Dakota and Ojibwe language archive survives Minneapolis fire, group says

The Dakota and Ojibwe language archive that leaders feared was lost in a Minneapolis fire survived, and it is being moved to the basement vault of an old bank building.

The fire began Sunday afternoon at Franklin Dollar City Plaza, a convenience store connected to the tribe's building. It drew nearly 60 firefighters in a three-alarm response, and two firefighters were hospitalized with minor burns. As of Monday, fire officials said the cause was still under investigation.

Wicoie Nandagikendan, which works out of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe building on East Franklin Avenue, said in Facebook posts this week that the room holding its Dakota and Ojibwe language historical records was the only room on its side of the building that was not damaged.

"It's like a safety bubble was wrapped around that room," the organization wrote.

The posts do not describe the condition of individual items in the archive.

Native American leaders feared the state's largest Dakota language archives had been lost. Fawn Youngbear-Tibbetts, the group's executive director, said then that recordings of elders' stories on old tapes were likely melted.

The organization said its administration was allowed into the building Monday afternoon. It and other tenants found severe water and smoke damage. The group said the fire came through one small piece of the building but was put out very quickly and did not spread throughout it.

The archive is being moved to The Family Partnership, which agreed to host it until the group finds a better location or sends the records to be digitized, the organization said. The Family Partnership's Lake Street location was built on an old bank, and the group said it will store the archive in the basement vault.

Classes will continue without interruption at Four Directions Family Partnership, the organization said. Partners there are letting its educational staff work from shared office space upstairs until the group can reopen its education room's offices.

Its administrative offices will stay closed until further notice. The organization said it hoped to have a temporary location by the end of the week and is working with community partners to find interim offices for all the organizations and tribal urban offices in the building.

The group is also hosting an Intertribal Community Feast starting at noon Friday in the Powwow Grounds parking lot at 1414 E. Franklin Ave. The organization said the traditional foods that were in the building's freezer will be cooked and served instead of going to waste. The menu includes lamb, bison, venison, walleye and turkey.

Attendees are asked to bring containers for extra food or a cooler for cold items. A flyer for the event says no one will be turned away. Volunteers were invited to help salvage items from the building's fridge and freezer on Thursday.