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North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live is a daily, five-minute newscast that shines a spotlight on the stories and perspectives of Minnesota’s diverse communities, including Black, Latine, Asian American, East African individuals, people living with disabilities, LGBTQIA2S+ residents, laborers, veterans, and those from Greater Minnesota.
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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.
ANCHOR: Today, after decades, sacred indigenous artifacts will go back to their tribe. Then, how the federal budget may affect services for domestic violence survivors. And, the Fond du Lac Band enters the cannabis business.
I'm Chantel SinGs.
The University of Minnesota will soon return artifacts to the Hopi [Ho-Pee] Indian tribe in Arizona, more than 30 years after a federal law first required it. In the 1920s, the university excavated artifacts and the remains of nearly 200 people from burial sites in the Southwest. But Congress passed a law in 1990 requiring federally funded institutions to catalog and return Indigenous human remains and burial artifacts. The university is expected to start transferring the items back to the tribe later this year.
Next: As the new political administration unveils its proposed budget, voices on the front lines of domestic violence prevention and support are sounding the alarm. Katharine DeCell (DEH-SELL) has more
Katharine DeCelle: The Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women recently revised its grant opportunities, introducing new, more restrictive guidelines aligned with President Trump's executive orders that may have a dramatic impact on some domestic violence programs in Minnesota.
Amirthini Keefe: If you were to apply for a grant, but you were to engage in DEI practices. If you were to do things to support the LGBTQI+ community, specific things to support the immigrant refugee community and folks that are undocumented, then you would no longer be eligible and you would lose that grant.
Katharine DeCelle: That's Amirthini Keefe, Executive Director of the Domestic Abuse Project in Minneapolis, which has been a vital resource for families affected by violence for more than four decades.
Amirthini Keefe: We serve everyone in the family, providing advocacy, case management and mental health services for children that have witnessed domestic violence, for victims of domestic violence, and very importantly, for folks that use violence in their homes.
Katharine DeCelle: Among the new stipulations to receive funding, organizations must have proof of citizenship for victims, not provide services to trans identifying individuals, and cannot frame sexual assault and domestic violence (or referred to as DV) as systemic social justice issues rather than criminal offenses.
Amirthini Keefe: The ripple effect is that we go back to talking about DV and sexual violence as a private family issue, instead of a public health issue or a community-based issue.
Katharine DeCelle: No longer qualifying for these grants, Keefe is worried that they will have to cut some of their most successful programs. A large component of the domestic abuse project is their mental health programs for victims, children and a 22-week program for abusers.
Amirthini Keefe: We are bracing ourselves for some of the decisions that were just recently made in regards to Medicare and Medicaid. About 78% of our population falls below the poverty line, and so a vast majority of our clients access public benefits and public health insurance.
Katharine DeCelle: The intense intervention prevention program has been a success in stopping the pattern of violence. And according to the program's data, 98% of these participants are not charged with a domestic assault. Within a year after completing the program, the organization bills for mental health services, but potential cuts threaten their ability to recover funds.
Amirthini Keefe: Oftentimes, a majority of our clients are referred to us from systems where they've been charged with a crime, or maybe they're going through a custody battle, and it's come up like domestic violence was part of what was happening in the family. They have to go through the intervention program.
Katharine DeCelle: The proposed cuts aims to reduce Medicaid spending by implementing stricter requirements to receive the insurance, making it harder for people to get coverage and maintain access to these mental health services. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, resources are available at MNDAP.org. For North Star Stories, I'm Katharine DeCelle.
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ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has opened its first cannabis dispensary. ANANG Native Cannabis Co. is located in the Duluth–Superior area of Northern Minnesota, and is tribally owned and operated. The name ANANG, which means "star" in Ojibwe, holds deep cultural meaning for the Band. The launch is part of a broader vision from the tribe to shape the region's cannabis future and bring economic empowerment to their community.
In a related development, Governor Walz recently signed an agreement with the White Earth Nation, allowing it to open and operate up to eight retail cannabis stores across the state.
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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.