Minnesota Native News

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This is Minnesota Native News I’m Marie Rock.

Anishinaabe writer Marcie Rendon has just been awarded the prestigious McKnight Distinguished Artist Award for 2020.

Rendon is a citizen of the White Earth Nation who lives in south Minneapolis. She is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, play write, author and poet.

The McKnight honor comes with 50-thousand dollars.

Reporter Melissa Townsend talked with Rendon about her work and the most recent recognition.

Marcie Rendon says she feels grateful, honored and humbled by the recognition.

RENDON: It was not something that I expected or even knew about - like it was totally not on my radar at all as a possibility.

And it was intended to be a surprise.

RENDON: Laurie Pourier of first People’s Fund had sent me an email asking me if I would do a Zoom meeting about my writing in the coming year. I said sure. So I signed on to the Zoom that day. And there were all the peoplle from the Twin Cities and Laurie and that’s how they told me and that’s when I burst in to tears. [laughter]. (:24)

Rendon is the first Native woman ever to win the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award which was first given in 1996.

She says she sees amazing Native women artists all across the state.

RENDON: And I might have even said it to the people on Zoom is I can think of a 100 other people who deserve this award. You know Laura Youngbird’s work, Wendy Savage, Karen Savage, you know that whole Savage family up in Fond du Lac. Sara Agaton Howes… I mean I could just go on naming names naming names. In arts and even in writing, women tend to always be thought of second - so I think we are the backbone of creativity in this region, in this landscape. (:32)

Rendon says she’s been writing poems and stories since she learned how to write.

In 1978 she moved from White Earth to Minneapolis to get a job to support her children.

The company she worked for went out of business but gave Rendon a year’s pay as severance.

She says that gave her the chance to do the three things she wanted - take care of her kids, sew and write.

She went on to get paid writing assignments for community newspapers and magazines and she landed couple of key writers programs where she was able to get the time and resources to dig in - [the Loft Inroads Writers Award for Natives and the Norcroft women’s writing retreat.]

One of her early mentors was the wonderful Anishinaabe writer Jim Northrop.

Like Northrop, Rendon’s work is primarily focused on Native people in the here and now.

RENDON: One of the things I’ve tried really hard to do in all of the work that I’ve done is to create a mirror. You know growing up there were no Native books where I could go and look and say oh, this is us - this is may family, this is who I am. And so really trying to create things where other Native pole can point and say this is us. (:19)

She points to David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s new crime thriller “Winter Count” and Angeline Boulley’s “Fire Keeper’s Daughter”.

RENDON: They are current day stories that are coming out that are not locked in the past. (:10)

Rendon has just finished a new play and is working on her third novel in the Cash Blackbear mystery series which is set in the Red River Valley.

On September 2nd she’s hosting a Facebook Live event where she’ll read from the second book and do a dramatic reenactment of a scene from the story.

It’s one of the ways Rendon is trying to connect with readers during the pandemic.

Rendon says she is humbled to receive this year’s McKnight Distinguished Artist Award.

RENDON: You know the word distinguished, That is certainly not a word I would use to describe myself or my work. I am always conscious of writing from my heart. (:17)

Perhaps she doesn’t think of herself as distinguished, but she says this does mark a milestone in her life.

RENDON: As a woman, as a writer, as an artist, I have to own what I’ve done and what I continue to do both for myself as an artist and then for the larger community. Holding a place for other native people and women - young people coming up - or even older women, because I’m certainly not young, you know. (:20)

Congratulations Marcie Rendon.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Melissa Townsend.

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

Last month, the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis had a virtual watch party on social media, bringing together viewers to see what community members are saying about sexual health and and related topics, including why it’s difficult to talk about sex. 

We’ll hear more about how the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis works with the community to talk about sexual health.

But first… the US Census is well on its way, collecting information from citizens across the country… And, there’s still time to fill out the Census. 

The U.S. Census Bureau has extended the 2020 census deadline to September 30th due to the pandemic.

Here’s reporter Leah Lemm with these stories.

STORY #1: CENSUS REMINDER WITH IHS DANIEL FRYE

REPORTER: The Indian Health Service is a critical program…. Of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services… providing healthcare to American Indian/Alaskan Natives nationwide. 

The Indian Health Service or I-H-S uses Census data to plan its programs… and to determine funding formulas and more.

