Collection
Notable Contemporary Native Voices in Minnesota
This MPR audio collection highlights five important contemporary Native Americans voices of this region. Each has had a unique and profound impact on the land and its people.
· Winona LaDuke on the environment, politics, and health
· Jim Northrup on writing, war, and Indian rights
· Clyde Bellecourt on Indian rights, social justice, and AIM
· Louise Erdrich on bringing Native American characters to the forefront in literature
· Peggy Flanagan on social issues, poverty, and politics
Please note: Most content related to this topic that is contemporary or created after 2005 can be found on our main content pages of MPR News, YourClassical MPR, The Current, APM Reports, and Marketplace.
67 Collection Items
- Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan speaks on Indigenous Peoples' Day
Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan issued a proclamation declaring it Indigenous Peoples' Day in Minnesota. Several cities, including St. Paul and Minneapolis, celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day. Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Nation and the first Indigenous statewide elected official, spoke to people celebrating at Indian Mounds Park.
- Peggy Flanagan discusses missing Native women and dehumanization
MPR’s Tiffany Hanssen interviews Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan about missing Native American women and girls. Flanagan states it reflects one of the many ways devaluation of native people takes place.
- Louise Erdrich’s novel ''LaRose” wins the National Book Critics Circle Prize for Fiction
Upon the announcement that Louise Erdrich’s novel ''LaRose” won the National Book Critics Circle Prize for Fiction, MPR’s Tom Crann presents an audio clip of Erdrich discussing book during a Thread live event. “LaRose” is set in an Ojibwe community in North Dakota and it opens with a brutal tragedy. A man shoots and kills his best friend's five-year-old son in a hunting accident. The guilt is so heavy that the man and his wife decide to give their own son, LaRose, to the bereaved couple.
- Matthew Northrup remembers his father, Jim Northrup
Ojibwe author, poet, playwright Jim Northrup died at 73, due to complications from cancer. As part of a wake, a traditional fire is being started at his residence in Sawyer. Matthew Northrup, joins MPR’s Tom Crann to talk about his father, and what it was like being raised by Jim, who was known and quoted as being a tough man.
- Remembering Jim Northrup
MPR’s Tom Crann reports on the death of Ojibwe author, poet, playwright Jim Northrup. Report includes audio clip of Northrup reading from his poem “Grandma’s Hair.”
- Jim Northrup settles down and contemplates mortality
MPR’s Euen Kerr talks with Ojibwe author, poet, playwright Jim Northrup. Northrup is dying, but he's OK with it. The author of the popular Fond du Lac Follies, several books, plays and TV shows, says he's helped by his traditional life style on the Fond du Lac Reservation - and his sense of humor.
- Louise Erdrich on writing: 'Getting older makes you cut to the chase'
MPR’s Kerri Miller talks with Minnesota author Louise Erdrich about her novel “LaRose” at a Fitzgerald Theater event.
- Lawmakers pay tribute to Prince, including a "Purple Rain" performance
MPR’s Tom Weber highlights state legislators paying tribute to Prince after his death on April 21st, 2016. Segment includes audio of state representatives Peggy Flanagan and Mike Freiberg performing “Purple Rain” on the floor of the Minnesota House.
- Peggy Flanagan and Erin Murphy discuss diversity in political candidates
MPR’s Tom Weber talks with Minority Leader in the House Representative Erin Murphy, a representative of St. Paul; and Peggy Flanagan, representative of St. Louis Park. The two legislators discuss how members of the DFL party are critiquing how well candidates of color have, or haven't, found success in gaining their party's endorsement at local conventions.
- Minnesota legislative makeup doesn't match state's population
MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports on the disparity of people of color in state legislature. When Peggy Flanagan, executive director of the Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota wins election to the Minnesota House, she'll join an exclusive club. A member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Flanagan will become one of only a handful of legislators of color at the Capitol.