Upcoming events, details below:
- Dakota History Walk, Friday, May 10
- Indigenous Women’s March, May 11
- East Side Study Collective: Discussion on Settler Colonialism and Decoloniality, Wednesday, May 15
- Environmental Ancestry Storytelling, Thursday, May 16
- Indigenous-Led Native Plants Walk, Friday, May 17
- Dakota Sacred Sites Tour, Saturday, June 1
- Bde Maka Ska Public Art Dedication, Saturday, June 8
Dakota History Walk
The Lower Phalen Creek Project will host a Dakota History Walk tomorrow, Friday, May 10, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, 265 Commercial Street, just east of downtown Saint Paul. Dakota community members will lead a walk through the sanctuary and discuss the history and significance of the area.
Indigenous Women’s March
The March begins with a gathering at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 11, at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, 2300 15th Ave. S., Minneapolis. A blessing and prayer starts around 11 a.m. and the group will march to the Minneapolis American Indian Center around noon, arriving in time for the Pow Wow Grand Entry.
Hosted by Jenny Borgo and Jase Roe, the Indigenous Women’s March has come together to empower all survivors of oppression and violence and create a place to show their strength and solidarity. Speakers will include Linda Eagle Speaker, Sharyl WhiteHawk, Star Ishkode Downwind, Reva DNova, Cheryl Goodwin, along with a Little Earth youth.
Please bring your hand drum, wear red/yellow, and come to support and encourage each other.
East Side Study Collective: Discussion on Settler Colonialism and Decoloniality
The first in a six-week study session on settler colonialism will be held at the East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St., St. Paul, on Wednesday, May 15 from 3-5 p.m.
These study sessions are inspired by the Freedom School and experimental college movements. The East Side Study Collective “seeks to push beyond the walls of the academy to provide intellectual space for local community members, activists, and scholars, and to foster rigorous inquiry, the free exchange of ideas, and collective knowledge production.
Click for the reading list to prepare for the conversation: East Side Study Collective.
Environmental Ancestry Storytelling
You are invited to a special evening of storytelling featuring cultural artists Ifrah Mansour and Louis Alemayehu, on Thursday, May 16, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Hook at Ladder Theater and Lounge, 3010 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis. The event will include live music and stories from community members. All are welcome to this free gathering, modeled after live storytelling initiatives such as The Moth.
Participants will listen to narratives from the heart of our community – stories that may help us learn something more about ourselves as well our neighbors. Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light is sponsoring the event.
Louis Alemayehu is a multicultural elder born in Chicago of African and Native heritage, who developed his poetic skills and musical sensibilities as a part of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s. He believes that poetry is a tool for healing; his performances are lyrical twinnings of jazz, chant, poetry and song with art-as-ritual, often performed ceremonially.
Ifrah Mansour is a Somali, refugee, Muslim, multimedia artist and an educator residing in Minnesota. Her artwork explores trauma through the eyes of children to uncover the resiliencies of blacks, Muslims, and refugees. She interweaves poetry, puppetry, films, and installations.
More details at the Facebook Event Page.
Native Plants Walk
On Friday, May 17, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., native plants and wild foods expert Hope Flanagan (Seneca) will lead a walk through the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, discussing the diverse plants in the park and the plants many uses from an indigenous perspective. The event is sponsored by the Lower Phalen Creek Project and will be held at the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, 265 Commercial Street, just east of downtown Saint Paul.
Sacred Sites Tours
Healing Minnesota Stories Dakota Sacred Sites Tours will begin Saturday, June 1, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (by which time we hope the Minnesota River will have receded and the sacred sites will again be accessible.) Jim Bear Jacobs (Mohican) and Bob Klanderud (Dakota/Lakota). lead the tours, which have proven to be informative and transformational for participants. There is no charge for registration. However, a collection will be taken at the conclusion of the tour, and participants are asked to consider a donation in the range of $40-$75 per person. To register, please email the Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs, the Minnesota Council of Churches director of racial justice, here.
Bde Maka Ska Public Art Dedication
While the debate roils over restoring the name Bde Maka Ska to Lake Calhoun, a Bde Maka Ska public art dedication is scheduled for Saturday, June 8, 10:30 a.m. – noon, on the lake’s southeast shore near Richfield Road.
According to the Facebook Event Page:
Join us in celebrating the completion of a new gathering place and public artworks that honor Mahpiya Wicasta and Heyata Otunwe by Mona Smith, Sandy Spieler and Angela Two Stars. Festivities include music, comments from descendants and the artists, refreshments and activities for the whole family. Event will take place rain or shine
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