In Minneapolis it's AIM (American Indian Movement) that serves and protects
Category: News & Politics
Via: kavika • 4 years ago • 38 commentsBy: Gov. Tim Walz (IndianCountryToday. com)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Eddie Chuculate
35 minutes ago
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said her 'heart and guts have been ripped out' by the situation
Eddie Chuculate
Special to Indian Country Today
MINNEAPOLIS — The Native community here isn't looking to the police to serve and protect during the rioting and unrest in their city.
They're turning to AIM.
The American Indian Movement was founded here more than 50 years ago in response to police brutality and is headquartered in an area of south Minneapolis known for its Native-owned businesses, housing and community centers.
Members often cruise neighborhoods to protect the community and monitor police interaction, said AIM Executive Director Lisa Bellanger, Leech Lake.
"But now we're standing guard," she said Saturday.
Amid the protests and riots following George Floyd's death in police custody, dozens of AIM and tribal members have come out to patrol the area, which includes the Minneapolis American Indian Center, the Native American Community Clinic and Little Earth of United Tribes housing, considered the nation's first complex dedicated to urban Natives.
On Friday night, members protecting the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's urban office detained four Wisconsin teenagers who they caught allegedly looting a liquor store.
The American Indian corridor on Franklin Avenue is about 2½ miles from the epicenter of Friday night's looting. But with hot spots of random vandalism and arson occurring throughout the Twin Cities, AIM stood prepared.
"If we see looters coming as a group, we report back to headquarters so we can get more vehicles over there and dissuade the rioters from attacking," Bellanger said. "Let them know this building is Native-community owned."
AIM Executive Director Lisa Bellanger (Photo courtesy of Lisa Bellanger)
No new damage to Native buildings was reported Saturday afternoon.
On Thursday night, a nonprofit Native youth organization was destroyed in the riots. Looters set fire to a nearby U.S. Post Office, which spread to the Migizi Communications building. AIM members had been defending the grounds but had to retreat because of the blaze.
By Saturday evening, an online fundraiser had brought in more than $125,000 for Migizi.
Bellanger said at least 50 people from the Twin Cities, northern Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota participated in Friday's patrols, after she issued a call through social media.
An executive order issued by Gov. Tim Walz exempted AIM members and volunteers from an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in effect for Minneapolis to "patrol and protect Native-owned businesses," Bellanger said. Members were given letters of verification.
The guardians, who are not armed, were given their choice of which building to patrol, or were assigned. Everyone shared cellphone numbers so if strength was needed at a different location they could be quickly dispatched, said Bellanger, 58.
Other buildings being guarded included a bank owned by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe offices and the Native American Community Development Institute.
Michael Goze, Ho-Chunk, director of the American Indian Housing and Development Corporation, helped organize the effort and cooked for the crew outside the Pow Wow Grounds coffee shop and diner before members posted up at their sites.
Teens detained
Two community members notified patrol members about looters at Skol Liquors, in the Seward neighborhood of south Minneapolis.
The white teens, who were from Eau Claire, 100 miles east, were seen taking alcohol and groceries by Seward neighborhood residents, according to a widely circulated Facebook video posted by Bobby Headbird of Minneapolis.
The AIM members recovered the merchandise, took the teens' names and numbers and called their mothers in Wisconsin to come pick them up.
The Leech Lake office is across the street. The Leech Lake Reservation is 200 miles north in the Chippewa National Forest, but its Minneapolis office provides housing, education and employment services to tribal members in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area.
The patrol said the liquor and groceries such as juice and cereal were returned to the store owners Saturday.
More than 40 people were arrested for rioting, unlawful assembly, stolen property, burglary or robbery in the city over Thursday and Friday. That total could rise as Walz has vowed a stronger National Guard presence and stricter enforcement of the curfew Saturday night.
'Coming together to take care of our communities'
Across social media channels, people in south Minneapolis were posting pictures Saturday of neighbors clearing out the debris and cleaning up.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, White Earth, at a news conference said her "heart and guts have been ripped out" by the situation.
She noted landmarks and businesses important to communities of color have been destroyed by arson and vandalism.
"There are people who are burning down institutions that are at the core of who we are," Flanagan said. "We did not do that. We've been coming together to take care of our communities."
A massive, peaceful demonstration was held Saturday in the Powderhorn neighborhood where Floyd died on the street.
An Indigenous dance group performed to cheers and tears while people grilled and offered food to strangers in a carnival-like atmosphere.
