Minnesota Native News

Title: Food For Thought- Bringing Back Indigenous Foods 

Marie Rock:
The movement to rebuild Indigenous Food Sovereignty is getting help from many sources. I’m Marie Rock. This week on Minnesota Native News, reporter Emma Needham shares a story on  writers and community partnerships working to bring back Native food practices in Minnesota.

Emma Needham: Anishinaabe writer Tashia Hart grew up on the Red Lake Reservation in Northern MN. She’s authored children’s books and novellas, as well as written poetry. However, her newest release is a new genre for her. Tashia Hart’s The Good Berry Cookbook, comes out this week. Tashia shared with me how she got the idea for her cookbook. 

Tashia Hart:
During one of my prayer sessions that I had received the direction that I should learn more about Manoomin, I've always grown up cooking and eating Manoomin. You know, when helping to like, winnow [prep] Manoomin, but I had never practiced Manoominike.[Harvesting Wild Rice] 

Emma Needham: Tashia explains that at first she didn’t realize how much traditional knowledge she had. Like many native people, the unique skills she was taught growing up were a means for survival of culture and sustenance. 

Tashia Hart: ...most of the world doesn't look at things and talk about things and think about things, you know, like our plant relatives, like we do as Anishinaabes. And so I realized that, I was introduced to this term foraging in college, but before that I just grew up, you know, with people harvesting and everything, and we didn't call it that. 

Emma Needham: The Good Berry Cookbook: Harvesting and Cooking Wild Rice and Other Wild Foods is organized by season.  

Tashia Hart:
So within the seasons are common Minnesota Wild foods. So for instance, in Ziigwan [Spring], there's, you know, some sprouts, like leeks and fiddleheads. And maple sugar and stuff like that. And in summer, we have more of like the fruit, you know, wild berries. In the fall, there's Manoomin, of course, and hazelnuts... and see, we got rose hips, and squashes and then winter, I think I focus more on fish, and squashes and things like that, that can be stored and then utilized in the winter months. 

Emma Needham : In celebration of "The Good Berry Cookbook," several native community organizations in the Twin Cities came together to not only offer a book signing with the author, but also a Cooking Demo featuring recipes from the book. Leading the demonstration is Red Cliff Band of Ojibwe member Derek Nicholas. Derek’s current position is Nutrition Program Coordinator at the Division of Indian Work. 

Derek Nicholas :I kind of label myself as a kitchen warrior but some people call me a chef... Each year, I just my passion grew more and more learning language and learning how the spirits of the food and the spirits of language are closely tied and then ended up writing an indigenous themed cookbook called "Eating with the Seasons: Anishinaabeg Great Lakes Region," which incorporates Anishinaabemowin Language and cultural lessons. 

Emma Needham: Derek offers an e-book of his cookbook for free online because he wants it to be as accessible as possible. He explains his work is not solely about cooking with Indigenous foods, but also the preservation of indigenous culture.

Derek Nicholas: I guess the main thing that drives my work is the ideology of food sovereignty. I believe it's very important to provide healthy and culturally appropriate meals for everybody,  and then also do it in a sustainable way. And that really drives my passion and my work around working with traditional foods, native foods.

Even if you've never had the food before, you may recognize the food because our ancestors have experienced that food in our historical DNA. We have to work with these foods, and eat these foods because they nourish us better than any other foods can.

Emma Needham: The Good Berry Cook Book Release and Cooking Demo is a collaboration between the Native American Community Development Institute, the Indigenous Food Network, The Four Sisters Farmer’s Market, Division of Indian Work and Dream of Wild Health. 

Author Tashia Hart says it’s an important collaboration. 

Tashia Hart: ...we're just seeing people connect in such powerful and meaningful ways, it’s a beautiful thing...Happy to be a small part.

Emma Needham: You can order a copy of Tashia Hart’s "The Good Berry Cookbook"  at most book sellers, or at her website, tashia hart dot com. If you’re interested in Derek Nicholas’ "Eating with the Seasons," you can order a paperback copy of the book or download the free e-book at blurb dot com. For Minnesota Native News, I’m Emma Needham. 

