Bemidji Residents Grapple With Racial Reconciliation and Healing

Story originally reported in May 2018

One Greater Minnesota reporter Kaomi Goetz looked into how Bemidji Truth and Reconciliation and others are trying to reconcile a historically tense relationship between Native American and white residents in the area. Native Americans make up more than 20 percent of area residents, but are underrepresented in its institutions. Advocates say it will take courage, conversation and healing to set a new course.

Native women make up less than 1 percent of Minnesota’s population, and yet, they experience murder rates at 10 times the national average. Many of these murders simply go unnoticed by the larger criminal justice system. Find out what’s being done to address the crisis. 

“Ojibwe music centers on drum and song. The drum symbolizes a human heartbeat, while the female voice signifies a mother’s voice.” One Greater Minnesota reporter Kaomi Goetz met a group of Native women who gather at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College to revitalize the longstanding tradition of women singing in drum circles.