Scenes from a St. Paul school’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration

NINA MOINI: It's Indigenous Peoples' Day in Minnesota. From Moorhead to Mankato, Duluth to the Twin Cities, communities are celebrating the day. Chandra Colvin joins me from our Native News team. She's at a school in St. Paul, where people are spending the afternoon outside, cultural teachings, and a feast. Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day, Chandra.

CHANDRA COLVIN: Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day, Nina.

NINA MOINI: I can hear it out there. It sounds like a fun time. Tell me a little bit about the event you're at now.

CHANDRA COLVIN: Yes, I'm at the American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul. People have gathered to celebrate the holiday and it's a public event. The theme of the day is all about honoring ancestors, as their quote, "Guiding us through seven generations-- past, present, and future." And it's a beautiful day. Blue skies and crisp weather. There's also food, wild rice soup, and fry bread.

NINA MOINI: Nice. So you said the theme there honoring ancestors. How are you kind of seeing that play out through the day?

CHANDRA COLVIN: Yeah. I talked with Regan Kluver, director of American Indian Education for St. Paul Public Schools, and she said ancestor guidance through seven generations is a teaching in Minnesota. And they spent time this afternoon honoring elders.

REGAN KLUVER: We acknowledged and honored a few of our community elders who have given everything, anything, and all of them to our students and our youngest learners here. And so I think that's what it's all about is acknowledging those that have given their life to this work, their knowledge and their wisdom.

CHANDRA COLVIN: There was a prayer. Everyone was invited to come up and shake hands with elders. The theme of honoring ancestors across generations was also important to other attendees. Fern Cloud is Dakota and a traditional Buffalo hide painter, preserving the methods that her ancestors used.

FERN CLOUD: I think it's very relevant to what I'm doing with my preserving the methods of painting, preserving that for the future generations and the last generations. I mean, it's something that-- that knowledge is being lost. Today the youth don't go back too far in the history, maybe to just to 1492 and forward. But we had a way of living before that that was very complete and beautiful, using the natural world and all the elements to live, create, and to eat.

NINA MOINI: It sounds, Chandra, there's some young people out there today for sure. Is it mostly students or all generations?

CHANDRA COLVIN: Yeah, there are students, pre-K through seniors, community members, and elders. Nonprofit leaders are also here. A wide range of people came out. Sean Iredale was participating in the event. He has a perspective of someone who is nonNative, who is here and wants to learn more.

SEAN IREDALE: Be a part of this if it comes around you. Any time that there is a powwow or an event that celebrates Native American heritage or activities, it's not to shun others away or outsiders, truly come in and embrace it. Find out what it's about because you might be surprised at how much you relate to the culture, the people, and how it affects you.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, there was a proclamation from the governor this morning, Chandra, recognizing the rich Native American history going back thousands of years, well before contact. How are people reflecting on that today?

CHANDRA COLVIN: When I was talking to people, I kept hearing about Indigenous Peoples' Day is every day. Beyond that, people are celebrating heritage, spending time with family, and being grateful for time and community.

NINA MOINI: All right. Thanks for checking in with us, Chandra. Have fun.

CHANDRA COLVIN: Thank you, Nina.

NINA MOINI: That's MPR News reporter Chandra Colvin reporting live for Indigenous Peoples' Day.