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Annual Report2011

White Earth Land RecoveryProject Native Harvest

607 Main AvenueCallaway, MN 56521

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White Earth Land Recovery

MISSION:

To facilitate the recovery of the original land bas

of the White Earth Indian Reservation,

while preserving and restoring traditional practicof sound land stewardship, language fluency,

community development, and strengthening

our spiritual and cultural heritage.

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About Our Cover Art:

Red Lake Anishinaabe Artist, Steve Blake, created the covers artwork for the Fourth International IndianTreaty Conference held thirty years ago, in June 1981, on the White Earth Reservation. The conference wasan essential part of our work to gather and discuss our rights as Indigenous peoples and make plans for our

self-determination. Twenty-five years later, our work saw fruition at the United Nations with the passage ofthe UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. In 2011, the United States approved thisInternational Declaration. The artwork also well represents our partnership with all who live in north today,and wish to protect this land, water, wild rice, and wolves. We are proud to be part of this history, from1981 forward. Steve Blake passed into the spirit world in September 2008.

The time to change direction is now. Signs of defeat have been showing on the faces of our people for toolong. Young people, those who have not yet learned to accommodate to the fact that they are expected toaccept their lesser status quietly, are especially hard hit by defeatism and alienation. Youth in ourcommunities and in urban centers are suffering. Suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, cultural confusion,sexual violence, obesity: they suffer these scourges worse than anyone else. It is not because they lackmoney or jobs in the mainstream societyIt is because their identities, their cultures, and their rightsare under attack...

The challenge is to find a way to regenerate ourselves and take back our dignity. Then, meaningfulchange will be possible, and it will be a new existence, one of possibility, where Onkwehonwe will havethe ability to make the kinds of choices we need to make concerning the quality of our lives and begin to

recover a truly human way of life.

Taiaiake is a Kanienkehaka scholar and orator who has dedicated himself to indigenous struggles fordignity, unity, and strength. Onkwehonwe in Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) translates to original people.

Norval MorriseausInterdependence shows the Anishinaabeg connection to all

White Earth Land Recovery Project

Balance Sheet

December 31, 2011

6/1/ 12 at 2:08 PM Unaudited - For Management Purposes Onl y

Capital

Temporarily Restricted Funds 326,948.00Retained Earnings 476,667.67Net Income 310,114.02

Total Capital 1,113,729.69

Total Liabilities & Capital 1,444,697.38$

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The White Earth Land Recovery Project is a leader in restoring a lifeway, which is asound economic system for the future. This is the community-based economy, withnational and regional implications. Our work on the White Earth food economyhas documented the significance of not only our expenditures, but also the needsand potential for local food production.

Our work is essentially about restoring a local food production capacity- from ourtribal farm to school project- the first in our region, and one of the first nationally,to our work in restoring Indigenous varieties of corn, gardening, and Native

Harvest- our national mail order and wholesale outlet.

We also recognize that the largest contributing factor to climate change isindustrialized agriculture - from deforestation impacts to the carbon footprint ofchemical and fertilizer production and soil de gradation. Organic agriculture posesone of the most significant potential strategies for tribal communities to not onlyfeed ourselves, but to also contribute to a carbon reduction strategy- for the largersociety.

We are also pleased to note that the Minnesota organic industry is growingdramatically, with the growth from 433 organic farmers in 2005 to 718 in 2007, andsome $39 million in revenue from just organic farm production. We are keen onbeing a part of this growth.

Our Board - We are grateful for the committed and supportive guidanof our Board of Directors:

Kathy Goodwin, Chairperson, White Earth Anishinaabe enrolled tribal member, CommuCouncil Representative of Naytahwaush,

Diane Roy, Oneida enrolled tribal member, W hite Earth resident, accountant

Sue Wika, Non-Native farmer, Professor of Sustainable Development, Fergus FCommunity College

Steve Larsen, Non-Native, Manager of Boys & Girls Club Thrift Store, Detroit Lakes

Audrey Thayer, White Earth Anishinaabe enrolled tribal mem ber, Director of Northern MAmerican Civil Liberties Union, elder.

