Mystic Lake reopens, Bde Maka Ska is official, and two Native leaders move from regional to national positions.
Transcript
This week on Minnesota Native News, changes big and small. I’m Marie Rock.
Story 1: Casinos
Mystic Lake and Little Six casinos will reopen at ten in the morning on May. 26. They’ve been closed because of COVID-19 for more than two months. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community says precautions will be taken. Guests and workers will need to wear masks, and capacity will be limited.
Story 2: Bde Maka Ska
The Minnesota Supreme Court made it official. Bde Maka Ska is the name of the lake formerly known as Calhoun. Those who fought for the restoration of the Dakota name say it will be good for the whole community. Laurie Stern reports.
[Laurie: Bde Make Ska tape] Lawyer Carly Bad Heart Bull and her historian-sister Kate Beane grew up hearing stories about how their family harvested wild rice and fish from the lake where their village was. So five years ago, when the Minneapolis Park Board asked how to make public spaces more welcoming, the sisters said “Restore the name.” Let people know our history Tell them that John C. Calhoun was an advocate of slavery and Indian removal.
CBHB: The number one equity recommendation that we had and this came from other community members was to remove the name john C. Calhoun, and to replace it to restore the Dakota name of the name of Bde Maka Ska.. And what we heard from both native and non-native communities, in particular folks from immigrant communities was that living in a city that acknowledged and celebrated, its Dakota history and the indigenous presence would help them to feel more welcome. That it would help them to feel more connected to this place that we all now call home.
As Carly Bad Heart Bull celebrates the court victory, she continues to fight for equity in her new position as Executive Director of the Native Ways Federation. The federation unites and supports Native nonprofits that serve American Indian communities across the United States.
Story #2 Penin Haha
Marie: Carly Bad Heart Bull was previously with the Bush Foundation. Another native attorney is about to make a big move. Patrice Kunesh was, until recently, director of the Center for Indian Country Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank. Now she is joining the Native American Rights Fund and starting her own consulting firm. Here’s Laurie Stern again.
{Story #2} Patrice Kunesh cut her teeth working with the Native American Rights Fund. She will rejoin the Colorado-based non-profit law firm in June. Her new social enterprise is called Pejin Haha, or curly hair in English. That was her nickname when she was a child.
it also was the nickname for Crazy Horse before he got his his names. So I take that legacy very seriously because he had so much courage and really recognize the strength and resiliency of his people and he was so committed to his people's traditional lives.
Patrice Kunesh wants to use these new positions to help Indian Country prosper and unify. She says there are opportunities for economic growth and a stronger social safety net through workforce development and land management
For MNN, I’m LS.