Minnesota Native News Ampers

This is Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock. This week, Minnesota Lynx draft part Samoan, part Alaska Native Alissa Pili, the Red Lake Nation College opens its new urban site in Minneapolis; and a celebration of Donald Eubanks’ life – an Indigenous-Black community member who, during his life, worked for the State, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians Tribe, Metro State University, among others, and was a founding member of the Counter Stories program. 

This week, the University of Minnesota is considering a new policy for how it conducts research with indigenous communities, the Minnesota Indian Area Agency on Aging plans to establish a new service, the building of an outdoor smudging space at Shakopee High School, and Bemidji State University establishes an online book club for indigenous high school students.

A new bill proposes to transfer state lands encompassing Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. Although this proposal at the legislature is recent, the idea of tribal jurisdiction over the Upper area of Red Lake is a long-standing affair. 

"Misi-zaaga'iganiing" Shoe Design by Adrienne Benjamin of Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Courtesy of Adrienne Benjamin 

This week, the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resources Center (MIWRC) welcomed Ruth Anna Buffalo, the organization's new CEO. (Image: Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center Logo, Credit: MIWRC) 

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s $5 million dollar campaign to indigenize K12 curriculum has ended with some major accomplishments. Three Native educators explain their contributions.