Dawn Kier, White Earth Anishinaabe enrolled tribal member, Agricultural Office, WEarth Tribal Council

White Earth Land Recovery Project

Balance Sheet

December 31, 2011

6/1/ 12 at 2:08 PM Unaudited - For Management Purposes Onl y

ASSETS

Current AssetsMidwest Bank - WELRP 47,544.42$

Midwest Bank NIIJII 7,530.52Bremer Bank Turbine 14,783.24Midwest Bank - Native Harvest

Wells Fargo BankCitizens National Bank

Petty Cash 270.00Employee Advances 554.72Inventory 20,603.72

Total Current Assets 91,286.62

Property and EquipmentBuilding 303,203.96

Equipment 930,111.23Land 466,568.45Accummulated Depreciation (342,350.26)

Total Property and Equipment 1,357,533.38

Other AssetsDue to (from) Niijii (6,137.62)Due to (from) Honor the Earth 2,015.00

Total Other Assets (4,122.62)

Total Assets 1,444,697.38$

LIABILITIES AND CAPITAL

Current LiabilitiesAccounts Payable 68,606.45$Due To (From) Native Harvest (64,592.36)

Accrued Payroll 4,710.80Accrued Vacation 5,320.18State WH (145.86)

Total Current Liabilities 13,899.21

Long-Term Liabilities

Loan payable to Shodo Spring 58,333.30Note - WEII - Equipment 69,423.07

Note - WEII - Main Office 189,312.11

Total Long-Term Liabilities 317,068.48

Total Liabilities 330,967.69

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Maawamjiidiwag Ji Gizhaadaadamowaad Miinkaanan,White Earth Reservation, March 2011

The Ninth Annual Great Lakes Indigenous Farming Conferencewas a greatsuccess and we were able to host around l00 people who shared stories, seeds, good will, andcame up with more strategies to save our seeds and feed our communities.

More than 100 native people, organic farmers, students, and community membersparticipated in the conference hosted by the White Earth Land Recovery Project held on theWhite Earth reservation in Northern Minnesota.

They Are Gathering To Protect The Seeds

I had a Hopi Squash run up a tree l ast year, Frank Kutka,USDA Sustainable Agriculture representative told a smallgroup. Describing the squashs prolific vines he explained,Sometimes that third sister doesnt hang back, she just movesahead.Many farmers like Frank shared not only cultivation stories,but also shared history. For fourteen years a Mets woman,Caroline Marchand, has been looking for heritage seeds of theMets of Manitoba, Canada where, it is believed the Metsgrew 120 distinct seed varieties in the Red River area in the1800s. Of those, Caroline says, We ended up finding abouttwenty so far. We found a f ew of them through the CanadianSeed Bank. We found some more through Seeds of DiversityCanada, the Canadian Seed Exchange, and the U.S. Seed SaverExchange.The Canadian seed story is sobering. Three fourths of all theseeds grown before the 20th century are extinct. Of theremaining quarter, ten percent are available commerciallyfrom Canadian seed companies. Over 64% of thecommercially held seeds are offered by only one company,which means, that if the variety is dropped the seeds may belost. Backyard gardeners and families hold the rest of theseeds.Those seeds are the old ways. They gave our ancestors lifefor all those years. Im totally for preserving the old ways.said Frank Alegria, Sr., an elder who grows native varieties onthe Menominee Reservation, including an 850 year old squashvariety found in an archaeological dig near the Wisconsinborder.

Four heritage corn varietiesgrown by the White EarthLand Recovery Project:Righetta Otlofile,Saskatchewan White Flint,Manitoba white Flint andPink Lady.

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Deb Echo Hawk, Pawnee, told the storyof the sacred corn seeds of the PawneeTribe. Varieties thought to be lostforever are now recovered for herpeople. By combining efforts with thedescendants of settlers who live in the

Pawnee homelands of Nebraska, theywere able to recover their traditionalseeds, and the Pawnee identified keepersof the seeds, including Deb.Likewise, the White Earth LandRecovery Project (WELRP) is workingwith tribal members and descendants,and Amish farmers to grow out five orsix corn varieties. The North DakotaState University also contributes to thisproject through a SARE grant.The very first indigenous variety grownby WELRP is the Bear Island Flint Corn.It is so named because it grew on BearIsland for a hundred years, separatedfrom other corn varieties on the Leech

Lake Reservation. Manitoba White Flint,Pink Lady Flint, and black popcornvarieties are also being grown out. Oneof the greatest challenges today forheritage corn growers is keeping thestrains from being crossed with hybridGMO corn from nearb fields.

