TEACHING OUR YOUTH TO DEER HUNT AND TREATY RIGHTS

Education strategies around food sovereignty is a topic spreading across Indian country like wildfire. From wild rice to stinging nettles, the conversation around food as medicine has been changing for some time. Mainstream media, food corporations, and the big farm industry have changed the landscape around the quality of food we put into our bodies. While more and more chemicals are pumped into everyday food items you will f ind at every gas station and grocery store, the Mille Lacs Band Department of Natural Resources and surrounding school pro grams at Nay Ah Shing, Onamia, and Isle seek to create food independence by helping guide the next wave of Indigenous hunters.

Tribal Government News

STARTING IN A GOOD WAY

Chief Executive Virgil Wind invites all Mille Lacs Band government employees to start each month in a good way by coming together for a potluck, smudge, tobacco offering, drum, and song on the first Monday of each month. On December 2, 2024, Chief Executive Wind offered tobacco — asemaa — to Band Elder Joe Nayquonabe Sr. to provide an invocation for the event as over 30 employees gathered in the foyer of the government center to participate.

A WATERSHED YEAR: WHAT'S AHEAD IN 2025

January is a season for setting goals for what we’d like to accomplish in the coming year. 2025 is a particularly important year for the Water Over Nickel team as we continue our work to raise awareness about the risks associated with the pro posed Tamarack nickel mine.

This year, we will share the Band’s perspective with more Minnesotans, with State and Federal leaders, with other tribes, and with Mille Lacs Band members.

Linked above is an overview of Water Over Nickel and ideas for how Band members can get involved and support our work in 2025.

MILLE LACS BAND MCT DELEGATES 2025

As the delegates wrap up their Zoom meetings on “A Preliminary Analysis of the Organization known as the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe,” they remain focused on education and engagement with fellow Band members. They are pleased to announce plans to visit all ALUs, community centers, and other public spaces to continue this vital work. If you have location suggestions, please send those to mlbdelegates401b@gmail.com. Further details linked in the article above.

Highlights

CONNECTING TO CULTURE THROUGH BEADING

Beadwork isn’t just a craft for me, it’s a creative connection to my Ojibwe heritage. Every bead I place is a step into history, a way to honor my ancestors, and a chance to tell my own story and write my own history. It’s my way of blending tradition with my personal touch, creating something that’s uniquely mine while connecting to my culture.

When I sit down to bead, a dance of colors and patterns unfurl, each bead is a step in the drummed rhythm of my heritage. I think about the stories my relatives have shared, the patterns they crafted, and the vibrant colors that resemble the ones native to our lands.

The process is meditative as I carefully thread beads onto sinew (a traditional thread), one bead at a time, and as I watch a design come to life. I get lost in the shapes, the floral patterns my ancestors originated, the animals whose spirits we honor, and the more generalized geometric patterns. I often incorporate nature-inspired designs, like the curve of a leaf or the flow of water, which feel like whispers from the creator itself.

CE VIRGIL WIND ON TOP 100 TO WATCH LIST

Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures (MLCV) understands that leadership transcends everyday business. True leadership focuses on creating impactful transformation and empowering others to do the same.

This year, Twin Cities Business (TCB) has distinctly recognized Chief Executive Virgil Wind of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe as one of their prestigious 2024 TCB 100 Honorees. This accolade celebrates visionaries driving change and shaping a brighter future for Minnesota.

SANTA STOPS IN AT ABINOOJIYAG

Santa Claus made a visit to Nay Ah Shing elementary school. Nay Ah Shing student council members assisted Mr. Claus as his elves by bringing joy and holiday cheer to classes, students, and staff. Students greeted him with many giggles, smiles, and eager anticipation.

ICE SAFETY RECAP

In the year 2024, it should go without saying that no ice is ever 100% safe, and yet, here we are coming off a record-setting year for ice-related incidents across the ice belt related to vehicles and persons falling through the ice compared to any recent year on record. According to the Minnesota DNR, since 1976, an average of 5.6 deaths have occurred annually as a result of falling through the ice while pursuing fish on bodies of water across Minnesota. In the ice season of 2023-2024, due to an abnormally warm winter, the ice conditions varied across lakes throughout the entire state.

