Day in the Life: May 2

Welcome to Spring in Minneapolis. 
It was a very chilly morning but a great walk down Bloomington Av. from Lake to Franklin to commemorate the state of American Indian month.

I was lucky enough to walk most of the way with Clyde Bellecourt on one side and Joe Rainey on the other.   Clyde, of course, has been an Indian leader for decades and told some very moving stories about moving up in an era that did not respect Indian culture.  He said his parents never spoke their languange or about their culture....but late at night, when they thought he was asleep, he would hear them downstairs with friends speaking their lauguage with friends.  The next morning they were back to English, and, fearing their children would suffer, they encouraged them to avoid their language and cluture.

       Joe's life has been very different.  Now a Senior at South, he was raised by relatives in the Jordain family to celebrate his heritage.  Today he's a star basketball player at South and looking to use his skills to open doors to younger Indian kids as a teacher who gives them pride in who they are.

     We got to the American Indian Center for the celebration of the city selling the building to the community for $1.   The community now owns the building but we all need to help with the capital campaign to pay for badly needed renovations.