Diary; Native American Minnesotans

<v Speaker>The following is a production of <v Speaker>KTCA. A Minnesota original. <v Speaker>Major funding for Diary: Native American Minnesotans is provided by the McKnight <v Speaker>Foundation, responding to the needs of individuals and communities, the Pillsbury <v Speaker>Foundation focusing on programs serving children and youth at risk, and the Northwest <v Speaker>Area Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the James R. <v Speaker>Thorpe Foundation. The Grotto Foundation. <v Speaker>And by the Archie D. and Bertha H. Walker Foundation. <v Speaker>[music] <v Host>Long before European immigrants settled in America and eventually made their way

<v Host>to the Midwest, there were scores of Native people living on the area of land <v Host>that we now call Minnesota. <v Host>Today, there are 50,000 Native Americans in Minnesota with 85

<v Host>percent representing the Ojibway tribe, 10 percent the Lakota, <v Host>and the remaining 5 percent belonging to over 200 other tribes. <v Host>An increasing number of these people have concluded that American society has done <v Host>little to meet their moral and cultural needs, and they've chosen to go <v Host>back to the traditions and values of their ancestors, like Joe Geshick, <v Host>an artist whose studio is in the heart of downtown St. Paul. <v Host>Joe's road to success as a painter was riddled with obstacles that he found difficult <v Host>to overcome. Seventeen of his adolescent and adult years were spent in <v Host>jails and prisons throughout the state. <v Host>And it wasn't until much later in life that he finally realized the true source <v Host>of his troubles. <v Joe Geshick>When I think back when I was living up on- on the, uh, <v Joe Geshick>Indian reservation, I remember <v Joe Geshick>us kids going out into the woods playing cowboys and Indians,

<v Joe Geshick>and nobody really wanted to be the Indian. <v Joe Geshick>Everybody wanted to be the cowboy, <v Joe Geshick>uh, the soldier, calvary, and <v Joe Geshick>one of the games we used to play quite a bit was the Lone Ranger. <v Joe Geshick>And I remember we used to almost fight <v Joe Geshick>over who would be the Lone Ranger. <v Joe Geshick>It was that kind of a thing I found myself trying to be somebody <v Joe Geshick>else. <v Host>And that's somebody else in Joe's mind was more a reflection of white America <v Host>than his Ojibway roots as an American Indian. <v Host>But it was much later in life after years of self-abuse and abusive treatment <v Host>toward others, that he came to that realization. <v Host>During his final prison term, with the help of an Indian man <v Host>named Martin High Bear, Joe's life began to change. <v Joe Geshick>Martin was a Sioux medicine man from South Dakota-

<v Joe Geshick>Eagle Butte, South Dakota, and, uh, he's been working with <v Joe Geshick>people in the prison system for quite a while. <v Joe Geshick>I told him that I was very concerned about what was going on in my <v Joe Geshick>life. I was getting fed up with the idea that I was hurting people, was hurting <v Joe Geshick>my family. <v Joe Geshick>People who are close to me. <v Joe Geshick>So I was very concerned about that. And I sat down and talked to him, and what <v Joe Geshick>he said at that time was I needed to go back home. <v Joe Geshick>I told myself I can't go back home, you see, I took it for granted that he meant going <v Joe Geshick>back to the reservation. <v Joe Geshick>And I didn't want to go back to the reservation because over there there was a lot of <v Joe Geshick>drinking, a lot of violence, and I didn't want that. <v Joe Geshick>So what he meant was that I needed to go back <v Joe Geshick>to the old ceremonies. <v Joe Geshick>And start over.

<v Joe Geshick>And now that I look back at that conversation we had, what <v Joe Geshick>he was saying was that I needed to get back to the roots of my life, <v Joe Geshick>the roots of the ceremonies. In other words, I needed to go back and reconnect <v Joe Geshick>myself spiritually. <v Joe Geshick>Using ceremonies, people like himself <v Joe Geshick>for guidance or direction. <v Host>Martin was able to provide Joe with the guidance that he desperately needed by pointing <v Host>him back in time to the ancient ceremonial customs of his people. <v Host>And it was through this discovery that Joe's life took on new meaning and his artistic <v Host>talents began to flourish. <v Host>[music] <v Joe Geshick>It is my responsibility as a human being to

