Minnesota Native News

[Loon sounder]

This is the Minnesota Native News Health Report. I’m Marie Rock.

This week….we share from an earlier recording on the outlook of the COVID-19 pandemic as understood by one healthcare professional. Here’s reporter Feven Gerezgiher with that interview and the latest on COVID-19 vaccines.

[Music]

STORY A

U.S. health officials recently approved a new COVID-19 vaccine option for adults, hoping it will appeal to people that have yet to receive a single dose.

This vaccine is called Novavax and it’s used across Europe, as well as in Canada, Australia, South Korea and other countries.

Novavax is deemed a traditional option because it’s a protein vaccine. Protein vaccines have been used for years to prevent other diseases, like hepatitis B and shingles.

Novavax vaccines are expected to be available in the next few weeks.

[Music]

The Minnesota Department of Health still recommends getting tested if you have COVID symptoms or have had close contact with someone with COVID. It also recommends testing proactively – before attending large events or traveling. 

Appointments and walk-ins are available at community testing sites. Those include sites in Duluth, Moorhead, Brooklyn Park, St. Paul, and the MSP Airport –- where people testing positive can receive a prescription for treatment at the same time.

Free at-home rapid test kits are available through both the state and federal government.

Find links to order those kits and other resources on COVID-19….on our website: Minnesota Native News dot org slash health

[Music]

STORY B

Previously on the Minnesota Native News Health Report, we connected with Antony Stately, CEO and President of the Native American Community Clinic, to hear how providers - and his family - have been faring throughout the pandemic.

Our conversation was in March…not long after the winter holidays when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 first spread like wildfire.

What we've learned from this process is that, you know, just when we think we're in a safe place and we make the decision to go maskless and go back to Fourth of July parties, and get close and have motorcycle rallies that crisscross the country and those kinds of things. Just as we're doing that and thinking that it’s safe to go back to the way life, quote unquote, used to be? That's exactly when we ended up getting hit by another wave of some type of variant. 

Antony said we’re still a ways out from getting ahead of coronaviruses, as they develop easily and rapidly into new strains and variants. He expects his clinic will continue to take precautions.

We have lots of elders who are sort of the bedrock of our cultural knowledge in our community and so wanting to make sure we don't do things that will get them ill is important. We have a lot of people who are very sick with chronic diseases that make them very vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. So being a responsible relative in that space, as a provider and somebody who is important to that community, we have to operate professionally and also personally in ways that would make sure that we're not acquiring COVID-19 and then inadvertently passing it on. So we're taking strong steps to ensure that some of the COVID-19 policies that other spaces and places and jurisdictions, they're sort of kind of relaxing, we're not. [45s]

Outside of the clinic, Antony takes a “calculated risk approach” to decisions about masking and social distancing, taking stock of infection rates — and choosing to be more precautious in places like a crowded grocery store.

I just try to walk through the world personally as a family member and a member of the community kind of trying to just observe my surroundings and make good calculated risks based on history and intelligence and intuition. You know, use that intuitive mind that Creator gave you to make decisions. And I'm trying to also help my children to understand that process and why that's important to sort of kind of walk through the world right now that way. So you can relax, but not let your guard down necessarily.

For the Minnesota Native News Health Report, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

[Marie recorded funder credit]

[Loon sounder]

This week on the Minnesota Native News health report, public health agencies continue to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for youth. One PSA even has a popular TV icon for children receiving the vaccine. Reporter Dalton Walker explains in this week’s story.

For the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines, contact your local health professional, check the state and federal health websites.

This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. Coming up...

A Food and Art Market in Duluth uplifts Indigenous and BIPOC entrepreneurs while providing goods to the local community. 

And a new children’s book celebrating Ojibwe teachings is celebrating its debut. [[accentuate that “celebration” is used twice]]

Here’s Reporter Leah Lemm with more.

STORY #1: AICHO MARKET

Reporter: The American Indian Community Housing Organization dreams big. And its Food and Art Market is no different - offering so much more than buying and selling. 

Khayman Goodsky: (00:34) Bojo my name is Cayman de good sky. My I'm a Bo Fort tribal band member. Um, I live in Duluth and I work at ACO. That's the American Indian community housing organization.

