Minnesota Native News: After short term shelter, then what?

HEADLINES This week on Minnesota Native News, the plan to help Natives experiencing homelessness in Minneapolis and beyond.

HOST INTRO:
For nearly 10 months a tent city has been growing along a 6 lane stretch of road on the south side of Minneapolis.

The encampment of homeless people has been dubbed the Wall of Forgotten Natives for the many Native people staying there.

This week a new shelter is opening on a plot of land in Minneapolis owned by the Red Lake Nation.

Reporter Melissa Townsend tells us more.

REPORTER: The 1.5 million dollar shelter is called a Navigation center and it is unlike any other shelter in the city.

it is staffed with people offering support services - hence the name,

It’s open 24 hours a day so no one is forced to leave during daytime hours —

and there are no sobriety requirements for entry.

It is also temporary. The shelter which opened this week is slated to close in May.

Minneapolis city officials say they are moving camp residents from their tents to the navigation center this week.

But they haven’t given any details on what will happen to the tent camp or the people who say they want to stay there.

Many Native led organizations in the area support moving people out of the camp into the navigation center.

GOZEE: I just haven’t found the camp to be a sustainable housing option. And I don’t agree that keeping people in such dire straits is such a good thing. (:15)

Michael Gozee is CEO of the American Indian Community Development Corporation.

The non-profit builds and manages permanent supportive housing complexes around the American Indian Cultural Corridor.

Gozee says the navigation center will help people stay safe and warm this winter but in the end - that’s not nearly enough.

GOZEE: That’s my concern with the Navigation enter—- we are going to provide a level of housing for a number of months. But then what?

While all this has been happening — the Minneapolis city council just passed a new plan with $40 million dollars to build new affordable housing in the city.

Gozee says that’s great - but will it be the kind of supportive housing he thinks folks in the camp really need?

GOZEE: The level of intensity that we need to help the people that are struggling the hardest is greater. (:09)

Gozee wants to see super affordable units with support services like case management.

GOZEE: We’ve been very successful with providing housing with supportive services. We have some case managers who can work with the people because I see that the more people we have helping them works best. (:15)

From the first city wide meetings about the homeless encampment, city leaders talked about developing a short term solution and a long term solution.

Apparently the short term solution is here — the Navigation Center.

Now, what about the long term solution?

How will city, county, state and tribal leaders provide appropriate housing AND SERVICES to help people move their lives in a positive direction.

GOZEE: There have been small conversations but there’s never been a strategic conversation with all the players brought to the table to have meaningful conversation in regards to next steps…(:16)

Gozee says it’ll take a lot of talk and a lot of money.

GOZEE: You know Minnesota really has the ability to provide a greater level of support for the less fortunate of every community no matter whether it’s here or Fergus Falls. I think that has to be looked at. (:16)

In the meantime there will be some folks int eh navigation center, probably some folks still in the camp and untold number of people scattered under bridges, and along road sides around the region.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Melissa Townsend.

Minnesota Native News: Native Youth Display Photography And A Language Teacher Reaches Learners Through Social Media

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock.
Headlines: Coming up…:

Youth display their photography at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center in Duluth,
And a language teacher finds his own way to reach language learners…

Here is reporter Leah Lemm with these stories…

STORY #1 - AICHO YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHY

REPORTER: The American Indian Community Housing Organization or “AICHO” hosted an evening reception dedicated to a photography exhibit called Growing Our Way, a series of photos by Native youth that explores Indigenous food sovereignty.

The youth spent a week during the summer creating photography and writings related to their experiences.

Now, their work has culminated in an exhibit and AICHO’s 2019 calendar.

I spoke with Patience, a budding photographer:

PATIENCE: I am nine. I am in fourth grade. It's pretty much great. But there are a few problems with drama. I try not to get in it.

REPORTER: This wise young person spoke about her experience in the photography class and a few places they got to visit. The photographs depicted the youth near or in the water, in gardens, holding traditional food and medicines.

PATIENCE: We went up the roof to take a few pictures, and the garden, they took us to the shore by the water. There's a whole bunch of rocks and stuff so we all sat down on them and start taking pictures.

REPORTER: A couple photographs of Patience were featured in the exhibit and in the calendar.

PATIENCE: I have one of me holding strawberries.

REPORTER: And each photo had a phrase written by the youth.

PATIENCE: I said I like strawberries because it's spiritual food.

REPORTER: Patience’s mother was all smiles when talking about the opportunities at AICHO.

CHRISTIE: They have lots of children's programs and after school programs and stuff for the kids to get involved in, they have the gardening and just the better living, better living program, you know, healthier, healthier ways of living.

