Minnesota Native News

[Loon sounder]

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

This week…COVID infection rates are on the rise. Reporter Feven Gerezgiher shares some of the latest data…..and connects with organizers about what they are doing to prevent COVID-19 at powwows and other large gatherings.

STORY A

As of May 3, preliminary counts from the Minnesota Department of Health show more than 2,500 newly reported cases of COVID-19 across the state. The seven day average more than tripled from early April.

The latest CDC data estimates 62 percent of new cases nationwide are BA.2, a subvariant of omicron.

Health officials say BA.2 spreads more quickly than previous strains, yet so far does not seem to cause severe illness. They encourage getting vaccinated and boosted as the strongest protection against COVID-19

For links to free testing and vaccination clinics, check out minnesotanativenews dot org slash health.

[Music]

STORY B

When vaccines became more widely available last year, more people began feeling safe to gather in large crowds again. Some powwow organizers even said they had record attendance in the pandemic, following an isolating 2020 when most powwows were canceled.

Despite that is awareness that COVID-19 is yet present.

My name is Sharon Lennartson. I’m tribal chairwoman with the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community.

The community is planning their powwow for September and taking into consideration what precautions against COVID-19 might be needed.

Last year, they tried to enforce a vaccination policy and check temperatures, yet found that difficult without enough volunteers.

We made announcements, you know, if you don't feel well please don't come to the powwow. You know, if you know you had COVID, if you have COVID don't come to the pow wow but other than that that’s about it.

…Well, we have signs up, you know, I had COVID signs made up as everybody was doing back then. You know, stay six feet away, wear a mask. So we did everything we were supposed to do as far as that goes but you can put up 100 signs, whether people listen to it or follow the rules was a whole nother story but we did the best we could. 

The Gathering of Nations in New Mexico had 80,000 attendees over their three day event in 2019, and comparable numbers last weekend. To prepare this year, the organization partnered with a  COVID support services provider to offer vaccines.

This is VIP StarNetwork CEO and founder Johonniuss Chemweno.

It was a great event. We winded up giving quite a bit of COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer vaccines out to patients that were eligible for their boosters with the most updated information that came out from the FDA and the CDC related to various populations that were eligible for a second booster. In addition, we were there for people that were hesitant that still are unvaccinated. So we're able to talk with a variety of patients that had been waiting for various reasons whether they came from immunocompromised backgrounds and they had questions. They're able to speak with some of our nurses and healthcare providers that were at the booth.

Johonniuss said some people got their first doses of the vaccine at the event and were able to schedule later appointments for second shots.

He said including essential health care services at large gatherings can help link people to medical services available regularly within people’s communities.

Consumers today have adjusted to a new way of health care. I call it the new health care, in terms of consumer driven, simplified access to various medical services. In this regard, we were talking about COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as immunizations outside of COVID and various metrics of outreach. And so when it comes to why somebody would get a booster at Gathering of Nations versus going to a pharmacy, you know, per se, or a hospital system, it's because we've made it simple, and we’ve made it very easy by being there. 

And so that's almost outlines what we're seeing across the nation in terms of mobile health care, accessible health care and simplified access, in terms of ensuring that people don't have to go out of their way, scheduled time away from their friends and their family and their other day to day activities when things can be right there for them in this regard, you know, COVID-19 vaccines, first shot, second shot, and various boosters.

At the Gathering, another company also offered free at-home tests and a CDC sponsored group educated leaders of different nations, tribes, and pueblos on COVID resources available through the Indian Health Service.

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

[Health report funder credit]

[Loon sounder]

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock.

Monday, a federal judge ruled against the federal mask requirement on public transportation, even as health officials continue to recommend precautions like masking and vaccination to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

This week…reporter Feven Gerezgiher speaks with three women about their experiences with the COVID vaccine…and shares some of the recommendations for new mothers and pregnant people.

…

On one warm, sunny Saturday earlier this month, I crashed a community baby shower. It was at the Lake Street building of the Division of Indian Work who partnered with the Native American Community Clinic to celebrate and offer resources for new and expecting parents.

Health officials have been emphasizing vaccination for pregnant or lactating people as well as people who might become pregnant.

I was curious so I connected with a few different attendees…. How did they feel about the COVID-19 vaccine? Why was that? And did they end up getting it?

Here’s Rose Gonzalez.

My name is Rose Gonzalez. I live here in Minneapolis and I am from Bois Forte…I’m 37 weeks pregnant so I just wanted to see what they had here.

