‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Wellness: by Artists and Artisans Mikwanedun Audisookon, a center for Art and Wellness BY SHARON M. DAY, Executive Director of IPTF
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TASK FORCE is a Native American provider of HIV education and direct services to the Native community in Minnesota. For over 26 years, IPTF has developed and implemented culturally appropriate programs to prevent further transmission of HIV, increase access to traditional and western medical services, and improve the quality of life for clients, families, and communities. This will be the new home of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force (IPTF). It will be built on the property adjacent to the current home of IPTF and Manidoowahdak Odena Housing Complex at 1335 East 23rd Street. This will not just be a building created of bricks and mortar. This will be a building built from dreams and inspiration. Over ten years ago, during a visioning session, the Board and Staff of IPTF drew up the designs for a building that would house our bodies and nurture our belief that we are the caretakers of this hemisphere. As caretakers, we need to take care of the land and the [...]
Honoring Water 150 Miles The Chippewa River Water Walk
By Joe Kruse In the Midewiwin belief system, the indigenous spiritual practice of the Ojibway people, there are eight prophecies that have come and are coming to pass. The prophecies take into account the migration of the Ojibway people from the east to the upper Midwest where food (manoomin/wild rice) grows on water, the invasion of the light-skinned race, and the struggle for survival among and resistance to that colonization. Bode, a long-time water walker, and I sat in a minivan watching other walkers hike along a beautiful stretch of a rural county road as he explained this part of his spirituality to me. The rain was lightly misting our windshield. He went on to describe the eighth and final prophecy, when people of all skin colors will live in harmony. He said that, on these walks, he has started to see this prophecy fulfilled. He has seen white people, Native people, and people of color work together to pray for the water and our future. He sees how, while we are praying for [...]
