MN Native News: Fond Du Lac Band Requiring Permits For Land Access & White Earth Nation’s Marvin Manypenny’s Death

MN Native News: Fond Du Lac Requiring Permits For Land Access & White Earth Nation’s Marvin Manypenny’s Death

MARIE: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. This week on Minnesota Native News, we hear from the Fond Du Lac Band Of Lake Superior Chippewa on a new policy requiring permits for non-band members to access land. We also note the passing of a indigenous land rights and sovereignty activist from White Earth Nation, Marvin Manypenny.

First, here’s reporter Cole Premo with more on Fond Du Lac’s new land permit policy and why it was a needed change.

Fond Du Lac

In northeastern Minnesota, the Fond Du Lac Band is making a change.

A new policy, enacted in late January, will now require non-band members to buy permits to access tribal land.

It’s part of the Fond Du Lac Band’s effort to manage and conserve its resources more effectively.

I talked with Rita Aspinwall, the communications director for Fond Du Lac Band, for more on the policy change and why it was done.

RITA: [0:28] “So this change has been a community discussion for years and primarily driving this change is complaints for the band members about space use conflicts, uh, during hunting, illegal dumping, um, unregulated ATV usage and just a general desire by the band to understand the amount of use by non-members.”

The change was approved by Fond du Lac's Reservation Business Committee last April, but is now being implemented.

Over the upcoming months, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will begin posting all Band-owned lands with signs reading “No Trespassing – Fond Du Lac Band Permit required.”

Aspinwall explained the permit process.

RITA: [1:56] “So access permits, um, are required for any access to the lands as described in the policy. And if you need to review the policy, you can visit www.fdlrez.com. And our policy is, um, showcased on there. Uh, the primary exceptions to this are public spaces like our community centers, our powwow grounds, health clinics and businesses. Um, our law enforcement contractors or employees accessing the lands for official business or their scope of work, uh, do not require to possess a permit.”

The band also says that the policy doesn’t affect outdoor activity, like hunting, fishing and trapping on the reservation. Those activities are governed by other laws, like the band’s conservation code or state hunting laws.

Rita Aspinwall says the policy will take some time to implement and for people to understand it, and the band realizes that.

RITA: [1:56] “we will be doing some public outreach. The media, uh, posting information online as well as posting the signage on our lands and the learning period is kind of, uh, to provide some leniency to the individuals initially with their interactions with, uh, enforcement staff as we acknowledge, like change is always difficult efforts because it's a change. And so this is kind of just like that learning era. And, um, we can, we expect that after a few seasons, um, this won't be a surprise to anyone or that's, that's our hope for the matter.”

So, far, Rita says she’s seen a positive response from band members on the change.

RITA: [2:43] “Band membership is largely in favor of the change so far. Uh, we always expect that they will, there'll be, uh, some individuals outside of the reservation that might feel differently, but our Homeland is all that we have and it's important to us and it isn't public land. So when we signed a treaty in 1854 seeding the entire air had region of Minnesota to the United States, the 100,000 acre of fond du Lac reservation is the only part of that territory we retained for ourselves. And even, even the a hundred thousand acre Fondulac has been diminished, diminished by congregational action and other means over the years down to the acreage we are regulating now.”

Basically, the policy affects about 40,000 acres of land on the reservation.

The Fond Du Lac Band’s resource management staff is now issuing monthly and annual permits to the general public for access to tribal land at the cost of $25 for a monthly permit or $100 for a one-year permit.

Permits for the general public

As stated before, there are several exceptions to the policy, so check Fond Du Lac Band’s website for the full policy.

Marvin Manypenny

In other news, Marvin Manypenny, a White Earth Nation activist called a “champion of the people” has died at 72 years old.

Manypenny, who is the father of now Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, is remembered as an activist and advocate for native people who had no voice, and was critical of both tribal government and the U.S. government.

In a recent Twitter post, Flanagan said quote: “My dad was a force. I was honored to be his daughter. We’ll do our best to carry on his good work for The People. I miss him terribly and will love him always.” Unquote.

