Minnesota Native News

7 Generation Games has been creating educational games for students and schools across the country. The games blend math, language, and Indigenous history. In November of 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the company a $1million COVID-19 Rapid Response grant to expand their reach and produce a new platform to help meet challenges in education during the pandemic. The program is call...

HEADLINES:  This week on Minnesota Native News, White Earth works to deal with homelessness, Flanagan addressed a grieving state and a new exhibit celebrates indigenous engineering.  Story #1 -  Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan says she is grieving after the death of Daunte Wright at the hands of a white police officer in a Minneapolis suburb. Melissa Townsend tells us more.  In a radio address...

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. Coming up... Duluth Superior Film Festival Is Partnering Again With The American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO) For A Virtual Indigenous Film Series. Reporter Leah Lemm recently had a conversation with Local filmmaker Khayman Goodsky, who will host the series. Here’s Leah with the story. STORY #1: VIRTUAL INDIGENOUS FILM SERIES A...

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. Coming up... MN Native News produces a weekly Special Edition called COVID 19 Community Conversations. Throughout the pandemic, many have shared how their personal and professional lives have been impacted. Reporter Leah Lemm... and host of Community Conversations... shares two conversations from the program. STORY #1: Connection Through Conver...

Story 1: Opponents of both Enbridge Line Three and the proposed Polymet copper mine have new reason to be hopeful. Laurie Stern has the developments.   Laurie: The Fond du Lac Band won an important federal court case against the proposed copper mine 70 miles north of the reservation. The band had sued both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency, saying they had fa...

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. Coming up... The confirmation of Deb Haaland as U.S. Secretary of Interior is a historic moment. Deb Haaland… Now Secretary Haaland… is the first Native person to hold a cabinet position in U.S. History. Reporter Leah Lemm has reactions to this historic event, from folks in Minnesota.  But first, here’s Deb Haaland speaking at her confirmation...

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. Coming up... Diane Wilson’s new book The Seedkeeper has now been released… And The Minnesota Native American Lives Series is celebrating its launch as well. Here’s Leah Lemm with the stories…. STORY #1: BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS Reporter: Diane Wilson describes herself as a writer and a gardener. She’s a celebrated author and the Executive Director for...

Intro:  Marie intro: This week on Minnesota Native News, a plan for indigenous students to get the education they deserve. I'm Marie Rock.  The plan comes from Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. Reporter Emma Needham (Red Lake Nation) has more.    Emma:  Due North is a broad education plan crafted by the Walz Administration that seeks to limit disparities between white stude...

HEADLINES: This week on Minnesota Native News:  Lower Sioux Indian Community reclaims 114 acres, a Sumer opportunity for Native college students and a timely review for TV watchers.  STORY #1 - Canca’yapi Returns to Lower Sioux Indian Community (2:30) The Lower Sioux Indian Community in  Canca’yapi [Chosh-shay-ah-pee] recently reclaimed 114 acres of land from the state of Minnesota. Reporter Melis...

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. Coming up, from a 2020 report by the Minnesota Task Force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, "While Indigenous people make up just 1% of the state's population, 9% of all murdered girls and women in Minnesota from 2010 to 2019 were American Indian." February 14th marks a day of honoring for those who are missing and murdered. Events are...

Marie: This week on Minnesota Native News, a look at why many people in Indian Country oppose Line Three. I’m Marie Rock.   Enbridge Energy says the new pipeline is needed to transport oil safely. Reporter Emma Needham has been talking with community members in Northern Minnesota   Emma:  The route has been clear cut, a trench has been dug, and Enbridge is now burying the pipe underground and unde...

HEADLINES: This week on Minnesota Native News, we hear how the vaccine roll out is going at regional Indian Health Services clinics and we honor the life of Laura Waterman Wittstock. STORY 1 - IHS VACCINE ROLL OUT The Bemidji Area Indian Health Service plans to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine to 150-thousand people across Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. But vaccine supply will need to pick up d...

HOSTS:  Leah Lemm (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), Host and Reporter for Minnesota Native News Cole Premo (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), Host and Reporter for Minnesota Native News    GUESTS: Dr. Antony Stately (Ojibwe and Oneida) has a Ph. D. in Clinical Psychology and is the CEO of NACC, the Native American Community Clinic in South Minneapolis. Dr. Mary Owen , MD (Tlingit) is the President of the Ass...

This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. This week on Minnesota Native News, we hear from a native medical expert and leader, Dr. Mary Owen, who discusses the importance of the COVID-19 vaccination for the native community.  Here’s reporter Cole Premo with more.  DR. OWEN When I first scheduled a video interview with Dr. Mary Owen, little did I know I’d be interviewing her right after she go...

x Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. Coming up… COVID 19 Vaccine rollout in MN is underway… And Indian Country responds to the attack on the U.S. Capitol building in Washington DC on January 6th… Reporter Leah Lemm has these stories… STORY #1: VACCINATION ROLLOUT IN MN IS UNDERWAY Reporter: The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic on March 1...

In early December - after years of resistance from many tribes and Native communities - Enbridge Energy company began construction on the new Line 3 oil pipeline in northwestern Minnesota. But work on one section recently stopped because of an Ojibwe ceremonial lodge that stands in the path of the pipeline. Reporter Melissa Townsend tells us what might happen next. This region is the headwaters of...

This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. On December 11th a bill passed by the U-S House and Senate was presented to Donald Trump. The bill would restore 11,760 acres of land to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Reporter Melissa Townsend talked with Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe District 3 Representative Leroy Staples Fairbanks about this welcome news. The land was illegally taken from the Leech La...

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. Coming up... A new catalog from the Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance highlights Native artist products and shops in time for the busy shopping season. Reporter Leah Lemm has the story... STORY #1: New Catalog Encourages Shoppers to Buy Native Reporter: The MN Indigenous Business Alliance is in its 12th year of operations, with the last tw...

Reporter: Theatres have been hit hard by the pandemic, so adjustments are being made. Now in its fourth year, the New Native Theatre Play Festival has gone online and expanded internationally. The festival is up and running December 3 through the 13th. Rhiana Yazzie is the theatre’s artistic director. Rhiana Yazzie: So this festival is now a 10 day festival. It's all online and it is a world indig...

This week on Minnesota Native News, a profile of a remarkable leader. Laurie Stern has the story of Terri Yellowhammer, who was just sworn in as a new Minnesota state judge. She will serve in Minnesota’s 4th judicial district or Hennepin County.

A state report released this summer found one third of all Minnesota counties are not complying with the federal and state laws aimed at keeping Native children with their families when there’s a serious problem in the home. Starting in fiscal year 2021 those counties will see a deep cut in their budgets because of the problem. St Louis county – which includes parts of the Fond du Lac and Bois For...

Marie: This is Minnesota Native News, I’m Marie Rock. Coming up... Come January, there will be new leadership in the White House with a plan for Tribal Nation relationship...   and Minnesota tribes band together to assist in fighting wildfires out West. Reporter Leah Lemm has these stories….  STORY #1: PE BIDEN-VPE HARRIS ON TRIBAL NATIONS President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala...

HOST INTRO: This week on Minnesota Native News, we get a picture from the polls on election day in Indian country. Reporter Melissa Townsend has that story and more.  STORY #1 - VOTING STORY MORE THAN 3 million Minnesotans voted in this election.  About half of them cast their ballots early with absentee voting. And the other half voted in person on election day November 3rd.  Ahead of election da...

This week on Minnesota Native News, Native communities get out the vote and a handful of Native organizations get 10-million dollars in the state bonding bill.