In this blog:
- Red Lake Nation Key to Relocating the Growing Homeless Encampment Along Hiawatha
- Native American candidates on the rise nationally
- Tribal Nations leading on sustainability work
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News
Bde Maka Ska Dedication, Mayo Clinic Apologizes for 1862 Grave Robbing, Indigenous Food Tasting, and Other News
Inbox is full with news and events:
- Dedication for restoring the name Bde Maka Ska set for Saturday.
- Belated Apology: In 1862, Dr. William Mayo stole the remains of Cut Nose, one of the 38 Dakota men hung in Mankato following the U.S. Dakota War. One hundred and fifty six year’s later, the Mayo Clinic apologizes.
- Indigenous Food Tasting Oct. 8
- Mindful direct action training set at Common Ground Meditation Center Saturday.
- Water protectors face felony trespass charges as they try to stop DAPL in Louisiana, an example of how states are trying to stifle protest with stiffer penalties.
Details below.
New BIA Head Tries to Terminate the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, a Warning Sign to All Native Nations
Few non-Indian people probably know about the “Termination Era” of the 1940s-1960s, when federal policy tried to terminate Native nations’ sovereign rights and their reservations, and force indigenous peoples to move to the cities and assimilate to Main Stream America.
The Trump Administration is trying to revive that effort, according to a news report in IndianZ.com, targeting the “Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, whose homelands in Massachusetts are now on the chopping block,” the story says.
And its raising an alarm across Indian Country.
Fond du Lac OK’s Line 3 Crossing its Lands; Commerce Continues Criticism of Enbridge’s Liability Insurance
Two new filings came into the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) today. One, a joint letter by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Enbridge Energy, announced they had reached agreement to allow the new Line 3 to cross the Fond du Lac reservation. In the letter, Fond du Lac also agrees not to oppose the pipeline. In the other filing, the Minnesota Department of Commerce reiterated its concerns that Enbridge has inadequate insurance coverage to pay for a major spill cleanup.
In other news, a federal court dealt a significant set back to the Kinder Morgan tar sands crude oil pipeline.
Youth Climate Intervenor Rose Whipple Wins Brower Youth Award
Rose Whipple (Isanti Dakota/Ho-Chunk) received one of six Brower Youth Awards given out this year throughout North America. The award recognizes outstanding youth leaders who are making strides in the environmental movement.
Whipple, who lives in St. Paul, is one of 13 Youth Climate Intervenors who have been working to stop the Enbridge Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline through northern Minnesota.
According to the announcement:
Whipple has been speaking at high schools and colleges, as well as organizing local events to raise awareness of how the pipeline would harm the Great Lakes, rivers, treaty territories, and sacred Ojibwe sites, and fuel further climate change. …
Whipple’s activism also extends beyond opposing Line 3. She has been actively involved in other intersectional issues, including the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock and raising awareness about the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women in North America.
Click here for more information on the Brower Youth Awards.
Congratulations Rose!
Climate Change Threatens Wild Rice and Other News and Events
Forwarding a couple of recent stories and upcoming events:
- Climate change threatens wild rice
- Man shot by St. Paul police identified as White Earth member, vigil held
- Decade of Water Summit Wednesday-Thursday
- Third Annual National Native American Ten Minute Play Festival, Wednesday to Sunday
Healing Minnesota Stories Gets Star Tribune Attention
A quick shout out about a Star Tribune article: American Indian storytelling project unearths past to educate, heal, that highlights Healing Minnesota Stories transition to the Minnesota Council of Churches. The story features our friend, Bob Klanderud, a man who doesn’t seek the spotlight but deserves our love and thanks for all the work he does.
Here’s a snipet:
Wind rustled through wildflowers as Bob Klanderud pointed down the Mississippi River valley from atop Pilot Knob Hill in Mendota Heights.
He could see the distant skyscrapers of Minneapolis and St. Paul. But he was imagining its first metropolis — villages of animal hide teepees dotting the banks.
Over many years, settlement and war annihilated such images. For Klanderud and others indigenous to the area, the wounds are still fresh. …
Telling the stories is difficult but necessary for Klanderud.
“When we stand with a live heart of Dakota descendancy and use our sacred voices with our holy words, it takes a new dimension and the healing can come,” he said. “Not for the person telling, but for all the people.”
Click on the link for the full story.
