Two Opportunities to Get Inspired

02/09/22 • 4 min

This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. Coming up, two opportunities to hear about inspiring work around Indian Country in Minnesota. The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council's Language Revitalization Working Group has partnered with the Minnesota Humanity Center to host a Dakota and Ojibwe Languages Symposium. And the Lower Phalen Creek Project brings Native women's stories to the virtual space for a new twist on winter storytelling. Here's reporter Leah Lemm, with more.
Leah Lemm:
Later this month, the Dakota and Ojibwe Languages Symposium will be bringing together people working in Dakota and Ojibwe Language Revitalization.
Leslie Harper:
We have multiple presenters from Dakota backgrounds and from Ojibwe backgrounds.
Leah Lemm:
Leslie Harper is from the Leech Lake Band in Cass Lake. Leslie volunteers on the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council's Language Revitalization Working Group.
Leslie Harper:
We want to bring attention to Dakota and Ojibwe Language Projects and programs and activities in the state. And to really elevate the idea of Dakota and Ojibwe Languages here to make them visible. And then to give folks who attend a chance to visit and be amongst each other and to reconnect.
Leah Lemm:
The symposium is for Language learners, practitioners, Language teachers and those community members with an interest in the subject.
Leslie Harper:
We want to talk about, what is happening in the state? And really support the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council member tribes and advocating for Language and get the word out and support the Indian Affairs Council. When they have to go in and go to all the legislative sessions and support to have some updated responses and then to be forward-looking, looking at the future.
Leah Lemm:
And there are quite a few presentations to look forward to.
Leslie Harper:
There are different community Language programs that are operating intergenerational Language learning projects in a community setting. The OOG Program out of Fond du Lac which works with adult Language learners and baby Language learners, is going to be presenting on a lot of things that they're doing. Minneapolis Public School is presenting on efforts that they're doing in the public school setting in an urban area.
Leah Lemm:
The Symposium is a partnership between the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council's Language Revitalization Working Group and the Minnesota Humanities Center. It'll be done virtually and takes place on February 24th and 25th, more information and registration on the Minnesota Humanity Center website, MNhum.org, mnhum.org. Next winter storytelling, done in a new way. Mishaila Bowman, who is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota is organizing the event.
Mishaila Bowman:
I work for Lower Phalen Creek Project, which is a Native led environmental nonprofit here on East Side of St. Paul and I function as our Communications and Events Coordinators. On Thursday, February 17th, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. We will be hosting our take on contemporary storytelling.
Leah Lemm:
The evening will consist of more personal stories rather than traditional or creation stories.
Mishaila Bowman:
Me and my executive director for Lower Phalen Creek Project, Maggie Loren, we're just talking about how it is so lovely to see so many storytelling events happening, especially in this virtual era that we are sort of in right now. But how we really wanted to do a more contemporary twist on a storytelling, particularly to uplift the voices of our Native women in our community that we admire.
Leah Lemm:
The three storytellers include, HolyElk Lafferty, Sandy White Hawk and Stephanie Autumn.
Mishaila Bowman:
HolyElk Lafferty, who is Mnicoujou and Oglala Lakota will be talking about her stories of resistance and healing. Whether that's standing down the US government at uprisings, like Standing Rock or just her experiences as a Lakota mother and daughter and auntie. And Sandy White Hawk is going to be talking about ICWA and adoptee stories and all of her work in that field. And then Stephanie Autumn is going to be talking about, so much of her experiences, learning from other women and different social movements.
Leah Lemm:
Find the event through Lower Phalen Creek's social media pages, Instagram and Facebook. For Minnesota Native news. I'm Leah Lemm.

Previous Episode

Celebrating “Voices from Pejuhutazizi: Dakota Stories and Storytellers” with an Online Book Launch

Winter is known as the time for storytelling and one Dakota family is sharing their stories in a new book. Reporter Emma Needham speaks with one of the authors about the publication and a virtual event to celebrate its launch.

Next Episode

Contending with the University of Minnesota's Founding Sins

This is Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock. Coming up...At the University of Minnesota, a $5 million grant is funding projects to address racial justice... with the aim of leading social and cultural transformations. One project examines the University's history with the state's Tribal Nations. Here’s reporter Feven Gerezgiher with more.

In the wake of a racial reckoning and thirty years after the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council first asked the University of Minnesota to repatriate American Indian human remains, the Council in 2020 passed a series of resolutions demanding “a truthful historic accounting” of the university’s impact.

Two high level people are working to make this happen from within the University. Last year, UofM President Joan Gabel hired Fond du Lac member Karen Diver to her senior leadership team. Professor[1] Tadd Johnson, member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, serves as liaison between the UofM system and Tribal Nations.

Johnson says the U has to contend with its grim founding story.

The University of Minnesota benefited from the genocide of Native American people, and kicking them out, and actually killing them, hanging them. And granted, there were people that were killed on both sides of the Dakota War, but it was the Dakota that had to pay. So to me, Minnesota has a special obligation because I mean, there's some shame in having the largest mass execution in American history and then the U of M ended up benefiting from it.

The project is called the Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing or TRUTH Project. It is led by research fellows from and selected by each Tribal Nation so the University can reckon with how it has harmed and continues to harm each sovereign nation.

The[2] Ojibwe up north are saying, “Hey, you took the DNA of our wild rice and put our wild rice businesses out of business.” And the Dakota are saying, “Hey, you took all of our land and sold it, and kicked us out of Minnesota and made a ton of money to endow your university.”

The TRUTH Project is funded through a larger system-wide initiative called Minnesota Transform that was established through a $5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Minnesota Transform seeks to make changes for the region’s Black, Indigenous, immigrant, and refugee communities. In addition to the TRUTH Project, it supports access to UMN Dakota language classes for community members[3] and creates Ojibwe language immersion housing for students.

An Garagiola is a research assistant with the TRUTH Project.

Boozhoo, An indizhinikaaz. My name is An. I am a descendant of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, where my mom and my grandma are enrolled members.

Garagiola said part of the research has been delving into the impact of the 1862 Morrill Act and other land grabs.

So often the narrative that we hear about land grant universities or the founding of land grant universities is this positive spin, as you know, this was for the betterment of the country, right? For the public good, if you will. But we don't really talk about who the public is or whose expense that came at.

According to data from High Country News, the U.S. government bought Dakota land in one treaty at $0.02 per acre. In contrast, the University of Minnesota sold those lands for $5 per acre, or 251 times that amount[4] .

Garagiola points to the U’s far reach in the state - from education to the business sector - as reason why it should lead this work. She says many professionals are unaware about sovereign rights or consultation policies for Tribal communities[5] .

I think that the university has a great responsibility, one, to teach everybody, Native and non-native, the accurate truth, and to prepare them to go out into their future careers accurately informed. And more broadly, the University has a responsibility to Indigenous people because of the anti-Indigenous policies that were created in order to found the institution.

The TRUTH Project’s report is expected to be released in June. Garagiola said Tribal research fellows will hold a symposium in April to share their research with community and get final feedback before its release.

In the meantime, the UofM Board of Regents recently voted to return artifacts belonging to the Mimbres people.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

Senior Director of the Office of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations for the university system.

"What the tribes’ request was to look at the past, present, and future of the University of Minnesota’s relationship with the tribes of Minnesota. And so.."

reduces the cost of language classes for community members

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