Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:05 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:00:59 Wake up, wake up, wake up, uh, all across turtle Island from the mountains to the sea and across the forest to the desert, all across turtle Island and to all of those Indian canoes out on the water is lakes, rivers and the sea. Yes, this is indigeneity rising, heard only on KFC on fresh air community radio and media alarmed. Roy Taylor, Pawnee nation, your host for news analysis, commentary and conversation about indigenous native identity, reality and experience. This is the episode for Wednesday, September 9th, 2020. I'm in studio stronghold here at my residence on the banks of the beautiful Minnehaha Creek on the in South Minneapolis, Minnesota turtle Island. And we're sending our signal out across the Milky way, and we've got to make our ancestors proud this afternoon. They always ask it towards the end of the song there. What side of history are you going to be on?
Speaker 1 00:01:58 And that came out of standing rock, which now is starting to in the rear view mirror about three years now. And we're facing all type of crises that we're living through here at the age of coronavirus. And they asked that question, which side of history are you going to be on? And I always respond. If you're on the side of indigenous people, first nations, uh, native Americans, then you are going to be on the right side of history. So have no doubt about that. So we're always looking for supporters and allies as well. So, all right. Uh, we've got a gray cloudy day here, a little bit of a drizzle here in the twin cities, very low temperatures this morning, almost dipping into those high thirties. So I don't know how it is. I know we've got relatives all over turtle Island, uh, wherever they're at.
Speaker 1 00:02:47 I know we had a hurricane that came through so many of the, uh, Houma and Alabama Couchatta down in the, uh, uh, Mississippi river Delta, uh, had to endure that as well in Louisiana and the East Texas. I've had relatives and friends sending me images, photos from the Bay area, with all of the, uh, wildfires that are currently there in Northern and Southern California. And the skies have turned a very dusky red haze that it looks very post-apocalyptic. So, as I say, you know, we've got relatives all over turtle Island, uh, friends, uh, and also, uh, colleagues who are having to endure a lot. So let's keep them in mind today as a, as we're listening to this broadcast and you're tuning in with us also just locally, I want to give a shout out to a Sandy white Hawks. She is Lakota, and she was posting that she was going in for surgery at the VA medical center here in the twin cities.
Speaker 1 00:03:45 So we're going to remember Sandy and hope that goes well for her also her significant other George McCauley. He's Omaha. So thankful for that family. Sandy's very active in the, uh, issues surrounding, uh, Indian child welfare, the scoop generation. So for those who were, uh, too taken from their homes, their native homes, and then adopted out and raised by a non native people. So she's a very active in bringing that to our attention and has actually produced a film related to that. So we will look, we can always provide that information to you as well. All right, I'm going to bring on my guest here. You, I almost hesitate to, uh, provide all his background and accolades because he's been on the program before. He was also with us many times, Laura Waterman Woodstock, and I, uh, back when we were producing first person radio here on K FAI, but I will just give you some highlights here.
Speaker 1 00:04:44 What I can recall from memory. I don't want to embarrass him, but, uh, Robert Little grit, he's a good friend, a good colleague, a great, uh, representative and spokesperson for the native community here in the twin cities in Minneapolis in particular, Robert is a white earth Anishinaabi you're in Minnesota. You know, also I remembered the, this morning, Robert, your dad was at Chuck little grant who was, it's a long time presence on WCC radio here before he passed as well. So Robert is currently the president and chief executive officer of the native American community development Institute, but that's, that's here plus on Franklin Avenue, but that's just sort of the combination of a lot of what he's done. He was the first native American city elected city council member here in Minneapolis, a representative of the LGBTQ community. She as well, a long time home owner here in the twin cities, very active in the neighborhood revitalization program that the city of Minneapolis operated, uh, just involved in a whole host. And you could tell us more Robert about some of these other projects. I know we have the, uh, uh, Midtown, uh, center there, the economic and commercial center. You were very much involved in there. And now we have you as a NEC D president involved in so many other issues of social, cultural, and economic empowerment for the native community and neighborhoods surrounding the native community. So I want to welcome Robert Little grin, a whole, uh, Buju. And how, how are you Robert?
Speaker 2 00:06:18 Yeah, <inaudible> <inaudible> okay. Mom is crazy and it's because he writes fate to see it. And thanks for having me back on the show. I'm doing okay, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 00:06:34 Oh, we're, we're fine here. I probably have some news a little bit later that I can share with the audience there as well. But, uh, you know, Robert, you, you know, you've been active in the community for quite a while. You really took a step up along with, uh, Michael Gosey when it came to protection of Franklin Avenue businesses, particularly the native American organizations there during the recent unrest related to George Floyd. And, uh, at the beginning with the Corona viruses as well, back in the spring. And, you know, we're now six months into that. So how are you and Steve, your partner doing everything okay. Around the household there.