OR?

Flanagan called her father “a force” in a recent Twitter post. She also said she was honored to be his daughter and that QUOTE “we’ll do our best to carry on his good work for the people.” UNQUOTE

I’m Cole Premo, reporting from Minneapolis.

OUTRO

MN Native News: Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s State of the Band Address

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock.

Headlines: The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe held its annual 2020 State of the Band address in mid-January.

Here’s reporter Leah Lemm with the story.

STORY #1 - MILLE LACS BAND OF OJIBWE STATE OF THE BAND ADDRESS

More than 1200 band members and local and state leaders came together to share a meal and to hear Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin speak. Several others took the stage to says prayers and welcome the audience.

In attendance was Governor Tim Walz, who spoke about the partnership between the tribe and the MN executive office.

GOVERNOR WALZ:(01:55) When we tried to find that commonality and seeing some young people here, it's the idea that every single one of our children, black, white, Brown, or indigenous, should get the same opportunity to succeed, the same education, the same access to healthcare and the same quality of life that allows them.

(03:16) It's important for us to recognize those historical injustices so that we can start to talk about the things we do together.

And it's one of the reasons that one of the very first actions Lieutenant governor Flanagan and myself took was consultation with all 11 of our sovereign tribal nations.

Not talking to, are not talking at, but consultation with to understand where things need to go.

REPORTER: Governor Walz talked about continued relationship building through the Governors Executive Order 19-24, which he signed after taking office in 2019.

The order solidifies government to government relations between the State and tribes.

And it requires all state agencies to designate Tribal Liaisons in order to uphold government to government conversations.

WALZ: (03:45) 19-24 strives to keep our past promises and recognizes the unique status of self determination of sovereignty, of self governments and the right to exist and relationships on an expectation of government to government as equals is what 19-24 does.

And what comes out of that is it asks all of our state agencies before they take any action to have tribal consultation.

REPORTER: Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin announced the tribal liaison position for the MN Department of Natural Resources.

CHEIF EXECUTIVE MELANIE BENJAMIN: In a major development for Minnesota tribes, and especially for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, it is my honor to announce to you, that Bradley Harrington Junior has just accepted the offer to serve as the new Tribal Liaison for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

He will soon begin advising the State DNR. His new supervisor commissioner Sara Strommen was going to be here today but her plane couldn’t make it this far, so I’ll talk to the Governor.

It will be a privilege for the State to have Brad working with you! Please make sure he’s treated well, or I will be coming down there to bring him back!

REPORTER: Bradley Harrington was previously the Commissioner for the tribe’s Department of Natural Resources.

At the beginning of her speech, Melanie Benjamin began with thanks and remembrance of our ancestors.

She spoke of the importance of the drum, as a connection to the Anishinaabe spirit.

And with this, Melanie emphasized how the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is continuing to work on being good ancestors in many ways including upholding rights to home lands, developing a tribal farm, and a new Ojibwe language program.

CHEIF EXECUTIVE MELANIE BENJAMIN: Wiping out our language was a strategy of the colonizers to assimilate us into American culture. But we now have a plan to preserve and teach our language forever.

The Band has achieved federal approval through Aanjibimaadizing Program to create an exciting Ojibwe language teaching system, which is creating jobs for Band Members.

When people would talk about how we are losing our language, Jim Clark used to say, “you can’t lose something that you are giving up.” Through this program, we are going to get it back … and give it to our Band Members again.

Chief Executive Art Gahbow’s goal was to one day have Ojibwe spoken throughout the government center and in meetings. With this new project, we might reach that goal some day. Future Band Members will be able to learn our language, and our ceremonies can continue forever.

This is how we will be good ancestors.

REPORTER: For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

MN Native News: Company Gears Up to Provide Produce Year Round

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock.

Headlines: This week… an up and coming company builds its innovative business for the benefit of their community’s health… and beyond.

Here’s reporter Leah Lemm with the story.

STORY #1 - HARVEST NATION INC.

