We watched Sovereignty Day events at the Minnesota House with great fascination here on the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota, with a friend who is a Sisseton Wahpeton tribal elder and Dakota speaker.
What is Sovereignty Day? The most direct way to learn is to watch the morning and afternoon sessions:
Dave Orrick reports in Presidents Day becomes Sovereignty Day in Minnesota House, as Indian leaders are given the floor in the Pioneer Press:
On Presidents Day, Minnesota House Democrats essentially ceded the chamber to American Indian leaders and educators, who spoke in a range of hopeful, defiant and terse tones about the dark history of the state’s relationship with Native Americans and where it stands today.
It was no coincidence, said House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, who used her prerogative as the presider of the House to make the entire day’s agenda beholden to “Sovereignty Day.”
“I picked this day on purpose because we have to remember that all of this land was theirs before we got here,” Hortman said. Her agenda was simple, she said: education and respect, because her experience in the Legislature since 2004 told her both were needed.
“We’d have these debates on the House floor and it was clear people didn’t understand,” she said, referring to the often-misunderstood legal, bureaucratic, political and practical ramifications of American Indian status, which is governed by a complex history of federal treaties, court cases and state and tribal laws. . . .
The event was historic: The most senior leaders of all 11 federally recognized Indian bands were present in the House chamber. That’s never happened before.
Hortman said she’s had the idea for at least a year and had discussed it last year with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who at the time was a fellow House member in the minority party. Flanagan, who said she’s envisioned the idea “for years,” is a member of the White Earth Nation — a first for Minnesota — and Flanagan’s official state portrait features three flags, the American flag, the Minnesota state flag, and the White Earth flag.
Hortman's observation about the lack of understanding about sovereignty certainly been our impression in watching committee hearings as well. However, the event was well received by the lawmakers, Orrick reports:
If there were any grumblings about the event being contrary to the spirit of Presidents Day, or being a white-guiltfest by liberal leaders, no one voiced those sentiments publicly. On the contrary.
A number of Republicans said the event moved them.
During a question-and-answer session, Army Reserve veteran Rep. Rod Dettmer, R-Forest Lake, lobbed a softball question (he later said he knew the answer) to a panel of Indian officials: How prevalent is military service among Native Americans?
The answer: up to 25 percent — the highest per capita military service record of any ethnic group, according to White Earth Secretary-Treasurer Alan Roy, a veteran himself. The two men then publicly thanked each other for his service.
State Rep. Tony Albright, R-Prior Lake, paused after being asked what he thought about timing of the event on Presidents Day.
“I think this is long overdue,” Albright said. “We need to recognize we have a shared history that we need to understand, but also a shared future. As far as Presidents Day, I’ll say there needs to be courage on both sides to revisit that past.”
The day’s activities also included a luncheon with tribal leaders, Gov. Tim Walz and leaders of the Republican-controlled Senate.
Forum News reporter Dana Ferguson writes in Tribal leaders mark historic moment, painful past at 'Sovereignty Day' at the Capitol:
Representatives from each of the 11 American Indian tribes in Minnesota on Monday, Feb. 18, gave state legislators a refresher course on the history of Indigenous people in the state and asked that they keep them in mind when writing laws.
It was the first time in more than a decade that lawmakers turned over the House of Representatives for an intensive session on an issue. And it was the first time all 11 tribes were invited to speak in that chamber.
The event titled Sovereignty Day coincided with Presidents Day. House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said the timing was chosen with that coincidence in mind.
"It was very intentional to recognize there is this sovereignty that existed before we had the United States of America as we know it today," Hortman said. "Now it's on us to respond to and respect what we heard."
Tribal leaders acknowledged they were glad to be part of the historic day, but said they felt conflicted about coming to the Capitol building, a symbol of loss and oppression for the Dakota people. They urged lawmakers to understand and acknowledge the sacrifices of Indigenous people.
The leaders said the dialogue was a constructive first step in establishing a deeper understanding of each tribe's perspectives on different issues and they urged lawmakers to keep tribal leaders involved in policymaking, to visit each tribe and to keep Indigenous history in mind.
“It’s hard for us to stand up here and not talk about all the injustices that happened to our people but also, it’s important that we bridge the gap and you guys understand what we’ve gone through as Native people,” Sam Strong, Secretary of the Red Lake Nation, said. "All of you did not create these wrongs but it’s important to recognize the wrongs of the past if we mean to correct them, if we mean to move forward in a good way.”
He pointed to disparities in education, economic prosperity and health outcomes that stemmed from the failure of the federal government to adequately enforce its treaty obligations to American Indian tribes.
Read the rest at the Fargo Forum--and take time to watch the embedded videos.
Photo: A Native American group drums Monday at the beginning of Sovereignty Day in the House Chamber. Photo by Paul Battaglia via Session Daily.
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