Minnesota Native News

Host:
This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. Coming up, audio plays are coming your way thanks to New Native Theater and the National Native American 10 minute play's festivals of years past. Here's reporter Leah Lemm with the story.

Reporter:
When COVID hit, theaters went dark, but the show must go on, so to speak. New Native Theater was up to the challenge. It hosted play festival, workshops and more. And now, audio plays from their past National Native American 10 Minute Play Festivals are being released as podcasts. I spoke with Sara Pillatzki, artistic associate for New Native Theater.

Sara Pillatzki:
Right around the time I was hired at New Native Theater, they had started to record these 10 minute plays that we had done in person at the festival as audio plays. And so we would have our dramaturge work with the playwrights and make any changes that needed to happen for audio format, et cetera. But so what we're releasing now is the first from the very first 10 minute play festival. We've released one and we're getting, ramping up into releasing about another four and then one each month.

Leah Lemm:
And what's different about these audio plays versus just hit and record to a stage play?

Sara Pillatzki:
Yeah, so what's been really exciting is that we are getting to play in the podcast format. So before the play even starts, you'll hear a little bit of an introduction from Rhiana Yazi, our artistic director. And then the play itself, we record like it is sort of radio.

Leah Lemm:
Like the old radio play with like, sound effects and stuff like that.

Sara Pillatzki:
Totally. And we record all the actors, we record on zoom, but they record locally and then send their recordings to our TD, Peter Morrow. And he puts everything together. He really edits it. So it's got lots of layers of sound and the sound is the thing that really is helping us sort of establish location when you're not in person. So he'll add a lot of atmospheric sound. The first one that we released, Walking Red. There's parts that are in a bar. So lots of sound like layers of like-

[CLIP]

Sara Pillatzki:
People talking, ordering drinks, maybe some music, maybe some sort of glassware clinking or whatever. And I think that feels unique to just hitting record all at once and doing it live, but it's been really fun. And then after you get to hear an interview with the playwright with one of our NNT staff, so that's also really cool.

Leah Lemm:
It's just refreshing to hear those plays in audio form, because it does have that nostalgic quality of those old, old time radio plays that people would sit around their radio and listen to-

Sara Pillatzki:
Yeah it so does.

Leah Lemm:
Decades ago.

Sara Pillatzki:
Yeah it so does. And they're like, because they're that 10 minutes, they're just like a perfect little bite size. I'm going to walk to the post office. I'm going to listen while I walk it's really a nice 10 minute invite that's entertaining and fun and not too, too big of a time convention.

Leah Lemm:
Yeah. Can you tell me about the one that is out now?

Sara Pillatzki:
Yeah, so I was lucky enough to direct that piece. It's called The Walking red and it was written by two wonderful Ojibwe playwrights, Jenn and Aj. And it's kind of a zombie comedy about blood quantum and about a virus, not COVID because it was written before COVID, but about a virus that starts attacking the cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul, but the zombies don't recognize mixed blood relatives. They only recognize full blood people. So they are getting like white people and Native people and everybody. But if you're mixed, you're kind of safe, kind of immune.

Sara Pillatzki:
And so these two mixed blood friends, they joined together to help to get their Native friends out of the city to like stay or to one of them stays in the city to help. So it's super funny. It's an easy listen, but it's also smart in how it's talking about how we sometimes marginalize mixed relatives.

Reporter:
The audio plays can be found on New Native Theater's website, newnativetheatre.org. For Minnesota Native News. I'm Leah Lemm.

The United States Postal Service has announced the new stamps for 2022. The stamps are described as miniature works of art and celebrate American culture and history. 

And one of the panes will feature the work of the late modernist artist George Morrison, who was from the Grand Portage Band. 

Here’s Reporter Leah Lemm speaking to Briand Morrison, son of George Morrison.

MR: Electric vehicles are gaining traction on Minnesota’s roadways. I’m Marie Rock: This week on Minnesota Native News, reporter Emma Needham shares how a Native-led organization is driving Minnesota into the future by creating a network to power electric vehicles. 

EN: Last week, the federal Department of Energy awarded 6.67 million dollars to support the construction of an Inter-Tribal Electric Vehicle Charging Network across Minnesota and the Dakotas. The primary recipients of this grant are two native-led energy organizations looking to make change. Here’s Bob Blake, a citizen of the Red Lake Nation in Northern Minnesota. He is also the owner of Solar Bear, and Executive director at Native Sun Community Power Development, the Minnesota Based organization who spearheaded the Inter-Tribal EV Charging Network idea.