REPORTER: I drive out to the Lake Vermillion Reservation where the company Harvest Nation Inc. calls home. The company is owned by four Anishinabee women, all family in fact, and they are working on providing healthy food to their communities. But in a new way… Harvest Nation is using aeroponics to grow food.

If you don’t know what aeroponics means… stay with me… we’ll get an explanation… but first let me introduce Denise Pieratos… the primary founder of Harvest Nation. She and her team have lots of technical knowledge and are creating a new approach to growing food… that better fits their needs.

Speaker 1: (00:04)
I'm Denise Pieratos. I'm the CEO of harvest nation.

Speaker 1: (06:06)
we're going to have a, um, energy crisis is just a matter of time when, and I thought, well, we don't have any, we don't grow food anymore. You know, we don't have food up here that we could grow. You know, we, we're, we're at the end of the food pipeline anyway. Most of our, our, um, fruits and vegetables are, you know, have the least shelf life because we're the last place where

Speaker 1: (06:40)
everything's transported and so, and everything doesn't have any nutritional value. You know, head of iceberg [inaudible] is nothing, you know. So I started doing research on first I was gonna just build it in the backyard. And then I thought, no, I want it longer to last longer.

Reporter: Energy demands, lack of access to healthy food, and a climate that’s not very friendly to year-round gardening prompted Denise to spend years researching highly nutritious food to grow and… how to grow them. And she landed on….

Speaker 1: (09:15)
so up here the only option we have is aeroponics to grow indoors.

Speaker 1: (09:38)
aeroponics is where the roots are hanging in the air, and they're being doused with water at intervals - it's basically water and nutrients.

Reporter: Aeroponics differs from the more widely known, Hyrdoponics, which is where the roots of the plants are submerged in nutrient rich water.

The hard part about being first, is there’s really nobody to follow. No best practices to repeat. There are other aeroponic facilities, but they’re also trying to meet the needs of their community in a culturally appropriate way, with a wide variety of produce, which means more time spent on developing growing methods.

The aeroponics technology is more than a means to get more healthy food out there, it’s a way to help heal. Dani Pieratos is Harvest Nation’s Sales and Marketing Director.

Dani Pieratos: (00:18) [Anishinaabemowin] Hello, my name is Danny Pieratos. Speaker 2: (01:00) Traditionally native food systems are disrupted with colonization, which, I personally have suffered from. In terms of my physical wellbeing.

Speaker 2: (01:24) I really didn't know or care much about health for a long time and neither did my peer group.

Speaker 2: (02:41) with the fear, you know, diabetes and the effect it's had on family members. I'm sick of seeing my family members get their limbs chopped off. especially when we had traditional foods that met our needs. of course the physical needs, but the spiritual and cultural and you know, it, it makes me want to cry even talking about it. how unjust, um, the whole history is there and that, um, you know, it's, it's gonna take us to heal us is what I'm seeing or finding.

Reporter: And that healing, Dani talks about, begins with healing the relationship with food, and doing it in a way that will align their goals with the growing food sovereignty movement.

Dani Pieratos: We can start with food. We had a talking circle where one of our, um, family members had attended and said, my great grandpa, my mom and my aunts, grandpa George Strong, he taught that food is medicine, that he verbally transferred that information to our cousin. And I was like, I never got that teaching.

Speaker 2: (05:25) And so harvest nation, we've aligned ourselves with the food sovereignty movement and there are four principles that are our core values. The first of course is the local production and access to food healthy food. the second is having culturally appropriate food. And then the third principle is outreach and education. Speaker 2: (10:53) the fourth pillar is using environmentally sound practices.

Find out more about how Harvest Nation is working towards food sovereignty on their website: harvestnationinc.com

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

MN Native News: ‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’ Movie Review & Winter Homeless Initiative

This week, we hear about the homeless initiative recently announced by Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan aimed at getting people shelter over the winter. And, our movie reviewer Gerry Zink weighs in on the new Star Wars film.