Deb Echohawk, Pawnee

Competing with raccoons and deer forthe fruits of their labor is anotherchallenge. A farmer at the conferencechuckled as he mentioned seeing theanimals strut past the more abundantGMO corn to feast on the native variety .All participants were invited to join aworking group that gathered several

times throughout the weekend toenvision a regional seed library. At thetable were tribal members from WhiteEarth, Red Lake, Leech Lake, Bad River,Menominee, Standing Rock Lakota, aswell as the Winnebago of Nebraska.

The Seed Library Miinan Maakok (the seed box)

Also involved in the discussion was thekeeper of seedsfor the Pawnee tribe, (picturedabove) and the executive directors of SeedSavers Exchange and Seeds of Diversity(Canada). Many others joined the discussionincluding the Midwest Coordinator forUSDAs Sustainable Agriculture Researchand Education Program, local allied growers,representatives from the University ofMinnesota, and local tribal colleges. Theymapped out a plan for co-creating the library the Miinan Maakok which means theseed box.

2011 is the first year weve been able tocommercially sell our own corn varietiesa

huge achievement, one which speaks to thegreat efforts in seed restoration that weundertook this year. At the IndigenousFarmingConference we offered these seedsfor sale and barter. We look forward to thereturn of our ancestors seeds to our lands.

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Gardens at White Earth Land Recovery Project Sites

There is a saying we are all related among indigenous people central to our ceremonialtimes, gatherings and prayers. The oft-spoken phrase describes a great deal about us asAnishinaabeg, as we believe our lives are interconnected with everything around us. Thisapplies to the work the WELRP does as well. Our farming efforts, the gardens we tend, theanimals we care for, are all part of a unifying vision of health for our people. We have several

projects that are carried out in unison with the growing of traditional seeds, such as the Farmto School Project, the goat project, and community building on the reservation.

We are also proud to say that we have the first tribal farm to school project in the region, andperhaps the nation- providing good, local foods to 60 children at the Pine Point ElementarySchool. The program has been in operation for almost 4 years now, and is a flagship in theregion and nationally for buttressing the local food ec onomy, and more importantly,providing healthy food for our children, most of who are at very high risk for diabetes. Whilediabetes impacts one third of our se rvice population here on White Earth, we are working tostem that devastation with local, and traditional foods - these foods are the essence of therestoration of our health and our ability to control our destiny.

We grew the most beautiful corn and vegetable crops. We prayed over our gardens and fieldsfor a good harvest. We went to the Re d Lake fisheries, and purchased 2,500 pounds of fishguts in the spring and another l, 000 pounds this fall, s preading the fish in the earth as ourancestors used to do. Our ancient varieties of northern flint corn grown by our ancestors forfive hundred years and squash from eight hundred year old squash seeds grew in our gardens.

At WELRPs garden in Callaway we had a crop disaster. Everything planted in June was deadby July 1st due to unforeseen circumstances. We replanted and the earth grew a bountiful crop.We were also able to put in a new turtle garden built for our community by Metric Giles, of

St. Paul, Minnesota. This is a particularly great garden for the young people in theOmakaakoons day care facility in the building. Many of the children from the Boys and GirlsClub of Callaway, as well as other youth from the town of Callaway were eager to help us plant,water and weed, and learn more about why this isimportant. The Callaway gardens were trulya community supported gardening effort.

We also had a good garden at the Gitiigaanig Farm on Round Lake. By developing ourrelationships and online presence we leveraged in three WWOOF volunteers, and several localouth to work on Gitii aani Farm.

