Ellis is attending the North American Indigenous Games this June in Toronto, and hopes to attract teams from a wider circle after recruiting at that event. The event welcomes teams from all over the US and Canada.

Plans also include a free youth basketball clinic and powow. For more info, see: www.nscsports.org/nativebasketballgames.

$15,000 grant for White Earth Food Sovereignty Assessment

Ogema Organics has received a $15,000 grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colorado. The award will support their White Earth Food Sovereignty Assessment, which will be instrumental in providing critical data of community health and economic needs of tribal membership within the boundaries of the reservation.

The grant will support food sovereignty within the White Earth Reservation through the collection of community information, building transparency, strengthening ties, and targeting community health and economic needs, and ultimately encouraging health and well-being in all aspects of life on the reservation. For more info, see: OgemaOrganics.wordpress.com.