Reporter: Khayman is the Indigenous First Co-Coordinator at AICHO. Indigenous First showcases and sells art from majority Native artists. And the upcoming Food and Art Market is helping inform future plans to expand AICHO’s food and retail operations, to provide goods to the HIllside area.

Khayman Goodsky: (04:43) our hopes is to have it be an indigenous food market, especially in hillside where it's kind of a food desert. 

Khayman Goodsky: (04:09) this is kind of gearing us up to when we're ready to open the knee ne one market and to see how well that's going and to, you know, keep finding more and more producers who need that retail space that we're able to provide. 

Khayman Goodsky: (03:20) Duluth has a lot of food deserts and so it's really hard to get out, to travel where healthy food is and that's something that we're addressing.

Reporter: This focus on providing for the community is mirrored in the market’s goal of providing opportunity to vendors. 

Khayman Goodsky: (03:31) there is a lot of indigenous food producers, a lot of artists who don't necessarily have the means to find retail space, to start promoting their businesses and to have these markets where they're being highlighted is really important because then they can see there's a community who, um, is willing to like help them and support them.

Reporter: Providing for the community and Economic opportunity is a great example of AICHO’s role in the area. It’s also… fun and delicious.

Khayman Goodsky: (07:21) We bought prints from Kelly Martinson who does really beautiful paintings. So I just wanna give 'em a shout out, but there's so many great vendors there. There was Kambucha the best Kambucha I've ever had… Baby Cakes was there. 

Reporter: That’s Baby Cakes Wild Rice Bakery… with items like wild rice cupcakes and cakes…

Spirit lake will be there selling their maple syrup. Like there's so many great people to meet and talk with about art and food and just, um, everything.

Reporter: Two markets are happening in July and they are open to everyone.

Khayman Goodsky: (08:19) it's not just Indigenous people. Everyone is welcome. And uh, hopefully see the market grow and grow because I know there will be people who get that spark from coming to meet these people and wanna start their own stuff and we wanna support you too. 

Reporter: If there’s inclement weather, the market will move inside of the AICHO building. More info at A-I-C-H-O DOT ORG

TRANSITION MUSIC

STORY #2: MASHKIKI ROAD

Reporter: Next, join Lily, Ogimaa, and Ellie on a journey to find medicines for Grandma Mindy.

Author Elizabeth Barrett and illustrator Jonathan Thunder bring young readers along Mashkiki Road, where they meet animals who introduce the Seven Grandfather Teachings.

The colors are vibrant, as is the story. My son recently read the book to his younger cousin, and they remembered all the Ojibwe names of the wise beings the story introduced.

Multiple book launch events are planned including at the Red Lake Boys and Girls Club on July 14th. More information at https://www.mnhs.org/

For MN Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

The Twin Cities Pride Festival celebrated its 50th anniversary last weekend. Just a few miles away, local organizers held a different type of pride celebration. Feven Gerezgiher reports.

Around two hundred people gathered on June 24th for the inaugural Two Spirit Pow Wow in South Minneapolis.

This is head dancer Nina Berglund, a descendant of the Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne nations.

"I hope for all the young people, to see them all dancing and to really be included, to understand that you have a place, you have a place in the circle, you have a place in our communities, and you have a place in our ceremonies," said Nina, addressing the community.

New Native Theatre partnered with the Minnesota Two Spirit Society to put together an evening centered on “reclaiming identities.”

Em Matson - from the Sault Ste. Marie Ojibwe of the upper peninsula of Michigan - was one of the pow wow coordinators.

"The label Two Spirit has come about because people have felt the need to walk between two worlds or choose between two worlds: either be LGBT or be Indigenous, and the Two Spirit label and Two Spirit spaces bring people to be able to be both. And to be able to have their gender identity, which is often tied to their cultural identity, celebrated. Because a lot of times in mainstream LGBTQ spaces, people just don't understand an Indigenous gender identity. They don't understand the cultural roles that come with it or the responsibilities." said Em.

Em said Two Spirit pow wows have become more prevalent in the past ten years.

"A lot of times not everyone feels safe or properly gendered at traditional powwows. There's a lot of gendered categories there. And sometimes in spaces, people encounter transphobia and homophobia that was kind of imprinted on us because of colonization, and so this pow wow is sort of a re-assertion that this - It's a reclaiming of our genders that existed before colonization. It's creating safe community spaces for us to celebrate being together and be able to you know, go out there and dance and be in ceremony with one another," said Em.