<v Joe Geshick>be a part in bettering our environment on a spiritual level <v Joe Geshick>and on a physical level, and also to protect young people, to <v Joe Geshick>help young people as much as possible. <v Joe Geshick>So the message that comes through a lot of my paintings <v Joe Geshick>are spiritual. It's very important for us to respect the old procedures <v Joe Geshick>of the ceremonies we have. <v Joe Geshick>Because to me, that's all we have left. <v Joe Geshick>[music] <v Host> Jim Northrop is an Anishinaabe writer and poet living on the Fond <v Host>du Lac reservation in Cloquet. <v Host>And like Geshick, he's returned to the cultural values and traditions <v Host>of his elders.

<v Jim Northrup>It seems that the Indian people had their customs and <v Jim Northrup>traditions before the white man came. <v Jim Northrup>Then the went through a long period where they tried to adapt to the white way of life. <v Jim Northrup>The materialistic way of doing things. <v Jim Northrup>The 'use it and throw it away' mentality. <v Jim Northrup>But through it all, there have been elders around to teach us that <v Jim Northrup>that is not the right way to live. <v Jim Northrup>The right way to live is the way the old people live, the ones that lived here for <v Jim Northrup>thousands of years. We're able to live on this continent without turning <v Jim Northrup>it into a big garbage dump. <v Jim Northrup>And so a lot of people my age and younger are returning to the old <v Jim Northrup>ways, the old beliefs, and I- I think that's a good thing. <v Jim Northrup>I realize that we can't be just dark skinned Americans. <v Jim Northrup>We have to be who we are. <v Interviewer>You mentioned earlier that for a while Native American people <v Interviewer>attempted to live in the white world and embraced the white

<v Interviewer>way of life. <v Interviewer>Why do you think that, first of all, they did that <v Interviewer>and why do you think that it failed? <v Jim Northrup>I think they did it for the same reason you turn your back to the wind when the rain and <v Jim Northrup>the snow are coming down really hard. <v Jim Northrup>You just bow before the wind. <v Jim Northrup>Then you realize that it's easier to get away from the wind <v Jim Northrup>by going into a shelter of some kind rather than standing there like a dumb cow and <v Jim Northrup>bowing before the wind, [music] so we realized <v Jim Northrup>that the American values in the American tradition sound good on paper and may sound good <v Jim Northrup>when the politicians are talking about them. <v Jim Northrup>But when you see the way they're practiced in real life there's a world of difference. <v Jim Northrup>So I think a lot of Native people have said no to the hypocrisy <v Jim Northrup>that's so common in America today. <v Jim Northrup>We've tried the American dream, and it turned out to be a nightmare.

<v Jim Northrup>America. The American dream isn't working for us, but <v Jim Northrup>yet we're exposed to it every day on the television and the newspaper and the magazines <v Jim Northrup>we read. We don't see the real life. <v Jim Northrup>We don't see the way it really is. <v Jim Northrup>Just once, I'd like to see a television program that photographed <v Jim Northrup>the people sitting in a restaurant when I walk in with my wife. <v Jim Northrup>That almost physical feeling you get from seeing a group of <v Jim Northrup>white people staring at you. <v Jim Northrup>Sometimes I put my finger on top of my head and give them a 360, <v Jim Northrup>give an overall view of who I am. <v Jim Northrup>You can almost hear him saying, 'Oh my God, Marge, there's two of them.' <v Jim Northrup>I see this, uh, more around the reservation than I do the farther <v Jim Northrup>away I get from it. <v Jim Northrup>We are strong because we have our identity. <v Jim Northrup>I feel sorry for the people that don't have identities and that would include most

<v Jim Northrup>of white America. <v Jim Northrup>That's why we see so many of them coming to our ceremonies, coming to our gatherings <v Jim Northrup>to try to be a culture vulture and take a little bit of what <v Jim Northrup>we have. <v Jim Northrup>And I think it's sad that they can't be happy with pushing a <v Jim Northrup>lawn mower or looking at their watch or whatever the icons of <v Jim Northrup>their culture are, but yet <v Jim Northrup>we don't turn them away. We hope that maybe they will learn a little something <v Jim Northrup>from us, a little something that'll help them survive on this continent also. <v Interviewer>What about your notion, the native notion of sharing <v Interviewer>as in sharing land? <v Interviewer>Would it be your objective, for example, to see all <v Interviewer>non-Native Americans get out of this country <v Interviewer>and give it back to Native Americans?

