Indigenous Lotus builds community and encourages strength and healing through yoga and mind-body connection, and will be hosting a retreat in October.

Plus… a reminder to fill out and be counted in the 2020 US census.

We hear about an online native film festival that features some Minnesota native creators.

This week on Minnesota Native News, a top COVID-19 federal health official, Dr. Deborah Birx, recently visited Minnesota, and talked about her experience with the Fond du Lac tribe in Duluth. We also hear about an online native film festival that features some Minnesota native creators.

Anishinaabe writer Marcie Rendon has just been awarded the prestigious McKnight Distinguished Artist Award for 2020. Rendon is a citizen of the White Earth Nation who lives in south Minneapolis. She is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, play write, author and poet. The McKnight honor comes with 50-thousand dollars. Reporter Melissa Townsend talked with Rendon about her work and the most recent recognition. This is the extended, edited version of their conversation.

Marcie Rendon has just been awarded the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award for 2020. She is the first Native woman ever to receive the award. Rendon is a citizen of the White Earth Nation who lives in south Minneapolis. She is a mother, grandmother, great-mother, play write, author and poet. The McKnight honor comes with 50-thousand dollars. Reporter Melissa Townsend talked with Rendon about her work and the most recent recognition.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has signed an executive order again extending the state’s peacetime emergency, this time through September 11.

Walz says the decision was made following advice from public health experts and advocates for the elderly, as well as labor and medical providers.

The peacetime emergency gives the governor power to issue executive orders and regulate businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also protects residents against evictions and wage garnishment.

The study was published by the Stanford University School of Medicine.
It found that among teens and young adults who were tested for COVID, those who had used e-cigarettes were five to seven times more likely to be infected with the virus than non-users.

Host Leah Lemm explores how Indian Country in MN is responding and adapting to the current pandemic health crisis.

On this show, Host Leah Lemm (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) continues her look at how parents of very young children and specifically how new moms are facing the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic

The Minnesota Department of Health announced “cautious steps” being made in further loosening some long-term care visitation restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will allow for controlled visits from family and friends at low-risk long-term care facilities later this month.

Last month, the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis had a virtual watch party on social media, bringing together viewers to see what community members are saying about sexual health and and related topics, including why it’s difficult to talk about sex.

We’ll hear more about how the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis works with the community to talk about sexual health.

But first… the US Census is well on its way, collecting information from citizens across the country… And, there’s still time to fill out the Census.

The U.S. Census Bureau has extended the 2020 census deadline to September 30th.