The Minnesota Two Spirit Society aims to support Two Spirit community with issues they often face - things like homelessness or even missing cultural clothing.

"So one problem a lot of Two Spirit people face is they don't have regalia a lot of times because regalia is often passed down in families or made by family members, and those who have been disconnected from their families due to homophobia and transphobia just don't have access to the same regalia. So we had ribbon skirt making ribbon shirt making. We're hoping to do more things like shawl making, just to get people clothing where they can feel like they can enter the ceremony circle," said Em.

Many participants had never been to an event specifically for Two Spirit people.

"My name is Connor Big Eagle. I'm 13 years old and I'm Dakota Lakota Sioux."

Connor said he wanted more events like the pow wow because it was great to meet other Two Spirit people.

"It feels great and I really I think that they picked a perfect day because the weather's amazing…I really enjoyed the drum songs and the ice cream truck," said Connor.

Alex Golden-Wolf from the White Earth Nation was both shocked and honored to see queerness celebrated.

"I think it's very important because, like, it seems like not a lot of pow wows that I've been to have honored the Two Spirit indigeneity. And so like, it's probably like, for me, it's the first that is there's been and I wish that in the future that there's gonna be more to come like this specifically for Two Spirits and like non-binary people alike, and I wish like, I want there to be more people here to experience the love and joy that comes around, like being in pow wows and stuff," said Alex.

With the event running smoothly, organizers said they plan to make the pow wow an annual event.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

The State of Minnesota is offering the Pfizer vaccine at its Mall of America community vaccination site, where appointments are now open. It plans to host more vaccination clinics across Minnesota in the upcoming weeks. Plus multidisciplinary artist Sequoia Hauck reflects on their pandemic experiences. Feven Gerezgiher reports

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This is the Minnesota Native News Health Report. I’m Marie Rock.

COVID-19 vaccines are now available for infants and young children. This week, learn where to find appointments…and hear from a Twin Cities based artist on staying safe during a pandemic.

Feven Gerezgiher reports.

[Music]

STORY A

Last weekend, federal health officials approved COVID-19 vaccines for children between 6 months and 5 years.

These vaccines are smaller doses than ones for adults, [and require two or three shots spread out over weeks depending on whether it's a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.]

The State of Minnesota is offering the Pfizer vaccine at its Mall of America community vaccination site, where appointments are now open. It plans to host more vaccination clinics across Minnesota in upcoming weeks.

Vaccines for children under 5 will also be available at pediatricians, local clinics, and pharmacies.

To learn how to get a free COVID shot, the Minnesota Department of Health recommends contacting your primary health care provider or a local pharmacy. The state’s online vaccine locator will also be updated as vaccine shipments arrive in Minnesota.

Find links to more information on appointments - and on the vaccines’ safety - on our website minnesota native news dot org slash health

[Music]

STORY B

The last two years of the pandemic have brought plenty of devastation…including the loss of in-person connections….disruption to many school programs….and the loss of first speakers.

As the state of the COVID pandemic evolves…we want to give space on the health report for reflection in order to move forward in a good way..

Boozhoo, aaniin nindinawemaaganidog. Sequoia Hauck nindizhinikaaz. Waabaabiganikaag nindoonjibaa. Ajiaak nindodem. Ashkibagi-ziibiing nindaa. Hello, my name is Sequoia Hauck. I use they/them pronouns.

Sequoia is an interdisciplinary artist based in the Twin Cities. They described the stress they felt performing in-person during a surge of infection rates.

I remember thinking I was 100% gonna get COVID during that time. I tested like four to five times a week, like going to a place to get a PCR and that's like my anxiety. Like that was like, I need to get a PCR every single day basically for my nervous system to feel okay. Which I think is probably one spectrum of being that I can see is not super healthy tendencies, but also like it felt good to do it for myself. 

What staying safe looks like has been a learning process for Sequoia. They keep up with the latest recommendations from health officials, and for each project, a big part has been coming up with safety protocols with collaborators.

I am someone who is on the still like super cautious safety side of things even to this day. And so making sure that everyone can be safe and everyone's testing and everyone's social distancing still in the ways that we can, and physically distancing, and also how we can still be creative and find joy and excitement in our art forms and our making and still create work and pay people and pay myself and all of these things, so we can still live the lives that we want to live and be safe.