<v Jim Northrup>Ideally, if they returned it to the condition it was in, that wouldn't <v Jim Northrup>be a bad idea. But realistically, I think it wouldn't happen. <v Jim Northrup>I think I would like them to instead adopt the idea that the <v Jim Northrup>land is ours to use, not to own. <v Jim Northrup>And these artificial barriers of state lines, county lines, <v Jim Northrup>private property lines, no trespassing signs. <v Jim Northrup>If they could get rid of all of that, I think we'd all be happier. <v Interviewer>So then you'd be willing to share? <v Jim Northrup>Yes. Yes. That's the way I was raised to share. <v Jim Northrup>If I shoot a deer and I know that my neighbor doesn't have much to <v Jim Northrup>eat, it's a cultural duty for me to give that neighbor <v Jim Northrup>part of my dear meat or my rice or whatever I have extra of. <v Jim Northrup>And that's the way I was raised. And that's the way I'm hoping to raise my children, <v Jim Northrup>not only by telling them, but by showing them by example.

<v Interviewer>To what extent do you discuss cultural traditions with your son? <v Jim Northrup>It happens on a daily basis, if not an hourly basis. <v Jim Northrup>Sometimes I show him the lake and let him know that that's a gift to us <v Jim Northrup>from the creator. <v Jim Northrup>If we use it wisely, if we don't pollute it or degrade it, <v Jim Northrup>it'll be ours for his children to use. <v Jim Northrup>So sharing our cultures, our beliefs with our children <v Jim Northrup>is a daily, if not hourly happening. <v Interviewer>What about storytelling? <v Jim Northrup>Storytelling is important because it teaches the values and traditions of the people, <v Jim Northrup>sharing respect for others, respect for <v Jim Northrup>what the creator gave us. <v Jim Northrup>Those are the things that I want him to learn, what all my children to learn. <v Jim Northrup>And anyone else who needs learning.

<v Host>Jim learned the customs, which he now passes on to his son from elders <v Host>who took great care in teaching him the cultural values of the Anishinaabe <v Host>people. <v Jim Northrup>My elder doesn't come up and say, don't do this, don't do that. <v Jim Northrup>He tells me you're not supposed to do that. <v Jim Northrup>So that leaves me the choice on whether I want to live according to the old ways or not. <v Jim Northrup>It isn't an autocratic kind of teaching. <v Jim Northrup>You're given the choice on whether you want to <v Jim Northrup>live the way you're supposed to live or not. <v Jim Northrup>To me that spells freedom. <v Jim Northrup>I think we are freer than any other group of people. <v Interviewer>How have these teachings from others shaped you, Jim Northrup, <v Interviewer>the individual? Your way of thinking. <v Interviewer>The morality by which you govern your life, <v Interviewer>the principles that you pass on to your children. <v Jim Northrup>It's hard to define because it's the same as breathing. <v Jim Northrup>I don't think about my breathing. I just do it.

<v Jim Northrup>So it's it's so deeply ingrained in me that it's it's hard to define. <v Jim Northrup>And I can only hope to teach my children and my grandchildren by <v Jim Northrup>example. <v Interviewer>Tell me how you personally feel about tolerance, <v Interviewer>tolerance of others, tolerance of those who are different. <v Interviewer>Tolerance of different beliefs, different religions. <v Interviewer>Let's touch on that. <v Jim Northrup>I was raised to be tolerant of others, to respect other <v Jim Northrup>people, even if what they were doing was completely opposed to what I <v Jim Northrup>was doing or the way I was brought up to believe. <v Jim Northrup>And that's the only way that I can get people to respect me <v Jim Northrup>is to respect them. <v Jim Northrup>I can't convert anyone to my way of thinking. <v Jim Northrup>I don't think it's my place to do that. <v Jim Northrup>But if I can treat others with respect, then I will get respect <v Jim Northrup>in return. The Creator made us all.