Rose made sure to get herself and older children vaccinated after her youngest daughter caught Covid last year.

So since she got covid, when she was 4 months old, and I just feel like ever since then her lungs aren't as strong as they should be, I don't know if that's like a long-term side effect from having covid. But in August, she was in Children's Hospital hospitalized with RSV and I feel like that might be like connected to when she had covid so little.

…I'm still breastfeeding and I was still breastfeeding when I got the first dose. And then right before receiving like the first dose of it, I had read an article about like a breastfeeding mom dying and then another article where the baby had died like a few days later after the mom received the vaccine, but I think that was my only concern, but I talked to the doctors and all that. 

So if it's safe for pregnant women, I was like, there's - it was concerning, but it was probably just either a coincidence or they had underlying issues which I don't have so. 

Rosa Rojas of Leech Lake came to the baby shower with her seven month old baby. She said she has not been vaccinated.

I just didn't want to get it. I don't know. Just the rumors, like a lot of people got sick, like worse than - because I've had Covid before when I was pregnant and it was bad and like I've seen one person and they were worse than me and they had both vaccinations so. 

Rosa told me she is skeptical of the vaccine’s effectiveness and does not plan to get it. She hopes vaccinations are not mandated.

I spoke with another expecting mother who is also unsure about the vaccine.

My name is J.B. English, and I'm a tribal member of Red Lake.

I was in county jail for a couple of weeks. And of course, they do the quarantine thing there and everything else, but I really I had a personal like belief against getting vaccinated just on my own, you know, whatever research or findings and whatnot plus, my baby's dad and this and that. You know, my daughter had COVID and I was like kissing her on the mouth and stuff, and I never had gotten it. So I just like, okay, maybe I don't think I can get it.

J.B. got the vaccine after she entered an inpatient treatment facility and visited a pre-natal health clinic.

They basically made me feel like, forced almost in a sense like I had no choice like I wasn't gonna be able to move on to the next place like my outpatient facility and continue on my journey for sobriety or that I wasn't able to have my baby. Kind of like basically, scared me into doing it. So I did it. And you know, I got sick for like two days and then yeah, that was that. But I just was like I didn't want to but they made me feel like I had to.

The Minnesota Department of Health strongly encourages past, present, and future pregnant people get vaccinated. They note no evidence that vaccines cause infertility and say the benefits of vaccination for people and their child outweigh known or potential risks.

For resources and more on recommended guidelines….check out our website minnesota native news dot org slash health

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

At the forefront of the fight against COVID these last two years have been health care workers trying to deliver primary care while also keeping boots to the ground with vaccine and testing clinics. This week, we check in with a healthcare leader for a reflection on how the pandemic has been.

Script:

[LOON SOUNDER]

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

This week, we check in with a healthcare leader for a reflection on how the pandemic has been.

Feven Gerezgiher reports.

[MUSIC]

At the forefront of the fight against COVID these last two years have been health care workers trying to deliver primary care while also keeping boots to the ground with vaccine and testing clinics.

Antony Stately is an Executive Officer and President for the Native American Community Clinic in the Twin Cities.

My name is Antony Stately…I am an enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and am a descendant of the great Red Lake and White Earth nations of Minnesota.

Stately said staff had to pivot rapidly…and also deal with the grief of losing patients they had been connected to, some for generations.

… All of that was very hard and very difficult, really difficult work. So people were burned out, right, and we lost a lot of staff, we had a lot of turnover. And, within the context of all of that it was, within the context of all of that it was, it was a Herculean effort to stay open, and to continue to deliver services, so and then having to take care of your own heart and your own personal experiences.

Fall of 2020, Stately’s entire family caught COVID-19. He was hospitalized for a week. 

That was a really defining and scary moment, I think in my own personal experience of it. So I was afraid. I think on the second day, it dawned on me that I might not get out of the hospital and not get to see my kids again. I think which is, for me was probably the most it's probably easily the most disheartening situation ever. Like I just cannot imagine not getting out of the hospital and not seeing my children again, it’s a heartbreaking, heartbreaking moment.

He said parenting two teen boys through a pandemic has been hard…whether that’s trying to keep them safe or trying to help with school work.

They were doing distance learning, you know, and God, my ability to help them with algebra was like, you know, Jesus, I have a PhD, and I was like, I've never felt more stupid in all my life trying to figure out how to help them with algebra, eighth grade algebra, I was like, wow, this is really sad. 