Sequoia has been learning to find rest, moreso as they grow in their pandemic born creative endeavors. To them, this pandemic is something that’s here to stay.

I think you know, I'm excited for the future of boosters. I'm ready for my whatever, second booster third, a millionth. I'm here for that. And so, you know, I think wearing masks are really important. And I think access to masking and like access to having a mask and testing is so hard right now I think accessibility to get tested, especially PCR testing is almost ridiculous. And so I wish that was more accessible for folks. Because I feel like that's how we're going to know if we're contagious or have it and how to like manage it for ourselves. So still a lot of like up in the air, but I'm feeling okay, and just want to like be able to support me and the people around me and like the community I exist in.

Sequoia has several upcoming film projects. Follow their work on their website sequoia hauck dot com.

For the Minnesota Native News Health Report, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

[Marie recorded funder credits]

[Loon sounder]

This is the Minnesota Native News Health Report. I’m Marie Rock.

Federal health officials are potentially near approving coronavirus vaccines for infants and young children. This week….learn more on what that means....and hear a reflection on how the pandemic has been for one contemporary artist. 

Feven Gerezgiher reports.

[Music]

STORY A - Vaccines

The Food and Drug Administration recently determined both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines appear “safe and effective” for ages 6 months and older.

On June 15th, advisors to the FDA recommended authorizing the coronavirus vaccines for children under 5.

Next the FDA and CDC meet to determine whether to move forward with the authorizations. 

Once approved, vaccinations for children and infants could begin within days, according to the White House.

[Music]

STORY B - Pandemic Reflection

The last two years of the pandemic have brought plenty of devastation…the loss of in-person connections….disruption to many school programs….and the loss of first speakers.

Following the all night Northern Spark arts festival in St. Paul, I connected with one creative about how things have been and what she’s been thinking about.

My name is Silvia Houle. I'm an enrolled member of Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa from Belcourt, North Dakota. And I am an Anishinaabe contemporary artist.

I'm doing all right… I don't know why, I didn't sleep too good last night, but I'm doing all right other than that. Processing the trauma of waking up [laughs] but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good.

Sylvia described the last two years as life altering.

Life will never be the same again, after all this, you know. Because I'd say it's like, probably, if not as impacting but a lot more impacting than some other events that happened in the last 20 years.

Actually one of the bigger impacts is that I lost my dad in 2020 and I wasn't able to see him in the hospital because of COVID protocols before he passed so that was really hard. And what was hard after that, is that because of the social distancing and the COVID being a lot more intense back then, it made it hard to be around people especially when you're in the grieving process and so it was a big struggle with that.

Sylvia’s father passed away of stage four cancer, and she said the grief nearly led her to stop creating art. As the world re-opened over the past year, however, she said opportunities to work with nonprofits and school programs offered a way back to her craft.

At the Northern Spark arts festival, Sylvia helped oversee attendees painting on part of a large-scale installation.

I really love being a part of those kinds of events and activities because you get to see people like open up, like perfect strangers….But it's just the opportunity to see people to just like, see them open up and see them express themselves. And sometimes, they only even don’t even do that around people that they're regularly around, you know. So I always feel like that's like a special treat to see that. And there were a lot of people at that event in particular that just got right into it. They didn't hesitate or anything, a lot of them. 

Sylvia said she’s been creating art her whole life, yet only became a full-time artist in the last year. She finds joy in helping others get in touch with their creativity.

…To be able to allow people to express themselves and encourage them to like have fun with art, have fun with expression, and don't worry about being overly technical because that comes further along the line when they're ready to take that on, you know. That all starts in scribbles, smudged paints or just like little glob of clay or whatever you decide to be creative with.

Summer is a busy time for artists, Sylvia said, and she is figuring out what hers will look like. For now, she looks forward to a sun dance ceremony and continuing work on a community mural project.

For the Minnesota Native News Health Report, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

This is the Minnesota Native News Health Report. I’m Marie Rock.

This week reporter Feven Gerezgiher shares how to get free at-home COVID tests mailed to your home…and she talks with an artist about growing up with a family that doesn’t believe in vaccinations.

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STORY A

Minnesotans can now order a second round of free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests.

Every home in the state is eligible for four test kits (for a total of eight tests) through the Minnesota Department of Health.