<v Jim Northrup>The Creator made everything around us. <v Jim Northrup>So I worship the creator by the <v Jim Northrup>ceremonies and rituals that I use, <v Jim Northrup>the things that give me meaning in my life. <v Jim Northrup>Other people believe differently than I do. <v Jim Northrup>Even other tribes believe differently than I do. <v Jim Northrup>And that's fine. Whatever. <v Jim Northrup>Whatever people believe. <v Jim Northrup>If it gives them strength, if it's not used in a destructive way, <v Jim Northrup>that's fine with me. <v Jim Northrup>I've been taught to respect other people, other people's beliefs, their <v Jim Northrup>religions, their- their values. <v Jim Northrup>It doesn't mean I have to accept them. <v Jim Northrup>It doesn't mean I have to believe that way, just that I have to respect <v Jim Northrup>them. <v Host>For a long period in Jim's life this nearly unconditional respect for others,

<v Host>even applied to the United States government. <v Host>But in 1965, his feelings for the government began to change for that <v Host>was the year that he went to Vietnam. <v Host>[explosion] <v Jim Northrup>Up until the Vietnam War, even though the US government did terrible things <v Jim Northrup>to Indians, I still believed in the <v Jim Northrup>democratic ideals. <v Jim Northrup>And I believed in the U.S. government. <v Jim Northrup>But after seeing it in action in Vietnam, I lost my virginity. <v Jim Northrup>I no longer believed in the U.S. government. <v Jim Northrup>Mom's apple pie, the American flag. <v Jim Northrup>All of those became meaningless symbols. <v Jim Northrup>I went to Vietnam in September of 1965. <v Jim Northrup>At the time, I had spent four years in the Marine Corps as an infantryman training

<v Jim Northrup>for war. It seemed like the natural thing to do. <v Jim Northrup>Coming from a long line of warriors, going back to when <v Jim Northrup>our people were fighting the Sioux and the other Indian tribes, I <v Jim Northrup>knew I was just another one of the long line of warriors in the family. <v Jim Northrup>For me, it was more of a personal mission. <v Jim Northrup>After being told all my life by the surrounding white people that I was no good because <v Jim Northrup>I was an Indian. <v Jim Northrup>I found it gratifying to know <v Jim Northrup>that I was doing something that took a lot of courage. <v Jim Northrup>I found out that I wasn't a coward. <v Jim Northrup>When people shoot at me, I shoot back. <v Jim Northrup>So it gave me a chance to prove myself to myself, not <v Jim Northrup>to the other people around me, but to myself. <v Jim Northrup>After 20 some years of a negative message about <v Jim Northrup>my role in society as an Indian, going to Vietnam gave me a chance to

<v Jim Northrup>prove that I was just as good as anyone else. <v Interviewer>Once you were there, how did you feel? <v Jim Northrup>First of all, I was struck by the similarity <v Jim Northrup>between the Vietnamese people and our people. <v Jim Northrup>Almost the same color, skin, hair. <v Jim Northrup>The long hair, especially on the women, uh, brought back a lot of memories from my <v Jim Northrup>youth. Looking at my parents, my grandparents, and all my relatives <v Jim Northrup>had long hair, long black hair. <v Jim Northrup>I was struck by that similarity and actually the spirit <v Jim Northrup>of the Vietnamese people compared to the Western standards. <v Jim Northrup>They lived a low standard of living, but yet they seemed to survive. <v Host>So you developed a kinship with the Vietnamese people? <v Jim Northrup>Yes, I did. <v Jim Northrup>Not with all of them, but with some of them I could talk to. <v Jim Northrup>I always found it interesting that at different points in Vietnam,

<v Jim Northrup>the Vietnamese people would come up and speak their language to me and expect me to <v Jim Northrup>answer in Vietnamese as if they took me for one of their own. <v Interviewer>So after having developed that kinship. <v Interviewer>How did you feel about fighting in the war and fighting the Vietnamese? <v Jim Northrup>I don't think I thought about it as much as I thought about the guy <v Jim Northrup>in the next foxhole who was wearing a green uniform like I was wearing. <v Jim Northrup>I think that was more important to me than any political kinds of thoughts or any <v Jim Northrup>kinship feeling with the Vietnamese. <v Jim Northrup>The guy in the next hole, whether he was a black man, a Chicano, a white man, <v Jim Northrup>made no difference. He was wearing the same green that I was wearing, and he was exposed <v Jim Northrup>to the same conditions that I was. <v Jim Northrup>So I felt closer to him than anyone else. <v Jim Northrup>The war had a way of, uh, leveling everyone off. <v Jim Northrup>An artillery shell is pretty indiscriminate when it comes in.