BB:  
 The project is an electric vehicle charging network that is going to stretch from Minneapolis, St. Paul, the Twin Cities, all the way up to the Red Lake Nation, encompassing all 11 tribal nations in the state of Minnesota, and then over into North Dakota, to the Standing Rock Tribe, and then down into South Dakota, back to back to Minneapolis.

EN: The project partners will install 63 Level 2 Electric Vehicle Charging stations, the most prevalent style in the United States. They will also install 59 fast-charging hubs in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Over the 3 years funding window, they will also lead education and outreach at 52 events intended to support & motivate broader use and access to EVs across the Upper Midwest. 

BB:  
 We're gonna be able to deploy these charging networks into these communities that traditionally have not been able to receive this type of technology and this type of opportunity. Along with this, we're also going to be able to get some electric vehicles, buses, for the schools, and vans that do medical runs. So we're not only doing an electric vehicle charging network, but we're also getting vehicles for the communities, too. 

EN: Minnesota Tribes and environmental advocates have been the subject of scrutiny as the tar sand Pipeline known as “Line 3” was installed, which was completed this fall. Blake says that he saw an opportunity to take back the narrative and the term “pipeline” for a better environmental future for Minnesota. 

BB:  
When I was thinking about this grant and you know, how to put it together, I just thought about, you know, the oil pipelines and Dakota Access Pipeline and everything that happened over there at Standing Rock…. the Line 3 situation that was happening up at Red Lake. And I thought to myself, What if we put together an EV pipeline, an electric vehicle pipeline? And then I asked Joe, would he be a part of this? And he said, Absolutely, Bob, I'd love to work with you.

EN: “Joe” is Joseph McNeil, General Manager of SAGE Development Authority, on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Nation, in what is now known as North and South Dakota. SAGE is now one of dozens of organizations across Minnesota and the Dakotas that are partnering to make this project possible. Other partners include the Red Lake Nation Fisheries, the North Dakota Clean Cities Coalition and the American Lung Association. McNeil explains the importance of the Inter-Tribal EV Charging Network:

JM:
I think it's important because those are the things that we can use to benefit our communities, by our own voices, our own hands, our own decisions, because we know what's best and what's needed in our communities. 
So to have exposure to this type of technology, I think is critical for us to make it a part of our real life that we're not going to be left out.
So We're really excited about that. So people can get a hands on learning about and how does electric electric voltaic fuel cells work, what its maximum capacities are, what its drawbacks are. And so we can get kids as head spinning, you know, how can they make this better? How can they make this work for them? You know, basically for us. So like kids have that kind of exposure level touch, feel, see, get the head working about it. And, you know, we intend to hopefully lead lead us into the future.

EN: The Inter-tribal EV Charging network is expected to start in early 2022, with preference for tribal member hiring through Native Sun Community Power Development and SAGE Development Authority. 

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Emma Needham.

Funder Credit 
(Music) 

The University of Minnesota is offering free or reduced tuition for Native students. And a youth group brings together different nations and generations to heal from the legacy of boarding schools. Feven Gerezgiher reports:

The University of Minnesota has offered free tuition to American Indian students on its Morris campus from its founding. This goes back to 1909, when Congress deeded a boarding school to the state of Minnesota with the stipulation that an institution of learning be maintained and American Indian students “be admitted free of charge.”

Now, starting next fall, the University of Minnesota is providing free or reduced tuition for Native students on all five of its campuses.

According to a news release, the tuition waiver program is available to enrolled citizens of federally recognized tribal nations in Minnesota. Students must be starting their first year of an undergraduate program or transferring from a tribal college.

Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College President Stephanie Hammitt said this is a good thing.

“Anything that we can do to help the students to make it easier, make it less stressful for them to continue on -  that's what we want to support,” she said.  “And definitely with lower or free tuition, that is something that is going to benefit all those students.”

Hammitt said having the financial assistance to attend a large, research institution like the U could encourage students to pursue different fields or advanced degrees.

University officials said in a release that they’re working to improve retention and graduation rates of Native American students by increasing financial assistance and by reinforcing student support programs.

Hammitt said extending the tuition assistance to transfer students from tribal colleges helps set students up for success.

“Some students might not feel comfortable going directly to a university setting,” she said. “And therefore, you know, a smaller tribal college might suit their needs and help them gain the confidence they need to move on.”     

