Today, the Trans Equity Summit is coming back to the Twin Cities. Major milestones for the New Native Theatre company. And, St. Louis County showcases one of the state’s biggest industries.
Transcript
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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.
ANCHOR: Today, the Trans Equity Summit is coming back to the Twin Cities. Major milestones for the New Native Theatre company. And, St. Louis County showcases one of the state's biggest industries.
I'm Chantel SinGs.
The City of Minneapolis has announced the date for its annual Trans Equity Summit. The event will take place on Monday, August 11th. The city will host the tenth annual summit at the McNamara Alumni Center at the University of Minnesota. The goal is to build a supportive community and provide resources for trans folks. Last year's summit was postponed after feedback from more than 10 LGBTQ plus organizations and Minneapolis City Council member Adrea Jenkins. They expressed concerns about a lack of trans representation in organizing the event. Jenkins is the first African American openly trans woman in the nation to be elected into office.
Next, Reporter Emma Needham brings the spotlight to a new play at a Minnesota theater that's getting regional recognition.
Emma Needham: New Native Theater in Saint Paul is celebrating its 15th anniversary. Since opening in 2009 the theater has become the largest Native theater company in the Midwest. New Native Theater is wrapping up its 15th season with a new play that reimagines Native storytelling for a new generation and focuses on Native boarding schools.
Charli Fool Bear: And so the whole play is a really beautiful like, not just in terms of story, but visually, esthetically, this combination of something really heavy, but also very playful and childlike.
Emma Needham: That's Charli Fool Bear, former artistic producer with New Native Theater, when people have those lived experiences, they do keep going. They do just power through the soldier on.
Charli Fool Bear: And I think this play is a way to talk about that and also find ways of doing that that still take care of ourselves.
Emma Needham:
Charli plays the character Mutter in New Native Theater's current production, The Nut, the Hermit, the Crow and the Monk. The play is a surreal comedy about a brother and sister born in the 90s on a self-help quest. The play is also inspired by stories like The Odyssey and Alice in Wonderland. Fool Bear explains that the storytelling aspects of theater connect to Indigenous culture.
Charli Fool Bear: Pretty much every Native community that I know of, storytelling is this very basic tenet of culture.
Emma Needham: New Native Theater founder Rihana Yazzie wrote the play and co-directed it alongside Amber Kay Ball, who is from the Siletz tribe in Oregon. In a recent press release, Yazzie says her work with New Native Theater has been about seeding a meaningful Native theater ecosystem in Minnesota.
She says many times that this comes at the cost of creating her own new place, but at the same time, she says it's also given her the opportunity to really grow and expand her skills as a playwright and an artist.
The Nut, the Hermit, the Crow and the Monk is performing at Gremlin Theater in St Paul through May 4. The show has a suggested ticket price of $35 but the theater also has a Pay What You Can option. Tickets are available at NewNativeTheater.org. For North Star stories. This is Emma Needham.
ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.
A new exhibit about the history of iron ore in Northern Minnesota is opening soon at the Duluth Depot. Titled "A County Built on Iron," the St. Louis County Historical Society's latest display will explore 150 years of iron work in Minnesota. The exhibit will trace the region's geological origins, the discovery of natural iron ore, and the evolution of mining. It will also highlight the culture of the immigrants and pioneers who built their lives around mining and look at what the future holds for one of the state's largest industries.
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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.