It was nice to see how mature she can be in handling them, you know, expensive cameras.

REPORTER: Way to go, Patience!

STORY #2 - LANGUAGE TEACHER USES SOCIAL MEDIA TO REACH LEARNERS

REPORTER: Next, I spoke with James Vukelich, an Ojibwe language instructor. He’s a Turtle Mountain descendent, who lives in Minneapolis.

JAMES VUKELICH: I really didn't hear the language until I was around 25 years old.

REPORTER: And now he reaches many people through daily videos shared on social media. Originally, he was studying French and happened upon an Ojibwe language class.

JAMES VUKELICH: I took it and it was the most fascinating language I have ever studied in my life.

REPORTER: And he kept it up.

I had a chance to record and do field work with elders and first language speakers and yeah, that's where I really began learning of the in depth mechanics of the language as well as spiritual teaching that would be embedded in so many words.

REPORTER: Now, James hosts Ojibwe Word of the Day on social media where he goes in depth, including spiritual teachings and history. Many videos are just minutes long, and few are over about 15 minutes… making the lessons very accessible for the daily listener.

What inspires James is that elders who didn’t speak their language can now freely learn. You see, James’ family is like many others… whose parents and grandparents were raised going to boarding schools, and not speaking their language or practicing their culture.

JAMES VUKELICH: My mom's example, what she shared with me was, she went to a boarding school. Her mother went to a boarding school, my grandmother, and they weren't raised with the language. They weren't raised with the culture, and that was the case with so many indigenous people here on Turtle Island, not just in the United States, but in Canada as well.

REPORTER: Language learners from these generations have expressed their thanks to James for sharing the words and teachings that he was able to learn from other elders. And they can do it easily on their phones or computers.

JAMES VUKELICH: How can I get this to as many people as possible who probably want to have a little bit of Ojibwe and their life every day. And it started off with just simply some words and a citation link to the dictionary so they could click on the link.

REPORTER: But he found that a lot of people needed to hear the pronunciation.

JAMES VUKELICH: So that's when I began making the videos to accompany each word so you could see them on your phone.

REPORTER: More information about James can be found at JAMESVUKELICH DOT COM, including a link to his Facebook page.That’s James V-U-K-E-L-I-C-H DOT COM. For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

MN Native News: MN Historical Society Works With Tribes On Historic Sacred Site

Far up in extreme northern Minnesota, at the US-Canada border near International Falls, lies a site of cultural and historical importance.

Let’s paint a picture of sorts...

[Sounds of wind/trees]

Along the Rainy River, there’s this grouping of native history called the Grand Mound Historic Site. It’s comprised of five sacred burial mounds, ancient villages and sturgeon fishing sites that were developed over 2,000 years ago.

The mounds stretch from west to east along the river. One of the mounds is a bit further inland than the other four mounds. This is the Grand Mound.

Rising out of the brush and trees at about 25 feet high and 140 feet long, Grand Mound is the largest Native American earthwork in Minnesota, as well as the largest surviving prehistoric structure in the upper midwest and the only effigy mound of this type in Minnesota.

It’s an area where native peoples gathered and fished for more than a millennia.

MATTIE: “These mounds were sites that were active in the springtime during the, the time when the sturgeon would spawn. And so native people would gather there, um, you know, during the spring and a village in a village, sites would, would pop up and they would have big feasts. but you know, as happens when, when native people get together, there'd be other things, right?”

That’s Dr. Mattie Harper. She’s the Program and Outreach Manager of the American Indian Initiatives team at the Minnesota Historical Society. She’s also Ojibwe and a citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota.

MATTIE: “People often did secondary burials there, so maybe they would be out in the winter and smaller camps in a relative might die and they, they could put their remains. I'm usually on it like a scaffold. And then they would just bring certain parts of the body or the bone back to the village site.”

The fact that there are only parts of many of the deceased at the mound, means it’s difficult to pinpoint a figure of exactly how many are there. However, based on excavations of other mounds, they have an idea.

MATTIE: “There's not a certain count because archaeologists haven't excavated grand mound, which is a good thing to see how many people are represented there. But um, you know, it's estimated it could be up to 5,000 individuals.”

Dr. Mattie Harper says based on different forms of research -- like archeology, linguistic research and oral history -- it’s believed that Dakota, Ojibwe, Blackfeet, Cree and the A’a- ni-nin tribes have descendants of those buried at the site.

And that brings us to the news at hand.