Find a link to learn more and place an order for free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests at our website, minnesota native news slash health. 

[Music]

STORY B

The last two years of the pandemic have brought plenty of devastation…the loss of in-person connections….disruption to many school programs….and the loss of first speakers.

A month before the pandemic hit, one artist quit her job to pursue her passion full-time. This week, she shares with us how things have been going and what she’s thinking about.

My name is Moira Villard. I'm a visual artist based in Duluth, Minnesota. I grew up on the Fond du Lac Reservation and am a Fond du Lac direct descendant. And yeah, I do community-engaged public art stuff.

….I'm like, at peak stress level right now, with all the projects I'm working on. I think this is the first year where like, everything is kind of like, you know, we've figured out ways to do public art again, and do community engagement and stuff like that so there's like, just a lot on my plate. After the last few years of like, doing most things like totally virtual . 

Moira pivoted towards freelance graphic design during the pandemic, creating culturally specific materials around COVID-19. In this work, she draws from her family experience.

I  grew up in a very like anti-vax household. And so for me, that was, you know, kind of scary to, to, like, I guess, you know, get the vaccine and stuff because I like, I grew up, like hearing all these terrible things, and, you know, it's going to kill you and all these things. And, you know, there's parts of my family that are like, very, very still anti-vax. But, you know, making all these materials, you know, I was like, I can't, like, put this information out there, if I don't like believe it. So like, I had to do a lot of research myself, and, you know, like, make sure I was okay and comfortable with what, what I'm putting out there. 

Moira got vaccinated with the help of her husband, who is a scientist and could answer her questions. To persuade others to get vaccinated, she keeps in mind that not everyone trusts government officials and mainstream news..or has the power to act.

I feel like we're always directed to the CDC to, like, get this information, but I feel like, you know, institutions at that, like, federal level sometimes, like, they're not making materials that are targeted towards like anti-vax people, they're making it for, like, kind of like preaching to the choir, you know, and so like, for me, I've been trying to challenge myself to figure out ways to reach people who actually are like, genuinely afraid, or generally skeptical, and maybe not understanding the science or understanding stuff like that. 
 
With a friend recently catching COVID for the third time, Moira said she feels like we’re in an uptick of COVID.

It just seems like, I don't know, it's such a weird point in time to describe because it's like, you want to move forward and like pretend - no, not pretend, but like, you know, emerge from the fog of the last few years. But then there's just like this overhanging reminder of like, ‘Nope, it's still here.’ And there's still people, you know, who are vulnerable and this thing is still, it's sticking with us for a really long time.

Moira has several projects to look out for including the Chief Buffalo Memorial Community Mural Project in Duluth. You can support the project and find her work at her website artbymoira.com

For the Minnesota Native News Health Report, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

This week University of Minnesota professor Brenda Child shares more of those boarding schools' history and explains what it would take for a full reckoning with their legacy. Feven Gerezgiher reports