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

Dr. Gwen Nell Westerman has been appointed the new MN Poet Laureate. And...
A celebration is being held soon for the publication of five Ojibwe language books. And also…
Dr Antony Stately, CEO of the Native American COmmunity Clinic, shares wise words on the radio.

Here’s Leah Lemm with these stories...

STORY #1: GWEN NELL WESTERMAN APPOINTED AS NEW MN POET LAUREATE

Dr Gwen Nell Westerman is a citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate.

She has won two Minnesota Book awards, and the focus of her writing is on Dakota history and language. And now has been appointed the new MN Poet Laureate.

Dr. Westerman’s poetry book “Follow the Blackbirds” is written in the English and Dakota languages. Her poems and essays have been published in journals and anthologies, including… New Poets of Native Nations, Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, and more.

Dr Westerman is currently a Professor in the English Department at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

STORY #2: PUBLICATION CELEBRATION FOR AANJIBIMAADIZING

Next, 

William Premo Jr. reads AUDIO

Five Ojibwe language books are published in cooperation with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe's Aanjibimaadizing Project and the MN Historical Society.

Sixteen first speakers teamed up with linguists, teachers, and Ojibwe language experts to create new literature. The books are entirely in Anishinaabemowin. 

William Premo Jr. reads AUDIO

William Premo Jr reads one of his stories from the book, “Akawe Niwii-tibaajim.”  The story ‘Chi-Giniizhe,’ is about… the complexities of the food chain among an acorn, a NOrthern Pike, and a squirrel. 

William Premo Jr. reads AUDIO

The celebration will be held October 6th at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post. The event is free and open to the public.

STORY #3: COVID-19 COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS - PIVOTING TO LESS PREDICTABILITY

And finally, the Covid-19 Community Conversations radio program features community voices and hosts Leah Lemm, that’s me, and Dr Antony Stately. We talk about Indian Country in Minnesota’s response to the pandemic.

The latest episode explores the often difficult process of living with less and less predictability. Here’s a segment of our conversation where Dr Antony Stately shares helpful insight for those times.

Dr Antony Stately: You think about how as Indigenous people, that's one of the things that we really are good at, which is, you know, we don't always have to have all of the answers. We don't have to know what's going to happen tomorrow or the next day or next week or next year. 

There's a certain amount of sort of like faith. I think that we have and the knowing that the seasons are going to continue the earth is going to renew herself. There's these things that we know that we can kind of count on. And I'll, maybe I'll I have to focus on is like right here, but sort of like right in front of me. And so that helps us to stand in that space of not knowing, I think a little bit easier.

And so sometimes it's about trying to remind people like, you know, we're resilient people. We've had a lot of these kinds of things we've had where we've actually faced pandemics, right. And survive those things as Indigenous people. So we do have a certain amount of knowing that helps us in that space and place and trying to remind each other of that and support one another and be loving and compassionate.

Find more about Covid 19 Community Conversation and listen to the program at MN Native News DOT ORG.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm. 

This week on Minnesota Native News, we dive into the new hit series Reservation Dogs, which is mid-way through its first season.

Reservation Dogs is an all indigenous production. Diego Luke reports.

Growing up, I never liked how Native Americans were shown in film and TV.  Dances With Wolves, The Lone Ranger, The Last of the Mohicans , Pocahontas - those struck me as offensive at best. But Reservation Dogs is different.

Kyleisha: You could tell that it’s not ran by white people, like it’s Native Americans actually living their life rather than the white perspective. 

This is Kyleisha, a 17-year-old citizen of Red Lake Nation.

Kyleisha: I feel like this one is the more closer one that actually represents us and our culture and what the kids do, and the dogs running around, IHS.

Kyleisha is a highschool student who takes classes at Bemidji State and a member of Red Lake’s Youth Council. Bianca Mendoza is coordinator of the Youth Council.

Bianca: The IHS scene where the doctor was like, “I didn’t wanna stay here this long, like, I’ve been here for 10 years and want to go home.”

Bear: Aren’t you the eye doctor?