The Minnesota Historical Society has owned Grand Mound Historic Site since 1970 and opened a visitor center in 1976. It was operated as publicly accessible histo ric site until budget cuts forced its closure in 2002. Since then, the site became an official National Historic Landmark in 2011.

But questions have remained: should the historical site be reopened to the public? Or should it remain closed, and be transferred to native control?

With the sacred site on track to possibly reopen in 2018, Dr. Mattie Harper -- along with Joe Horse Capture and Kate Beane -- worked and met with tribes for mon ths to answer these questions.

MATTIE: “It was just the overwhelming opinion of native people that the site should be closed to the general public, you know, that it wouldn't, they wouldn't be comfortable, would it be appropriate to have people sort of traipsing around and viewing it like a tourist site.”

Harper says that, during the process, the biggest challenge was building trust between tribes and the Minnesota Historical Society.

MATTIE: “MNHS has had a long and trouble relationship and history with native communities in the state. And so that is still evident when I go out and try to work with communities…. there have been a lot of times in the past or you know, MNHS hasn't really taken into account what native people feel and think.”

However, these meetings with tribes seemed to have struck a chord with MNHS leadership and the decision was made in late October to keep the site closed to the general public with the exception of Native Americans.

Harper says it’s a huge win for natives considering the fact that MNHS had a lot of political pressure from non-native communities to reopen the site.

MATTIE: “So this was really a big victory, I feel like for native Americans. It's kind of a signal of how MNHS as an institution is shifting to like sort of shifted priorities because by, by making this decision to close the site to the general public and keep it open for native Americans, it's really signaling that the institution is listening to native communities.”

Harper said she’s been pleased to see how well tribes are working together on this issue, despite differing cultural opinions.

MATTIE: “Ojibwe and Dakota people have been working really well together and have expressed a mutual and shared interest.”

No decision has been made on the site’s immediate future, but the Minnesota Historical Society says it’s working on a quote “long-range plan that could include a the possible transfer of the site to a Native American tribe or tribes.”

MATTIE: “In the interim, which could be one to five years, um, we have to figure out how to manage it appropriately and so that is to keep it close to the general public, but we also are going to provide educational materials and interpretation and in some places.”

I’m Cole Premo.

Minnesota Native News: Midterm Elections Make History And A New Play Makes Its Premiere

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock.
Headlines: Coming up…:

We’ll hear from Minnesotans and their reactions to Lieutenant Governor-elect Peggy Flanagan’s historic election…
And, a new play by a Navajo playwright makes its world premiere in the Twin Cities…

Here is reporter Leah Lemm with these stories…

STORY #1 - HISTORIC GOVERNOR’S RACE
The 2018 mid-term election had many firsts throughout the country… and Indian Country. Two Native women, Sharice Davids of Kansas and Debra Haaland of New Mexico, have been elected to Congress.

And in our own state, Lieutenant Governor-elect Peggy Flanagan, citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, will be the next Lieutenant Governor. She is the first Native woman to be elected to a state-wide executive office in United States history.

I spoke with Kayla and Waase Aubid in their home in Grand Rapids, MN about the election, and specifically what Peggy Flanagan’s new role means to them.

KAYLA AUBID: Women have always been leaders in our communities from time immemorial, from our creation stories until now. It’s exciting to see someone like Peggy who has a knowledge of what it's like to grow up as a native person in this position.

REPORTER: Kayla’s husband Waase also had thoughts, as he held their 3 month old daughter in his arms.

WAASE AUBID: I think it's a great thing that we have Native Americans getting into positions now. Especially a woman. I'm all, I'm all for empowering women and uplifting my wife and my daughter to be all they can be in just here to support and help.

I also traveled over to Old Central School in the heart of Grand Rapids and spoke with artist Leah Yellowbird.

YELLOWBIRD: This is really, really exciting and I hope that we can do something with the Native population here in Minnesota and really advance on what we have to offer.

She then showed me a piece of her artwork that was hanging in the studio that she made for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

It took a moment to look beyond the floral designs and intricate beadwork and quillwork to see faces and red hand prints. Although the artwork was beautiful, for me, it also carried a sadness below the surface.

Leah described Peggy Flanagan’s new role as a new opportunity to reveal more issues that Native people face in an honest manner.

YELLOWBIRD: Let's just talk pretty. And that's kind of what it's like being marginalized. There's so many underlying things. Maybe this, this lady will find those things and bring them to the surface.

That lady’s a warrior.

REPORTER: She then put her finger to my jacket…

YELLOWBIRD: We are warriors.

REPORTER: The Minnesota Constitution lays out the official role of Lt Governor as to simply take over as governor in the case of a vacancy for whatever cause. State statutes though include prescribed duties such as any function delegated by the governor.