The goal of this effort is to immediately increase shelter capacity across the state for homeless Minnesotans. Officials say the call to action has already spurred investments of nearly five million dollars from public, corporate and nonprofit entities.

The initiative was announced at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center in December. Lieutenant Governor Flanagan says the initiative is part of a larger strategy to develop more opportunities to connect people with long-term housing.

The “Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center” will see immediate impacts from the fund, with investments helping provide a safe space for up to 25 women overnight. Other entities -- like “Voice of East African Women” in Ramsey County, Washington County churches, and “Youthlink” in Hennepin County -- will also benefit from the homeless fund.

Next up... you may remember Gerry Zink and his review of the movie “Joker” a few months ago! Gerry is the 16-year-old is Mnicoujou [mini-CON—joo] Lakota from Cheyenne River and he posts his movie reviews on Facebook. Today, Gerry Zink shares his review of “Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker”. Here it is.

[REVIEW]

Thanks, Gerry!

Just as a quick mention: Another Star Wars project, “The Mandalorian”, recently released on Disney-plus, has struck a chord with the native community.

Why? Baby Yoda, that’s why!

Many claim the cute creature is “indigenous” and compare his story of struggle and oppression to that of indigenous people.

From beaded baby yodas, to memes showing baby yoda in a native swaddle, to a hilarious video showing baby yoda repeatedly trying to listen to “Electric Pow Wow Drum” song by A Tribe Called Red ... [Hashtag]NativeBabyYoda is being embraced warmly by many across the country.

I’m Marie Rock.

MN Native News: The Dakota Project

Headlines:
Marie: This week on Minnesota Native News, a peek behind the curtain of a play that’s bound to change minds.
This is Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock.
[Story #1 The Dakota Project]
Marie: Mainstream institutions have struggled to accurately and ethically tell the story of what happened to the Dakota People in 1862. As Laurie Stern reports, Minnesota’s History Theater is working on that now.

Laurie: The History Theater has a mission, and that is to tell the story of everyone who lives in Minnesota. But the theater has been stuck on what happened during the U.S. Dakota War of 1862. It’s a hard story to get right.
Larissa Fasthorse mitakuyapi. my name is Larissa Fasthorse. I'm from Sicangu Lakota nation. I am a playwright and I have been asked by history theater to create a play around the events of the Dakota people in Minnesota in 1862. Um, I've spent the past year talking to lots of Dakota people to ask them how they want that story to be told. And today's the first reading of my first version of trying to fulfill their wishes.
Larissa Fasthorse is not the first playwright to work on what the History Theater calls The Dakota Project. But she is doing something that makes it more likely her play will be produced. She asked Dakota community members whether the story should even be told, and she asked them how it should be told. That’s because she and the History Theater understand it’s not THEIR story to tell – it’s a story that belongs to the Dakota people who lived it. Now their descendants are helping to write the play. This summer Larissa Fasthorse and the History Theater asked indigenous actors to read what she has so far to an audience at the Minneapolis American Indian Center.
(play excerpt) What is it you enjoy so much about the white ceremony? The women sing together with the men all the time and it is so beautiful. You do not think our Dakota singing is beautiful? The missionary singing is in Dakota too – so beautiful like nothing I’ve ever heard before.
The play’s central characters are a Dakota mother and daughter who react differently to the turmoil around them. The play also features Taoyateduta (Little Crow) - the flawed Dakota leader who tries to negotiate with the government despite impossible odds. The script so far develops all its characters with empathy and humor. For instance, everyone has a laugh when the cast tries to pronounce the settlers’ names.

Mark. Just Mark, such sad little name. Here’s a good one, Lee, like they’re starting to say something but swallow it. HAHAHA.

After the reading, The History Theater and Larissa Fasthorse ask for feedback and suggestions. The audience responds, some with their own memories.