Doctor: I’m the everything doctor: toes, backs, a****les…. Wait till you get older! Life gets much harder, look at me, you think I like having this job? You think I wanted to be out here this long? 10 fu***** years… I don’t have a family, I got nothing. Don’t get me wrong I love the Native American people, very sweet, majestic, very special.

Bianca: I think we can all see that and it’s an inside joke within the community but to see it on the TV and see it played out and to know there are other communities laughing with us. It kind of brings to light that we’re not all just living in teepees on a rez somewhere.

Diego: Reservation Dogs takes place on a reservation in Oklahoma and introduces several new, young Native actors. In fact, nearly the entire cast in Native, and as well the directors, writers, the crew and producers.. 

Diego: Your first impression of Reservation Dogs?

Christina: It is so funny! 

Diego: I ran into Christina Woods while doing a report on New Native Theatre, where she’s in the cast. She’s a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.

Christina And it's funny based on the extreme examples of the stereotypes that we have to deal with., and the approach using a lot of Native humour about it and just really stretching it out and making it very extreme is just so funny. I feel represented

Diego: In less than a month on air, social media has been all over the show, creating memes, memories and instilled a new sense of indigenous pride. This is Mendoza again, head of the Red Lake’s Youth Council.

Bianca: We have some kids that are just starting High School, we have some kids that are in college and for them to be able to see themselves on TV, and know that there's more to life out there than just the rez.

Diego: On Red Lake, the youth are recreating scenes from the show and plan on inviting cast members to their upcoming annual Conference.

Spirit: Aho! Young warrior, it looks as though you’ve tasted the white mans led

Bear: Are your Crazy Horse, or Sitting B-

Spirit: No, no, no I’m not one of those awesome guys, no. I’m more of your uh, I’m more of your unknown warrior, yeah. You know my name? William Knifeman (War cry). 

Diego: William Knifeman is played by Bemidji’s own Dallas Goldtooth, who’s Dakota & Dińe.
The show uses humour to address the trauma that Native Americans have endured. The main character's address is 1491, the year before Columbus ruined everything. There are many easter eggs like this as well as other tributes to pop culture throughout the show, some obvious and others not so much. Yet this feels as if the writers recognize these traumatic experiences, and decide to own it, embrace it and make fun of it, as if to say, “yes this happened, and yes we are still here.”

Bianca: Laughter is medicine for Native people. All tribes are different but our humour is pretty much the same. Our humour is what gets us through all of the tragedies we’ve prevailed and gone through.

The show stays true to life on a reservation according to Brendan, also of Red Lake.

Brendan: Probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in so long you know, especially representing our culture too but also knowing we’re actually getting that kind of recognition to show that we have talents as well, and expressing our way of life you know? And that’s really [one of the] most honourable things we’ve seen in awhile. 

This show gives Native people a national platform and voice. It has inspired many kids on reservations. For the first time, they are able to see themselves being represented on screen, not as a savage, not as a love interest, and not portrayed by a white person. Reservation Dogs is now streaming exclusively on FX on Hulu. For Minnesota Native News, I’m Diego Luke.

