Minnesota Native News

An upcoming film production in northern Minnesota plans to bring together a talented team of Indigenous storytellers, actors, and crew. Producers say the film will portray Indigenous culture, life, and romance.  Photo: From left to right, Tashia Hart, John Williams, and Elizabeth Day take a photo together with the screenplay of Native Love Jams. Courtesy of Tashia Hart 

Events are scheduled all over Minnesota in honor of Native American Heritage Month. This week, Minnesota Native News highlights three events planned during November. Photo: Grand Entry at Minnesota Pow Wow. Courtesy of Joel Glaser, AMPERS. 

Manoomin, also known as wild rice, holds immense cultural significance for Native Americans in Minnesota and the surrounding region. Chandra Colvin takes us to a festival that teaches people about the history and the different ways manoomin is harvested and prepared.

Indian boarding schools left a devastating impact that is still felt today. We are just starting to get a true sense of just how damaging they were. Deanna StandingCloud shows us what some in Minnesota are doing to remember and reconcile that incredibly tragic part of our state’s history.

Photo credit: Minnesota Historical Society

This week, we’ll learn about a podcast exploring books and other K-12 teaching resources on the Native American experience, an emerging embroidery artist, and an upcoming theatre production. Image: "Butterfly Girl.” Embroidery piece by artist Loriene Pearson. 

 A national nature refuge in Minnesota celebrates the opening of a new amphitheater that honors the site’s Indigenous history 

Native food trucks are becoming more popular to start family-owned and operated businesses.  Image: Anne O’Keefe and Frankie Jackson’s Food Truck “Wanna Wotapi.” Courtesy of Travis Zimmerman 

This week, we hear about how the box-office hit, Star Wars: A New Hope returns to the big screen in one of Minnesota’s Indigenous languages. 

This week on Minnesota Native News, the celebration of life and remembrance of those lost in the Sandy Lake Tragedy that took place in Northern Minnesota in the 1800s. And, a look at why Native Cannabis dispensaries have been operating while the rest are still waiting to open. Chandra Colvin has more. 

 This week, two examples in Minnesota that support the larger “Land Back” movement across Indian Country, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s new Chief Executive, urban Native-led organizations celebrate during a collaborative open house, and a new tribally operated recreational marijuana dispensary now open in Minnesota.