From chatting with others, it’s clear that Peggy Flanagan has already begun her work as a point of hope and inspiration. Here’s Peggy Flanagan on election night:

FLANAGAN: I want every young person in Minnesota tonight to know - Black, White, Brown, or Indigneous - that you can grow up and you can lead this state.

STORY #2 - RED RUNNING INTO WATER TOURING TWIN CITIES

REPORTER: Next, New Native Theatre is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a season full of new and classic plays, including the world premiere of the play RED RUNNING INTO WATER, which is now touring in the Twin Cities.

The play follows Nana Blackrock, a young Navajo woman, and the women in her family… whose clan is Red Running Into Water.

Blossom Johnson is the playwright. She is currently a Master of Fine Arts candidate in Dramaturgy at Columbia University in New York City, and has worked with New Native Theatre in the past, including the theatre’s ten minute play festival.

JOHNSON: I never saw so many stories that I related to. It sort of turned a switch on and gave me hope for Native theater and Native stories. New Native Theatre does work with the Native community, and that’s something that I’ve always wanted to do - to connect my plays with a Native audience.

REPORTER: The play explores issues such as sexual assault and land rights. There is a trigger warning on the event’s description.

The play runs through Sunday, November 18th, and takes place at various locations throughout Minneapolis and Saint Paul. More information can be found at newnativetheatre.org.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Leah Lemm.

Minnesota Native News: Healing & Homelessness in Minneapolis

4 people have now died at the homeless encampment in Minneapolis.

The site - also called the Wall of Forgotten Natives for the many Native residents there — was established by individuals and families without shelter.

But it’s become the central focus of many urban Native agencies in the Twin Cities.

On October 29th those agencies gathered the community together to talk about how to move forward.

Reporter Melissa Townsend has the story

REPORTER: So, tonight, community meeting - first of possibly many?
LILLEGREN: I hope it is the first of many community meetings. There’s so much going on, so much community response going on to the people living along the wall. But we just haven’t taken time to do this - do what we did tonight. (:18)

Robert Lillegren is President and CEO of NACDI - the Native American Community Development Institute in Minneapolis.

This - tonight - what’s he’s talking about - was a meeting of about 100 people at the Minneapolis American Indian Center.

I don’t have a recording of the scene to share with you because this gathering was for the community - not the press.

I debriefed with Lillegren just after it was over.

Who was there?

LILLEGREN: I was a little disappointed there weren’t more camp residents here. We had organized to get camp residents here, but there were some. And there were voices that had been missing from a lot of the dialogue for a while. (:10)

There were also people who volunteer at the camp and others from the surrounding community.

There were also folks representing the city, county and police.

Lakota elder Lemoine Lapoint focused the crowd on one key question: Despite our current situation, what’s working well and what more needs to be done to make it better?

One idea was about communication — It’s hard to know what’s happening in the camp. What exactly are the city, county and tribes offering and what do the residents of the camp need more of?

It’s a tough question because this camp didn’t start as a coordinated effort to send a message or ask for help.

LILLEGREN: At Metro Urban Indian Directors - early on in response to the camp we tried to put some systems in place like communication - how do we get information into the camp, how do we get it out. Individuals and organizations starting playing their roles and it is working. Is it workign seamlessly and flawlessly? No. But it is working to a point. (:23)

Another concern came from a number of people in the crowd about how to better protect women in the camp from being trafficked.

At the meeting one police officer said if anyone hears about a specific case, he would like them to call the police.

But honestly - judging from the crowd’s response, it seemed unlikely anyone from the camp will call the cops.

REPORTER: There was a woman here tonight who said we will take care of this our way.
LILLEGREN: You know to me, when I hear someone say we can take are of this our way - I think they mean in a Native way, in an indigenous way. Looking back to tell how to move forward. Now as you can tell from the comments in the room, it means different things to different people. So defining what our way means in a complicated, urban setting, with dozens and dozens of different tribes and traditions represented- that’s the work we were doing here tonight. (:30)

One traditional approach some are talking about is building a women’s lodge at the encampment.

It would be a safe space for women to rest under the protection of other female volunteers.

It sounds like a place that could be around for the long term.

Which begs the question — how long will this encampment be here?

How far into the future should the community be looking?

City, county and Red Lake tribal officials are building the temporary shelters on Red Lake’s land in Minneapolis.

Those are expected to be available in December.

But, no one here tonight could say who would move or how long the camp will stay.

It’s partly a question of availability of affordable housing, but also a question of how to address the generational or historical trauma that has lead to this point.