This week on Minnesota Native News, the Line Three protest comes to the capitol and – New Native Theater takes its new show to the street. I’m Marie Rock.
MARIE Story 1
If you drove past  the state capitol this week, you saw lots of state patrol – and you couldn’t miss the teepees occupying capitol grounds. Laurie Stern explains:
Laurie: Enbridge’s Line 3 is almost complete, yet, if anything, opposition to it keeps mounting. This week indigenous-led environmental groups held ceremonies of prayer and protest at the state capitol.
One of the organizers  is Simone Senogles, a Red Laker with The Indigenous Environmental Network.
SG: it's crazy to embrace an fossil fuel project of this magnitude, you know, the largest fossil fuel project that this company Enbridge has ever undertaken, in the time when really, we should be phasing out fossil fuels. And I think that we're at this kind of moment in time where we have to make the decision for life or for death. And the fossil fuel industry needs to go and I feel like it's on its last legs. But just like an abuser who finally knows it's their time to go, you know, that's when they're the most dangerous.
Laurie: Another organizer is a new coalition called   including RISE - Resilient Indigenous Sisters Engaging. Dawn Goodwin from White Earth is a founding member of RISE. She’s been a water protector since she was a young girl.
I went to my dad and said, Dad, what are we going to do if the water gets poisoned? And he said, Don't worry, my girl. There's the Clean Water Act. So I just went forward thinking, yep, it's going to be protected.
Laurie: Dawn Goodwin lives on Lower Rice Lake in Clearwater County, which officials say is experiencing exceptional drought this summer. Goodwin says the lake is so dry it looks like a field. In her experience, The Clean Water Act has not been enough. State regulation has not been enough. And that all goes back to treaty rights that were supposedly enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
And so like one of my grandma's said that these treaties have been ignored for so long, that people think it's okay. But it's not. It's not okay. 
Laurie: Goodwin and the others are here to make a stand. Against the new  pipeline. In favor of a more sustainable path. FOR MNN I’m Laurie Stern.
Because if we can be honored, and have our treaties upheld, we can have a say about how things go forward. So that we can protect all that we have left, the little bit of natural environment that we have left.  

Marie: Also this week - New Native Theater is getting ready to perform for a live audience. It will be the first time since the pandemic, and performances will be outdoors. Diego Luke reports: 
Here’s Laurie Stern again:
New Native Theater has been practicing over Zoom most of the summer, but now actors directors and crew are rehearsing in person at the Gremlin Theater in Saint Paul.
[hi scene]
The play is called The Unplugging, based on the bestselling book “Two Old Women” by Alabascan author Velma Wallis, who lives near Fairbanks Alaska.
The Unplugging takes place after the apocalypse. Two old women are exiled from their village but learn to survive by traditional ways. Then they meet a stranger from the village that rejected them. 
YN: It's sadly still as relevant as it was when I wrote it 10 years ago, when I was worried about what happens if the lights go out.
This is playwright Yvette Nolan from the Gitigan Zibi Algonquin First Nation.
And so they have to make a decision about whether they want to be part of a society. And so the scene you saw, the scene that we were that we were doing when you guys arrived was about the arrival of the outside world to their life.
Scene excerpt
Actor Christina Woods from the Bois Forte Band, plays one of the old women.
There's a number of moments in the play that choke me up. One is when we're talking about community, and when we think about the historical impact of government, on our tribal communities, it's, it's rough, it's hard.
Christina Woods is a first-time actor, but she has long experience in the arts. She is executive director of the Duluth Art Institute.
I'm the first Anishinabe to be in this leadership role. And it makes a really big difference to come in with a lens that can see the absent narratives.
Telling those missing stories is the purpose of New Native Theater, which is one of just a handful of indigenous-led theater companies in North America.
CW: The main impact is having people that look like us on stage, and you'll see a lot of people in the audience who look like us on stage. Another impact is having space to really enjoy our unique native humor that you're not going to get in other places.
Unplugging tickets are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $35. The play will be performed at the former Migizi Communications & Gandhi Mahal Site 27th Ave South and Lake Street at 2pm from Sept 2 through Sept. 19. For more information visit newnativetheatre.org. For MNN I’m Laurie Stern

Host:
This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. Coming up, applications for the 12th cohort of the Native Nations Rebuilders Program are now open. The program is operated by the Native Governance Center, and the Native American Community Clinic in Minneapolis is now requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for its health center staff. Here's reporter Leah Lemm with these stories.

Reporter:
Native Nations Rebuilders, the two year leadership development program, begins this coming December. It was developed to meet the leadership gap identified by Tribal leaders in Native Governance Center's service area. The service area is the 23 Native nations of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Pearl Walker-Swaney is the Program Manager at Native Governance Center.

Pearl Walker-Swaney:
We support Native leaders to rebuild their nations through leadership development and tribal government support. And a lot of our work is around strengthening governments, and we believe that by strengthening governments, we are creating a direct pathway to improve quality of life for Native people.

Reporter:
Native Nations Rebuilders is based on research done by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and its principles of nation building.