I remember conversations with my grandmother, her daughter, about some of the rites such as communion, the body and blood of Christ. It made her uncomfortable that Christians would eat their own savior like cannibals. You just see eat, spiritual worlds collide, that was very interesting to me.
This story really humanzed Dakota people and the struggle, broken treaties we all know about but America doesn’t really know, a beautifully portrayed story of the true history.
So people had to do what they had to do. That’s why we’re all here. Our ancestors did what they had to do so we would survive.
Larissa Fasthorse says she appreciates the feedback and looks forward to more. She and her team continue looking for descendants and gathering stories. She lives in Los Angeles now but will come back this winter for more workshops in Native communities in Minnesota.
MARIE:
If you have a story to share with the playwright, email artistic director Ron Peluso (Peh-LOOSE-oh) at rpeluso@Historytheatre.com. Theatre is with an r-e at the end. RPeluso at historytheatre dot com.

Minnesota Native News: Mille Lacs Chief Reacts to Federal Task Force on MMIW

HOST INTRO: This week on Minnesota Native News, reporter Melissa Townsend talks with Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin about her visit with President Trump and her reactions to his new Executive Order on Missing and Murdered Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

[TAPE: THIS CALL IS NOW BEING RECORDED]

TOWNSEND: Thank you again for making some time. So I saw you at the White House, in the Oval Office…

[TAPE FROM OVAL OFFICE]

BENJAMIN: [laughs] That was interesting. And unexpected by the way. Apparently the call came in Friday, but nobody really checked until Monday.

TOWNSEND VOICEOVER: So she hopped on a plane and the next day Benjamin was at a photo-op in the Oval Office. That was Tuesday, November 26th.

TOWNSEND: Got it. And why do you think they invited you? I mean, I know you're a superstar, but… [laughter]

BENJAMIN: Don’t I wish that! I don't know any of the background, why I was chosen to come. I’m one of the longterm tribal leaders. I've been in office since 2000, so I've been involved in a lot of policy across Indian country, so that might be one of the reasons.

TOWNSEND:Did you expect to speak there on camera?

BENJAMIN: No, I did not.

[TAPE FROM THE OVAL OFFICE]

BENJAMIN: It was my understanding that it was really going to be just the witnessing of the signing of the executive order.

TOWNSEND: And why were you compelled to jump on a plane and fly to DC?

BENJAMIN: Well, it’s the topic - missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. This has been going on for far too long when we have our American Indian girls and women and others that are not on the radar screen in a sense, it doesn't take a high priority for law enforcement agencies.

TOWNSEND: So you're probably familiar with the task force. I'm not sure how comfortable you are being critical or, or optimistic. But let me just ask you frankly, how do you feel about the terms that are set out and and what this will look like?

BENJAMIN: Well, I think as we go along, they're going to be probably a lot of tribal consultation with this. Hopefully there is. Where the real experts can weigh in and talk about what this means and how to impact this topic.

TOWNSEND: I was talking with Sarah Deer who used to be here at Hamline-Michelle and now is at the University of Kansas.

TOWNSEND VOICE-OVER: Sarah Deer is a citizen of the Muscogee [Creek] Nation and a Professor at the University of Kansas. For over 25 years she has been working in law and public policy to end violence against women.

TOWNSEND: She has real concerns about it lasting only two years. Thinking like, well they'll hire somebody in these different offices, they'll figure out what they want to do and then it’ll be time's up. Do you have that concern also?

BENJAMIN: Yeah, I have a concern when there was a limited time to address this. But I think it gives us the opportunity as advocates in Indian country and tribal leaders to really press the importance of this and getting that continued in the manner that it needs to be done. Whether that's permanent legislation are however that should work.

TOWNSEND: Got it. Now you're saying hopefully and probably there'll be tribal consultation, so there are no tribal leaders on the task force?
BENJAMIN: Yea, we’ll have to look at that a little closer as well and see how we address that because I think anytime you have these kind of initiatives that you have to have - what are the resources needed and how are those going to be allocated.

TOWNSEND: Yeah, has a dollar number been put out there at all?
BENJAMIN: No, I haven't heard one. But for this to happen in Indian country is really a positive movement and we just need to perfect it in a sense. I think that's not necessarily the correct word, but …

TOWNSEND: Right. Do you have a sense of how this federal task force might interact with the state level task force?