Our Donors

2011 Major Donors

Blandin foundationCarolyn FoundationCatholic Campaign for Human DevelopmentChicago Community Foundation

Christensen FundCitizens Energy

Common Stream FoundationCottonwood FoundationExoskeletonGeneral Mills FoundationGlobal Green Grants Fund (Pesticide Action Network)Jesse Smith Noyes Foundation

Kellogg FoundationLannan FoundationMardag FoundationMarguerite Casey FoundationMazon FoundationMN Humanities Center

National Philanthropic FoundationPeace Development FoundationPenn StatePhiladelphia Yearly MeetingPTFPRockefeller Philanthropists

Ann Roberts/Rockefeller PhilanthropicSisters of St. JosephSusan and Daniel Babson CharitableTides CenterTides FoundationUniversity of Minnesota/SAREUS Conferfence of Catholic BisWest Central Initiative

Winky Foundation

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As a result of great help, good relationships and innovative methods we had good success w

the Bear Island Flint corn grown in Callaway. The Saskatchewan White Flint grown by our

Amish friends near the southern border of the reservation, brought in a bountiful harvest. T

reservation families, Curt and Darlene Ballard, and Dave Chilton successfully grew the Pink

Lady flour corn - the latter using some good horse manure. The Manitoba White corn grew

the four-acre field Maandaamin Akiing, in the Strawberry Lake area.

We brought youth from two reservation schools to the corn fields and Gitiigaanig Farm in t

autumn before harvest to see our gardens, meet the goats, horses, poultry and to go throughhay maze. The Nay Tah Waush Charter School students were able to pick corn in the

Mandaamin Akiing. We had the Circle of Life Academy students come to WELRPs office

where they learned how to take corn off the cob, braid corn together for drying, and some

students even made cornhusk dolls. We served a lunch featuring the corn, and continue ou

work in the Farm To School Project by providing locally grown food to the school lunch

menu.

We raised a herd of goats a result of a United States Department of Agriculture SARE

Project. In the spring of 2011 we secured five goats with SARE funding, and then had anoth

seven goats gifted to us. At the end of the summer we sold most of the goats to the nearby

Somali community. The Somali came to Gitiigaanig Farm and butchered the goats.

This is a significant relationship to both the Somali community and to ours because having

local, fresh, guaranteed halal meat is a fortunate circumstance, as in years past the Somali ha

their halal meat shipped from overseas.

There are five goats at the Gitiigaanig Farm on Round Lake. We have made goat cheese, an

had a wonderful time eating cheese with children from the Pine Point School.

In 2011 we were able to change the e cosystem of the farm a bit to remedy overgrown foliag

and plants we were not interested in mai ntaining with the browsing and grazing goats.

We would like to give special thanks to many many people whohelped us take new steps for the future:

Jeff Tobe

Matt HarrisCarol Weiss Solar Energy International

Hazen GravesSean Sonnemeyer Faegre Baker Daniels, LLP

Ginny & Dad WarrenKevin Brown Smart Set, Inc.

Tim Schachner Lakes PC

Curt & Darlene Ballard,

Norene Thomas,David Chilton,Sunnyside Farms,Sue Wika,Lisa RingerMadeline Island Farmers Corn Growers

NiiJii Radio Underwriters & VolunteersTom Nelson & Toms Burned Down Caf, Lapointe, WINahko & Medicine for The People (Musicians of Great Heart)Keith Secola for being cool, still.Thomas Vennum for telling us storiesRichards Family at MaplelagVista Americorps Program and many volunteers

Mere Takoko for endless supportKimberly SmithMargaret CampbellNellis Kennedy-HowardAndy Hayner & Noelle Harden

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Manoomin, Maiingan & Mining

We work to protect our manoomin (wildrice). It is our most sacred food, and ishistorically ours to protect, and prosperfrom. The Anishinaabeg migration storyand set of prophecies led our ancestors towhere the food grows on the water.Manoomin is the only grain endemic toNorth America and is one of the greatestgifts imaginable to the land and waters.

The lakes and rivers, owing to the uniquenature and adaptability of the manoomin,each year offer a wild rice crop. Manoominis an amazing food security for a people,and the waterfowl who nest and eat inthese same waters. This is a sacred foodand a keystone of the ecosystem of theGreat Lakes region, the AnishinaabeAkiing.

Anishinaabeg bringing in the rice harvest. Our way oflife is threatened by the polluting of water frommining.

In turn, our prophecies and stories acclaim our relationship to Maiingan, the wolf. The wolf is ourbrother. Today, both the wolf and the wild rice face dire threats of devastation, as mining interests loomon the edges of territory, or seek to re-open old scarred mines of the past hundred years in a renewedfervor of a minerals based material economic relationships are changing. It is ironic that the two largestbarriers to the wholesale mining of the north may be manoomin, or wild rice and the maiingan the wolf.

