For decades, Native American women leaders in the Twin Cities helped build numerous organizations and contributed to the arts, education and community — now their story is being told.
White Earth Nation citizen Audrey Thayer co-authored “Weaving Community: Indigenous Women and Leadership in the Twin Cities” with Colette Hyman.
She says the nine-year project shares stories of women activists who founded and led around 25 organizations in Minneapolis and St. Paul, beginning as early as the 1950s — many of those organizations are still active today.
“They've evolved. They've changed to meet the needs of community, and we think about all the opportunities that they are gathering,” she said.
The book includes stories behind the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, founded in 1987 by Bois Forte Band of Chippewa citizen Sharon Day, and MIGIZI Communications, cofounded by Seneca journalist Laura Waterman Wittstock in 1977. The organizations have evolved to include youth and community programming over the years. They are both located in Minneapolis.
The authors included perspectives from over two dozen voices, including Dakota, Ojibwe and Ho-Chunk women.
“They were the powerhouse,” Thayer said.
Thayer was inspired to write the book due to a lack of readily available teaching resources on the subject. As an educator at Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, she says her curriculum includes Indigenous leadership, though there was little information available that focused on women’s leadership.
“When I went into our Minnesota historical archives at the history museum, I found lots of stories about women, but they had no first names,” Thayer said. She added that their names were more often than not written under their husband’s first name.
When she thought about her students, mainly the Indigenous women in her classes, she wanted them to feel encouraged to pursue their goals and dreams.
“I got very emotional about this book, because it's spiritual. It is entering into the lives of Indigenous women who've worked very hard in their lives to survive and make that path,” she said.
Thayer and Hyman shed light on the historical context of the urban Indigenous community. The book touches on the history of boarding schools and the influx of Indigenous community who moved from reservations to Minneapolis and Saint Paul for work and educational opportunities.
“I can't begin to tell you emotionally how significant it was to interview and listen to these women,” Thayer said.
“Weaving Community: Indigenous Women and Leadership in the Twin Cities” was published by Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Milkweed Books in Minneapolis invites the public to a conversation with the authors Wednesday night. The free event begins at 6 p.m. and will include a book reading and signing.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
