Events: Indian Land Tenure Foundation Presentation; Dakota Language and Scavenger Hunt

Indian Land Tenure Foundation’s Stainbrook to Speak Tuesday

When European colonists came to this land there some 50 million native people. Within less that three centuries their numbers were down to 5 million, and their total land was down from 2.3 billion acres to 56 million. How did this happen? Why don’t Americans know more of this history? What is being done to reverse the injustices of the past?

Come and listen to a presentation titled: “American Indians and their Lands” by Cris Stainbrook, President, Indian Land Tenure Foundation, Tuesday, October 17, 7:00 pm, at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church’s Library, 2136 Carter Avenue, St. Paul. It is being hosted by “The Real American History Book Group” but you do not have to have read any books to attend this event.

For more info granthabbott@gmail.com.     

Mia: Dakhóta Language and Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunt participants will gather first to learn a few Dakhóta words. After that, they will tour the museum looking for works of art that incorporate the Dakhóta words they’ve just learned. Then the group will return to the original meeting spot to review their new words and discuss the artwork they’ve seen.

When: Saturday October 21
Time: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Cost: Free and open to the public of ALL ages
Meeting Place: Meet at the Mia (Minneapolis Institute of Arts) Information Desk area, just across from the Gift Shop, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis

Even though there is no cost, please register ahead so we can plan accordingly. To register contact Tobie Miller: tmiller@artsmia.org or 612-870-3286

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Walz Chooses Flanagan as Lt. Governor Candidate; Dakota 38 Screening in St. Paul; Tar Sands Pipeline Stopped in Canada

News and Events:

DFL candidate for governor Tim Walz picks Peggy Flanagan, state representative from Twin Cities, as running mate. The Star Tribune reports:

The DFL congressman from Mankato [Walz] plans to introduce Flanagan to supporters Saturday at the Minneapolis American Indian Center, the first candidate for governor in 2018 from either party to select a running mate.

Flanagan, 38, is a two-term lawmaker from the western Twin Cities metro with deep roots in DFL activism. If Flanagan becomes lieutenant governor, she would be the state’s first American Indian elected to statewide office, and the highest ranking elected American Indian woman in U.S. history.

Dakota 38 Screening and Dialogue in St. Paul, Free and Open to the Public

On Thursday, October 12, the Center for Equity and Culture of St. Paul Public Schools is hosting a screening and panel discussion of the film, Dakota 38. There will be riders and other members of the Dakota community here to speak on historical trauma and efforts being made to heal – both personally and in community. Panelists include Lisa Bellanger, Vanessa Goodthunder, Winona Goodthunder, Reuben Kitto Stately and Ramona Kitto Stately.

Join us at from 5:30-8:30 this Thursday, October 12 at the CEC, Washington Technology Magnet, 1495 Rice St., St. Paul, MN 55117. The even is free and open to the public.  For more information visit our website at spps.org/cec or call us at 651-744-2635.

TransCanada abandons Energy East, Eastern Mainline projects. The BBC reports that TransCanada has abandoned two major Canadian tar sands crude oil pipeline projects: Energy East Pipeline and Eastern Mainline projects. The story said that these project were an effort to “diversify its reliance on the United States for its energy exports.?

But a number of proposed projects have languished or been cancelled amid a commodity price slump, regulatory hurdles, and public opposition from environmentalist groups and others.

Comment: If the Canadians don’t want a tar sands crude oil pipeline in their backyard, why should Minnesota take the risk?

Media Called Out on Claim Las Vegas Was Deadliest Shooting in U.S. History

The mass media was quick to label the Oct. 1 shooting in Las Vegas the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The alternative media and others have been quick to challenge that claim, noting that it fails to take into account the mass killings of people of color, such as the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 that left 150 to 300 Lakota men, women and children dead.

This is not to diminish the tragedy of what happened on Sunday and the tremendous grief and suffering that the attack caused. But it is important to remember our past and not ignore other significant massacres that have left communities scarred for generations. It is especially important because many of these massacres happened to communities of color; failing to tell their stories, and their sufferings, only reinforces the narrative that their lives do not matter.

Christina Woods, who is Anishinaabe, posted the following image and comment on her Facebook page.

The media claims the Las Vegas shooting was the biggest in our HISTORY. Not true… what kind of citizens forget their own massacres? The kind that practice several form of bias. …

Don’t let the media white wash any of this!

The publication The Root provided examples of the other mass executions that have been ignored. The article was headlined: Las Vegas Is Only the Deadliest Shooting in US History Because They Don’t Count Black Lives.

