In recognition of this year’s Indigenous Peoples Day on October 12th, the MPR Archive Portal presents a curated selection of stories, documentaries, arts, interviews and reports on the Native American people.
February 7, 1973 - MPR’s Marvin Granger interviews Native American advocate Ada Deer about Native American struggles, rights, and the confrontational actions taken to draw attention to broken treaties.
May 6, 1973 - Part one of the MER documentary series, A Sense of Place. Program is titled “Anishinaabe Means Original People,” and focuses on conversations with Indian people about their feelings about the place where they live.
May 16, 1973 - Inside Wounded Knee. Kevin McKiernan, who was inside the occupied village of Wounded Knee, described his experience and plays taped actualities of fire-fights between federal marshals and those inside the village. One hears conversations between Red Arrow, the government radio, and the central command radio of Wounded Knee-Clearwater.
December 16, 1973 - Ron Libertus speaks about American Indian art, Native American culture, and family et al.
February 20, 1974 - MPR’s Bob Potter reports on Clyde Bellecourt speech on Indian reform policy. Clyde Bellecourt wants a treaty-making commission to re-examine existing treaties with the U.S. and make new ones if necessary. He wants Congress to create a commission to re-examine the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934; to give government back to the Indian people and allow them to govern themselves. He says the Bureau of Indian Affairs should be restructured and moved from the Interior Department’s Land Management division. With the current energy crisis, he’s concerned about land and mineral rights. Bellecourt ends by stating he wants legislation to provide a “leave us alone” type policy.
February 27, 1974 - Native American activist Russell Means, speaks about the desires and needs of Native Americans at rally on the Univeristy of Minnesota campus.
August 1, 1974 - Kevin McKiernan report on the Sun Dance Ritual, a Lakota (Sioux) religious ceremony. McKiernan details the experience of traveling to and witnessing the event, held at Crow Dog's Paradise. This is the first of two reports completed.
August 30, 1974 - Agnes Lamont, mother of Buddy Lamont, who was killed at Wounded Knee in 1973, is interviewed by Kevin McKiernan. Lamont discusses Oglala Sioux on Pine Ridge Reservation.
February 24, 1975 - A survey of the activities in and around the Alexian Brothers Monastery in Gresham, Wisconsin during the takeover by members of the Menominee Warrior Society. Includes comments by members of the Warrior Society, Ada Deer, Dennis Banks, National Guard commander Colonel Hugh Simonson, and others.
August 15, 1975 - As part of KCCM's Our Home Town series, this program is a sound portrait of Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. Highlights discussion on Michif culture. Also includes interview with Francis Cree on traditional Indian religion. About Our Home Town series: KCCM Radio in Moorhead, in conjunction with the North Dakota Committee for the Humanities and Public Issues, produced a series of twenty-six half-hour programs that documented attitudes and character of life in five North Dakota communities (Strasburg, Belcourt, Mayville, Mott, and Dunn Center). The programs were produced as sound portraits with free-flowing sounds, voices and music, all indigenous.