Speaker 2 00:07:09 Yeah. Thanks for asking. It's so interesting these days when people ask how's it going? You know, it's, it's, it's complicated to answer that question these days, right? I mean, there's COVID, which was complicating, uh, our lives, our work, and, and then that horrendous Memorial day when George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer, which has really changed everything in the world, certainly in our country and especially right here in Minneapolis. And, and so, you know, all things considered we're doing okay. And, uh, you know, you referenced the work of Michael Z of the American Indian community development corporation, uh, about the protectors, you know, during the civil unrest, the uprising, uh, our community stepped up. And so it was, uh, Mike Rosie and his folks, uh, aim really reactivated around that time, uh, the little earth community organized and protected their community. And so these, we call them the protectors here and they stepped forward and they protected, uh, our people, our assets, and importantly, our non-native neighbors and their assets as well.
Speaker 2 00:08:22 And so in an area like East Franklin that we call the American Indian cultural corridor area, like little earth, these are areas that drain unrest and uprising, I would think would be amongst the first to burn. And instead these sustained almost no damage. I mean, it was just incredible show up community strengths of the organizational infrastructure we have here. And, uh, and now an interesting aspect as we, uh, look at the recovery, what economic investment looks like in Minneapolis, post civil unrest post COVID, because we're still intact. There's a risk, uh, I'm afraid that the American Indian community here will be sort of left out of the recovery and of the reinvestment.
Speaker 1 00:09:08 Yeah, exactly. Yeah. That's a, I know we both shared that concern. Well, we always have that concern, but when we have these major events, both global and then locally here, at least for us here in Minnesota, you know, that's always a concern. I got a lot of inquiries about not only how was I doing here, but also, you know, what the impact was going to be on the native communities. So that's a concern that I think we all have. So that's why I wanted to have you on when I saw what I did last week, but before we get to that in just a few minutes here, uh, I also want to just talk briefly about some of your qualification to be trying to address this. Cause I know you're, you're on the metropolitan council. I still believe you have a, uh, appointed position there, you were active on community development when you were with the city council as well.
Speaker 1 00:09:59 And you've been involved in, as I say, many of these other projects you were talking about the cultural quarter, I've, you know, I've had several of your staff on the program as well. So a lot of great young people, there are native people, uh, talking about everything from, uh, uh, sovereignty of our, uh, food, uh, or nutrition, uh, and the arts. Uh, we have all my relations art gallery there as well. So tell me how you've actually, if you fell into this or if it was a natural progression or how, how did you come to this point then?
Speaker 2 00:10:32 Yeah, thanks for asking Ryan and another role that I really want to lift this up because it's a great, uh, institution here in Minneapolis. We're in the twin cities, which is the metropolitan urban Indian directors. I'm currently chairing that group and it's a 50 year strong, uh, group of native organizations from across the twin cities that has really elevated its profile, uh, especially since the 2018 while I've forgotten natives. And now just recently the reoccupation of the wall forgotten native that I'm sure we'll talk about, about that as well. But to your question about how I got into it was very accidental, very accidental. And I was a young homeowner in the Phillips area in Minneapolis, which is a formerly blighted rapidly redeveloping part of our city. And from my really organizing at the block level to start, you know, my work kind of moved concentrically outward and like any good ball and tear my reward for doing a good job was more work.
Speaker 2 00:11:35 And so suddenly I found myself serving on maybe eight different community organizations, councils committees, project advisory groups. And I kind of ran around the year 1999, 2000. I thought, you know, I, I know something about what's going on here. I could see some decisions down the line, and I was not confident with the quality of the decisions that the elected officials were going to make and the impact on my community and my neighbors. And so I decided to step forward and run for city council. I was the last person anyone ever thought would, um, run for city council. And certainly the last person that would win. I ended up getting elected and serving three term, I'm sorry. Yeah. Three terms, 12 years of the Minneapolis city council as the first tribal citizen ever elected to that body or to any office within the city limits of Minneapolis.
Speaker 2 00:12:27 And man, I learned a lot that my time on the call and soul, and, you know, I'm proud of the work that I did. And a lot of it was about making access to policymaking access, to decision, making access to resources for people who traditionally didn't have that access. And, and, uh, and so when I left city council, my elders said, you know, you need to figure out how to put what you've learned to work for the native community. And after 12 years in city hall, Minneapolis has a strong council system. You have a lot of executive authority, but I couldn't tell if I really learned anything that was useful or transferrable, you know, it's such a different world than I had lived in before. And so over time during that first year after city council, I worked at little earth of United tribes and important native community here in Minneapolis as an interim CEO.
