"We are still here": Monday marks Indigenous Peoples Day in Minnesota
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MINNEAPOLIS -- Monday is Indigenous Peoples Day, an opportunity to honor Native contributions and heritage.
Shortly after 7 a.m., a special sunrise ceremony was held at St. Thomas Beach at Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis.
This weekend, the festivities got off to an early start. There was an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration at Midtown Global Market. The event included Native American traditions like drumming and dance.
Indigenous Peoples Day is relatively new. Minneapolis was one of the first cities in the country to celebrate it. The first statewide celebration in Minnesota was in 2016, and Gov. Tim Walz made it an official holiday in 2019.
Minnesota is home to about 58,000 Native Americans, which is just over 1% of the state's population. There are 11 sovereign tribal nations in Minnesota, mostly made up of Ojibwe and Dakota communities.
Check out more related stories, events and background below.
"We have never left, we have always been around."
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A mound is a symbol of Mother Earth and the giver of life.
At Indian Mounds Regional Park in St. Paul, the mounds are also burial grounds. And for everyone in attendance Monday to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, they say the spirit of the ancestors is alive and well.
Lisa Yankton, a member of the Spirit Lake Dakota, says her connection to this land dates back thousands of years, until her grandmother fled Minnesota during the Dakota War.
"We have a connection to the land, we have a relationship with Unci Maka, Mother Earth. We have a way that we walk upon her with respect," Yankton said.
Yankton came back to the Twin Cities for grad school, something she thinks didn't happen by accident.
"I feel like the ancestors brought me back," she said. "I'll continue carrying out our traditions and our culture so that they're not lost or forgotten."
Indigenous kids account for just 1% of St. Paul's student population, but community leaders insist their presence is more pronounced in schools, in local governments, and even through Miss Minnesota.
"We have never left, we have always been around," said John Bobolink of St. Paul Public Schools' Indian Education Program. "History tries to portray us as something in the past, gone the way of the dinosaurs and no longer of existence. But that is further from the truth."
It's a truth Yankton now passes on to her own children as a mom, but also as a teacher to more than 100 middle school students.
St. Paul annual parade honors Indigenous culture
Monday is Indigenous Peoples Day and an annual celebration is back in St. Paul.
The parade's grand marshall was Rachel Evangelisto, who made history over the summer when she became the first Native American to be crowned Miss Minnesota. She was followed by multiple local businesses and nonprofits from the community.
Festivities will go through 2 p.m. at Indian Mounds Regional Park - all are welcome.
Several schools took part in the parade, and WCCO heard from a young student on what the day means for them.
"It's really important to just celebrate this kind of culture, because it's been repressed for so long," said Ascella Brown of Tartan High School. "A lot of our culture has been stripped from us, but we're still back and stronger than ever."
St. Paul's annual parade on Indigenous Peoples Day
One of the many events happening Monday for Indigenous Peoples Day is the annual parade in St. Paul.
Pauleen Le shared a video from a segment of the parade:
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan: "We are still here"
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is Ojibwe and from White Earth Nation, posted on Facebook Monday morning following the sunrise ceremony at Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis.
US Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland: "Today we celebrate the strength of Indigenous communities"
A list of events Monday on Indigenous Peoples Day
Check out the list of some Monday events set to honor Indigenous Peoples Day:
What's opened/closed on Monday
Columbus Day is still a federal holiday, so federal services in Minnesota are closed, including USPS and federal court.
Some banks will close, so check with your bank to see if it's open.
Some cities – like Minneapolis and St. Paul – have declared their own holidays, so some services will be affected there. For instance, city offices in Minneapolis will be closed and parking meters are not enforced.
Most schools and stores will remain open.
As first-language Ojibwe speakers dwindle, a look inside efforts to save the language (related)
The option to learn Ojibwe will now be accessible to everyone, following the release of a never-before-seen language learning program in partnership with Rosetta Stone.
Watch the video below:
Click here for the full story.
St. Paul schools now allow Indigenous smudging indoors (related)
The second-largest school district in the state made a big change in the way it honors Indigenous cultures. The ritual of smudging is now allowed inside classrooms at St. Paul Public Schools.
Watch the report below:
Click here for the full story.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux helps fund effort to up Native American histories into classrooms (related)
There's a new statewide effort to get more Native American histories and cultures into Minnesota classrooms.
Watch the video below for more:
Click here for the full story.
