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Ramsey County Court installed flags for the 11 federally recognized tribes in Minnesota during a ceremony held Monday in downtown St. Paul.

The ceremony marked a historic moment in the relationship between the state’s second largest judicial district and tribal nations.

Ramsey County District Court Chief Judge Sara Grewing offered remarks to the approximately 300 people who gathered during the afternoon ceremony at the Landmark Center. 

“May these flags that are about to post remind every person who walks through the doors of our courthouses — judges, litigants, staff, attorneys, staff and community members — that justice does not look the same for everyone, and it must be shaped by those that it serves,” Grewing said.

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Veterans Memorial Honor Guard carried in the tribal nation flags alongside the state and U.S. flag. Members of the Red Tree Singers Drum Group, from the Lower Sioux Indian Community near Morton, sang a pair of honor songs.

Dakota and Ojibwe leaders and district court judges spoke in tandem during the hour-long ceremony. 

Former president of the Lower Sioux Indian Community Robert Larsen said the ceremony was more than a symbolic gesture. The Lower Sioux Indian Community is a Dakota nation located in the south-central part of the state. 

“For generations, Native people have come into these courtrooms too often not as equals but strangers in a system that did not seek to understand them,” said Larsen. “The installation of these flags is a declaration that tribal nations are not relics of the past but sovereign governments here, now.” 

Ramsey County District Court Judge Stephen Smith spoke specifically about the challenges presented by child protection matters involving Native American children. Smith pointed up the disproportionately high number of Native American children removed from their homes across the state. 

Ramsey County Court judges hear hundreds of child protection cases each year, many involving Native American children who are subject to the protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act. The state and federal laws are aimed at keeping Native American children in tribal homes.

“I do not presume to have the answers to such a complicated problem. But I do believe remaining committed to the liberal construction of ICWA and adherence to its ‘spirit’ will help mitigate the disparity,” Smith said.

Smith said the raising of tribal flags in Ramsey County Court is a step in the right direction in building relationships among social workers, attorneys, and tribal representatives who work on child protection matters in state courts.

“Today’s ceremony is a strong symbol of that journey. It is a recognition of the importance of the collaboration of the mutual respect between this court and tribal courts and Indian Nations,” Smith said. 

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Monday’s ceremony marked a historic moment in the relationship between the state’s second largest judicial district and tribal nations.

A group of people in military uniforms stand on a stage holding various flags.

Vivian LaMoore | Courtesy of the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe

A woman speaks at a podium in front of various flags.

A man speaks at a podium in front of various flags.

Ramsey County District Court raises tribal flags, acknowledging sovereignty

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