But, when it comes to Native representation in the US, the trend has always been under-representation, which has negatively affected many areas including: Native visibility, political clout, reservation economic development…. and Federal funding allocation.

Daniel Frye is the Bemidji Area Director of the Indian Health Service:

Dennis Frye: As a Native American, I want to see us properly represented, that's a fact. So, you know, I was happy to fill out my census. And you know, there is urgency because there's always been either under-representation Racial misclassification in Indian country. 

And all those things are tied to when Congress is looking at how we're going to appropriate dollars.

REPORTER: You can still respond to the census by phone, by mail, or online. More information can be found at 20-20 CENSUS DOT GOV.

Reporter: Next up… the challenge of reaching people with sexual health education.

STORY #2: INDIAN HEALTH BOARD OF MINNEAPOLIS SEXUAL HEALTH AWARENESS

Delilah Robb: (00:16) my name is Delilah Robb. I'm a community health educator at the Indian health board of Minneapolis and the Indian health board is a clinic that's located in the Phillips neighborhood. It's been there for almost 50  years. 

Reporter: Delilah Robb is Turtle Mountain and her works revolve around educating all age groups about sexual health.

Delilah says that many parents and grandparents never received sexual health education.

Delilah Robb: (02:23) there's a long history of reproductive abuse against American Indian women. And that really is rooted from like forced sterilization. Um, so I really try to be mindful about like, let's just educate so our community can make their own informed decision.

(15:03) I’m American Indian myself, um, and growing up, I feel like I didn't have all the answers that I wanted, um, and I needed. Um, and I didn't even realize that I needed that information until I was in my twenties

REPORTER: The sexual health program is funded by the Minnesota Department of Health and  strives to reduce STDs and unplanned pregnancies… and so much more…. Delilah talks about sexuality beyond those immediate issues, as well.

Delilah Robb: (04:57) when I try to describe what sexuality, um, is, is to people, I like people to think about a pie and we all have these different pieces of the pie and our sexuality is made up a lot of different things. 

It's not just the physical aspect of ourselves. It's our, um, reproductive health, it's our body image. It is our sexual orientation. It's our gender identity. It's how we express love and affection. So I always try to like, get people to think about, um, sexuality in a more holistic way.

REPORTER: And through these aspects that are a part sexual health education, Delilah relates to culture and values….

Delilah: (07:52) our stories have, um, lots of are a story can have a lot of different types of lesson in it, lessons in it where it may not specifically be about sexual health, but there may be a lesson in there about treating each other with respect. 

So those are the types of things that I, I would like to incorporate into the education that I do.

REPORTER: Delilah is open to answering questions. She can be reached by email at [email protected]. That’s DELILAH DOT ROBB @ indian health board DOT com.