Church leaders spoke, and permanent murals of Floyd were unveiled on the sides of buildings. Mounds of flowers dotted the street while Floyd's name was chanted.
The arresting officer in the death, Derek Chauvin, who pinned his knee against Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes while the 46-year-old was handcuffed face-down in the street, was charged Friday with third-degree murder and manslaughter, but protesters are demanding charges against the other three officers, all of whom have been fired.
Chauvin remains in the Hennepin County Jail.
Little Earth housing unscathed
At Little Earth, home to around 1,000 Natives, Jackie Neadau, an AIM member and a member of the Little Earth Residents Association, has been watching over the grounds, and Margarita Ortega and Lance La Mont have been staying overnight.
Although AIM members are unarmed, video posted on Facebook showed some people at Little Earth carrying baseball bats.
The association's executive director, Jessica Rousseau, Cheyenne River Sioux, reported no damage to housing as of Saturday afternoon.
Jessica Rousseau, executive director of the Little Earth Residents Association, Minneapolis (Courtesy of Little Earth of United Tribes)
But she said due to the destruction and closure of a nearby Target and Cub Foods, community members there are largely without a convenient option for groceries.
Across the Twin Cities, 24 Targets have closed either from destruction or preventive measures, while other grocery stores were undamaged but closed with windows boarded Saturday.
Eddie Chuculate, Creek/Cherokee, is a writer based in Minneapolis. @eddie_chuculate; chuculate66@yahoo.comarea was patrolled.
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I expect civil discussions no matter your point of view. No gotcha bs. Stick to the facts. Stay on topic.
Seems that some people from out of state are actually accurate as seen in the article.
This is not the first nor will it be the last that AIM has been at the forefront of protecting natives, it goes back to 1968 in this same area when AIM was founded in 1968.
AIM Ogichidaa (those that stand between the people and evil)
I know who I would put my trust in first.
Sounds like a bunch of people out just to cause destruction. Not for any political bend or any cause, just to join mayhem.
What pisses me off the most is now people are all pointing fingers, placing blame, saying your people are doing this or your people are doing that. All of it takes away from why there were protests to begin with.
Which is what I think some want.
I would like to point out, that the Indian community has had the same amount of discrimination by the police as has the black community, but they are not using their anger as an excuse to steal or destroy their own homes.
I know that there is a lot of frustration out there dealing with injustice. MLK did it right and that is how AIM does it, too.
AMERICAN INDIAN LEADERSHIP IN MINNEAPOLIS CALL FOR PEACE AND HARMONY IN CITY ANGRY OVER DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD
Members of American Indian Movement in Minneapolis protest on Tuesday night. Photo courtesy of Jeff Schad Imagery
Published May 28, 2020
MINNEAPOLIS — Protests and riots extended into the third day in Minneapolis as a reaction to the unnecessary death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who died Monday as the result of excessive police force by officers of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). Four officers were fired on Tuesday as the result of their involvement in the deadly incident.
On Thursday, swelling crowds confronted law enforcement at big box stores such as Target, Cub Foods, and Aldi, as well as small businesses on the city’s south side Longfellow neighborhood.
Crowds gathered in Minneapolis to show their outrage of the senseless death of George Floyd, who died of excessive police force. Native News Online photo by Darren Thompson
With numbers growing and emotions rising, the riots continued east to Saint Paul, where another Target store was a place of interest for the protesters. Law enforcement arranged a barricade protecting Target, but a large crowd threw bottles of water and other debris at the police in riot gear. Police responded with cannisters of pepper spray and rubber bullets to push back crowds as police vehicles were damaged.
On Thursday afternoon, American Indian leaders called for healing, peace and harmony.
“Let us start to heal. Let us move forward in peace and harmony. Let us see what we can create together,” leaders of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors (MUID) said in a joint statement.
The MUID is a consortium of organizations that serve the American Indian community in the Twin Cities Metro area. They include All Nations Indian Church, American Indian Community and Development Corporation, American Indian Movement Interpretive Center, American Indian OIC, The Circle Newspaper, Division of Indian Work, Dream of Wild Health, Indian Health Board of Minneapolis, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, Little Earth of United Tribes (LERA), MIGIZI, the Minneapolis American Indian Center, the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center Interim, the Mni Sota Fund, the Native American Community Clinic (NACC), the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), and the Nawayee Center School.
