ANCHOR: After decades of tension between the Minneapolis Native community and local police over misconduct and excessive force, Indigenous leaders created local safety patrols. Now, after a federal investigation, and a ruling by the Minneapolis City Council, the Police Department faces additional oversight. Deanna StandingCloud has more.
Deanna StandingCloud: Tensions between law enforcement and the Native community run deep. In 1968, the urban Native community in Minneapolis founded the American Indian Movement or AIM to address racial profiling and violence. AIM Patrol was created to protect and advocate for urban Native people, rooted in cultural practices. Here’s Lisa Bellanger, the Co-Director of AIM.
[Sound Element: Police Sirens, scanner audio requesting backup]
Lisa Bellanger: Our team sees a lot. Using traditional medicines as a tool for de-escalation and self-care for our AIM patrollers because they’re right there in the street. Front lines with our houseless camp and front lines sometimes first on the scene in a shooting or a fire or something.
[Sound Element: City sounds, distant siren]
Deanna StandingCloud: In 2023, a federal investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department, following the killing of George Floyd, revealed racial disparities overwhelmingly fell upon Black and Native communities. The Department of Justice proposed sweeping reforms, including stricter monitoring to curb abuse of police authority. Floyd’s death sparked protests, with Black and Native voices leading the call for justice in Minnesota.
[Sound Element: George Floyd protest audio]
Deanna StandingCloud: Minneapolis will become one of the few U.S. cities to adopt federal police reforms, and currently the only city in the nation to adopt both federal and state oversight. However, the plan faces uncertainty. The incoming administration’s opposition to federal oversight raises questions about its future.
For Minnesota Native News, I’m Deanna StandingCloud.
ANCHOR: Next, we’ll hear an update on the status of cannabis sales in Tribal Nations. Here’s CJ Younger with more.
CJ Younger: Several Tribal Nations in Minnesota are nearing agreements with the state to open cannabis businesses off-reservation and serve as wholesale retailers for state-licensed cannabis businesses. As sovereign nations, Tribes can sell cannabis on reservation land without licenses, but must negotiate compacts with the state for any cannabis business off their land. The state has not confirmed which Tribal Nations are close to signing.
[Sound Element: Shop door opens]
Zach Wilson: We're creating jobs.
CJ Younger: Zach Wilson is the CEO of Waabigwan Mashkiki, White Earth’s first dispensary.
Zach Wilson: we're creating a lot of jobs and a lot of opportunities for, you know, upward mobility and becoming experts in the industry, not not only on the retail side, but you know, also with the grow and all, all things operations.
[Sound Element: Crowd Murmuring]
CJ Younger: State cannabis licensing is facing roadblocks, like the halting of a social equity lottery by a Ramsey County judge. As a result, there will be no pre-approval process for licenses Also, the Office of Cannabis Management’s Interim Director, Charlene Briner, will be stepping down from her position this week.
The current timeline projects state cannabis licenses will be approved in May or June of this year. Here’s Briner in a press conference recorded by Fox News:
Former OCM Interim Director Charlene Briner: “Theoretically, if people have everything lined up…people could move forward with this in a matter of weeks or even months after we open.”
CJ Younger: It’s unclear if the change in leadership will affect the current timeline.
For Minnesota Native News, I’m CJ Younger.