Pearl Walker-Swaney:
You get to understand this history of governance and leadership from pre-contact, for example, through policies, such as the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, to modern day governments. And so you get this spectrum of changes in leadership, changes in governing styles, and maybe have a better understanding of some of the issues that you see in your own community and how governance can be a solution.

Reporter:
Pearl also notes participants deepen their understanding and connection to their own personal story and identify what their values are. Come December, there will be over 200 graduates from 11 cohorts, and with COVID-19 pandemic recommendations changing frequently, they're still determining the best format and locations for the 2022 program dates. For now, Pearl says that the program is scheduled to be in-person for 2022.

Reporter:
Applications are now open. More information about the Native Nations Rebuilders Program from the Native Governance Center can be found online at Nativegov.org or on their social media pages.

Reporter:
Next, the Native American Community Clinic, or NACC, in Minneapolis, announced that it is now requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for its health center staff. President and CEO of NACC, Dr. Antony Stately, says it wasn't an easy decision to make, but putting action to words was necessary.

Dr Antony Stately:
This is something I've been thinking about and discussing with leadership, including our board and also folks in the community who are leaders. And I've also been watching the news and have been watching and listening and listening sessions at the state and federal level about the variant and all these other kinds of things that are going on with respect to the pandemic.

Reporter:
When it comes down to it, the vaccine requirement is aligned with the mission of the clinic.

Dr Antony Stately:
NACC has a mission, and as part of that mission, a core value is for us to show up and be a good relative to everybody in our community. And I think that a core principle of that, of being a good relative, is to do your part, to protect others, and to not necessarily place your own wellbeing in front of the wellbeing of the crew, or the nation, or the people, right? We have a responsibility to the whole, and we have a responsibility to the future generations.

Reporter:
For Minnesota Native News, I'm Leah Lemm.

This week on Minnesota Native News, the sound of young people growing and community healing. Laurie Stern reports on a new production that will soon be available for all to see

--

Marie:
This week on Minnesota Native News, the sound of young people growing and community healing. Laurie Stern reports on a new production that will soon be available for all to see.
TAPE 
My name is Jennifer Cortez. I'm 17. I'm from Leech Lake. And today we are starting our filming for our play in my shoes.
IN MY SHOES IS THE LATEST PRODUCTION FROM The IKIDOWIN Youth Ensemble, a theater troupe of Native who live in  the Twin Cities.
JC: In my shoes is a suicide prevention play. We talk about depression, anxiety, a lot of different mental illnesses. And we make sure that people know that these are real life, illnesses, and that a lot of people do have them and that our friends can have them. And it's really hard to sometimes see. But in the end, it's better to help and to receive that help and ask for that help.
At 17, Jennifer Cortez is a mentor to younger cast members. Ikidowin recruited 10 new actors this summer. Liana Star Kier from White Earth is 12. 
LSK: I take pride in my indigenous culture. So I'm, I'm trying to stay in the community.
I have two characters. I'm a bully in one and I put other characters down. I don't like that. But my other part is, I'm a guest speaker in a classroom. My elder and I do teaching about breath.
Like how to relax yourself like, um, yeah.
(scene sound, fade under)
The theater troupe has been practicing most of the summer, building a sense of community and self-confidence. This is 11-year-old Joseph Green
JG: If you just like practice and practice more, acting can get more easier. Because when I first started, I was very shy, like, I couldn't project very well. But I'm better at projected now.
(sound: direction from Kirby)
The Ikidowin program has been around for decades, a project of the Minneapolis-based  Indigenous People’s Task Force. Curtis Kirby III has directed many of its productions. This one is different because it’s being staged at a real theater. 
we're on our first day at the southern theatre, and we're doing tech, and I think it's just awesome to just be in this position, because hopefully, this won't be so irregular. This is our first time in a real theater, with lights, and, you know, we're actually filming it.So I hope that we have more of these experiences, and that we continue to be able to do this work at this capacity and give other youth opportunities.
Kirby, as everyone calls him, says the inner-city youth he works with don’t have access to extracurricular programs that kids from wealthier families do. Theater, art and sports are often cut when budgets are tight.  Ikidowin is a way to provide some of those opportunities. 
Not only is In My Shoes being performed at a professional theater, it is being filmed so it can have a life online. 16-year-old Nalia Segura is from Leech Lake.
NG: not many people go out because of delta. And like they haven't gotten their vaccine yet. So they don't really go out to places with a lot of people. So as filming it, and like being able to put it on YouTube will allow like more people to see it.
Kirby
These stories affect people where I'm from, Bois Forte.  Youth grew up in those reservations that might not get this education elsewhere, because they're from small towns, and that's not really a focus, or they don't talk about these things.  
All across the state, you know, and, um, you know,youth  as young as fifth gradeare attempting suicide or committing suicide, you know, until it's a very heavy price. But I think, that's what we're here to do. We're here to tell stories to our people, we're here to heal our people.
In My Shoes will be available in September on Ikidowin’s new YouTube channel, 
IkidoFireSema. For MNN I’m LS

