This week, Minnesota Native News covers how cousins Sam and Travis Zimmerman brought a family story to life in “How the Birds Got Their Songs.” Plus, how some Minnesota Indigenous leaders and educators are bracing for federal cuts to Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Transcript
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ANCHOR Marie Rock: This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. This week, tribal colleges and universities react to the planned federal budget. Then, a how cousins brought a family story to life in "How the Birds Got Their Songs."
First, here's reporter Xan Holston with more about federal budget impacts to higher education in tribal colleges.
Xan Holston: When Red Lake Nation Hereditary Chief Dan King first heard about potential 40 percent fund cuts to Tribal Colleges and Universities, he was upset, but not surprised.
Dan King: We're usually the first to get cut on any cuts, and then the last to get added when there's a new program.
Holston: Chief King is also president of Red Lake Nation College, one of the 32 accredited Tribal Colleges and Universities, or TCUs, in the US. But President Trump's proposed 2026 budget went even further, slashing money for TCUs by a staggering 83 percent.
King: This is really a modern-day massacre; it's the Federal Indian Grant Massacre of 2025.
Holston: TCUs are often the only colleges in rural areas. They combine cultural knowledge with academics, and help preserve Indigenous languages and history. Because they serve many working parents, even the threat of cuts can bring uncertainty, lower enrollment, and stalled programming.
Ahniwake Rose: We are the hubs and the lifelines of our communities.
Holston: That's Ahniwake Rose, President of AIHEC, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. She said TCUs offer far more than degrees.
Rose: Oftentimes we're the only library in our community. We're the only Head Start program in our community. We're training teachers, we're training nurses, our welders…
Holston: Rose said most TCUs offer low- or no-cost education, helping students graduate debt-free, ready to transfer to four-year schools or enter the workforce. Chief King said that last year, Red Lake Nation College recorded a 52 percent graduation rate. That's ten percent higher than the average for two-year public universities according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The new fiscal year starts October 1st, but the budget package cutting TCU funding still needs congressional approval. Chief King expects funding to be restored, but if not, he's prepared to take it to court. AIHEC's President, Ahniwake Rose, doesn't think it will have to go that far.
Rose: We're going to be working a lot with our congressional allies to ensure that TCUs are funded, but we don't ever want to see this type of budget proposal again.
Holston: For Minnesota Native News, I'm Xan Holston.
ANCHOR Marie Rock: Next, reporter Dan Ninham with Author and Artist duo Sam and Travis Zimmerman.
Travis Zimmerman: I found these stories that my dad had written down... they were in pencil, they were disintegrating off the page.
[sound element: pencil on paper]
Dan Ninham: That's Travis Zimmerman, author of "How the Birds Got Their Songs," an Ojibwe and English dual language children's book, published in 2024. Travis wanted to share these stories with the next generation.
Travis Zimmerman: There were stories that he wrote down from his grandma. It'd be great to honor my great grandma because they're her stories. But also, you know, I was thinking about my dad's he was getting up in age and, you know, he was at that time 81. And then at the same time, I have a couple grandkids. So it was also, you know, in my mind is, you know, what can how can I pass these on to them? You know, what kind of what kind of gift can I leave the next generation?
Ninham: So he invited his cousin, artist and author, Sam Zimmerman, to collaborate
Sam Zimmerman: And of course I'm not going to say no to my cousin
Travis Zimmerman: Sam had already illustrated several children's book and written his own book by that time. So it just seemed a natural connection to reach out and asked Sam if he wanted to do the illustrations and really kind of make it a family project.
Sam Zimmerman: And so I'm reading the story and speaking with my dad about it, and he's like, this is a great way to not only honor our grandfather and his mother, our great-grandmother, but this is also a great way to preserve language. You know, Ojibwe, our language is an endangered language.
Ninham: Over the past year, the Zimmerman Cousins have toured "How the Birds Got Their Songs" with unique events, from painting tutorials to classroom read-alouds, in English and Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language.
[sound element: clip of Travis reading the book]
Ninham: In the future, Travis and Sam hope to collaborate to share another story.
Sam Zimmerman: And there is a resurgence on language revitalization and preservation. And so, yeah, it got to work. It took me about a year to illustrate the book. And this was the first time I had done a children's book, a children's story in my style of painting.
Travis Zimmerman: this one I think was well enough received that…So we are thinking about doing another one... we're going to do a story with animals."
Ninham: You can catch Sam Zimmerman with a painting class for "How the Birds Got Their Songs" at the Silver Bay library on June 27. Travis says listeners can find him at the Mille Lacs Trading Post and Museum. You can find the book, audiobook, and more events at the Minnesota Historical Society Press website and on social media.
For Minnesota Native News, I'm Dan Ninham.
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ANCHOR Marie Rock: Outro credits.