It recounted several other massacres that tend not to make it into the history books or get remembered in media accounts of shootings and massacres:

“Bombing of Black Wall Street” Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1921

In the early 1900s, blacks in Tulsa had developed a thriving business sector, called Black Wall Street. That success angered white residents, the article said. Tulsans “accused a black man of raping a girl and attacked the area.” The article continued:

While white citizens used dynamite and planes to bomb the city, leaving more than 8,000 people homeless, eyewitness accounts charge that the vast majority of the people killed (estimates range from 80 to 300) died because the city’s law-enforcement officers deputized every able-bodied white man and handed out weapons from the city’s armory.

Free Film Screening: Documentary Explores the Ojibwe Story of the Seven Fires Prophecy

Augsburg Native American Film Screening: NAATE/SE [It shines a certain way. To a certain place/It flies. Falls./]. This experimental documentary by Zack and Adam Khalil explores the Ojibwe story of the Seven Fires Prophecy, which has been interpreted as predicting the arrival of the Europeans in North America and the subsequent destruction they caused. Bold, smart, and unflinching, the film examines the relationship between cultural tradition and modern indigenous identity. Free and open to the public.

When: Wednesday, November 8
Where: Augsburg University, Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall, 715 22nd Ave. S.
Time: Reception 6:15-6:45 p.m. Screening begins at 7 p.m. Discussion with the filmmakers follows.

 

News and Events

Here is a list of upcoming events and news articles you might find of interest.

• Monday, Oct. 9 Indigenous People’s Day events
• Police Militarization Is a Threat to Tribal Sovereignty
• Key Republican revives bill to strip Bureau of Indian Affairs of recognition powers
• Young Adults Are Fighting to Stop the Line 3 Pipeline in Minnesota
• Town Seal of Pioneer Choking Indian Finally Changed

What are the Risks of a Line 3 Tar Sands Crude Oil Spill? Government Analysis Fails to Give Clear Answers

Last in a series of critiques of the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s final environmental impact statement (EIS) on Enbridge Line 3, a proposal to expand and reroute a tar sands crude oil pipeline through northern Minnesota. Commerce is taking public comments on the adequacy of the EIS until 4:30 p.m. Oct. 2. To learn how to submit comments, click here.

People packed the hall in Bemidji to comment on the draft EIS.

For the last installment, let’s look at how the environmental impact statement (EIS) discusses the risks of a major Line 3 pipeline rupture and what impact it would have on recreation areas, clean waters, wild rice areas and Minnesota tribes. That’s covered in Chapter 10 of the EIS where Commerce analyzes spills.

Chapter 10 is highly technical and seems intentionally opaque, failing to provide readers with any kind of a meaningful summary. It does a very poor job of communicating so people can understand what is at stake and effectively engage in the debate.

This is doubling disturbing since the public hearings on the pipeline’s Certificate of Need and Route Plan already are underway around the state.

Historical Society Capitol Art Tour a Good Start, Concerns Remain

Joe Horse Capture led a discussion on Capitol Art in the Cass Gilbert Library, on the Capitol’s third floor.

I attended the second of two Capitol Art Tours launched by the Minnesota Historical Society Friday. It was led by Joe Horse Capture, the Society’s Director of Native American Initiatives. A couple of dozen people attended. I learned some new things. I appreciated the dialogue Horsecapture led. I also left with some concerns about the tour — including whether it would continue.

The hour-long discussion focused on two controversial paintings that once hung in the Governor’s Conference Room, one showing Father Hennepin “discovering” the Falls at St. Anthony, the other a painting of the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851.

I appreciated Horse Capture’s effort to engage people in a conversation around these paintings and whether the paintings should remain in the Capitol. These paintings are offensive to many, notably Dakota people who are inaccurately and offensively portrayed. When these paintings hung in the Governor’s Conference Room, those who found them offensive had no choice but to look at them if they were doing business in the room. Moving the paintings to a low-traffic area allows people to engage them — or not — as they choose.

Senate mural: “The Discoverers and Civilizers Led to the Source of the Mississippi.”

One problem with the “tour” was that it left out the controversial art that remains in place in the Capitol. For instance, it did not include images or discussion of the Senate Chamber’s mural “The Discoverers and Civilizers Led to the Source of the Mississippi”. This painting shows the forced conversion of a Native man and young Native woman, who are surrounded by a priest with a cross, snarling dogs, and the angels of civilization and discovery. This is an affront to our deeply held belief in Freedom of Religion.

Nor did the tour include the House Chambers, which includes the inscription: “The Trail of the Pioneer Bore the Footprints of Liberty.” For Native people, they had a lot more freedom before the pioneers arrived.

Here are a few other learnings and concerns.