Speaker 2 00:13:20 And then this position at my current organization, native American community development is to reenact D uh, came open and I'd been chair of the board for eight years. And so I left the board and took this position and it's an asset based community development organization and X as an intermediary. And so we get to get our fingers into, um, a lot of pies and we use arts and culture, key community development and organizing tools. And we're kind of the keeper of the community, vision of the American Indian cultural corridor, a destination here in South Minneapolis.
Speaker 1 00:13:54 Yeah. You know, and where you're currently at your offices there, I've visited many times, they're in the coffee shop and the art gallery. It's sort of an anchor for the rest of East Franklin Avenue all the way up to AIC. And we've got the American Indian center. We've got many tribal offices as to where or band offices there as well. So, you know, it's just, it's a real important nucleus, I think for the native community, particularly as it moves South to where there are a lot of native and as well as people of color and immigrants within, uh, the Phillips community and then other parts, uh, I know you live closer to the wedge, which is West of, uh, the Phillips community. I'm trying to paint a picture for our listening audience, you know, so they can see where this was at that, you know, the Phillips neighborhood and Franklin Avenue was not always a native community.
Speaker 1 00:14:46 It's only, I think Ben since the last 50 or 60 years in the fifties through sixties, 1900 or 20th century, when it really became that, uh, that mainstay and really has occupied a place in the, not only the history, but also the imagination for the United States with a big being, one of the largest native populations, urban native populations in the country as well. So, uh, now that brings us kind of full circle to why I wanted to have you on the program. I'm so glad you were able to make some time for us. And that's this letter that was put out by the municipal urban Indian directors calling for a press conference last week. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get there because of some other health concerns, but, um, uh, and we've got video that's posted, I believe as well. So, but let's go back to, and I, I gave to, uh, our August, uh, engineer there at the station, uh, to see if we couldn't get the actual link to the Franklin Hiawatha encampment, uh, site, which is part of the <inaudible>, uh, website.
Speaker 1 00:15:56 So if they could post that, if not, that's fine, but that's at, uh, Franklin Hiawatha encampment.org, and it gives us a timeline, but maybe you and I can help put that together. You know, we were just coming out of, um, uh, uh, standing rock and all of a sudden there was, and we've always had a homeless population, but this time it was primarily, uh, native American that was emerging in that summer of was that, uh, 2018, I think it was maybe even earlier than that. So tell us a little bit more about how you got involved with that. I know there were several others. We mentioned Mike, there were, uh, some others with the Indian health board, the kink community clinics. So tell us a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2 00:16:39 Yeah, so it was the summer of 2018, uh, right on the American Indian cultural corridor at Franklin and Hiawatha, which is also highway 55, uh, which also has our light rail line, a light rail line that runs pilot, uh, against what's called a sound wall. They're very common here in Minnesota and, uh, a small encampment started and suddenly it just sort of growing and growing. It went from six tens to 30 tens, uh, to 60 tens growing exponentially. And especially at first, the population of the camp was overwhelmingly native and, uh, the, uh, residents named it dub just the wall of forgotten natives. And that's what it's still known as today. It ultimately eventually grew to, um, some 200 between 200, 300 tents was really one of the largest, um, encampments in Minneapolis history. And because it was right in a high traffic street, Franklin Avenue, Hiawatha, which is highway 55 on our light rail tens, and tens of thousands of people saw this camp every day.
Speaker 2 00:17:49 And so suddenly there was an elevated awareness, um, unsheltered homelessness in our region, especially in the native community. And, uh, and right from the community level, uh, we saw what was happening, you know, as leadership we came together and said, we need to help our relatives. And so the native organizations, and you talked earlier about the, the legacy of Dominican Indian movement that created this densely populated native population with, um, a high number of organizations and agencies. So we started reorganizing our, our resources, our staff to best support, uh, to support our relatives, living at the wall while to our perspective, the public sector, the city, the property is actually I'm Minnesota department of transportation, property. Other, uh, resource holders kind of were hemming and hiring and, uh, playing sort of this jurisdictional game of not at, not at, not at, not my responsibility. And it was really frustrating.
Speaker 2 00:18:50 And, uh, it was really, um, a lot of work and put a lot of strain on our organizations, but also show the outside world was suddenly paying attention who suddenly cared about a vulnerable population. Uh, it saw them that, Oh, there's something going on here. There's infrastructure in the native community there's organization. There's an ability to respond quickly. And, uh, um, the wall, uh, ultimately, uh, was transferred. The remaining residents of the law forgotten natives were transferred to a very nearby property where one of our Ojibwe nations readily, uh, was building planning to build some housing. And so they made the property owner available. The city of Minneapolis stepped in, uh, put up some temporary structures. And so we had a, a harm reduction model about, of a winter and camp, and that lasted through that winter. So now two years later, uh, not a lot of progress has been made throughout the system.