<v Jim Northrup>It doesn't matter when it goes off whether it's tearing apart <v Jim Northrup>white Americans, black Americans, Mexican-Americans or, as <v Jim Northrup>I call us, American Americans. <v Interviewer>Did you form any good friendships while you were there? <v Jim Northrup>Some real brief, intense friendships yes. <v Jim Northrup>Because it was such a chaotic experience. <v Jim Northrup>You didn't know from one day to the next or even one hour to the next <v Jim Northrup>if the person that you're calling your friend would be there or not. <v Jim Northrup>So they were brief friendships, real intense though. <v Jim Northrup>People that you could, uh, trust your life with. <v Host>Jim's tour of duty in Vietnam left such an indelible mark on his life <v Host>that he wrote a book of poetry about the pain and anguish of his experience with war. <v Speaker>[poem] Were you in the war?

<v Speaker>Yes. <v Speaker>What was it like? <v Speaker>Like nothing you can imagine. <v Speaker>Did you kill anyone? <v Speaker>Yes. <v Speaker>How did you feel? <v Speaker>I felt like a murderer, a savior, a cog in the machine. <v Speaker>Did any of your friends get killed? <v Speaker>Yes. <v Speaker>How did that feel? <v Speaker>Get the hell out of my face. <v Interviewer>In hindsight, how do you feel about that war and how do you feel about fighting for the <v Interviewer>United States? <v Jim Northrup>I learned a lot about myself. <v Jim Northrup>I learned that I'm not a coward. <v Jim Northrup>I'm not- I'm not going to cut and run when my life is in danger. <v Jim Northrup>And I learned that I can put up with just about anything. <v Jim Northrup>In hindsight, I realized that I was meat

<v Jim Northrup>for the grinder. <v Jim Northrup>I was a member of a recognizable ethnic group <v Jim Northrup>that is noted for their willingness to fight. <v Jim Northrup>I realized that I was just new meat for them. <v Jim Northrup>And the United States is continuing to go on and consume <v Jim Northrup>people who are usually poor or from minority groups to fight their wars. <v Jim Northrup>I try to keep as far away from the United States and its institutions as possible. <v Jim Northrup>The American people individually, I can get along with any one of them. <v Jim Northrup>We have the same basic human needs and desires. <v Jim Northrup>But when you get a- an American in the position of power <v Jim Northrup>or in a group, there's just no dealing with them. <v Jim Northrup>They begin to think like like a mob or a herd rather than <v Jim Northrup>as an individual. And it's just difficult for me as an individual to deal

<v Jim Northrup>with them. <v Interviewer>What does that mean in terms of your future? <v Interviewer>The future of your children? <v Interviewer>The future of this land? <v Interviewer>The future of the Native American people. <v Jim Northrup>I think it's my cultural duty to teach my children how to <v Jim Northrup>live in the white world, how to get along in the white world and yet retain their <v Jim Northrup>identity as Anishinaabe. <v Jim Northrup>It would be nice if there were only Anishinaabe in America, but realistically <v Jim Northrup>we know that's not going to happen. So I have to teach him how to get along. <v Jim Northrup>I have to teach him of the white value system, the power structure <v Jim Northrup>and how things work in the real world. <v Interviewer>What does life mean to you, Jim? <v Jim Northrup>[laughter] A chance to do something good. As men we're <v Jim Northrup>here just a short period of time. You Look at this, uh-

<v Jim Northrup>this rock here. It's been here for millions of years. <v Jim Northrup>And what is the life span of a human compared to the life of that rock? <v Jim Northrup>Being alive, living your life the good way <v Jim Northrup>gives you a chance to do good things in your life. <v Jim Northrup>[car sounds] <v Host>In the city of Minneapolis, Brenda St. Germain has also set out to do good things <v Host>with her life as the executive director of the American Indian Development Corporation. <v Host>She and a dedicated group of board members and volunteers have provided the <v Host>impetus for change from the eastern end of Franklin Avenue. <v Brenda St. Germain>Initially when we came together as just a group of a few people in 1974, we

