MPR Archive presents a collection of varied Native topics in and around Minnesota. Stories include interviews, commentary, events, speeches, documentaries, and reports.
September 18, 1995 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on Project Grow, a program focused on developing food planting and produce services as a way to counter the growing issue of diabetes in Native American communities. It’s a callback to traditional ways regarding food and preparation.
October 27, 1995 - MPR’s Joaqlin Estus profiles Native American composer Brent Michael Davids. Estus interviews Davids about his instrumentations and composition “Native American Suite.” Jerry Rubino, assistant-conductor of the Dale Warland Singers, is also interviewed.
November 10, 1995 - David Treuer, an Ojibwe author from the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota, reads an excerpt of his debut book Little. The story follows three generations of Little's family, including Stan, a veteran of the Vietnam War.
November 20, 1995 - MPR’s Marianne Combs interviews Native American author Jim Northrup about writing, his film projects, and family.
January 26, 1996 - On this special Mainstreet Radio version of Midmorning from Bemidji, a collection of segments on Native, historic city, and literary topics in the region.
February 16, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on "King of the Hill" toughman contest has sparked an uproar on the White Earth Reservation in northwestern Minnesota. The event is like boxing, except that anyone can enter…and as the ads say, the last one left standing wins $5,000. With that sort of incentive, the fight card filled quickly, but opponents of the contest say there's enough violence on the Reservation, without paying for more.
March 22, 1996 - There are many creation stories explaining how the Earth took its form and how civilizations came to be, including the massive waters of Lake Superior. People gathered at the Lake Superior Center in Duluth to hear the stories and myths of the Ojibwe culture…here's a sampling of what they heard.
April 17, 1996 - Native American author Louise Erdrich reads an excerpt from her book "Tales of Burning Love."
April 20, 1996 - MPR’s Greta Cunningham interviews Minnesota author Louise Erdrich about her book “Tales of Burning Love.” Erdrich tells the intimate and powerful stories of five Great Plains women whose lives are connected through one man.
May 13, 1996 - Tim Giago, publisher of Lakota Times, comments on Chip Wadena, tribal gaming, and the varied forms and challenges of tribal government.