BENJAMIN: Uh, no, not yet. I talked to Lieutenant governor just a little bit. As we move forward, I think that's gonna be one of our tasks to make sure that there is communication and involvement and partnerships and making sure that we move forward together.

TOWNSEND: Great. Alright, well, thank you again. I really appreciate the call.

BENJAMIN: Well, thank you.

MARIE ROCK/HOST: That was reporter Melissa Townsend and Mille Lacs Chief Executive Melanie Benjamine talking about the new federal task force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

Minnesota Native News: Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Holds 2nd Annual Tribal Opioid Summit

HOST INTRO:

[music in]

MARIE: [over the music]: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock.

[music fades out]

MARIE: The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe held it’s 2nd annual tribal opioid summit December 12-14. Reporter Kayla Duoos has the details for us. The event started with a Welcome from the Leech Lake Chairman.

FARON JACKSON: “As we come together to deal with these issues we deal with today Our relatives they dealt with alcoholism, we got more issues that we’re dealing with today. Our family, relatives that are addicted, they’re very special people. We don’t ever talk bad about people dealing with addiction because we’re talking about our families.“ (0:45)

REPORTER: That's Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Chairman Faron Jackson at the Band’s 2nd annual Opioid Response Summit at the Northern Lights Casino.

The three day summit attended by nearly 200 Band members is the collaborative effort of 14 Leech Lake programs.

It aims to inform the community about recovery resources and hold culturally focused discussions regarding addiction.

In 2017, American Indian and Alaska Native populations had the second highest overdose rates from all opioids.

That’s according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

Leech Lake is only a small portion of Indian country, but the numbers here are still at crisis level.

That’s why this event is necessary.

Patricia Bittner is the Leech Lake Tribal Police, Methamphetamine Policing Community Coordinator.

She sat down with me to discuss how the opioid crisis is impacting the community by the numbers.

PATRICIA BITTNER: So for the state of Minnesota all of drug and alcohol, out of every group of 1000 people we have about 89 people who go to treatment. We have the most babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, We have the most females who go to treatment. More of our Native Ladies are in prison than any other race. (0:22)

REPORTER: Patricia's statistics show a troubling pattern. A majority of the charges women go in for are drug related, and Neonatal abstinence syndrome, also known as (NAS) is a group of problems that occur in a newborn who was exposed to addictive illegal or prescription drugs while in the mother's womb.

I later asked Patricia, what people should know about tribal resources when it comes to fighting addiction and combating these figures.

PATRICIA BITTNER: Know that Leech Lake is resource rich, all you have to know is where they are and how to get them. Anyone who’s struggling with addiction or anything else there's a lot of resources out there. (0:12)

REPORTER: A group that has seen success in keeping folks clean on the reservation is the Sober Squad.

It’s a community run group that hosts events and family friendly activities to keep those in recovery busy.

There's one sober squad on the reservation and 20 within Minnesota and 5 more throughout the country.

CURTIS JACKSON: We’re a support group, we advocate for each other. We’re like a big family. When one person is down—it's not just one person, that tries to pick them up, it’s everybody.

**Curtis Jackson a sober squad leader defined how the group works. [moved from above the cut in order to cut Curtis’s quote into 2 shorter ones instead of 1 big one.]

When I was really in recovery, I didn’t feel like I had nobody and that's one of the biggest things you can do for somebody is be there for them because they’ve always had people give up on them. I’ve said it a bunch of times but you know they always say “”it takes a village to raise a child””, we need that same village to help fight this opioid epidemic. (0:45)

REPORTER: While the sober squad is one of the most notable services on the reservation, it’s not the only.

The Leech Lake Band currently offers OVER 10 different programs that help treat members who are battling addiction and working on recovery.

For more information on the Opioid Response Summit including addiction recovery resources, please check out LeechLakeNews.Com

I’m Kayla Duoos with the DeBahJimon for MN Native News.