Speaker 2 00:19:52 Uh, we're kind of where we were before, uh, due to COVID due to just the trend line of increasing unsheltered homelessness in our region, the unsalted homelessness population is exploding, and we still have a lot of government agencies playing what I, you know, the jurisdictional not it came. And so our relatives and our non-native relatives continue to suffer living outside while juristics of government refuse to step in, uh, and, uh, avoid putting resources toward, toward this critical and vulnerable population. And as a matter of fact, just before I came to this interview, I was in a community meeting we've been convening for a year almost where, uh, the native orgs and community members come together to try to figure out and strategize and put action steps to best care
Speaker 1 00:20:48 For our relatives. That's right, Joe. That's great. That's great. Robert Lee, let's just take a quick break here and then I'll come back and we can talk more about this. I'm glad you gave us sort of the lead into this, about what was discussed at the press conference, and I'm thinking of a month
Speaker 3 00:21:02 Keeping your housing is critical to keeping your family safe during the pandemic. If you've lost income due to COVID-19 and are struggling to keep up with rent, mortgage payments or utilities help is available through Hennepin county's emergency housing assistance program, visit Hennepin dot U S slash housing help to complete a simple application to get help. Now, Hennepin County we're with you, we're here for you.
Speaker 1 00:21:35 <inaudible> welcome back. This is indigeneity rising. I'm your host, Roy Taylor. This is cafe fresh air community radio and media. We are heard locally at 90.3 FM HD in Minneapolis and st. Paul and we're streaming at <inaudible> dot org where you can pick us up on a Facebook live as well. So check us out until your friends and family as well. And this afternoon, I'm talking with a friend and colleague Robert Lilla grin, and he has had a long background in history here in the twin cities, native communities, white earth, Ojibwe as well. And we're, we're just getting started talking about, uh, uh, a recent, I guess, a development redevelopment of a topic that really is facing the native community and that's homelessness and a lack of shelter, particularly for the most vulnerable within our community. So Robert was just giving us a little, uh, a little background on that.
Speaker 1 00:22:55 Uh, so Robert again, you know, we're, we're now at a point 2020, we've had, uh, the encampment disbanded. We had a navigation center that was a joint effort, I think, by the city and the County. And then as you say, red Lake, and the other bands were also involved in assisting with, uh, a place to stay for these individuals, but they wound up, many of them wound up. I think a recent report said that over 50% of the residents up encampments in the city's parks, the Minneapolis parks were native American. Can you, do you have any insight into that is how that happened? So the, yes, and probably too much insight, but in our region, one of the things that the wall I forgotten negative in 2018, uh, promoted was
Speaker 2 00:23:46 Data. Suddenly we had demographic data, both with really micro data within the, uh, populations within each camp, but also broad or data desegregated by race. And so back in 2018, we learned, I learned for the first time that the native person in our region, that's a seven County metropolitan area is 17 times more likely to live unsheltered than the broader population. And there are disparities amongst other demographics as well. Uh, African American person in 2018 was five times more likely to live on shelter than the broader population. Now, those numbers have only grown worse with, uh, economic hardships, post coal bed. We were already on an ever increasing trendline of unsalted homeless people living on shelter here. And so, so as we know, uh, housing instability was an important strategy of colonization. And so we're still living with the impacts of the colonizers on our, on our relatives
Speaker 1 00:24:52 Now, um, you know, we're talking about a population maybe, and I don't want to refer to them in terms of pathologies, but one of the words that we've heard now kicked around about COVID-19 is co-morbidities. So maybe they are having health problems, maybe chemical dependency and addiction problems. So the whole housing circumstance may be an outgrowth of that. So you have to almost address this in a wraparound way, I think is the way that social service planning and implementation attempts to do so, you know, we've got to then a population that had may have many concerns for it. And how is, uh, how has this planning either at the neighborhood level or for the city and County, and then I want to get to, you know, what the concern is that you and the others with mud have raised at the press conference, but how has that, uh, is it been haphazard? Has it been more coordinated? What are, w what are, where are we at now?
