Native American elders celebrated in Richfield with proclamation, connection
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Buses pulled into the parking lot of Veterans Memorial Park in Richfield on Wednesday morning with elders eager to attend the day’s celebration. Activities like music, food, bingo and even a guest appearance by an Elvis impersonator awaited them.
Maren Hardy is co-founder of Spirit Care Services, a company that provides home care and transportation for Native American elders. She, alongside fellow elder advocates, organized the gathering.
“None of us would be here without an elder, and so we just wanted a full day of recognition for our elders — to appreciate them, serve them, let them know how much we appreciate them,” Hardy said.
The state proclamation reads in part, “Minnesota honors Native American elders for their resilience and courage in preserving language, traditions and culture for future generations.”
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Hardy says more elders living in rural areas came to the celebration this year. Isolation can be a struggle for many living far from urban centers, where homes and communities are more spread out.
“We have so many elders from northern Minnesota,” she said. “It makes my heart warm. It makes my soul happy. It’s a really moving day for me.”
Diane Grooms is a member of the event’s planning committee. She says the celebration serves as a reminder to elders that they are not forgotten and hopes Native communities will come together more often to remind them of this sentiment.
“I just want people to start recognizing and seeing our elders. Do something nice for them,” Grooms said, encouraging people to get involved with elder programs. “We have forgotten about them until we have an event like this.”
Mary Bowles and four other elders traveled from the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, located at the tip of the state’s Arrowhead region, near the Canadian border.
“It took us nine hours. But we’re elders, so we stop often,” Bowles said. She says the group shared stories and laughed together on the journey down to the metro area. Despite the distance and time, it was worth the drive.
“I think it’s always wonderful when our Native peoples get together. And this is kind of a different one, because it’s primarily for us elders,” Bowles said. She sat alongside her fellow band members at the gathering, including Carol Hackett.
“It’s fun to see all the people that I know, and I was surprised. I wasn’t sure if I'd see anybody I’d know. First two people I saw, I knew them,” Hackett said.
Hackett’s sister, Donna Bolen, says she has pride in being an elder. She shared that her family finds importance in cultural teachings, such as language.
“I’ve done my best with my children to teach them what I’ve learned, and they passed it on to their children,” Bolen said. Hackett and Bolen were not the only two from their family who traveled from Grand Portage. Hackett’s son, Robert Hackett works for the tribe’s Elderly Nutrition Program and drove them on a bus down to Richfield.
He says his daughter finds valuable meaning in cultural teachings she learns from her grandmother, who will often dance with her at powwows.
“They are learning. They’re soaking that up, and they’re enjoying that. And as an elder, they’re the only one with that. You know, I don’t have the knowledge they have,” he said.
Hardy emphasized without elders, cultural teachings would not be passed down to younger generations. With Native American Elders Day, she hopes to bring more acknowledgement and appreciation for their contribution to their communities across Minnesota.
“The elders in our community, they're the gatekeepers. They’re the keepers of our traditions, of our language, and they're the ones who take who took care of us,” Hardy said.
There are plans for another Native American Elders Day gathering next year.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