Lillegren says this is where the community needs to put more energy — into healing…

LILLEGREN: Where does healing even come in the affordable housing system or the sheltering homeless system. Not really anywhere. And I think what we had here tonight was a step toward healing. (:10)

Robert Lillegren says the Bush Foundation has given NACDI a grant to continue these community conversations.

The goal is give the community space to envision how everyone can contribute to a coordinated effort to help heal historical trauma.

The trauma that that leads you to live in a tent, against a wall, next to a 6 lane stretch of road, in a Minneapolis November.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Melissa Townsend.

Minnesota Native News: ‘Warrior Up’ for the Community

Marie: This week on Minnesota Native News, the latest on the tent camp in Minneapolis, an all-out effort to recruit more Native foster homes, and getting out the vote in Indian Country.
This is Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock.
Story #1: MUID meeting
Marie: A Community Council at the Minneapolis American Indian Center this week discussed the tent camp. Robert Lilligren of the Minneapolis Urban Indian Directors said the camp’s high visibility presents an opportunity to undo “business as usual.”
We need to have a different conversation with different voices and different outcomes. You guys have been saying this forever: ‘Let the community lead, let the community lead, you feel like there’s an opening?’ There is an opening and I feel like we’ll be more successful at getting more resources the more we can get community voices to the table.
Marie: We’ll have more about the encampment on next week’s Minnesota Native News.
Story #2 GOTV
Marie: Election day is Tuesday November 6. Minnesota will elect its first Native American lieutenant governor, either DFL-er Peggy Flanagan or Republican Donna Bergstrom. But across the country, some neighboring states are rewriting election law in ways that might lower the Native turnout.
(07) Obstacles are being put in front of us. They are doing everything they can to deny a right that is ours.
Marie: O.J Semans, Lakota from Rosebud, is co-executive director of Four Directions, an organization that aims to enhance Native impact in elections across the country.
(14)] the states are circling the wagons to protect whatever they think belongs specifically to them. Um, and our ancestors have always seen those circled wagons and has always found ways to either move around them or move through them.
Four Directions works with tribes to improve Native access to polling places, including on reservations in Minnesota. This year it is focusing on voter suppression in other states but it is also asking Native people to.. in their words: warrior up.
[15] every vote that you take as a native into that polling place empowers you. It empowers your people and empowers your tribe. So I would ask a Minnesota native to warrior up. Let's get that pen and let's mark that ballot.
Story #3 Foster Care
Marie: 2018 marks the 40th year of ICWA. The Indian Child Welfare Act recognized that Native children were being removed from their homes at disproportionate rates. ICWA says Native children who are removed must be placed with relatives if possible, or at least in Native homes. But, as Laurie Stern reports, the need for those homes is greater than ever.
Laurie tape
[are you here for the foster care event, ok if you could sign in …fade under…]
The foster family recruitment event at the American Indian Center in Minneapolis offered encouragement and information. Dinner was served and booths were staffed by foster care experts. Lucy Favorite is with American Indian Family and Children’s Services
LF: For foster care there's a daily rate that is paid and there is also an additional rate that is paid and that is assessed. And that assessment looks at the amount of parenting that you have to do for that child.
For instance, newborns or kids with special needs require extra care, for which families are reimbursed. But some families who’ve wanted to foster have been turned down or discouraged. So at this event lawyers answered questions about overcoming obstacles to fostering.
AMBI: What is the process if you have an eviction or unlawful detainer for getting that expunged?
Public interest attorneys explained that expungements… where an arrest is erased in the eyes of the law… are possible – sometimes at no cost – but that if someone in the household has a criminal conviction, especially for a violent offense, that could be a dealbreaker..
AMBI: next to them I have Mike Sennet, he’s been licensed since 1832…laughter]
Most of the evening belonged to the foster parent panel:
Sennet: I take a lot of older boys 13-18, and once they’re in that stable environment, with caregivers that are living, you just see them grow every day. That’s the biggest thing I get out of it.
Wilkerson: We only have for, you know, 72 hours. Some we have for six or seven months. It doesn't matter how long they're with us. If you can have some sort of positive impact on them. I mean why wouldn't you?
The panel answered many questions. There’s help getting kids to their appointments. Most foster kids probably shouldn’t babysit. The community is happy to help you find pow wows and drumming groups. And yes, fostering is rewarding in many ways.
I grew up in and out of foster, so I wanted to give back and that's one of the reasons why I chose to do it, to help the other children that are out there. Probably one of the most important things to me. Our kids are our future. If we don't give them a future, they don't have one.