Hammitt said ideally the financial aid would be offered to descendants of enrolled members, too. 

To be considered for the University of Minnesota Native American Promise Tuition Program, students have to apply for admission and financial aid, and show their tribal citizenship.

///

And now a story about healing through doll-making:

When 215 children were found buried on the lands of a former residential school in Canada earlier this spring, local community members found their own histories uncovered.

As the summer progressed, members of Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli and Indigenous Roots in St Paul gathered to grieve and honor the found children - and the children that survived - through ceremony and sewing spirit medicine dolls. This week, their work culminates in Dia de los Muertos ceremonies and an exhibition.

Elder Maria Morin McCoy is from the Bear Clan and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. She led the making of the spirit dolls as a way to give life to the uncovered children.

“Working through the dolls, the spirits of the children began to talk to the doll makers,” she said. “So many of the people that participated in making a doll had actual experiences, dreams, or just knowing as they were sewing the bodies together of what had happened to the children, and they began to tell them their story.”

McCoy said she and others involved with the project have been connecting with their loved ones who were directly impacted by boarding schools, finally opening up about that difficult history.

Ruti Mejia is one of the youth organizers and dollmakers. She said the project was started by members of her traditional dance group who needed a space for healing. She says it has become an opportunity for intertribal connection.

“Because we've historically been displaced and been dispersed to not collaborate with each other, and to some extent, sometimes put against each other,” she explained. “But we really are intentionally disabling all of that, and dismantling that and really coming back to our ways of gathering, our ways of sharing, our ways of spending time with community, sharing a meal.” 

Organizers said they found it fitting to hold a ceremony on the first day of Dia de los Muertos, which traditionally honors the death of children. The exhibit is open to the public at the Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center through November 30.

Marie Rock  0:08  
Drug and alcohol addiction is an epidemic that has hit native communities particularly hard. I'm Marie Rock. This week of Minnesota native news, a native led sobriety group receives recognition for its peer recovery work. Here's reporter Emma Needham.

Emma Needham  0:24  
 Soper Squad is a native led recovery group with a simple mission statement: To empower and support individuals in recovery to build healthier communities. Colin Cash of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is a founding member of sober squad, he explains what inspired him to start his work.

Colin Cash  0:42  
2016 was a particularly bad year. I think 73,000 people died that year, from overdose deaths of opiates. In particularly, native communities seems to be hit hardest by those disparities in those numbers statistically. 2016 Mille Lacs was a second in the state per capita for 100,000 people have overdose deaths. And so it was just really ugly trying time in the community here. 

Emma Needham  1:08  
While early in his recovery in 2016, Colin began actively promoting recovery and sharing resources using social media. By 2017. Colin met Gary Brancheaud of the Red Lake Nation, at a community sobriety feast. With no formal plan and a desire to help people, Colin and Gary started working in the Mille Lacs community. 

Gary Branchaud  1:29  
Colin was at that time was in the halfway house. He had about a year of sobriety, almost a year of sobriety. And he was going on his year I met this guy, I met a few other guys and he's a really positive guys. And I wanted to be around that fallen at that time has started a Wellbriety meeting at the at the halfway house. And we started parti- participate into the in that meeting. And we kept doing that, we kept doing this. And we kept getting people to meetings, kept picking people up, and we kept attending these sobriety feasts... till it came to a point where we decided that we were going to try to do something more. and we decided we wanted to get a van to get people more people to meetings...and then we sat down with a handful of us. We came up with a name: let's call ourselves Sober Squad. 

Emma Needham  2:20  
 As Colin and Gary continued their work, the community of recovery around them grew; native and non native people alike were coming to their meetings and offering resources to one another through social media and group chats. Colin explains that T shirts were really the tipping point to gathering support in their work. 

Colin Cash  2:37  
So we started going to all these events and bringing people and we would all put on our little Mille Lacs band t shirts, that said "Sober Squad"... they were red, they stood out. And you would recognize a group of red shirts that said Sober Squad on the back to all these different recovery events. We are going to like these massive events like there was the wild rice Roundup, we went up to the opiate summit, we would go to these recovery wise was
 already these...

Gary Branchaud  3:02  
 
... sobriety feasts, different districts. And yeah, and we just kept doing that. 
 Then we kept on  

Colin Cash and Gary Branchaud  3:08  
(In unison) social media. Yeah. 