For MN Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

Headlines
Marie: This week on Minnesota Native News, new leadership at the M-I-W-R-C and plans for  a new shelter in the Phillips neighborhood. 
Story #1 Shelter
Marie: The Coronavirus pandemic has made a lot of problems worse, but one of the biggest is the housing crisis. That’s why the state, the city of Minneapolis, and Hennepin County are partnering with the American Indian Community Development Corporation to build a new shelter. A-I-C-D-C runs another culturally specific shelter, but it’s just for overnights. The new one will be different.
 Mike Goze is the C-E-O of the A-I-C-D-C.
this will be a 24 hour facility. So people will, in fact, almost live there. We're hoping that people will get signed up for 30 days. And so they have a place that they can go to and as this as their apartment or their their home.
People will have to apply to live at the new shelter, and sign up for 30 days at a time.
we're putting in real beds, there'll be a locking wardrobe, and a chair for folks. We also are doing locking foot lockers. So there will be some storage for folks.
The shelter will replace a box factory that’s on the site now. That site is  between  Cedar and Hiawatha Avenues, just south of Franklin. It’s where the large encampment set up last year. The Red Lake Nation is building an affordable apartment building next door to where the new shelter will be.  
for this part of the population, sometimes it's hard to go from homeless to an apartment without any steps in between, you know, and so we look at how we can get people into maybe a harm reduction type living situation, to help them stabilize to get into a position where they can have an apartment and meet all the expectations.
Both developments hope to open later in the fall.
Story #2 M-I-W-R-C
Marie: The Minneapolis Indian Women’s Resource Center has a new leader. Former executive director Patina Park is now director of Tribal State Relations. Reporter Laurie Stern has more about the woman who’s taking her place.
 Marissa Miakonda Cummings is introducing herself in her language, Omaha,
Our language actually is both Algonquin and Souxian.  So we have a long history and tradition of being connected and close to those two communities. So I feel very thankful to be welcomed into the Minneapolis area and what is now called the state of Minnesota.
Miakonda Cummings explains she is the oldest of seven siblings, the matriarch of her family since her parents passed away. She has four children, the youngest will be a senior in high school this fall.
My partner and I also have four little Omaha relatives ages 60 1—in our home.
Cummings is from Sioux City. She went to college at the University of Iowa and for a while, worked for the Omaha Tribe. She helped found the Office of Violence Against Women at the University of South DakotA, and became  the director of Native American Student Services there. 
There was one where students could merge both cultural identity into mainstream Western education. And I felt like that was so important for us to be able to make ribbon skirts and do programming around things that are important to our students culturally, as well as be able to, you know, learn about other things that you learn about in college. So we really had a strong network at the Native American cultural center there.
While at South Dakota, Cummings got her Master’s Degree in Tribal Administration from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. There she learned about nation and community building and about indigenous practices from sustainable food to healing from patriarchy in both the community and from colonialism. Now she can’t wait to put that experience to work. 
I’m really excited to better understand the programming that they're doing. To meet the community. I mean, it's just kind of difficult in this time where normally we would do things around food and community building and interpersonal contact. And right now we kind of have to put that on hold for the safety of our community.
Cummings and her family moved to Minnesota at the beginning of August. She started her new job August 5th. For MNN I’m LS.

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

In the U.S. there are more than 1400 unresolved American Indian and Alaska Native missing person cases… 136 of those cases are in Minnesota. That’s according to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center.

Several top federal officials were in Bloomington, on July 27th to announce the creation of a new office dedicated to solving these cold cases. Minnesota’s office will be the first of seven across the country.

Officials on hand for the announcement included David Bernhardt, who is the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Tara Katuk Sweeney, who is the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, and Ivanka Trump, a Senior Advisor and daughter of the President.

But the announcement was a surprise to Native leaders in MN who have been working tirelessly for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives.

Here’s reporter Leah Lemm with the story.

STORY: MMIW SURPRISE OFFICE FROM THE FEDERAL GOVT

Minnesota has long stood with families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives. Songs, prayers, powwows, events, and marches have brought awareness to the vast and deeply painful reality of what is recognized as an epidemic… all the while supporting and building community.

Minnesota has a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force, lead by strong MN Native Voices, that has been bearing the responsibility for doing this difficult work. Which is why leaders were surprised and concerned when this announcement came:

Tara Sweeney: I want to welcome all of you to the official and long awaited opening of the missing and murdered cold case office here in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Reporter: Tara Sweeney, who is Alaskan Native, is the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

This new Cold Case office grew out of The Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, also known as Operation Lady Justice, which was formed under Executive Order signed in November 2019.

Tara Sweeney: The mandate of operation Lady Justice is to enhance the operation of the criminal justice system and address the legitimate concerns of American Indian and Alaska native communities regarding missing and murdered people.

Reporter: The goal of solving cold cases is widely supported. Yet, what raised alarms was how the administration left out voices from the communities it’s supposed to serve when announcing a Cold Case office in the Twin Cities.

State Representative, and descendant of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Mary Kunesh-Podein is the chair of MN’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's taskforce. She spoke at the rally held near the Bureau of Indian Affairs, expressing concerns about the administration’s sudden actions.

Speaker 1: It was the first time I heard about it. I reached out to other elected officials and other people that were working on our task force and nobody knew anything about it.

We want to work with the federal government, but when the federal government creates these kind of bureaucratic departments without the collaboration, without the voices of the people they are supposed to be protecting that they are investing in. That gives us a question. What is the mission of this department? We cannot find any information anywhere.

Reporter: Rep Mary Kunesh Podein has listed several ways a real difference can be made. Including passing the 2020 Violence Against Women Act.

Mary Kunesh Podein: That is the first thing they need to do, because that provides those extra protections for our women and our children, especially on reservation.

