A closer look at Indigenous Minnesotans making history

Two side by side portraits one of a man and a woman.
(From left) David Glass, the president of the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media, and Vanessa Goodthunder, the director of the C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi, the Lower Sioux Early Head Start and Head Start Dakota language immersion program.
Photos by Kathryn Styer Martinez | MPR News and Jaida Grey Eagle for MPR News

In November, MPR News profiled several Indigenous Minnesotans who are making positive changes across the state. 

We profiled artists, musicians, activists and public servants, and asked them what being Indigenous in Minnesota means to them and their hopes for the future. 

Host Angela Davis spoke with Vanessa GoodThunder, who is working to revitalize the Dakota language, and David Glass, who is challenging the appropriation of Native American imagery and culture in sports. 

Guests:

  • David Glass is the president of the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media. He is an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and currently lives in Stillwater, Minn.

  • Vanessa Goodthunder is the director of the C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi, the Lower Sioux Early Head Start and Head Start Dakota language immersion program in Morton, Minn. She is from the Lower Sioux Indian Community, a Dakota community in southwest Minnesota described as "where they paint the trees red."

Use the audio player above to listen to the program.

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