To the Minneapolis American Indian Epi-Center 1530 East Franklin Ave.
By HARVEY WINJE
The Minneapolis American Indian Center (MAIC), an emblematic gathering nexus of Indigenous people developed five decades ago between 1968 and 1975, has undergone a decade long transformation that includes total renovation of its building edifice and surrounding grounds that doubles the building’s physical size while also embellishing an outdoor message of strength, resilience, and pride, and adding new landscaping amenable to gathering outdoors.
This transformation heightens its stature on East Franklin Avenue to something that is exceptionally different from what that street was in 1975. MAIC is now the epi-center of a mile-long American Indian Cultural Corridor that has a dozen Indigenous organizations along it, and over two dozen more within one and a half miles.
The Minneapolis American Indian Center once again centralizes the many activities and functions that didn’t stop for two years while this total renovation took place, but now has them all under one roof once again as it extends its services and impact to all four directions in time to prepare for its 50th Anniversary in 2025.