Speaker 2 00:25:49 So I just to remind your listeners Mudd as the acronym, MUID metropolitan urban Indian directors, we call it mud and, uh, at the community level, right? Uh, uh, response has been incredible. We've come together. We've done innovative things with our resources. We built up this whole cadre of native outreach people, because we learned that native people respond better to native, always people to their relatives, reaching out to them. We've done, we've engaged the population to release your from them. What would support them in Tom, more stable housing situation, and you're right. You can call it wraparound services. But one of the things we learned in my organization, knack D did a project, uh, uh, to engage with people, living at the wall, living at the navigation center, and it's about healing. And the really the Keystone is sort of cultural spirits or healing, and then comes mental health, chemical health, physical health then comes housing and shelter, but there's that there's something broken in people and they want they're seeking to heal it.
Speaker 2 00:26:56 And no government agency does healing. You know, so at the community level, you know, uh, American Indian company development corporation has built new models of supportive, uh, longterm shelter and housing, uh, really innovative ways of coordinating us what we were just talking about. The media never sat before this interview at the community level, trying to teach the city, the County, the metropolitan government, the state government, here's how we can do it. Now, support us partner with us, resource us to do this work. So the community is doing great. We've got it together. And yet those who really hold the resources, the dollars are still trying to figure out how not to spend their dollars on this population.
Speaker 1 00:27:44 Right. And that's, that's part of what the press conference was about, was to bring more attention. I don't know if we can bring that letter up that was submitted. It's a two page letter it's sort of dense with the text. So maybe others who are looking at this broadcast can take a look at it. At least they know where to go. That's on the mud, uh, website, the municipal Indian directors website.
Speaker 2 00:28:08 Yeah. So it's Mudd mn.org. MUID M n.org. And so we were alone more prepared in 2020, uh, than we were in 2018 to respond to something like the reoccupation of the wall of forgotten natives and the nearby encampment I'm city owned property had been cleared. We, as a community had asked the property to be cleared in an orderly way where the residents of that camp who were almost, uh, all native, uh, or a overwhelming majority were native, that they would be supported and to safer more stable housing, but instead they just cleared the camp. So these folks were getting moved once again, they have nowhere else to go. And so the decision in that community was made to reoccupied the wall of forgotten need and sort of the, the standard bearers and sort of calling us to action, where these young emerging leaders who are in the, um, they do outreach, direct outreach to these things.
Speaker 2 00:29:10 They know these folks, you know, and, uh, they suggested demanded that we hold a press conference. So the occupation happened yesterday, or last Wednesday, we had the press conference on Thursday and I thought, Oh, no, one's going to come. You know, who's going to work. Are we going to get any media there? And community sewed up and the media showed up and they picked up our message points. They'd all call it the wallet, forgotten natives. That's how it's knowing, uh, broadly. And they picked up the message of, we need public sector agencies to step in support the community in what they're doing and work in a collaborative way. And I was so proud of our community, how they stepped up. We had, uh, a nice crowd of community supporting, uh, we had young emerging leaders, outreach workers. We had a resident of the wall who spoke there so powerfully and also American Indian movement, Bounder high bell Corps came, uh, and spoke there again. I spoke very, very powerfully. And so, so this is a little different than 2018, where the media is actually listening to us and where the government agencies are reaching out to us, uh, to, to try to help them. So, so we do see a little bit of progress, but certainly not what I had hoped we would make in two years.
Speaker 1 00:30:28 Yes. Well, you know, actually this group, uh, did call out the mayor, the city council. And as you were describing some of the complexity of the jurisdiction related back to that specific site, but this is the larger context of homelessness and a lack of shelter for the native community. So did we get, did you get any response from, uh, the powers that be, or the, the politicians
Speaker 2 00:30:53 You get response? And it's interesting, you talked about parks a lot on shelter. People, people experiencing unsheltered, homelessness ended up in parks this summer in Minneapolis. So we have a separate jurisdiction. That's the Minneapolis park board, you know, suddenly all the other jurisdictions that step back. And it's your problem parks throughout the summer. We add on that council, you know, a body that I'm part of there called up the SIBO encampment and, uh, suddenly all the other jurisdictions setback, okay, Matt council, that's your problem. And, uh, it's on city, property it in the city, it's your problem meant it meant that. So, so trying to get this idea of like collaborative, this is everybody's problem. You know, I just, I'm hearing it less and less, but I've heard it too much lately. And certainly, uh, since 2018, uh, representatives of every level of government will say, Oh, well, we don't do that.
Speaker 2 00:31:44 That's not our job. You know, we're not a social service agency. It's not our job. Well, the issue is it's nobody's job, you know, nobody takes care of this population. And so, so we all need to step in. And, uh, I'm kind of proud of, of the I'm a council member. Now it's a regional government appointed by the governor and Lieutenant governor. And, uh, we've innovated, you know, we took our transit police, our housing outreach, retooled resources under our authorities, and, uh, and created a new way of approaching, uh, engaging with the community and collaborating. And, and that's one small example, or maybe it doesn't that smell, but that's an example of, of what I'm talking about when we need to do things differently, we need to separate, we need to say this is our job. And, uh, yeah, I remember, I remember thinking if someone, one more person says to me, we don't do that. That's not our job. I'm going to blow up or something, you know, so we're trying, the community is doing great. I will say the community here is doing great. We're showing up.
