This week on Minnesota Native News we hear about a new agreement between Native and city leaders in Minneapolis and an exhibition of Native female artists coming to UMD.
Transcript
STORY #1 - MOU REFRESH IN MINNEAPOLIS 1:55
HOST: American Indian month in Minneapolis kicked off on May first.
A month filled with community gatherings and open houses also ushers in a new era in the relationship between the Minneapolis city government and American Indian leaders in town.
Reporter Melissa Townsend tells us more.
REPORTER: In the mid 1980’s the city of Minneapolis and urban American Indian leaders in town developed a formal agreement.
They wanted to open lines of communication with each other and make the Native community’s gifts, plans and needs more visible to city leaders.
Dr. Joe Hobot is President and CEO of the American Indian OIC and he is Chairperson of Metropolitan American Indian Directors Group.
HOBOT: The general consensus was those original documents were really worded in such a way to almost forcefully show that we have value. forcefully demonstrate that Minneapolis needs to pay attention to us. (:15)
REPORTER: This month the city and the Metropolitan American Indian Directors Group are signing a new agreement.
HOBOT: We just went in with this assuredness in the language, that we are here, we have always been here, we are going to be here, let’s move forward and talk about how we are going to move forward in collaboration. (:11)
REPORTER: The group is addressing issues related to safety, housing, wellness and employment.
Hobot says the city has been very receptive to their plans.
HOBOT: And having that responded to in such a positive way from the city of Minneapolis reinforces the ability of our community to step forward from the shadows and be clearly seen as valuable contributes to the life and vitality of the city. (:13)
REPORTER: Along with the agreement, the city dedicates money to help facilitate the Native leaders’ group and support community events, like pow wows and public meetings.
Hobot says this agreement will last until the next generation createS a new vision for collaboration in Minneapolis.
For Minnesota Native News, I’m Melissa Townsend.
STORY #2: UM CONFERENCE ON GENOCIDE (1:30)
HOST: Scholars who study the holocaust, genocides, remembrance and reconciliation gathered for a conference at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis recently.
Part of the gathering was dedicated to commemorating the genocide of Native people in Minnesota.
SPOCK: Welcome everyone. (:02)
HOST: Dan Spock was a featured speaker. He is the Director of the Minnesota History Center Museum in St Paul.
Spock talked about how the Museum officially recognizes the history of white colonization as a genocide of Native people.
SPOCK: We have decided that by any definition United States policies toward Native people were genocidal. There were genocidal things said, the ideology was genocidal and if enough of those things are added together, you have to acknowledge that this was genocide. (:19)
HOST: Spock said this understanding has spurred a new kind of relationship between the History Museum and Natives in Minnesota.
Like the ground breaking partnership that began between the museum and a group of Dakota people in 2012 to commemorate the 1862 Dakota War.
SPOCK: We knew that this wasn’t a story that we could tell alone… that we had to include Dakota people in this story telling process, people that have been traditionally been marginalized in the telling of this story and that that would be the backbone of our effort. (:16)
HOST: Spock says these ongoing relationships are shaping the programs at the History Museum.
STORY #3 - Tweed Museum Exhibit (1:00)
HOST: Contemporary Lakota artist Dyani [dee-AH-nee] White Hawk has curated a mixed-media exhibition of Native women artists living in the Twin Cities.
She’s named the exhibition Sinew - after the thread used in sewing that comes from the backbone tendons of animals.
She has dedicated the exhibition to the - quote - millions of intelligent and strong Native women who humbly serve as the backbone of our nations.
This summer the exhibition will travel to the Tweed Museum at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
WHITE HAWK: This is a fantastic exhibition with a wide variety of art forums represented. there is painting, weaving, video, sound, installation…I would like people to see this exhibit and walk away with a clearer understanding of the variety and strength of female native artistic expression. (:17)
HOST: White Hawk has started a crowd funding campaign to pay for public programming to go along with the exhibit.
She envisions an opening reception and artists talks at the UMD museum.
You can contribute online at crowd fund dot U-M-N dot E-D-U.