Reporter: Bois Forte Elder Sharon Day was also at the rally.

Sharon Day: It's just really kind of a slap in the face to people who've been doing the work for so long.

Reporter: Sharon and I talked about Ivanka Trump’s speech which stressed that her father’s administration is committed to pushing forward policies empowering tribal communities.

Sharon Day: We know it's not true. He's been trying to push through environmental policies that will hurt us. He's fought to get these pipelines and he’s undone everything that's been done to protect the environment.

Reporter: In my conversation with Sharon Day the red flags keep adding up that show the inconsistency of the administration’s commitment to protecting Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.

Another voice expressing concern is State Representative and Anishinaabekwe, Jamie Becker Finn. She posted this statement to social media.

Rep Jamie Becker Finn: Donald Trump repeatedly uses derogatory slurs and phrases to refer to Native people. And in particular Native women, as early as this spring as administration dragged their feet and getting needed COVID relief funds out to tribal nations.

Donald Trump's decades of hostility towards indigenous people can not be undone with one cheap political stunt.

Reporter: Again, Representative Mary Kunesh Podein:

Mary Kunesh Podein: Once again have been left out of that conversation, we're once again are being told, “we're going to do this for you,” but they are not saying we're going to do this with you. And so at the end, it leads to the question, why are you doing this? And our response to that is that our women are not for show. They're not a photo opportunity.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

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

It’s been over three years since a group of Ball Club youth came together with the support of their community, to build a new park for area kids to play in and for the community to enjoy. 

They’ve worked alongside the Ball Club Local Indian Council… an area group called the Circle of Healing… and a playground project manager.

The park they envisioned, designed, and planned, was set for a grand opening early July but, like many projects during this time, it’s been delayed.

However, the effort to build the park - that centers culture and inclusion - is still going as strong as ever. 

Here’s Leah Lemm with the story.

STORY #1 - BALL CLUB PARK - A PARK WITH HEART

Taylor O’Shea: (00:04) So it started three years ago and we started having these meetings called Circles of Healing meetings, and we just started off with the drawings and what we want to do the park to look like in the main shape, we started looking through catalogs of equipment and putting it and choosing equipment to go in there.

Leah: That was Taylor O’Shea, She and friends Krissalyn Dahl, and Teona Bibeau are 13/14 year-olds who’ve been friends for years and have also shared in helping bring the dream of a new park to life for their community in Ball Club.

These three friends are a part of a community of people who helped brainstorm and design the up and coming Ball Club Park. And three things come to mind when I hear them speak: Community, Culture, and Friendship. 

In early June, work began on the park grounds, and Teona Bibeau and friends were ready to talk.

Teona: (04:36) Well, we just had groundbreaking a few days ago where we blessed the like area that the parks going to go and just for like a smooth, like put together and everything and now it's happening and they got the cement down and we got the equipment. So I'm very excited.

Leah: They all agree the old park needed to go. Krissalyn Dahl tells me why:

Krissalyn: (02:03) So there was three really old pieces of equipment. The park wasn't fun growing up because it could be really fun if you had the right imagination. (02:20) There was like graffiti on it and stuff like that. There was a broken swing.

Leah: And when I ask about what makes the new one special, there’s not much focus on the newness, but instead the meaning behind it.

Krissalyn: (02:41) we want to put a lot of Ojibwe into the park, like the language itself, just so like kids can learn while they're playing because like we're having fun, but at the same time you want to teach them about their culture.

Leah: And culture is foundational and is represented in the design. Artist Wesley May, citizen of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, has been working with the youth to create meaningful imagery, including a seven teachings mural.

Another touchstone to the park is that when you look at the park from above the whole layout takes the shape of a Mikinaak, or “turtle.” 

Krissalyn: (01:41) So a lot of the things that we chose had a certain significance to our culture. So for example, the park is actually in the shape of a turtle, which in our culture means like represents wisdom and in a certain story, uh, the turtle actually sacrifices himself so that the earth can rest upon his back. So it's kind of like symbolizing that in a way. 

Leah: Included in the park is playground equipment, a basketball court, picnic pavilion, fire pit and chill spot. But one aspect sticks out.

Teona Bibeau: (04:25) I think one thing that really like it makes me happy about the park is that it's accessible for Taylor, because Taylor is one of my best friends. I think it’s awesome. 