MR: This week on Minnesota Native News, a new state judge brings a wealth of Indian Country expertise.  And a new partnership gives Native students a place to practice traditional ways. I'm Marie Rock.

MR: How can a lawyer who works on behalf of tribes make the most impact? Reporter Emma Needham tells us how and why Colette Routel became a judge.

EN: Colette Routel is a professor of law and co-director of the Native American law and sovereignty Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul. Her role is about to change.  The Walz administration just appointed her to be a  judge for the Hennepin County 4th Judicial District. 
CR: 1:25 One of the reasons that drew me to apply for this position is just looking at the unfortunate disparities that exist. In Minnesota, and in particular in Hennepin County.
2:40 I know that native people often get left out in statistical studies, that you don't even realize the disparity exists.
2:19 I thought, this is a way to use kind of my expertise and knowledge, as well as to you know, once you identify a problem, then you can also seek to find a solution to it.

EN: Over the course of her 20 year career, Colette Routel has primarily represented Indian tribes. She has also worked on the bench for the White Earth and Shakopee Tribes. Routel sees this experience as both a benefit and a chance to make change. 
CR: 5:03 I think having the diversity of experience that you have when you're representing tribes doing criminal work doing Child Protection work during, during treaty rights, housing, you know, all of that will assist me when I'm handling a really broad docket of cases in Hennepin County. 
EN: Hennepin County judges handle around 40,000 cases a year, a number that some lawyers might find daunting.  

12:08 But for me, it gives you an opportunity, I think, to make to make an impact.
19:19 No matter how the system is set up, if you have a really good judge, you can make a great impact.
EN: Colette Routel has worked hard to make sure the Mitchell Hamline law degree is accessible to Native people wherever they live. Most of the curriculum is online. 
8:51 our primary emphasis for many years, and I would say that continues, is really to attract, admit and graduate native attorneys who are going to work for their home communities. 
EN: Routel says she hopes one of them might fill HER shoes at Mitchell Hamline.
CR: 20:50 I think my experience kind of shows that it's, you know, how helpful it is to have representation and hopefully there will be many native people appointed to the, to the bench in the next several years.