Stately points to how quickly the Omicron variant spread as an example of how COVID mutates and is still a threat we need to be on guard for.

He shared a story from his mother.

There's the story of the buffalo and the storm, which is, in situations in which there's adversity, and certainly the pandemic is like an adverse experience, it's very prolonged, right? It's like one of those big huge storms on the prairie that comes rolling on you right away, kind of like the way the pandemic showed up on us. And the way that buffalo behave in a storm is very different than other types of mammals, particularly in comparison to its closest relative perhaps, which is a cow. It behaves differently. They huddle together, they put their most vulnerable in the center. And they don't move away from the storm or try to run it or go around it. They head right into the storm, they face it head on and they confront adversity. And I think that's the spirit by which we have to sort of kind of continue to do this work, which is, face it head on and persevere and get through it. 

And knowing that on the other side of this adverse experience, this big storm, this pandemic, there’s beauty, there's abundance, we get to be social, we get to be with one another again. yes, we'll lose some people and yes, there will be loss. But as long as Creator gives us breath and as long as Creator gives us strength to persevere and move forward, there’s these other gifts on the other side of that.

Miigwetch to Antony Stately for sharing with us.

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

MARIE RECORDED FUNDER CREDIT

[LOON SOUNDER]

MINNESOTA NATIVE NEWS
Artist Carl Gawboy is showing brand new work in Duluth. The art exhibit, "New Paintings, Old Stories," features Anishinaabe and Finnish culture, landscapes, and teachings. The exhibit is located at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center and was curated by Wendy Savage.

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TRANSCRIPT:
Reporter: 
This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Leah Lemm, in for Marie Rock. Coming up, artist Carl Gawboy is showing brand new work in Duluth. The art exhibit, “New Paintings, Old Stories," features Anishinaabe and Finnish culture, landscapes, and teachings. The exhibit is located at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center and was curated by Wendy Savage. Here's the story. 
Reporter: 
Carl Gawboy's works have appeared in over 75 exhibits. Some of his works live in permanent collections, including at the Minnesota Historical Society, the Department of Interior, and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Carl Gawboy is from the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and is of Finnish descent. 
Carl Gawboy: 
I'm Carl Gawboy. I'm a retired teacher. And I'm from Ely, originally. 
Reporter: 
Outside the American Indian Community Housing Organization in Duluth is a billboard showcasing the latest Carl Gawboy art exhibit. To one side, features a photo of the artist. And the other side shows the watercolor painting, Vainomoinen and Nanaboojoo. These are the names of two beings from Finnish and Ojibwe tales. Though the painting depicts two men around a campfire, a tent among tall trees, an ax to the side. And you can almost hear the crackle of the fire. They are fishing buddies. Scenes like this is what Carl Gawboy is known for, showing how people lived their lives in their time. 
Carl Gawboy: 
That's what I kind of specialized in because I just looked around and saw other Indian artists weren't showing the mundane acts of everyday life in the past that I was really interested in. So that's the Art of the Everyday, but... 
Reporter: 
There are over 30 pieces on display and many of them are new. 
Carl Gawboy: 
So about 15 of these are new works. And the other half of the gallery are some older things, some illustrations that I did for a publication, a couple of prints, clay prints of works I had done earlier. So it's a pretty good show, showing the older work and the brand new work. The new work that I did since 2021 is back to my Art of the Everyday, so. 
Reporter: 
Carl Gawboy has had diverse subject matter throughout his career. And he brings us through a few of his works in the gallery. 
Carl Gawboy: 
I've got men planting trees in the 1930s with an organization called the Indian CCCs, The Civilian Conservation Corps that was started up in during the depression to give unemployed people work. There's a couple of scenes from homesteaders, separating milk and plowing new ground for a homesteading scene. You have an old man with his tobacco drawing in a shed. Two paintings of guides. One of guide's filleting fish for his clients. 
Reporter: 
Wendy Savage curated the exhibit. 
Wendy Savage: 
I'm Wendy Savage. And I'm an enrolled member at the Fond du Lac Reservation. And I'm also an artist and a curator. 
Reporter: 
Carl Gawboy has been a mentor to Wendy Savage. And she considers him a National Treasure. 
Wendy Savage: 
And I was lucky enough to meet Carl back in the '80s. And Carl invited me to come on with a group with him and George Morrison, and Bonnie Wallace, and Kent Smith to be part of the Ojibwe Art Expo. And so, I did that for 17 years with him. And then, I was fortunate enough to have him also as a teacher of mine. 
Reporter: 
Carl Gawboy, being a National Treasure extends beyond his prolific artistry. His influence on and support of other artists has rippled throughout the art world. 
Wendy Savage: 
He's been a great influence. He's been like a mentor to me. And he has also always encouraged me in all of my artwork. Because back in the '70s and the '80, there wasn't a place for Native American art. And most galleries were shunning it, especially in this area because it wasn't considered fine art. So many galleries, even in my senior show of my BFA, they didn't want to show a fully-beaded cradle board, because it wasn't fine art. But when I would show my work to Carl, Carl was always encouraging… 
Reporter: 
The exhibit, New Paintings, Old Stories, is on display every Friday through May 27th. More information is on the American Indian Community Housing Organization website, aicho.org, A-I-C-H-O DOT O-R-G. For Minnesota Native News, I'm Leah Lemm.