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[LOON SOUNDER]
This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock.
The U.S. Department of Interior recently released a report surveying the impact of the federal
indian boarding school system over 150 years.
This week...University of Minnesota professor Brenda Child shares more of those boarding
schools' history…and explains what it would take for a full reckoning with their legacy.
Feven Gerezgiher reports.
[MUSIC]
In May of 2022, Assistant Secretary of the Interior (for Indian Affairs) Bryan Newland reported
findings that confirmed the U.S. targeted American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian
children with the federal boarding school system.
To learn more, we turn to a noted historian for their perspective.
My name is Brenda Child. I am Red Lake Ojibwe, and I'm a professor of American Studies and
American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota.
The report looked at federally supported boarding schools over a wide time frame, from 1819 to
1969. Child said within that time frame were several different eras of boarding school policy with
different motivations.
I always looked at that 50 year period, up into from Carlisle to FDR, as being the half century
when the boarding school policy dominated in the United States. But it was also the same era
that the allotment policy dominated policymaking in the US. So you have to look at these two
systems as going hand in hand with one another.
Child said the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania - which was the first government-run boarding
school and a template for others to come - was formed during the Indian Wars, and prisoners of
war were among its first students.
The idea had kind of taken hold among policy makers - I mean, this is the underlying objective
of boarding schools - is that Native people aren't going to really need a homeland anymore,
right? They're going to enter the mainstream. They're going to become citizens of the United
States. They're going to speak English. My grandmother was trained as a domestic servant and
so they're going to have great jobs like that. And they're not going to need to live as tribal people
in their tribal communities. And so the idea was to kind of separate Native children from their
families.
Child said that changed in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. For her book Boarding
School Season, she examined first-hand narratives from children, parents, and school officials.
While many American Indian students began attending public schools under the Roosevelt
administration, Child remarked that families insisted some boarding school remain… as a form
of poverty relief.
I would say the number one reason Indian children ended up in boarding school was death of a
mother. And so you see that sometimes the networks on reservations or in our communities
were kind of collapsing in this era of high rates of tuberculosis and other disease, poverty,
dispossession, that a child might go to an auntie or go to several homes within the family before
they were sent to a government boarding school. And in the 1930s, people were making some
pretty desperate decisions for the survival of their children.
At the same time, (Child said) many children died from diseases at the boarding schools. The
report gave initial counts of 53 different schools with marked and unmarked burial sites.
Thinking towards accountability and what people can do to address this history, Child said
reconciliation must come in real estate.
….It's a very concrete way of recognizing the real damage that was done to Indian people at the
time. You know, there's nothing we can do to kind of go back in time. There’s nothing we can do
about, you know, I'm not looking myself for apologies, that doesn't go far enough. For me, I think
we need to talk to tribes about what they have lost in the boarding school era that could still be
returned to them.
For more information on boarding school history, Child recommends the “Away from Home”
exhibit at the Heard Museum in Arizona, as well as reading American Indian memoirs, like
Charles Eastman’s biography From The Deep Woods to Civilization.
For Minnesota Native News, I'm Feven Gerezgiher.
(Marie recorded funder credits)
[LOON SOUNDER]

Reporter Feven Gerezgiher takes a look at findings from the U.S. Department of the Interior with regards to the department's investigative report on the Federal Indian boarding school system, and speaks with one of its research partners about what this means for Indian Country.
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Transcript:

This is Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock.

The U.S. Department of Interior recently released a long-awaited investigative report on the Federal Indian boarding school system. 

This week…reporter Feven Gerezgiher takes a look at its findings and speaks with one of its research partners about what this means for Indian Country.

From 1819 to 1969, the United States funded 408 boarding schools for American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Native students.

These schools were a means to culturally assimilate Indigenous people and to dispossess them of lands across what are now 37 states.

This history is ever present in Indian Country, but for the first time, the U.S. government is acknowledging the harm done. 

This is U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland at a press conference on May 11th.

“The federal policies that attempted to wipe out Native identity, language, and culture continue to manifest in the pain Tribal communities face today, including cycles of violence and abuse, disappearance of Indigenous people, premature deaths, poverty and loss of wealth, mental health disorders and substance abuse. Recognizing the impacts of the Federal Indian boarding school system cannot just be a historical reckoning. We must also chart a path forward to deal with these legacy issues.”

Haaland () requested an investigation into the Federal Indian boarding school system last June following the discovery of a mass burial site at a former boarding school in Canada. The Department of Interior conducted a nine month investigation that culminated in a 106-page report released last week.

The report identifies 53 marked and unmarked burial sites at different schools across the U.S. The department found records of at least 500 child deaths, and expects to find more as the investigation continues.

Samuel Torres is Mexica Nahua and deputy chief executive officer for the Twin Cities-based National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. In an interview last Thursday, he said this moment is a testament to the importance of Native leadership in government.

It's a day of mixed emotions, really a long week of mixed emotions. We are, of course, grateful for the leadership of Secretary Deb Holland for producing this initiative. I think one of the reasons why it's been such a huge mixed bag of emotions is that we're recognizing and reflecting that just a short while ago, the federal government had made it very clear that they had no interest in diving deeper into these inquiries. 

Torres said years ago, the nonprofit had requested and been denied answers about federally operated boarding schools. It then began compiling research independently, later becoming a critical research partner to the report.

It's pretty momentous that the Department of the Interior recognizes that students died in these institutions, that hundreds, potentially even thousands of children are in marked or unmarked graves. Being able to see that in the bounds of a federal document, I think is something that we have been hoping for, and knowing that it is something that we can consult, that we can look to as a foundational source, I think is a big deal for a lot of people.