MR: New funding from the legislature means more teaching AND learning in Afton. Here's Emma Needham again. 
EN: Anishinaabe Academy is not your average Minneapolis Public School. This K-5 Environment provides Anishinaabe and Dakota Programming through the native cultural lens.
LS: my my Winnebago name is Jorge meninga, or do the walks at night. So I am to your clan.
EN:  Laura Sullivan is a member of Ho-Chunk Nation and has been principal of Anishinaabe Academy for about 10 years. The school has both Anishinabe and Daktoa tracks, including language learning.
EN: Anisinaabe Academy already devoted their courtyard to native medicines. This fall thanks to Legislative Funding, Anishinaabe Academy will partner with the Belwin Conservancy. Belwin provides conservation, education, and immersive experiences on 1,500 acres in the Saint Croix Valley. 
LS: And so we start brainstorming, how can we bring our medicines here so our kids could actually harvest our medicine. So sweet grass and sage, more specifically, we do have cedar trees, as well. But how can we have have that be a part of who we are here, and as far as a school and community, um, and so then when we started talking to belwin, and sharing, you know, what our dream was, we were just blown away by their offer of, well, let's write something together so that we can make this happen. 
EN: Principal Sullivan says the partnership will benefit both the students at Anishinaabe Academy, and the scientists at Belwin. 
LS: One of the one of the exciting things is, and I loved it, because Belwin folks right away said, they really want it to be a two way partnership, that they realize that there's lots that they can learn from us.
The gift there is it's not only that learning for themselves, but there's also knowledge that they can share with other folks that come to Belwin. 
EN: Anishinaabe Academy Prinicipal Sullivan says that changes are already happening, and that the school is open to working with other programs and schools. She encourages interested parties to reach out.  
LS: We are we are very much an open door. people ever have any questions we also have not just our website our school website has some stuff but our Facebook anishnaabe Academy Facebook if people want to find out more about who we are that's the place to go. 

This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. This week on Minnesota Native News, we hear about the Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s proposal to reintroduce elk to its reservation and surrounding area in an effort to build the elk population in Minnesota. We speak with the band’s wildlife biologist Mike Schrage for more on the repopulation effort. Here’s reporter Cole Premo. 

In early July, the Fond du Lac Band announced it officially submitted a proposal to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources that seeks to relocate 100 to 150 elk from existing herds in the northwest part of the state.

The elk would then be reintroduced to the Fond du Lac Reservation, located to the west of Duluth. The elk would also be relocated to the Fond du Lac State Forest in Carlton and southern St. Louis counties.

Mike Schrage is the band’s wildlife biologist. He’s worked with the band since 1995, but is not a member of the tribe. 

SCHRAGE:  “There’s a lot less agriculture over on (the northeast) side of the state,” he said. “It’s not row crops such as corn and soybeans, it’s smaller livestock and pasture operations. There’s a lot more forest and a lot more public lands, so we think in years to come there’s a lot more room to have a bigger elk herd on this side of the state.”

Elk, known as “omashkooz” by the Ojibwe people, once had a population in the thousands and a range covering most the state, according to historic estimates, but are now confined to two small herds in northwestern Minnesota.

Band officials say the objective of the proposal is, in part, for elk to “once again play a role in the diet and culture of the region’s native peoples.” That includes a robust elk herd that would provide for future hunting opportunities, for both tribal and nontribal members.

It would also bring back a native species that Schrage says is well-equipped for climate change.

SCHRAGE:  “It’s pretty clear that (climate change) is likely to happen in some fashion and elk are a very versatile, adaptable animal, and would deal well with whatever future climate change comes.”

A lot of work is needed between now and moving the first elk, Schrage said.

SCHRAGE: “We need to step up surveillance for chronic wasting disease both in northwest Minnesota, where elk are, and also here around the Fond du Lac Reservation to make sure the disease is not present. There’s more fundraising that needs to be done, there’s holding facilities that need to be built and management plans that need to be written.”

All of this will involve more public input, Schrage says. The proposal cites feasibility studies that found solid public support from landowners and residents of the area, but there are still concerns. 

In a recent episode of Native Lights: Where Inigenous Shine, we spoke with a Fond du Lac elder and retired wildland firefighter, Vern Northrup, who had concerns about the potential spread of disease. 

55:18 NORTHRUP: “I have mixed feelings about that. Especially with this CWD. I have mixed feelings about taking a herd animal and putting them in another area where they possibly can spread the prion. That worries me. I’m gonna need some assurances from resources or the tribe before I get on board with that.” 

The feasibility studies found that the restoration area has a biological capacity of 287 elk. I asked Mike Schrage about how the elk would be moved.