Indian Country News

Legislation Introduced to Combat Drug Trafficking in Tribal Communities

U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) today introduced the bipartisan Protection for Reservation Occupants Against Trafficking and Evasive Communications Today (PROTECT) Act, aimed at tackling drug trafficking in tribal communities. The PROTECT Act would expand the Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction (STCJ) program, enabling tribal nations to prosecute non-Native offenders for drug and gun crimes linked to STCJ covered offenses. Additionally, the bill would grant tribal courts the authority to issue warrants for electronic materials, enhancing their ability to combat drug traffickers and other criminals. “Expanding the Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction to include crimes related to drugs and guns is an important step in promoting the safety of tribal members and strengthening tribal sovereignty. We thank Senators Smith and Daines for taking action to provide Indian Country with additional tools needed to keep our communities healthy and safe,” said Virgil Wind, Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Source: Native News Online.

Wahkon mayor bids adieu

Longtime Mille Lacs area public servant Ronda Bjornson presided over her final city council meeting as the Mayor of Wahkon last week, bidding farewell to 20 years as either a council member or mayor of this small town on the shores of the big lake. Closing out the December monthly meeting of the City Council, Council members gathered to present Bjornson with a commemorative plaque (pictured above) as a sign of the city’s appreciation for work she has done for the betterment of her community. It is thought that Bjornson’s tenure on the Council may be a record length. Ronda’s final comments to the Council and those gathered at City Hall that night were, “Thank you. It’s been fun.” Bjornson’s public service commitments are not over, however, since she ran unopposed for the job of Mille Lacs County Commissioner of the Fifth District this past November and will begin those duties starting in January, 2025. Source: Mille Lacs Messenger.

Talon Metals Progresses State Environmental Review Process for Proposed Underground Nickel Mine near Tamarack, Minnesota

Talon Metals Corp. submitted an amended Environmental Assessment Worksheet ("EAW") to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for the State's Environmental Impact Statement scoping process for the Tamarack Nickel-Copper Project, a proposed small-footprint, high-grade underground nickel mine that would be located near the City of Tamarack in Aitkin County, Minnesota (the "Tamarack Mining Project"). Tamarack Mining Project has gone through two rounds of comments with the Minnesota regulatory agencies and participating tribal governments/organizations. After receiving the second round of comments on the EAW in February 2024, Talon has taken steps to investigate and propose engineered solutions to potential concerns. The amended EAW covers several key conceptual aspects of the Project for scoping. Source: Junior Mining Network.

Biden creates national monument marking Indian boarding schools' history of oppression

For more than 150 years, the federal government separated Native American children from their families and sent them to institutions around the U.S., the White House said. Biden designates monument to mark Indian boarding schools' history of oppression. President Joe Biden designated a national monument that will memorialize the federal government's oppression of thousands of Native American children in a boarding school system during the 19th and 20th centuries. Biden announced the new monument, called the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument and located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, during the final White House Tribal Nations Summit of his administration. The school was founded in 1879 and was the first federal off-reservation boarding school for Native children, serving as a model for more similar schools across the country that ultimately numbered more than 400, according to the White House. The school operated for nearly 40 years. The White House said that for more than 150 years, the federal government separated children from their families, removing them from American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities "often by force or coercion," and "transported them to institutions that aimed to strip them of their languages, religions, and cultures." Source: NBC News.

Senator Rounds Announces NADL Improvement Act Heads to President's Desk

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC) and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA), announced that his legislation to help Native American veterans achieve homeownership is heading to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The Native American Direct Loan (NADL) Improvement Act passed the Senate on December 12, 2024, and the House on December 16, 2024. The NADL Improvement Act aims to reform the NADL program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and make it more accessible to Native American veterans living on trust land. Source: KXLG – South Dakota.