<v Brenda St. Germain>were concerned about the deterioration on Franklin Avenue, lack of jobs, <v Brenda St. Germain>or just the lack of attention from anyone. <v Brenda St. Germain>We came together with the main focus of job creation for that neighborhood and to bring <v Brenda St. Germain>new businesses into that area. <v Brenda St. Germain>Initially we thought we were going to do a factory in 1974. <v Brenda St. Germain>It turned out that we did not. <v Interviewer>What was it about Franklin that inspired you to change <v Interviewer>the look of that avenue? <v Brenda St. Germain>Previously, I worked there a couple of years in a chemical dependency program. <v Brenda St. Germain>A friend of mine worked in the state economic development office under Mark Dayton, and <v Brenda St. Germain>she was charged with Indian business development. <v Brenda St. Germain>We became friendly, and we would hang out on Franklin. <v Brenda St. Germain>I worked right there, and I think we just got tired of it. <v Brenda St. Germain>It was boarded up buildings. It was unemployment. <v Brenda St. Germain>There were no jobs, no businesses. We had bars, X-rated theater. <v Brenda St. Germain>Um, there was nothing there for people. <v Brenda St. Germain>I remember driving down with her one day and just saying, 'God, I'm sick of looking at this.' <v Brenda St. Germain>There was just never anything new, never any change.

<v Brenda St. Germain>And the city wasn't doing anything. <v Brenda St. Germain>We referred to Franklin Avenue back then as the dumping ground for the city. <v Brenda St. Germain>If you had a second hand shop or had a social service handout something or the <v Brenda St. Germain>x-rated theater, if you had something you wanted to get rid of, you put it on Franklin <v Brenda St. Germain>Avenue. We felt that that was the altitude of the city back then and so did the <v Brenda St. Germain>community. <v Host>So in 1974, Brenda and a small group of other volunteers rallied <v Host>together to change the look Franklin Avenue, which was no easy task, <v Host>especially considering that they had no money to work with. <v Host>But in 1977, things began to change. <v Host>They received their first grant from the Minneapolis Foundation for $10,000 <v Interviewer>So you were still basically a volunteer organization with a little seed money. <v Brenda St. Germain>It was. I was unpaid staff for probably 9 <v Brenda St. Germain>months, a year at that period, uh, doing proposals, trying to get something going, <v Brenda St. Germain>because I believed in what we wanted to do and we were making progress. <v Brenda St. Germain>We had contacts with the federal government. We started doing our research. <v Brenda St. Germain>We started doing things that needed to be done in order to fulfill the grant requirements

<v Brenda St. Germain>so we could apply for a large grant for construction. <v Brenda St. Germain>But it was a slow, very slow process. <v Host>But it was a process that paid off. <v Host>In 1979, the American Indian Development Corporation received a million <v Host>dollar grant and a million dollar loan from the federal government. <v Host>It was well on its way to building the Franklin Circle Shopping Center, a 2 block complex <v Host>offering essential goods and services and 90 new jobs to people in the <v Host>area. Brenda and her board members were not content to stop there. <v Host>In 1989, they teamed with the city of Minneapolis to open yet another new complex, <v Host>The Franklin Business Center. <v Brenda St. Germain>The business center is is called a small business incubator, <v Brenda St. Germain>and it's a building designed to grow businesses. <v Brenda St. Germain>It's not just a building where people have an office and pay rent. <v Brenda St. Germain>It's an incubator to grow businesses so they in turn can create jobs in the community. <v Brenda St. Germain>And our job as staff is to nurture these these tenants that we have. <v Brenda St. Germain>We have 20 companies operating now.