Speaker 1 00:32:50 Well, that would be testing the patients that Robert Little grin. I know you, won't more able to stay in those kinds of conversations, I think longer than some of the rest of us here. So that's, that's really saying something. Uh, well, so part of the reality, and I think as a, the statement that came from mud and then speakers were speaking to it is that, you know, the native community is really stepping up. It's really shouldering more than its fair share of the burden here. Uh, so one group or one organization can't do it all themselves, and now we're getting a reluctance. Not only, it's not my job or it's not our job, but it's, uh, we're going to leave it to somebody else. And then we don't help in, uh, or assisting with providing resources. So where are we at now? You know, we've been through a summer where many of those same, uh, homeless, native people and other people of color, low income, for sure, maybe with, uh, particular, uh, uh, pathologies, uh, wound up in the park system.
Speaker 1 00:33:49 Then the park board basically made the decision. We're going to evict them as well. So we've been through two rounds of this with government, uh, levels of government. And where are we at now? You know, that was all as well. Other than the parks situation, pre COVID pre pre pandemic, uh, pre George Floyd. You know, now we have everybody's sensitivities, I think heightened. Um, that was one of the complaints that many people were making about crime and drug use in the parks. So we're now, uh, we're going into, as I was saying earlier at the top of the hour into winter here, I mean, we have fall, but it's 10 days long. So where are we at? Or what are you thinking? Uh, the prevailing, uh, uh, thought is here.
Speaker 2 00:34:37 Uh, so the park board, uh, was a little bit of a change, right? They said, okay, we'll allow encampments up to this size 25 times. And this many locations, uh, they, they established a process that allowed that on their property. And that was new. That's something that government agencies haven't done. And then the response to the reactor reoccupation of the wall, forgotten natives, you're seeing government jurisdictions be a little, um, more willing to accept some presence of, and campaigns on their properties. It's not policy, it's not really approved or anything, but there's just this, well, this acknowledgement that you just can't keep moving people, moving people around. And, and so, uh, so what I'm imploring, uh, those who make decisions, control resources and policy is, is that we build a collaborative network. That's an applicable to multiple locations. So it does not matter if it's on state property, city, property, County property, but that the same response can take place.
Speaker 2 00:35:46 So there's consistency, there's understanding of, uh, of roles, responsibilities costs. We're not there. And it's taking another crisis, the reoccupation of the wall, trying to move the jurisdictions in a little more. But, uh, but that's, uh, uh, a solution to the emergencies that I see. And then the longterm solutions, we need more housing, more affordable housing has been very little production of affordable housing in our region since the economic downturn of the Oh eight Oh nine, you know, uh, and, uh, and then we need culturally specific approaches on the native communities, spiritual, cultural, uh, approaches that for housing for a long term shelter, a person who's sleeping outside of sleeping, outside bruh particular combination of reasons. And each person, each family is going to take their own specific response. And so how do we build that around, around these individuals and around these families. And again, that's not how our system works today, but it would work a lot better if it did work that way.
Speaker 1 00:37:02 Right. Well, I think we're all being challenged with a new ways of thinking, whether it's healthcare, uh, unemployment, uh, you know, and what we now see as security, uh, both locally and nationally as well. So what do you think are the prospects for this seems very resource intensive and then that always has a cost, a price tag associated with it. Uh, what do you think? I mean, you've been at this for several years now, more than a decade or more at, uh, trying to get government to respond with the resources where we're having difficulty with that in Washington, D C with the copay assistance. Uh, so what do you think it's where it's where it's at and where it's going?
Speaker 2 00:37:46 You know, it's about priorities. And I was in a, you know, a recent, um, community meeting and these weekly community meetings are holding, are attracting a lot more people sort of higher up in, uh, agencies, public sector agencies, cause they realize, okay, there's a conversation going on here with people who are trying to address the same things. We are at a systemic level and they're talking about it, they're figuring things out. And so, so we have these, you know, higher and higher level people from state County and city agencies attending. And one of them recently said, you know, uh, we don't have the, we don't have the resources to do X, Y, Z, what we were talking about. And I just stopped him. And I said, can I please just stop you right there? We have the resources we choose to prioritize to spend them in other ways. And I
Speaker 1 00:38:36 Said, I just wanna be clear about that. This isn't about scarce. This is about priorities. And so when you have a population, that's, you know, some people would call undesirable that are certainly, uh, politically disenfranchised. You know, there's a, there isn't a lot of political, um, motivation to spend at this level, but the longterm costs are so much greater. You know, we could invest in a system that's really supporting people, you know, not just in the house or how is it supporting them to live their best lives. And instead we choose to, to approach every campus and emergent. Right. Right. Okay. Robert, I'm going to hold you there. I've got to take another break and then we'll be back to finish up this conversation with you about this important topic. No one can tell your story better than you share the future. You hope to see and help create to leave your story by voice memo, call (651) 228-4800 or text your experiences and images you own, or have permission to use two (612) 512-0111 to find out more information about this project, visit MPR news.org/ground level.