STORY #2 - FDLTCC PRESIDENT

In other news, the Fond Du Lac Tribal and Community College interim president Stephanie Hammitt will be filling the role permanently.

Hammitt has served as interim president since July 1, 2018 after previous president Larry Anderson retired.

STEPHANIE HAMMIT: It’s a very humbling experience, there's so many good people that work here and believe in the mission of the college and so I think it’s a great place to work and hopefully other students and staff feel that way too.”

Hammitt’s new appointment became effective in November.

FUNDER CREDITS

Minnesota Native News: Reactions to the New Operation Lady Justice Task Force

Headline: This week on Minnesota Native News, reactions to a new White House Executive Order on Missing and Murdered Indigeneous Women.

Report:
For years Native people and allies have been drawing attention to the devastatingly high number of missing and murdered indigenous women and men. There have been public marches, art exhibits, billboards and more - all in an effort to spur action. Minnesota recently set up its own state-wide task force on the issue. And on November 26th President Donald Trump sat at his desk in the oval office and announced a new Executive Order.

TRUMP: With my order today we are announcing Operation Lady Justice … (:04)

The new interagency task force will establish new protocols for dealing with cases of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. It also establishes a multi-jurisdictional team to review cold cases.

TRUMP: [applause] We have with us …

Also in the Oval Office that day were 5 tribal leaders gathered behind the President.

TRUMP: Melanie Benjamin, Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band…

Chairwoman Benjamin stepped forward and shared gratitude for this new effort.

BENJAMIN: [OJIBWE INTRODUCTION] It is my honor and my privilege to be here for the signing because we can not have this anymore…

TRUMP: Kevin Dupuis, Chairman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. (:12)

Chairman Dupuis [DU-pee] spoke for nearly two full minutes appealing for respect for Native women and all Native people.

DUPUIS: Our women are the ones who raise our children, our women are the ones who take are of our village, take care of our community, our teachers… (:08) [fade out]

These tribal leaders were part of this press event announcing Operation Lady Justice. But they will not will not sit on the task force itself. They will not formally guide its work.The task force expires in 2 years and there has been no dollar figure attached to the effort. All of this has some policy experts feeling skeptical.

DEER: I mean that’s unacceptable to have a task force to address this crisis with absolutely no tribal leadership. They know what the crisis looks like and they know what kind of support they need to address the crisis. (:13)

Sarah Deer is a citizen of the Muscogee [Creek] Nation and a Professor at The University of Kansas. For over 25 years she’s been working in law and public policy to end violence against women.

Deer wants to see a more sustained effort over the long-term with enough resources to really make a difference.

DEER: We’re not really sure where the money is going, who’s getting it. We know they’e going to hire people with that money but again those people are only going to be in those positions for two years, just enough to get started and the then the task force will dissolve. (:14)

Deer also wants to see urban Native leaders involved in this effort.

DEER: You know the federal government has a trust and obligation to Native people in my opinion, no matter where they are. The leadership should not stop at the city edge. (:09)

The White House has not offered a plan for how the federal task force will interact with state level task forces, like the one in Minnesota.

Overall Deer says she’s generally skeptical of Trump’s initiatives in Indian Country.

DEER: I guess for me the track record of Trump with Indian Country leaves me very skeptical. He has espoused racist views about Native people. (:08)

She says, for example, before he got to the White House…

DEER: When he was fighting with Indian casinos and saying certain Indians don’t look like Indians. (:05)

Then there’s his ongoing attack of Elizabeth Warren calling her “Pocahontas”. And when he invited Code Talkers to the Oval Office.

DEER: … with a picture of Andrew Jackson hanging over their heads. I mean, as a Creek woman to see Andrew Jackson on the wall while he’s talking to Native elders and esteemed people, it was very painful for me to see that. (:11)

Finally — while Trump announced the Operation Lady Justice Task Force, GOP allies in the Senate were signing onto a bill that would weaken tribal court’s ability to prosecute crimes on tribal lands.