This week the Walz administration launched an online program to make access to COVID testing easier. 

Minnesotans can now order free at-home rapid tests online at mn.gov/covid19. You can also order them over phone through the Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 Public Hotline at 1-833-431-2053.

The state is offering two rapid antigen test kits per home (for a total four tests). They are available while supplies last.

On the website, you can also find a video demonstration on how to use the rapid test kit, as well as information on when to use one.

STORY B – PANDEMIC REFLECTION with Brook LaFloe

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.

Brook LaFloe is an early childhood educator, advocate, artist, and business owner…. This week, she shared with us how things have been going and what she’s thinking about.

“My name is Brook LaFloe. My family comes from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota, but I mostly grew up here in the Twin Cities. Right now, in this moment, I’m feeling good. I’m beading right now. You know, I took a nap earlier. So I’m just in like a very zen mood, I guess you could say right now,” said Brook.

Brook said there have been many transitions for her family, some of which have been challenging…

“My mom’s montessori closed four times, tried to stay open, you know, during the pandemic. Closed four times. I myself have been also working at a shelter on the weekends.….and some transitions have been good,” said Brook.

“I left my full time work to actually start my social enterprise and that was like at the beginning of the pandemic.…It’s called Niniijanis One of Ones. It’s a social enterprise for Indigenous children. Our goal is to tackle educational opportunities in early childhood for American Indian children, specifically birth through six. So I’m trained in the Montessori method and a lot of that work has been indigenizing the Montessori method and making the curriculum more culturally relevant and appropriate for Native kids,” said Brook.

Brook’s business started out as a grant-funded community project giving away free educational and cultural materials in its pilot year. It has now grown into a collective of 16 artists and educators.

“The need in early childhood is already pretty great, right? There’s not enough early learning centers or Head Starts to meet the amount of young kids there are in certain places, especially here in the Cities. But then when the pandemic hit and some centers were starting to close the need became exacerbated. So yeah, I was like we have these materials and these are the things that can leave classrooms and go home, right?” she said.

“The pow wow mobile is probably the most popular item for babies, but the cultural teaching of it is like, beyond the baby period. So the pow wow mobile has four of our pow wow dancers on there, and they like spin and dance in a circle. And it’s really attractive for like infants who are learning to see. But the cultural component, like, you know, one day that infant will enter the powwow circle if they go dance themselves, right. And like, they’ll do that with their kid maybe and their parents. And so there’s a lot more teachings than like the developmental purpose for each item,” said Brook.

During the pandemic, Brook received a Finnovation fellowship and LISC grant that helped develop business infrastructure. She has since fundraised enough to buy a bus for mobile services. 

“Our first powwow for the St. Paul Indian Education Program is this weekend. It’s our first one since probably the pandemic. So that’s, like, cool that like small ones are coming back and big ones too, I would say. So that’s what I’m looking forward to in the short term. What I’m definitely looking forward to getting that bus and operations …Because my business is not like a billion-dollar business or anything like that. All profits I pretty much give away, but I think when the bus comes, I can take care of my business, and my business could take care of me. So yeah, I’m looking forward to reaching that point,” said Brook.

Miigwetch to Brook LaFloe for sharing with us.

Bridget Saice-Childs of the White Earth Nation is a resident of the Elder’s Lodge in St. Paul. This week, she shared with us how things have been going and what she’s been thinking about. Feven Gerezgiher reports.

