Remembering Heart of the Earth Survival School

The Heart of the Earth Survival School (HOTESS) was an alternative k-12 school founded in Minneapolis by the American Indian Movement (AIM) to provide urban Native American students with a cultural and linguistic responsive education.

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Producer: Dan NinhamEditorial support: Emily KrumbergerMixing & mastering: Chris HarwoodAudio credit: Soundly, First Language speakers at the 2026 Fond du Lac tribal Community College Language Symposium

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Transcript

Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.

Amidst civil unrest across the country, the Heart of the Earth Survival School (HOTESS) started in Minneapolis in 1972 in the basement of an American Indian Movement (AIM) office with a single light bulb, one blackboard, and limited supplies. The school had a vision to restore indigenous knowledge and skills to Native communities. The curriculum included indigenous languages and cultural ways of the Ojibwe and Dakota. They practiced traditional ways of hunting, fishing, gathering wild rice, and harvesting maple syrup. The passing of the Indian Education Act of 1972 and the beginning of the American Indian Movement (AIM) two years before paved the way for native communities to control their children's education. It was a significant shift from previous policies to assimilate native children by erasing their languages and cultures. The Heart of the Earth Survival School eventually graduated more urban Native students than the Minneapolis Public Schools system did combined during a comparable span. The Heart of the Earth Survival School represented a critical chapter in the ongoing struggle for Native American self-determination and educational justice.

MN90 is produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's Community Radio Stations, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at MN90.org.