Emma Needham  3:11  
This week, Colin and Gary are accepting an award on behalf of Sober Squad for their work. The Minnesota Association of Resources for Recovery and Chemical Health, also known as MARRCH, is an organization that represents more than 75 agencies and 2000 individuals working in various behavioral health positions in Minnesota. MARRCH strives to raise awareness about addiction and the power of recovery. Amy Dellwo was a Government Affairs Committee co chair and the president elect for MARRCH. She explains why she thought sober squad deserves this year's March award for peer recovery in Minnesota. 

Amy Dellwo  3:48  
In terms of their vision and their mission, it was truly a grassroots development. And they also partnered with Minnesota Recovery Connection, and in that they've been training peer support specialists. I think that they've trained like 60 people in peer recovery support, which is phenomenal. They've also spread this to other states and I just felt like they really needed to be acknowledged and honored for the work they've been doing. 

Emma Needham  4:18  
Colin Cash and Gary Brancheaud will accept the peer recovery award for Sober Squad, but they want to make it clear that they are not the 'leaders' of Sober Squad. If you're interested in finding out more about Sober Squad or starting your own chapter, search for sober squad on Facebook or other social media. For Minnesota Native News, I'm Emma Needham.

Funder Credit  4:40  
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.

The fight against Line 3 has reached the United Nations. Now, the U.S. must respond to allegations of Indigenous rights violations related to the pipeline construction.  Tiffany Bui reports:

In late March, Indigenous-led organizations writing on behalf of the Anishinaabe people asked a United Nations committee to take action against the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline. 

The tar sands pipeline crosses through treaty-protected lands and opponents say puts the environment at risk.Both the Giniw Collective and Honor the Earth argued that the Enbridge pipeline construction violated numerous rights of the Anishinaabe under an international convention against racial discrimination.

In a win for advocates, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination wrote a letter to the U.S. requesting a response to these allegations.

Kate Finn is the executive director of First Peoples Worldwide, which helped bring the case in front of the UN. Finn said the letter is a key step in acknowledging that the pipeline construction has caused harm to the Anishinaabe.

“It really does plainly state these human rights violations,” said Finn. “And we can take this letter to businesses and to financial institutions and to insurers to say ‘here are the violations that are attendant to Enbridge’s pipeline.’”

The UN Committee asked the US to respond by October 15; as of the writing of this story, the U.S. had yet to respond publicly. A spokesperson for the United Nations said the committee can’t publicize states' replies.

“We know through our work that the US isn't required to respond publicly, so my assumption is that they won't,” said Finn.

Still, the United Nations’ attention to Line 3 has raised awareness to an international level.

Keri Iyall Smith, a professor of sociology at Suffolk University, said it is not uncommon for Indigenous people in North America to turn to the United Nations after exhausting all their legal options at the local, state and federal level.

“I like the words that Walter Echo Hawk uses,” said Smith. “He calls it ‘the courts of the conqueror.’ And it's very logical that it's hard for Indigenous peoples to win in the courts of the conqueror, in the courts of the settler state. More frequently, what does happen is Indigenous peoples need to lean on that international support and international pressure to assert their rights.”

In some cases, the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights recognizes more rights to Indigenous people than what is promised under the treaties. One example is the right to free, prior and informed consent, which dictates that tribes can give or withhold consent over any projects in their territories. 

“Basically, Indigenous people in the U.S. would have, outside of the U.S. Constitution, anything that was explicitly spelled out in their treaties,” said Smith. “And I don't think they would have envisioned something like free prior and informed consent at that time. [It] tended to be things like protecting the rights to gather and hunt in traditional places … But that's not the same as free prior and informed consent, which really supports the autonomy of indigenous peoples,  their political and social autonomy in these types of conversations.”

Line 3 began operating at the beginning of October; activists say they will continue fighting for Indigneous cultural and environmental rights. 

Tiffany Bui reporting for Minnesota Native News.

Hundreds gathered along the Mississippi this past weekend for the Owamni Falling Water Festival - a celebration of indigenous Minnesota cultures.

And President Biden proclaimed October 11 Indigenous Peoples Day. 

Here’s Chioma Uwagwu with these stories: 

This past Saturday, indigenous artists and educators gathered on either side of the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis for the Owamni Festival. Owamni means ‘falling water’ in the Dakota language. 