SCHRAGE: ​​Speaker 1: Literally in a stock trailer, same sort of thing you would put cows in. Um, yeah, other states, uh, Wisconsin, uh, they got elk from Kentucky and, and they basically load them into a stock trailer and drive them up to, to Wisconsin from Kentucky, uh, West Virginia got elk, uh, the same way from, uh, both Kentucky and Arizona. So, uh, even, you know, wild elk, uh, ride very well in, in a, in a stock trailer. Um, the initial catching of elk can be done a couple of different ways. Uh, use a baited corral trap, basically lure elk into a corral with, uh, hay or grain or something. They would find things they want to eat, um, and then shut the door behind them. Um, or you can use a helicopter with a tranquilizer darts or net guns to, uh, to capture them

If the proposal is approved, the band hopes to begin moving the first elk by the winter of 2025.

The Native Lights interview with Vern Northrup will be on MNNativeNews.org in the coming days, check all our shows there. 

I’m Cole Premo. 

OUTRO

Host: This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock, coming up... the podcast Indigenized Connections On Air examines tribal issues and leadership through the lens of economic development and the Counter Stories podcast recently featured an in-depth conversation about Indian boarding schools and their intentional trauma. Here's reporter Leah Lemm with more.

Reporter: The Indigenized Connections On Air podcast series looks at topics that impact tribal communities and leadership around Minnesota.

Jason Schlender (podcast excerpt): Welcome to Indigenized Connections On Air, a podcast brought to you by the University of Minnesota Extension Center for community vitality in the area of leadership and civic engagement and also by the Minnesota Indigenous Leadership Network, which explores the issues that impact tribal communities and leadership throughout Minnesota.

Reporter: Jason Schlender is the American Indian leadership and civic engagement educator for the University of Minnesota Extension in the center for community vitality. And is the host of the podcast.

Jason Schlender: [Ojibwemowin introduction] My name is Jason Schlender. I'm from the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe in Wisconsin, just been really inspired by a lot of the things that have happened in this country politically over the last year and a half. And it's important for us as indigenous people, more so Ojibwe Anishinaabe people to be visible. We are contributing that we are... That we have something to say and something to contribute.

Reporter: The guests and the focus vary though every episode of Indigenized Connections On Air relates to economic development. The monthly podcast got started just as the pandemic hit last year. So Jason spent the first several episodes looking at what native leadership looks like in a crisis.

Jason Schlender: I think it's like six episodes that are focused on tribal leadership and how they're navigating change.

Reporter: For example, in conversation with Dennis Olson Jr., Fond du Lac Band citizen, and commissioner of Minnesota's Office of Higher Education, they talk about the significance of servant leadership and recognizing school inequity is becoming more and more apparent during a pandemic. Jason also spoke with Minnesota's Supreme Court Justice Anne McKeig and tribal leaders, Joe Nayquonabe, Jr., Beth Drost and many more...

Jason Schlender: Just trying to build awareness and I can't emphasize it enough, for me to just make sure that people know that Indigenous people are still here. We're still here. We still contribute a lot to the state, to our tribal communities, to our neighboring communities and we're vital parts of the state, the country and the world.

Reporter: Indigenized Connections On Air podcast can be found on the University of Minnesota Extension school website and on podcasts streams.

Reporter: Next, the Counter Stories podcast is by people of color, for people of color and everyone else. Recently, the podcast took a deep look at Indian boarding schools and the trauma inflicted by them. One of the hosts, Don Eubanks introduces.

Don Eubanks (podcast excerpt): We do have a very welcome guest joining us today. We have Christine McCleave.

Reporter: Christine Diindiisi McCleave is the CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in Minneapolis, with the recent uncovering of lost lives of young ones at boarding schools in the US and Canada, the fact of intentional erasure of culture and language of indigenous people is brought to the surface for all to see.

Reporter: Christine Diindiisi McCleave talks about the story of genocide as being told mainly by those who came to overtake and occupy.

Christine Diindiisi McCleave (podcast excerpt): When we get to issues like unmarked graves from boarding schools that were federally sanctioned and church run or missing and murdered indigenous peoples, all of that goes back to that original story in that original paradigm of how this country was founded.

Reporter: Hear more of this conversation on the full episode of Counter Stories on the Counter Stories podcast stream and ampers.org. More about the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition at boardingschoolhealing.org. For Minnesota Native News, I'm Leah Lemm. 

Host: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.