Leah: While talking to the group, I can hear that their friendship is part of what helped design the park. They’ve been determined to make sure the park is built for everyone. So while adding items to the list, they’ve made sure the picnic tables, pathways, and playground equipment are accessible. Here, again, is Taylor O’Shea:

Taylor (01:04) So I'm in a wheelchair and they're going to have it's something called a We-Go_Round and it's like a Merry-Go-Round, but you can pull your wheelchair up on it and then you just park your wheelchair and you can go around on the wheel, go around. And instead of like wood chips or sand, we're going to have like squishy kind of terrain. So you don't get stuck. So yeah, it's for all abilities and ages and it's going to be really exciting.

Leah: When everyone can have fun, it just makes it more fun for all.

Taylor (00:48) It's special to me for you much. Cause like the accessibility and I'll be able to go on it with my little cousins if I'm watching them and my little cousins and Krissalyn and Teona. And so it'll just be a really great experience. 

Reporter: Photos and updates can be found on the group's fundraising site: Give Mn DOT org SLASH A Park for Ball Club. For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

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

Migizi Communications, a longstanding Native organization that supports and empowers Youth, lost its new building to fires that destroyed it and many others during the unrest following the murder of George Floyd.

Here’s reporter Leah Lemm speaking to Kelly Drummer, the President of Migizi Communications, about what occurred after Memorial Day and what has happened in the month since.

STORY #1:

INTERVIEW

Leah Lemm: Memorial Day and George Floyd's murder, a terrible event in Minneapolis, and then the resulting protests and lots of destruction that happened. Can you talk a little bit about what was happening at MIGIZI during that timeframe?

Kelly Drummer: Wednesday night, the second night, my husband and I went down at about nine o'clock. There was just more and more destruction happening. We were blessed because that night our building was untouched. Every other business had been broken into. Then on Thursday morning, we had a staff meeting and I suggested that we hire AIM Security, [American Indian Movement] Security.

Kelly Drummer: When the police withdrew from the third precinct, it became just very destructive and I just want to state, I really understand that hurt and anger that was happening in our community. I always feel like out of anger and hurt, sometimes comes destruction. AIM Patrol left at about 12:30, 01:00 in the morning when the liquor store was burning and there was news that the gas lines were going to break. But my husband and my daughter and I ended up staying, ended up seeing the post office on fire and all of the buildings on our street on fire. It was a matter of time when we started seeing cinders falling on our roof and so we left. And then I went back at 05:00 in the morning, about 05:30 in the morning, the State Troopers were there and our building was burning.

Leah Lemm: That's got to be so hard. Can you talk a little bit about what was going through your mind at that point?

Kelly Drummer: You could just feel the frustration, the anger, the hurt that was happening. And it was a very scary experience. I called 911 at about 02:00 in the morning when the post office was on fire, they finally answered and they said they would see what they could do. And I just felt like our systems and everything had failed everybody.

Leah Lemm: Yeah. So I heard, even though so much was destroyed at MIGIZI, the fight with the fire and the sprinkler system going off, even through that, that the medicines you had at MIGIZI were spared?

Kelly Drummer: A huge paper-mache Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman. She was standing in the front and behind was a bookshelf with various pottery and some of the medicines and birch bark baskets. And behind the woman, everything was dry. My mom was there and she was like, "Oh my goodness. Even the matches were dry." You could have just smudged right there. It was pretty amazing.

Leah Lemm: So what has happened since Kelly? Lots, right?

Kelly Drummer: Lots. Lots of interviews, lots of donations. We've raised about 1.2 million. What's really interesting is that donations have come in from all around the country. I would say about 60% of the donations are from other states and other communities. I think it really brought awareness to our native youth and what we provide, but also the need for MIGIZI and what we do. But all these volunteers came out the next day after the fire, cleaned out the building. I think that everybody in the community really felt strongly that they wanted to help.

Kelly Drummer: The first week we spent the time healing. I think that was real closure for me personally, but also for our youth in the community. And the staff have come together, we move quickly, we're still having our programs. It's kind of like little baby steps, day by day.

Leah Lemm: So, Kelly, what does rebuilding look like for MIGIZI?

