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.

‘The Avengers’ and ‘Star Wars’ get Ojibwe and Lakota dubs from Indigenous language experts
Thomas Draskovic and Anton Treuer voiced characters in two language dubs of popular movies. They say the goal is to revitalize Indigenous languages.
 A new marijuana dispensary opening this week will be the closest to the Twin Cities
A new adult-use cannabis dispensary opens Thursday. It’s called The Sweetest Grass, and it will now be the closest dispensary to the Twin Cities metro. It’s 182 miles or a little more than 3 hours from downtown Minneapolis to Walker, just west of Leech Lake in Cass County.
100 years ago, U.S. citizenship for Native Americans came without voting rights in swing states
An act of Congress a century ago guaranteed citizenship to wary Native Americans in an age of forced assimilation and marked the outset of a long, arduous journey to secure voting rights that were denied for several more decades.
Minnesota Historical Society will repatriate the ‘Mankato Hanging Rope’ to the Prairie Island Indian Community
The item known as “the Mankato Hanging Rope” was used in the hanging of Wicanhpi Wastedanpi (also known as Chaske), one of the 38 Dakota men hanged on Dec. 26, 1862, following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. 
State agency approves loan for tribal cannabis facility over board's recommendation
The Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation has approved a $2.5 million loan to a subsidiary of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to build a cannabis growing facility in Brookston, despite its advisory board’s vote against it.
Native students at Hinckley-Finlayson High School to host powwow after graduation
After their request to have a tribal drum group perform at the Hinckley-Finlayson High School’s graduation was denied, Native American students now plan to host a powwow in the school parking lot after Friday’s ceremony.
U of M remains committed to transfer land back to Fond Du Lac band despite legislative stall
The University of Minnesota says it remains committed to returning land to the Fond du Lac band of Lake Superior Ojibwe despite not receiving the necessary support from the state Legislature in the waning days of the session.
Final South Dakota tribe bans governor
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is now banned from entering the lands of all nine tribes in South Dakota. Following a meeting on Tuesday, May 21, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe moved to ban the governor from the reservation in solidarity with the other eight Oceti Sakowin tribes in South Dakota.