Speaker 0 00:39:54 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:40:22 No, you're advising you're on tips. I'm pretty sure we're just finishing up a conversation that we started a while ago about, um, uh, native homelessness here in the twin cities. But before we get to that, I just want to remind you to stay tuned to KFC. I we've got some great musical programs coming up with, um, uh, <inaudible> radio and that, uh, that'll start at two o'clock. And then later we've got native roots radio with Robert pilots, and then I believe Minnesota native news with their COVID-19 report as well this evening. So some great music and data programming here on KFI fresh air radio. Well, uh, I almost said Robert pilot, Robert Lilla grit. Well, Robert, uh, just, you know, I hope you know, how much I think of you and your family, the people that you come from and the work that you're doing over the years here. And so if there's anybody who can really begin to help us Marshall, you know, a response to this particular need and particularly for the long term, um, it's, you, I'm really thankful that you spent some time with us this morning. I hope this begins to bring it to the attention of many others as well. So any last words or comments, uh, any, uh, any way that we can be helpful on this matter?
Speaker 2 00:41:47 No, thanks for asking anything. So your kind words and thanks for having me on. And, uh, and it's really not me. It's the next generation that you should see these outstanding young leaders that are, uh, that are emerging that have way less patients than I do. And they're demanding change. Uh, there is a lot of activity going on and trying to organize, uh, support. There's a personal blog on a Facebook page called the new wall of forgotten natives 2020, uh, around COVID things. You can go to the mud <inaudible> dot org page. It's some native specific, uh, sort of tools to, uh, promote, um, promote health there. And I think the most important thing going on in the next few months, two things, one census 2020, make sure that you are completing the census. You can go to my organization, knack d.org, nacd.org, for more information on that, or pretty much anywhere and boat in the November elections, both like your life depends on it. And especially here in Minnesota, we're part of a seven seat strategy or the native bookend swing best state. And so, uh, the OCLI outreach, a lot of support to get out the native vote, both on reservations and in the urban centers.
Speaker 1 00:43:05 Oh yeah, that's great. Two important issues and topics we've had other speakers on in the past, but it is becoming a critical time here. I know Shelly Diaz has been working on native census and you've had a lot of, uh, individuals on staff. They're working, not only with some of the national organizations that native vote counts in the past, making native, uh, voting traditional as well. That's been some of the campaigns in the past, so I appreciate you bringing those up as well. Okay, Robert, we're gonna let you go here and I, again, I appreciate it. And I can't tell you how much I enjoy watching you work in the community, and I'll be looking for some of these native, uh, younger, native, uh, individuals as well at your side. And can't wait to get back on. Hopefully we'll get one more visit into a four sisters farmer's market before we have to close that down, even if it's a little chilly here. So we'll look forward to a lot of the programming coming out of, uh, knack D in the, uh, in the fall and winter months to come ahead. So stay, stay.
Speaker 2 00:44:04 Yep. Same here. I thanks for having me. Okay. Bye bye.
Speaker 1 00:44:09 All right. That was my guest. Robert Lilla grin, and he is president and CEO of native American community development Institute. And I enjoy talking with him, always enjoy seeing him now that sort of housebound here during coronavirus, uh, precautions and, uh, you know, other concerns, uh, then I can tell you here in just a minute, I'm missing him. And many of the others said he, uh, talks about their, uh, within the native community, this younger cohort, but you know, my, my wife and I, we are beginning to kind of stick our heads out a little bit from our shell as turtle residents here on turtle Island. And I got a chance to go over, to see the grandkids this weekend over the holiday weekend and in the process I went out and I've been trying to track these folks down, uh, Nick Timmerman and Mariah grant.
