‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Free Leonard Peltier After 48 years and City to Demolish Roof Depot After 9 Year Community Opposition
Indigenous relatives and elders, East Phillips neighbors, and allies set up Camp Nenoocaasi at the Roof Depot site at sunrise on Tuesday, February 22. The peaceful camp was cleared by Minneapolis police that evening during the beginning of the winter storm. Several Roof Depot protectors were arrested. Photo Credit: Steve Sandberg Little Earth resident Nicole Perez confronts Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey at the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Rally on February 14 at East Phillips Park. She told Frey “Stop pretending to care about our children, give us our land back and we will use it in a good way to protect our children.” Photo Credit: Rachel Thunder By STEVE SANDBERG & H. LYNN ADELSMANOn February 6th there were two rallies at Hennepin County Government Center and City Hall. First to demand Leonard Peltier’s release from 48 years in a maximum security prison. Then followed a protest regarding the city’s plan to demolish the Roof Depot building so the city [...]
With New President Shelley Buck, Friends of the Falls Now Native-Led with Native-American Majority Board
New president of Friends of the Fall, Shelley Buck, with outgoing president Mark Andrew. Photo Credit: Nicole Neri By AMANDA WIGEN, Friends of the FallsFriends of the Falls, a non-profit working to transform the site adjacent to the Upper Lock on Minneapolis’ central Mississippi riverfront, made headlines on February 3 when it announced that retiring president Mark Andrew would be succeeded by Shelley Buck. Shelley is currently serving her sixth term on Prairie Island Tribal Council and serves as a board member of the Minnesota Wild Foundation, Great River Passage Conservancy, and Lower Phalen Creek Project. She has been a part of the project since late 2020 as a valued member of The Falls Initiative’s Native Partnership Council. Under Shelley’s leadership, the organization is now Native-led and has a majority Native American board of directors.“Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls) and Wita Wanagi (Spirit Island) were desecrated like so many of our sacred sites. For Friends [...]
The Grease Presser: Rediscovering Forgotten Trades of the Southtown Yards
IMAGE 1 IMAGE 2 IMAGE 3 IMAGE 1 1945 aerial view showing Southtown Yards in the center. Lake Street runs east/west along the bottom, and Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery can be seen in the lower left corner. Photo Credit: John R. Borchert Map Library, University of MinnesotaIMAGE 2 Contemporary aerial view marking the location of the old roundhouse between Hiawatha and Minnehaha Avenues, just south of East 26th Street. Photo Credit: Google EarthIMAGE 3 Patent diagram showing Oscar Zerk’s ingenious method of injecting grease into internal moving parts. By JOHN ANDERSENA century ago, South Minneapolis was home to thousands of skilled tradespeople. Right next to our neighborhood was the largest roundhouse of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul, and Pacific Railroad, more commonly known as The Milwaukee Road. The roundhouse had forty-six stalls and was completed before 1900. In the center was a ninety foot electrically operated turntable. Immediately adjacent were the [...]