18 year old Nathan attended the festival. He explains that “in native culture, we believe that everything has a spirit and, you know, we have to respect everything the same as we respect others. And so we give everything that same respect and you know, humans cannot live without water.”

Indigenous artists offered their jewelry, graphic art and blankets for sale. Food trucks sold local indigenous foods. In addition to putting money directly in the hands of native vendors, the festival offered up a range of entertainment, with revolving acts by singers, drummers and comedians.

At one of the educational booths was Amber Annis, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the program and outreach manager in Native American Initiatives at the Minnesota Historical Society. Annis says festivals like these are important not just to indigenous people, but people of all walks of life. 

The festival came just a day after President Biden made the first ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Annis says it’s about time.

“I think that we have to reckon with the really hard part of colonialism, extractive colonialism, settler colonialism - these things that really have shaped all of our communities today, to a degree,” Annis said. “I think the maturity to be able to say that, at this point in 2021, we are at a time where we no longer should be celebrating and highlighting these figures that were crucial in the genocide of native people, in the theft of land, in the murder of indigenous people. So for me, I think that it's just really important because we all should be there, collectively responsible, and understand that highlighting Indigenous People's Day is not just for native peoples, it's for everybody.”

Indigenous Peoples Day was observed on Monday, the same day as the federal holiday Columbus Day. Columbus Day first became a national holiday in 1937 as a way to honor the achievements of Italian Americans. But Native Americans have protested the holiday for decades, because it erases thousands of years of Native history, and because Columbus tortured and enslaved Indigenous people.

Many would like to see Columbus Day eliminated altogether and replaced with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. That would take an act of Congress. 

Tom LaBlanc, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Tribe, says he thinks the U.S. government has resisted recognizing Indigenous history and culture over the years because it contradicts western values.  

“And as long as they continue to allow Columbus and that kind of mentality to survive, we'll never face the truth,” said LaBlanc. “And so, we need people to open up their eyes and ears and, and heart and begin to make a better spirit and a better human being so that we have something for our kids and grandkids. I don't want to have to pass on the legacy of what we have today. So they can continue on with Columbus and we’ll tear down the statues, or ignore it, and have our own celebrations because we represent life, not death.”

While Minnesota celebrates Indigenous People’s Day, it is not a legal holiday. Many cities across the country still recognize the second Monday in October as Columbus Day. 

Chioma Uwagwu reporting for Minnesota Native News.

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

The American Indian Cancer Foundation honors Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Indigenous Pink.

And, legislation has been re-introduced that seeks healing for stolen Native children and their communities by establishing a commission to investigate the federal government's Indian Boarding School Policies.

Here’s Leah Lemm with these stories...

STORY #1: INDIGENOUS PINK 

Reporter: Indigenous Pink Day is honored this year on October 21st. It’s a day during Breast Cancer Awareness month to look at cancer diagnosis and cancer rates and what are those disparities within tribal communities.

The American Indian Cancer Foundation, located in Minneapolis, is a national nonprofit whose goal is to reclaim Indigenous health and heal with culture. The mission is to alleviate the cancer burdens of Indigenous people through improved access to prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivor support. 

Melissa Buffalo is the Chief Executive Officer with the American Indian Cancer Foundation. 

Melissa Buffalo: Indigenous Pink is a day that we recognize and raise awareness on the importance of preventative cancer screenings. You know, how can we educate, bring knowledge towards tribal communities and just as well as highlighting our survivors of breast cancer. 

Reporter: There are plenty of resources available at the American Indian Cancer Foundation’s website, including the Cancer Burden Booklet. And the statistics when it comes to cancer burden shows a growing disparity for American Indians.

Melissa Buffalo: it shows that although the rates for white Americans have decreased cancer, death rates have decreased over the last 20 years, unfortunately for American Indians that has only gone up. 

Reporter: Indigenous Pink Day aims to educate Native communities about the importance of early detection, and remind everyone to talk to their doctors about breast cancer screening. The American Indian Cancer Foundation is holding the event virtually. 

Melissa Buffalo: Folks can get involved, whether you're in Minnesota or you're joining us from Alaska or a different part of the United States.. You can join us on social media. We are active on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, you know, using the hast hashtags or searching the hashtag indigenous pink cancer screening saves lives and then get screened and really, you know, using that data, honor those relatives and friends who have been impacted by a breast cancer diagnosis and who are survivors, or even those that we have lost. You can wear pink on that day to raise awareness of breast cancer in your community.

