Native News

The Native News Project is a new initiative from MPR News.

Stay informed with the latest news about local and national Native American communities, highlighting stories and issues important to Native American communities in Minnesota and beyond.

Our coverage includes cultural events, policy updates, community stories and more to provide a platform for Native voices, perspectives and important news.

Third annual Anishinaabe Arts Festival offers community engagement — and food 
More than 50 artists are expected at the third annual Anishinaabe Arts Festival in Bemidji this weekend. The organizers promise art works ranging from traditional to modern, food and a lot of socializing.
Safeguarding the heartbeat: Native Americans in Upper Midwest protect their drumming tradition
When a small-town Minnesota high school banned its Native American drum group from performing at graduation, the hurt reverberated across Indigenous communities in the Upper Midwest.
This is one of the oldest games in North America. You’ve likely never heard of it
Indigenous peoples have been playing stickball for centuries. It’s perhaps the oldest game in North America, and every summer since 1975, teams have competed in Mississippi to become champion. 
Project seeks to compensate tribal nations for national park lands
The South Dakota based Lakota People’s Law Project has established a project to solicit donations and educate people about the importance of the lands that are now national parks to Indigenous people.
Personal histories, items can be claimed by adult adoptees from Minnesota’s DHS files
Native American adoptees and advocates are asking the Department of Human Services to do more to help all adoptees claim items left in the care of adoption placing agencies by birth parents.
Leech Lake band celebrates the transfer of 11,000 acres that represent what was illegally taken
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe leaders this week celebrated the restoration of more than 11 thousand acres that represent land illegally taken by the federal government decades ago.  
States challenge EPA rule to protect tribal treaty rights
A recently finalized federal rule would require states to consider tribal treaty rights when setting state water quality standards. A dozen states are suing to overturn the rule, claiming Environmental Protection Agency over reach.
Quality coffee, Ojibwe language and a little magic are brewing on Fond du Lac Band’s reservation
On the Fond du Lac Band’s reservation, one family is energizing the community through quality coffee. MiigWitches Brew is the only coffee shop on the reservation and one of a few Native-owned shops in the state.