Speaker 1 00:45:00 Uh, they are the owners, entrepreneurs of trickster tacos, uh, LLC. They do catering events, parties, and lunches. It's the home of the native American tacos. So not anything to say about, uh, uh, Pomo grounds. They have a weekly, uh, uh, fried bread taco that they prepare as well, but these folks have a food truck and they go, and they also provide that service out to a, for sale out at, for example, like Shakopee, mid Washington, but we track them down on the East side of st. Paul over the weekends. So now, uh, both ends of the metropolitan area. I have a fry bread taco that's available to use. So check them out. That's trickster taco, and they have a page on Facebook that you can find out whether their locations are so a wonderful young data of entrepreneurs. And we wish them well. Okay. Uh, finally, and just, um, hopefully I can get in a few more, uh, announcements about events, but if I don't, I did want to share with something with you.
Speaker 1 00:45:59 That's very important. And that's, you know, I had a COVID-19 test about a week ago. It was in preparation for a medical, uh, procedure and, uh, the COVID-19 test came back negative. So that was great news. Uh, of course, you know, it only gives you a snapshot in a particular time, uh, on the calendar. So you're still taking those precautions, certainly personal hygiene and social distancing, and, uh, trying not to, I'm trying not to spend too much time in large gatherings, although we did visit, uh, in addition to our grandchildren, we did visit a wedding of a nephew. So again, we tried to take all the precautions and haven't felt any symptoms, but out of that, uh, medical procedure, which was, uh, a colonoscopy. Uh, so I'm at that age where that's recommended by my primary medical physician and it comes about every 10 years or so.
Speaker 1 00:46:58 And so I was overdue for that. And I did have one, uh, conducted by, was university of Minnesota Fairview, the health partners clinics. They're on the East bank of the Mississippi river. I had wonderful treatment, uh, medical treatment by the doctors. I had two doctors working on, on this process and then also the support staff, the nurses there all the way back to intake, um, they did find a several gross, which are referred to as polyps. And so they, uh, took those out and I'm waiting, uh, uh, lab results for that. So that's not uncommon. They did find though, was something that was a growth that is up against the, uh, internally in the appendix. So I will have to go back for a surgical consultation and it looks like that's going to be on the horizon here for some type of laparoscopic procedures. So hopefully not as invasive as, uh, you know, surgery the way it used to be in the past, but, uh, you know, probably removal of the appendix as well as that particular growth.
Speaker 1 00:47:57 And then of course they do biopsy those. So they will have to see whether there is any malignancy there. So, you know, keeping my fingers cross I'm real, uh, positive about it. The doctors also told me that they didn't think particularly statistically, that there was any need to worry about, um, a cancer diagnosis, but you never know. So I'm going to keep you informed about that. If you want to know more, I'm going to put something on my personal Facebook page, Roy Taylor, to talk a little bit more about this, because I think it is really important. Uh, colon cancer is the number two cause of cancer deaths in the United States today. I know we've got a lot of attention on other types of cancers, you know, uh, lung cancer with smoking, uh, breast cancer for females, but colon cancer strikes the population, both male and female, uh, young people.
Speaker 1 00:48:50 We've got to be concerned now. And the reason why I wanted to bring this up was because we saw the recent death of Chad with Bozeman, who passed away for this exact, uh, disease as well. So just to let you know, you know, it, it does affect you at a younger age. And so it's good to get that kind of screening check with your primary care physician about when you can start that and to get a referral. If you want to know more about this, particularly if you're a native, uh, look at the, uh, American,
Speaker 4 00:49:20 The Indian cancer foundation, they're actually located
Speaker 1 00:49:23 Here in the twin cities, they have a lot of good information on their website to tell you more about colon cancer and screening in particular. It's a, one of the most preventable cancers that can be avoided and, uh, you know, without, uh, without a lot of, uh, cost to you other than the procedure itself, or you could check out to colorectal cancer Alliance, which is the national organization out of Washington DC. So I'm here to tell you, you know, from my own experience, uh, that, uh, you know, it is something that you ought to do. And I hope, you know, I wish you good health. And, uh, it is something that, uh, uh, you don't have to be afraid of, you know, there's, uh, it is a little invasive it's, uh, uh, don't be embarrassed about it. I guess that's the most important thing, you know, so many people avoid this whole topic, so, okay. That's it. Uh, I'll keep you updated on that. We'll have a great guest next week. We're now 55 days from national elections for the president, and we've got some won some fantastic news that's coming out, or I'm sorry,
Speaker 5 00:50:28 Nationally about what the president did or did not know. So keep, stay tuned about that. Alright, here he is. He's coming up, you know, it to, he always ends our program every week, brother, Keith Nicola, and this is not B and a Indian cars. So I'll just remind you remember indigeneity now, indigeneity forever. And it is an 80 rising. And I'll see you later at the 49
Speaker 0 00:50:54 <inaudible> please. Mr. <inaudible>.
