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.

What to know about Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier’s first hearing in more than a decade
Peltier has spent most of his life in prison since his conviction in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents in South Dakota. Supporters have long argued that Peltier was wrongly convicted and say this parole hearing may be his last chance at freedom.
Supreme Court sides with Native American tribes in health care funding dispute with government
The 5-4 decision means the government will cover millions in overhead costs that two tribes faced when they took over running their health care programs under a law meant to give Native Americans more local control.
Red Lake Nation College expands to Minneapolis, students feel sense of home
Red Lake Nation College will serve more students from all backgrounds with its latest expansion to Minneapolis. Native students from the Twin Cities say they have found a sense of belonging at the tribal college’s new site.
New adult-use cannabis dispensary opens in Minnesota, closest to Twin Cities
The Sweetest Grass is about 182 miles from downtown Minneapolis, making it the closest dispensary to the Twin Cities — at least until Prairie Island Indian Community opens its dispensary, planned for later this month.
‘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.