Kelly Drummer: We have a rebuild committee of our board and we're looking for space in the area to rent, then focusing on what does it look like to rebuild? But we're holding strong together. One of the things that we're doing, we started it last week, is we're putting together medicine bags and kits and a letter to all of our youth that we serve. And we're delivering them to their homes. We have the four medicines and a gift card and a little letter in there, letting them know we're still here.

Leah Lemm: Do you have any other reflections from this last month?

Kelly Drummer: Out of all of this that's happened to MIGIZI and our community, I think that it was needed in order to create the change and to create the visibility of the injustice in our world. If you can come out on the other side, things can only get better. We are blessed with all these people that have come forward and are supporting us.

INTERVIEW DONE

Leah: For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

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HOST INTRO: Conversations about changing policing and public safety continue around the state. Today reporter Melissa Townsend talks with one of the people who took public safety into their own hands during the protests and violence in Minneapolis after George Floyd was killed by police there. 

Mike Gozee’s office is on Franklin Avenue in South Minneapolis about 10 blocks from where dozens of buildings on Lake Street went up in flames. He is Ho Chunk, and Executive Director of the American Indian Community Development Corporation. His organization owns a number of other properties on and around Franklin Avenue. He says that’s part of why he stood his ground; he knew police attention would be on Lake Street. 

GOZE: I knew the focus would be there.  There would be nobody who would spend much time - they hardly spend much time here regularly - and then in the case of the unrest 10 blocks south, we’d really be in a world of hurt. and and and…

I went to Maria’s Cafe and I saw Maria and she’s been there at Ancient Trader’s Market which is one of the buildings we own - since it opened.  And I talked with her and she said, Mike, I want to show you I redid my whole restaurant: new carpeting, new ceilings, new countertops, redid the bathrooms and she said I spent all my money and I can’t lose this.  That’s when I really decided we really didn’t have anybody that would BE looking at our holdings better than we can. 

So on May 28th, he put a call out on Facebook saying “protect Franklin Avenue” and he 50-60 people from around the region show up at the parking lot at pow wow grounds…

GOZE: And so we always had a number of people there so we could be deployed to wherever people needed us. (:06)

He says for 9 days they were all running on Adrenalyn. Exhausted, but alert they patrolled 14 properties they wanted to protect.

REPORTER: I don’t know how you feel about talking about fear but is there any point you were afraid? 

GOZE: Oh, we were at DIW… 

D-I-W is the non-profit division of indian work in south Minneapolis. 

GOZE: We had about 6 people there and they called and said hey, we are outnumbered here, we need people and so we deployed about 40 people there. and so all of a sudden there were 40 of us in the parking lot and that’s when they started US Bank building on fire.  And then the smoke got so thick that I was handing out masks - everybody had 2 masks on to help us from the smoke and - then there was gun fire. It was literally from a war zone and cars driving up and down the street at high rates of speed. But we stayed there until it became unsafe. Some people stayed there longer because then the movement went down the street and … the danger dissipated a little bit. 

REPORTER: So 40 people show up at the parking lot and what do you do - stand there? Does that somehow have an impact?

GOZE: We are present, several of us were armed - you know.  And you know there was a little bit of a respect from even the looters about Indian land and the fact that we were there.  Several people said - hey, you’re protecting your land, good for you.  So that was - I think  - that being present helped. no doubt about it.  

Goze says he saw evidence of organized white supremacist groups and also opportunists of all backgrounds taking advantage of the chaos.  

GOZE: Some people were there just to party.  There were girls dancing. They broke into the liquor store, everybody had their beer and they were dancing in the street. Whenever there is an opportunity and people are opportunists, they will take it.  

Mike Goze was working in association with AIM which of course started in the 1960’s as an act of resistance over police brutality of Native people. He says policing still needs to change. 

GOZE: I believe in the community input into the police, I believe that’s important.  I also believe the ills of the people in the street are varied and not everybody is a criminal. And if you look at mental health and … trauma related issues. And if the only way you’re looking at people is through a  criminal lens, it doesn’t serve the needs fo the people you may come into contact with. 

Goze says, this is a matter of redistributing resources.

GOZE: You have to understand the lack in investment over a decade plus, so we have to look at how resources have to be better aligned to address those critical needs. 

 ...So there is greater investment in the housing and services people need to be healthy and out of harm’s way. That’s harm from the police or anyone else.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Melissa Townsend.