“Great strides have been made in recent years under the leadership of Minneapolis Chief of Police Medaria ‘Rondo’ Arradondo to bolster a more positive relationship between the Minneapolis Police Department and the urban American Indian community,” said MUID in a joint statement. “MUID stands ready to work with Chief Arradondo and his officers to create positive, sustainable, systemic change with the MPD. Additionally, MUID will continue to engage with the Native community, and with all stakeholders to create a collaborative and sustained efforts to combat these very serious issues now gravely impacting the Minneapolis American Indian population.”
Late Thursday afternoon, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard after pressure from both mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul to keep the peace. The directions, numbers, locations and times of the National Guard are unknown to the public.
“We are doing all we can to ensure justice is served for the death that happened to George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department. He should still be here,” Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, a tribal citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, told Native News Online .
The U.S. Attorney in Minneapolis said in a press release on Wednesday afternoon that they are continuing to investigate the death of George Floyd by law enforcement.
This is a developing story.
Minneapolis crowd express its anger over death of George Floyd. Native News Online photo by Darren Thompson
I saw her commentary earlier today … and I hope she will step forward in the morning to repudiate what Minnesota police and the National Guard have done this evening unprovoked.
What is scary from some footage I have seen, everything can be peaceful then all the sudden one or two people can jump in the middle and throw a rock or something and hell breaks loose.
Ender,
That is the scary part. In NYC we found out that one riot in Brooklyn had nothing to do with the protesters, while the another one did. But even at the one that did, all it took was one AH and the cops will shut it down.
I know some won't agree with this, oh well. It could be very easy for someone that was against a protest to jump in the middle and start chaos just to harm the protest.
Not trying to justify anything, just saying.
Now a building on fire in DC.
We will protect ours and we will always help others.
Very true 1st. It's what got us in trouble in the first place
But it is also something to be proud of, too!
Haven't we all seen this before? This is not the first instance of police unjustly causing the death of someone they supposedly took an oath to serve and protect.
Maybe potential police officers should be better screened before they are hired and also have term limits established. Being exposed to the darker side of civilization every day could very well reshape a persons outlook on life. Not everyone can remain unaffected.
Term limits for someone who is hired, not elected to a position?
You are technically correct, Paula, but I think that should be changed, too.
I don’t understand why more good people of all colors are not raising up and taking these vigilante defensive actions.
Dean, Natives have fought this battle for centuries, it's nothing new to us.
AIM was born in bloody strife on these same streets and battled police and the US Government in a long-running series of battles. We've been shot, imprisoned, and marginalized for decades. But we are still here and we will protect our own people, our businesses and our culture.
I cannot speak for other groups, but that is why we do it and will continue to do it.
Hoka Hey.
Franklin ave is known as the Native American cultural corridor. It's a place that all people are welcome to enjoy native art, food, culture, and gatherings.
Photos of some of the street murals in the corridor.
What is the symbolism behind the tortoise?
To Natives, north America is known as Turtle Island. The turtle is an important part of the Ojibwe creation story. It represents to us, Mother Earth.
I never knew that. I have learned so much from you and others here who share your heritage and I thank you.
What she said.
If you look closely you see at the edge of the turtle's shell is a small mammal. That is a muskrat.
Nana'b'oozoo was sleeping by the river bank and the water started to rise. He moved to the foot of the mountain and the water kept rising until he was at the top of the mountain and there was nowhere he would escape to. He tied two trees together and floated off. He was surrounded by all the animals of North America. Each trying to stay afloat and begging Nana'b'oozoo to come on his raft. He could not bear to see them suffer but knew that if he let him onboard his small raft that they would all drown. He asked the most powerful of the animals, the bear, moose, elk to dive to the bottom and bring up vegetation and dirt to help build the raft to make it larger, all failed. It was then that the lowly muskrat and turtle said they would build a new island. The muskrat dove down and brought up mud and vegetation and placed it on the turtles back, time and time again the muskrat dove down and brought up vegetation and mud to place on the turtle's back. The turtle with his powerful webbed feet kept afloat till all the creatures could climb aboard the new island.
The message is that no matter how small and insignificant a creature may seem, they all have value to maintain the circle of life.
No worries Kathleen. I never considered your comment to be disrespectful.
Reading the article, the first thing that came to mind was Wounded Knee. Things seem to be somewhat better now than then. Lets hope they stay that way.
Yes, somewhat better but still a very long way to go before we receive equal treatment. It's a constant battle battle for us.