Host:
This is Minnesota Native News, I'm Marie Rock. Coming up a conversation on suicide prevention brings culture, facts, and experience together. And we hear words from the late artist, Jim Denomie, with reflections on his work. Here's reporter, Leah Lemm with more.
Reporter:
The American Indian Community Housing Organization, AICHO, will host a virtual panel with four Native leaders, discussing their perspectives on Indigenous approaches to preventing suicide. Additionally, the panel will explore available resources and access to cultural and healing traditions. Luther Talks is a Cheyenne River Lakota citizen, and Minnesota Department of Health's Tribal Suicide Prevention Coordinator. And he speaks to the need for having these discussions.
Luther Talks:
There's no single path that leads to suicide. Suicide is complex, and yet suicide is preventable. So what we do know in 2019 is that American Indians have the highest rate of suicide in Minnesota. The rate is 37.5 per 100,000. Suicide is the sixth leading cause of death among American Indians in Minnesota.
Reporter:
Suicide prevention is multifaceted, and the panel will explore how culture plays a role.
Luther Talks:
Yeah, one of the strongest protective factors to prevent suicide is a sense of belonging to culture and community. Within the sense of belonging, it's connection. Connection to language, connection to culture, connection to Indigenous knowledge, and connection to land.
Reporter:
The panel takes place on the evening of March 24th, via Zoom, more information at AICHO, AICHO.org. If you or someone you know needs help, resources are available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK, that's 1-800-273-8255, or text the Crisis Text Line by texting, "Hello," to 741-741. Next, Indian Country, the art world, and beyond are remembering the life and impact of artist, Jim Denomie.
Jim Denomie:
And so I created creative ways to speak about truth and history.
Reporter:
Jim Denomie was from the Lac Courte Oreilles Band and lived in Franconia, Minnesota. He received several awards, including the Bush Artist Fellowship and Native Arts and Cultural National Artist Fellowship. Jim Denomie spoke with Minnesota Native News in 2019 after receiving the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award. He didn't define or describe his work. Instead, he revealed an example of how his work was influenced to speak about truth and history.
Jim Denomie:
I was in an exhibition the last few years, a traveling exhibition about these ledger drawings and the history of these imprisoned Native men who started this genre. And after I got invited to be part of that, I was aware of the ledger drawings, but I didn't really investigate it a whole lot. And then after I was invited to participate, I did. And I realized that my work is very much the same theme as these imprisoned artists were documenting current events, and history and personal viewpoints.
Reporter:
Some of the most famous ledger art was created in Florida at Fort Marion. Between 1875 and 1878, 72 Native men were imprisoned due to their connections to the Red River Wars in what would become Oklahoma. Their captors encouraged the men to create art, and the men documented their deeds. Jim Denomie related to this.
Jim Denomie:
I started to do these paintings. Well, this genre of narrative paintings, and visual storytelling when I was in art school at the U of M. And there, not everybody understood what I was doing, but, like I said to me, it was just doing something that I understood and what was felt natural and important.
Reporter:
And outpouring of remembrances continues on social media, a showing of how respected Jim Denomie was as a caring and supportive relative and community member. He was 66 when he passed away and began his next journey. For Minnesota Native News, I'm Leah Lemm.

Governor Tim Walz announced that “registration is open” for parents whose 5- to 11-year-olds have received the COVID-19 vaccine.  

Minnesotans can enter to win one of five college scholarships… in the amount of 100-thousand dollars.

This is all part of the state’s “Kids Deserve a Shot” vaccine incentive program.

Any Minnesota parent or guardian whose 5- to 11-year-olds have EVER received BOTH Doses of COVID-19 vaccine by April 11th… can enter. 

On April 15th, the State will hold a drawing for five of the these 100-thousand scholarships… which will be valid at any public or private non-profit higher educational institution in Minnesota.

This is part of an effort to boost the vaccination rate of our state’s children.

Minnesota is a national leader in vaccinating children ages 5 to 11… but this age group still has the lowest vaccination rate among all eligible residents.

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

The U and 32 other universities enriched their endowments with these massive land transfers.

We have, you know, people going on to be doctors, lawyers, politicians, who have no idea about the sovereign rights that Native Americans hold, or what it means to go into consultation policies, or when consultation policy should be enacted, or the unique political place that Natives hold, you know, as a category rather than a racial category, which I think a lot of folks just see it, as, you know, because they don't know.