Reporter: Find more at American indian cancer DOT org and on their social media pages.

STORY #2: FEDERAL GOVT SIGNALS IT IS READY TO ACKNOWLEDGE IMPACTS OF BOARDING SCHOOL ERA

Next, Senator Elizabeth Warren and the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus, Congresswoman Sharice Davids and Congressman Tom Cole, have reintroduced legislation that seeks healing for stolen Native children and their communities. 

The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States Act was originally introduced last year with then-Congresswoman Deb Haaland, who is now the Secretary of the Interior.

This bill would establish a formal commission to investigate and reveal past injustices of the federal government's Indian Boarding School Policies, including policies and actions attempting to terminate Native cultures, religions, and languages through assimilation practices, human rights violations, and more. 

Additionally, recommendations would be developed for Congress to aid in healing of the trauma passed down in Native families and communities and provide a forum for victims to speak about their related experiences.

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) in Minneapolis supports the introduction of the bill and has communicated that it’s a signal from the federal government that it’s ready to acknowledge the destructive impacts of the boarding school era.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

Host: This is Minnesota Native News, I'm Marie Rock. Coming up, the disparity in media coverage for missing and murdered indigenous women and relatives cases has once again been brought to the surface. Here's Leah Lemm with the story.

Reporter: In the latest episode of the Counter Stories Podcast, the hosts and guests tackle the issue of disparities in media coverage head on. Podcast host, Luz Maria Frias, explains.

Luz Maria Frias: Today's theme is going to be reviewing actually something that's been in the news pretty much 24/7, so to speak, which is the coverage around the disappearance of Gabby Petito.

Reporter: Gabby Petito had gone missing and her remains recovered in Wyoming. Her case has gotten major and national attention.

Luz Maria Frias: We really want to contextualize this and lift up the inconsistencies, the biases in the media, and the treatment of a white centered narrative versus the rest of our community who continues to suffer with missing and murdered members of our own communities and how that doesn't receive any media or very little media.

Reporter: Luz Maria Frias and the rest of Counter Stories stress that the issue of media coverage they're raising in no way is aiming to diminish Gabby Petito's case. Instead, the erasure of Native women and relatives in the media among all overlooked communities is compounding and reinforcing that erasure.

Luz Maria Frias: In the state of Wyoming over the last decade, there've been 710 indigenous people, mostly girls, and have not received the attention, the media attention nor the investigation, as you said, by law enforcement. Very different than what's going on here.

Reporter: Korina Barry is the NDN Action Managing Director at NDN Collective and a guest on the podcast. She recounts a personal connection to MMIW.

Korina Barry: There's also, yeah, the reality of the complete lack of coverage for indigenous women, for our two-spirit relatives, for black women, other women of color. What I thought of right away and why I say that trauma was felt as I thought of my cousin, Becky, Rebecca Anderson. She was murdered back in 2015 right here in South Minneapolis, right off of Lake Street, 12th and Lake Street.

Reporter: Korina remembers her and her family scrambling, looking for ways to contact journalists to get the word out, get some media coverage.

Korina Barry: That wasn't being covered at all. How also to name with this, the lack of police response and engagement for her case. My auntie, just again, she didn't have any answers to the many questions she had. It was very evident that because of my cousin being an indigenous woman, that she wasn't getting the same treatment or the same response or care within her case immediately. All of that, it was just like really, I think, triggering and that we see happen over and over again.

Reporter: Another guest, Marisa Cummings, is the CEO of the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center and shares her thoughts.

Marisa Cummings: This isn't surprising. Settler colonial violence is rooted in white supremacy and gender-based violence. While I agree that there definitely needs to be room for our relatives that identify on the spectrum of identity which our people always have, I also know that our women have been specifically targeted since contact. I like to uplift our women and girls because we have been specifically targeted.

We have been sex trafficked since contact. Even though Columbus never touched on what is now known as the United States of America, Columbus' journals and those of his colleagues talk about getting girls as young as nine years old and trafficking them, and so this isn't something we're making up, this is something that's in historical documents. We know that there's always been an erasure of the original people of this land and our women as being oftentimes the backbone of our communities, the ones who carry life forward, the ones who bring life into the world, of course we're going to be targeted to erase ourselves or erase us from this land.

Reporter: Entire Counter Stories episode can be found online at counterstoriespodcast.org and on all podcast platforms. For Minnesota Native News, I'm Leah Lemm.