In this blog:
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Corondelet have issued a powerful Statement of Solidarity with the Native Peoples of Standing Rock.
The Order includes 1,102 vowed sisters worldwide. The statement expresses their commitment “to stand in solidarity with our Native American sisters and brothers, especially of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.” Issued Nov. 30, it continues: “We stand with the community of Standing Rock … in their opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline and their peaceful efforts to protect their water and sovereignty.”
A number of Protestant denominations have issued such statements. (They are archived on our page on the Dakota Access Pipeline.) This is the first statement we have seen from a Catholic order.
On Monday, Energy Transfer Partners again started work on the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. It followed a Sunday ruling by a federal court judge that allowed construction to resume. The work began in spite of a federal request for a voluntarily pause in construction, according to a story in Minnesota Pubic Radio.
The renewed work triggered peaceful civil disobedience and 27 arrests of those trying to protect the land and water. Anna Lee, Bobbi Jean and the Oceti Sakowin Youth who are working to stop the pipeline posted an update with a video of the arrest for criminal trespass of Hollywood star Shailene Woodley (it’s long, look around the 1 hour, 59 minute mark). The video has stunning images of the militarized response, with helicopters, armored trucks, and heavily armed men in camouflage.
MRP reported today that Bernie Sanders and four other Democratic U.S. Senators asked President Obama to intervene and stop the project until a complete environmental review can be done. Energy Transfer Partners plans to finish the project by the end of the year. Continue reading
With the presidential election getting ever closer, time to look at efforts to restrict the voting rights of Native Americans and other people of color.
North Dakota had the strictest voter ID law in the country, according to the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). In order to vote, the law required North Dakota residents to show one of four types of IDs. According to a NARF media release:
On August 1, 2016, a federal district court enjoined North Dakota’s strict voter ID law and ruled that voters unable to obtain the necessary identification may vote in the upcoming election by completing a declaration or affidavit. The court agreed with the seven Native American voters that the new law disproportionately burdens Native Americans and denies qualified voters the right to vote.
All My Relations Gallery, 1414 East Franklin, and Two Rivers Gallery, 1530 East Franklin, had an immensely successful art opening on Friday for their new joint exhibit: ReFrame Minnesota: Art Beyond a Single Story. I’d guess there were at least 100 guests. Thank you to everyone who came. Thank you especially to Taylor Payer, assistant curator at All My Relations Gallery, and Maggie Thompson at Two Rivers Gallery who invited Healing Minnesota Stories to Participate..
All My Relations features work by professional artists and Two Rivers Gallery has student art that is part of Healing Minnesota Stories traveling art exhibit. Both galleries offer an alternative narrative to the current stories of Manifest Destiny told by the historic art in the Minnesota State Capitol. It is important for lawmakers to have a counter narrative in the art they see every day.
Consider the top painting in the photo to the right. It shows a tree with beautiful lilac-colored leaves flying off in the wind. It is the work of Pahoua Lee, an eighth-grade student at the American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul. Here is her artist statement:
This painting represents you and your fear. You are the tree and your fears are the leaves. You have to let your fears go. If you keep holding them, you might not learn anything. Keeping your fears are worse than letting them go. When you let your fears go you would feel more FREE, you won’t have to fear anything.
Now that would be a powerful painting and statement to hang in the Capitol!
If you missed the opening, there is still plenty of time to visit. The hours at All My Relations Gallery are: Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (While you are there, get a hot cup of coffee from Pow Wow Grounds Coffee, which shares the building with the gallery.) The hours at Two Rivers Gallery are Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Both galleries are free and open to the public.
For more pictures from the opening, click here. For more on the controversy surrounding art in the Minnesota State Capitol, see Healing Minnesota Stories webpage and blog.
Just a reminder that there is a great art show opening tonight: “ReFrame Minnesota: Art Beyond a Single Story.” A reception will be held from 6-8 p.m. at neighboring galleries, All My Relations Gallery, 1414 East Franklin Ave., and Two Rivers Gallery, 1530 East Franklin Avenue. The organizers were kind enough to include pieces from Healing Minnesota Stories traveling student art exhibit in the show.
Here is the announcement:
Reframe Minnesota, a group exhibition shown across two art galleries along the American Indian Cultural Corridor, uses a range of visual mediums to explore the future of public art at the Minnesota State Capitol. It features original works from 12 Minnesotan artists as well as student artwork from [Minnesota] schools.
In light of the ongoing State Capitol renovations and the discussions of its art Reframe Minnesota shares the diverse Minnesota stories that are too often unheard. Local artists, including painters, printmakers, photographers, and sculptors, respond to the Capitol artwork, its depictions of Native Americans, and its lack of representation for other communities of color.
Hope to see you there! (If you can’t make it, the show will run through Sept. 16.)
Mark your calendars for Friday, June 24, 6-8 p.m. for the new gallery show: Reframe Minnesota: Art Beyond a Single Story. It will be a joint show by neighboring galleries: All My Relations Gallery, 1414 East Franklin Ave.,and Two Rivers Gallery, 1530 East Franklin Ave.
The shows explore the future of public art at the Minnesota State Capitol. It features original works from 12 Minnesotan artists as well as student artwork from schools across the state. According to the announcement:
In light of the ongoing State Capitol renovations and the discussions of its art Reframe Minnesota shares the diverse Minnesota stories that are too often unheard. Local artists, including painters, printmakers, photographers, and sculptors, respond to the Capitol artwork, its depictions of Native Americans, and its lack of representation for other communities of color.
Healing Minnesota Stories is very grateful to the exhibit organizers for including us in this project. For several years, we have been working to raise public awareness of the racist art in the Minnesota State Capitol, such as “The Discoverers and Civilizers Led to the Source of the Mississippi” in the Senate Chambers (shown at right). We have been making presentations to religious and civic groups and school classrooms. Continue reading
Shelly Buck, president of the Prairie Island Indian Community, has come out with a strongly worded statement about what should happen with the racist art in the state Capitol. In a March 16 opinion piece in the Star Tribune, the headline says it all: Minnesotans, it’s time to move offensive art out of the people’s house.
The article was written with support from the Lower Sioux Indian Community, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, the Upper Sioux Community and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Buck’s letter came in response to the anemic initial recommendations put forward by the Art Subcommittee of the Minnesota State Capitol Preservation Commission. Continue reading
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