DEER: It’s a disaster.

It’s Republican Senator Jonie Ernst’s bill 2920.

DEER: I don’t know that Trump’s White House has stated an official position but it is concerning that while this Executive Order is being touted, there is effort in the Senate to undermine tribe’s ability to address this problem. (:14)

It remains to be seen how these federal efforts will impact Native women’s safety and what role tribes will play.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Melissa Townsend.

Minnesota Native News: A Report from the Recent Native American Journalism Association Conference

INTRO/HEADLINE: This week on Minnesota Native News, reporter Melissa Townsend reports on the 35th Annual Native American Journalists Association Conference hosted at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.

MELISSA:

The Native American Journalism Association conference was 4 days of workshops, speeches, eating and visiting.

One of the workshops at the conference featured Native artists.

[Dyani introduces herself in Dakota] (:13)

Dyani is a painter usually using acrylics and oils.

She was one of the artists who spoke to a group of reporters - including me. She wants us to know we’ve let her down. The other artists in the room agreed. She shared a story to explain what she meant.

DYANI: So I got asked to be a panelist for an upcoming conference here in Minneapolis - thousand of people - it’s a really big deal apparently.

She’s been chosen as a featured speaker to address the National Arts Education Conference.

DYANI: And then they told me who some of the past guests have been. And they were people like Jeff Koons and Amy Sherald.

Koons and Sherald are two very famous non-Native artists.

DYANI: I got really intimidated and I was like Oh My God. I can’t meet that level of notoriety .These were the biggest, they are everywhere. Everybody knows them who is in the field. I can’t give you that.

And then she realized that’s partly because of the news media.

DYANI: I can’t give it to you because you aren’t giving us the coverage that’s equal to these other folks. We aren’t being reported on with that same respect and value placed on what we have to contribute.

Being ignored in the media contributes to a cycle of feeling invisible and being undervalued.

There is a serious need for better reporting in Indian country.

And that’s hard to do when non-Native reporters and audiences may not even understand the basics.

DYANI: To see and understand the value and the worth of what we make - we have to first fill them in with the entire history of our country. For them to even be able to look at a work and be able to unpack what’s in that work… often times they miss it because they don’t know the history, they aren’t taught the history, they don’t know our communities.

[luncheon ambi]

This is where the Native American Journalism Association can play a role.

The association represents nearly 600 journalists - many who are Native - from tribal media, Native outlets and mainstream newsrooms.

NAJA President Tristan Ahtone says the mission is to support indigenous journalists and promote better media coverage of Indian country.

AHTONE: I’ve been working professionally for a decade now. There is a lot more recognition that newsrooms should be doing this type of reporting.

At this year’s conference, NAJA honored the elders among us who have helped build the industry.

Mark Trahant received the “NAJA - Medill Milestone Achievement Award”.

It was recognition of his decades of incredible work, most recently in his role at the helm at Indian Country Today.

TRAHANT: Indian Country today is around because just so many people over the years have invested their time and energy to a simple idea and that is serving Indian readers.

The NAJA conference also offered tools and insight for new generations of reporters.

Hunter Hotulke [hole TOLL kee] is from the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.

He is one of the Native American Journalism Fellows at the conference - receiving specific support from more veteran journalists.

HOTULKE: We all have Native ancestry and we all want to report the news for the betterment of our people so just to get everyone in that environment and foster that creativity is really good.

Mindee Duffell was also there. She works with the Citizen Potawatome Nation. She is non-Native.

DUFFELL: And I think that’s important for people like me who are non-Native to be able to submerge themselves in what being Native actually is.

In addition to honoring the work of Native journalists, correcting history and contradicting stereotypes - as if that’s not all enough - NAJA leaders are also lifting up the importance of a free press.

Another conference discussion focused on a recent NAJA survey.

It showed many are subject to censorship by tribal governments.

So the Native American Journalism Association has plenty of work to do.

All with intention of growing the volume of well-reported stories about Native America - and supporting Native reporters.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Melissa Townsend