The report said the U.S. systematically tried to assimilate Indigenous children with such tactics like renaming them with English names, cutting their hair, preventing the use of their native languages, and requiring them to perform military drills.

It acknowledged rules were often enforced through punishment - through solitary confinement, withholding of food, slapping, or cuffing of children.

The report outlines eight recommendations for continuing the investigation and for a healing process. Torres said he is encouraged those recommendations will be heard.

Leveraging the authority, the power, the resources of the government, while, I know for some folks that might seem somewhat symbolic. It is a big deal. It provides a lot of opportunity for folks to be recognized and to be able to build off of this moment and to continue to sustain the movement.

In response to the report, Secretary Haaland announced a year-long tour across the U.S to hear stories from survivors of the federal Indian boarding school system.

Representative Sharice Davids also introduced legislation to establish a truth and healing commission.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

This week on Minnesota Native News, the Science Museum of Minnesota is funding mini-projects for Native Community members… We’ll tell you how you can get involved.
Here’s Diego Luke with the story…

DL: Have you ever wanted to create a project that would accurately reflect you, your tribe and your culture? 

As the Science Museum of Minnesota works to“create an inclusive, equity-based institution that empowers people to change the world through STEM,” They are currently accepting applications for one of their newer initiatives- the Design for Racial Justice Mini Grant. 

I sat down with Robby Callahan Schreiber to learn more about these grants

RCS: My name’s Robby Callahan Schreiber, I used he/him/his pronouns, I’m the director of the Museums Access and Equity Department.

Um, and in short, our department does work across the museum to create more accessible and inclusive experiences. We do that through a variety of financial access points. Um, recognizing that we want to remove financial barriers for folks to engage with our museum experiences and recognize that we continue to have disparities in representation of who, you know, sees themselves as being able to come to the Science Museum.

DL:: The goal of the Racial Justice Mini Grants is to provide funding to support creative and innovative work that is going on within our local communities. This is the second year of these mini grants, and this year is focused on projects done by and/or focused on Native Americans.

RCS: In the first year we really did a wide call, had about 60 applicants and we funded um, I believe, about 10 projects.

DL: An example from last year's projects is a group of young African American girls that threw a summer program exploring their racial identity, focusing on health care and more specifically mental health. 

RCS: One of the decisions we made this year was to take a more focused approach in who we’re inviting to apply for, um, projects and keeping with intentional work we said we needed to do and wanted to do as an organization over the course of this year which was develop more focused relationships and focus um, you know, resources that we have within our local indigenous communities.

DL: So what kind of project is the Science Museum looking for?

RCS: So beyond just focusing and really specifically sharing the invitation with folks of indigenous identities is to say that through the lens of our Race exhibit and the topics and the topics that are brought up within our Race exhibit, inviting people to develop projects that are around racial justice but that are important to you as a Native person or an Indigenous person within our communities.

RCS: The projects could really take any number of formats from being artistic to theatrical to inviting people into dialogue to more direct action and when we think about our Race exhibit our topics are really wide and vast when we think about how race shows up. They could address everything from the health care system to our educational systems to housing, wealth, generation and our criminal justice systems.

DL: Projects can be done in any language as well.  

The Science Museum has set aside $20,000 for the Mini Grants. Both Individuals as well as collaborations of two or more individuals can apply for up to a $3,000 mini grant, depending on the size of the project.

RCS: Information about the Mini Grants is available on the Museum website, and so people can apply directly through there. If you search Design for Racial Justice Mini Grants, Science Museum of Minnesota, you’ll find a landing page for those grants. Um, people can apply online and, uh, also download the application materials and apply by doing a handwritten application. We also recognize that some people may be more comfortable sharing an audio version or a video application and so we’re trying to make the application process really as accessible as possible. 

DL: The application deadline is Friday, May 20th. Applicants will be notified the following Monday if their project has been chosen to be funded.

RCS: We’re really excited to see the variety of ideas that people generate. We see these as making an investment in, you know, real practical work and action that young people within our community can do. I think adults often say, “oh young people are our future.” But through this mini granting process we want to be making an investment in young people in our present, because young people have amazing ideas that we should be taking action around, today. 

DL: For Minnesota Native News, I’m Diego Luke

Marie: Minnesota Native News is produced by Ampers- diverse radio for Minnesota's communities. Made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.