<v Brenda St. Germain>Everything we do is for the tenant. <v Brenda St. Germain>One of my tenants that we're coming up to is an Indian owned company called GNB2. <v Brenda St. Germain>They started with two people in a 1,200 square foot space <v Brenda St. Germain>and they have now expanded up to about 15 employees. <v Brenda St. Germain>They've taken over 5 different spots in the building. <v Brenda St. Germain>And this is exactly the kind of company that we're trying to promote in this <v Brenda St. Germain>neighborhood. We need companies that create jobs for unskilled people. <v Brenda St. Germain>This company does a lot of assembly. They do a lot of inspections, parts inspections, <v Brenda St. Germain>shrink wrapping. And they're hiring exclusively from this neighborhood. <v Brenda St. Germain>And they're just a great example of we would like to do here. <v Interviewer>What did you personally get out of this? <v Interviewer>What motivated you? <v Brenda St. Germain>Well, I've been asked this a lot, and I think about it, and <v Brenda St. Germain>I think initially I thought that I would be involved here in it for a couple of years, <v Brenda St. Germain>try to do some good in the world. You know, I went through the 60s. <v Brenda St. Germain>We all wanted to change the world and do all kinds of things.

<v Brenda St. Germain>And we thought we could, and some of us can. <v Brenda St. Germain>I want a better life for people. I have that kind of personality right. <v Brenda St. Germain>I'm a helper. I want things better for the world if I can make a little mark. <v Brenda St. Germain>Terrific. And now it's been 16 years that I've been out doing this. <v Brenda St. Germain>I'm the type of person who also finishes, you know, I couldn't ever just leave in the <v Brenda St. Germain>middle. There were times when we were so frustrated. <v Brenda St. Germain>We lost grants, we lost tenants, we lost city support. <v Brenda St. Germain>We lost everything. This thing drug on for years. <v Brenda St. Germain>But you can't just quit. You're almost there. <v Brenda St. Germain>It's that kind of feeling. So I'm like, what I do, I like people. <v Brenda St. Germain>I like making things better. <v Brenda St. Germain>I like helping people. <v Brenda St. Germain>I don't know that that kind of motivation to try to make things better for my little part <v Brenda St. Germain>of the world. <v Interviewer>What are your dreams for the future for Franklin Avenue and for that <v Interviewer>entire community? <v Brenda St. Germain>I'd like to see Franklin Avenue become a part of town that's a real- I don't know if I <v Brenda St. Germain>want to say a tourist attraction, but different kind of <v Brenda St. Germain>a neighborhood that has the image of let's go down there and let's, you know, go to some

<v Brenda St. Germain>of those restaurants and let's go to the Indian pottery shop and the Indian museum and <v Brenda St. Germain>the art gallery and the Indian center. And just a place that invites people from <v Brenda St. Germain>outside of the neighbor to come in and visit what's going on there. <v Brenda St. Germain>Just one of those cultural centers. I think that would be just neat. <v Brenda St. Germain>And I can see Franklin Avenue doing that for the diversity of people we have. <v Brenda St. Germain>I could just see it becoming a real, real melting pot of activity. <v Brenda St. Germain>I'd like to see that happen. <v Host>After 16 years of struggling to be taken seriously, Brenda has a proven <v Host>track record of making her dreams come true. <v Host>She and her board of directors have already drawn up plans for another <v Host>8,000 square foot office building to be located across the street from the Franklin <v Host>Business Center. With this sort of tenacity, it's only a matter of time <v Host>before Franklin Avenue is transformed into the cultural renaissance that Brenda <v Host>St. Germain has envisioned. [music] In <v Host>Minnesota, as well as the rest of the nation, today's Native Americans are warriors

<v Host>of a different sort. Many view themselves as fighting a more subtle battle <v Host>of words and politics, all in an effort to be acknowledged as respectable <v Host>human beings. And although they believe that their struggle is not yet won, <v Host>they hope to avoid passing it on to their children. <v Jim Northrup>So I don't want you to go to war. <v Jim Northrup>You don't have to. I did it already. [music] <v Speaker>Major funding for Diary: Native American Minnesotan's is provided by the McKnight

<v Speaker>Foundation, responding to the needs of individuals and communities, the Pillsbury <v Speaker>Foundation focusing on programs serving children and youth at risk, and the Northwest <v Speaker>Area Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the James R. <v Speaker>Thorpe Foundation. The Grotto Foundation. <v Speaker>And by the Archie D. And Bertha H. Walker Foundation. <v Speaker>This program was produced by KTCA, a Minnesota original.