Kimberly and Kelly hosted a two-day workshop for youth in stencil making, using OjibwFloral Beadwork designs. The 5 young people learned art-making methods and used thestencils on the mural. With the work they learned the power of group work and commuparticipation.

The growth we have seen in these young women as artists and engaged communitymembers is inspiring. Its a source of pride that we now have a colorful and beautiful muthat speaks of our reservations history across the front of our building.

We were successful in terms of engaging youth in a meaningful way that we have sustainand built interest in the program for next year. The youth have taken leadership indeveloping a proposal to continue the mural project in a different reservation communitthe summer of 2012, and they will help facilitate the program in the coming summer.

Young muralists paint a sturgeon fi

that symbolizes the reintroduction sturgeon to the waters of the WhiteEarth Reservation in 1999.

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Proposals in both Wisconsin and Minnesota wouldeviscerate water quality laws with severe impacts onthe manoomin of the north. In turn, the recentdelisting of the wolf by the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService seems synchronized exactly with the interestsof new mining companies in the region. y. Arguingthat the wolf populations have been restored

adequately and now constitute a threat to the deerpopulations of northern Minnesota, Wisconsin andMichigan, legislation and regulations are underway toopen a wolf season in the northern territory as early asthe fall of 2012. Their target is to allow for the cullingor kill of up to 400 wolves. In 2011, the state ofMinnesota culled over 200 wolves deemed to bedamaging livestock. The Anishinaabeg opposed thisdelisting.

Tribal communities, joined increasingly by northernresidents have opposed the threats to water and wildrice throughout the Great lakes Region. And, whilethe wolf has been delisted by federal agencies, withmoves to state regulation, tribal governments andinter-government agencies in the north pledge to

retain their relationship and responsibility to themanoomin and maiingan.

Manoomin has been obliterated around most miningareas where it grew before mining came to the greatlakes region. The grain cannot grow in water with highconcentrations of sulfates. Scientific studies over thepast fifty years found that manoomin requires apristine lake and a high water quality standard to grow.These studies have determined that sulfateconcentrations above this level (l0 mg/L) aredetrimental to the growth of manoomin. The onlystudies that state otherwise are in test paddies, or paidfor by the mining interests.

We are scraping the bottom of the earth for lower and

lower grade ores, and opening up mines in places thatshould not be mined. That is the reality of thisscenario.

We understand wolves to beducators, teaching us about huand working together in extendfamily units. Wolves exemplifyperseverance, guardianship,intelligence and wisdom. Thus health, and survival of Anishinapeople is tied to that of Maiing

We can do no less than to fullysupport efforts to protect, promacceptance and ensure healthy abundant populations of wolveis our future we are alsoconsidering

Mural by I AM ART, Rice lakeand White Earth Youth, andfriends of WELRP

Our History on The Wall

Through the participation of over 20 community members we were able to erect a large-scale, high-quality work of public art at our office in Callaway, which commemorates thehistory of White Earth peoples struggleof which our organization is a part. Our goal wasto create a mural that represented the community, and we actively sought opinion anddirection from elders and other le aders, reaching our objectives of youth and communitydevelopment.

The mural project was developed and facilitated with WELRP special projects staff memberMargaret Campbell, Kimberly Smith and Kelly Hubbell ofI am Art, a youth arts mentorshipand education program from the Window Rock Navajo reservation and Grace Kelly(Dakota).

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America has a wasteful materials economy. American steel consumption per-capita is aboutthree times that of Chinese or ten times that of Indian steel consumption, but the newmarkets are largely China. One might question why we would destroy the Great Lakesregion for steel mills in China.

By the l990s, Americans discarded seven million tons of cans - enough to make 316,000Boeing 737s, a fleet twenty five times the size of the worlds airline fleets combined. EachAmerican consumes 350 aluminum cans a year.

Mining companies have underestimated the clean up costs of most mines by up to $2 billion.And many mining operations are still not clean.

And, in the end, they are not making any new water. The water contaminated by the mining

companies will be contaminated well into the f uture, and our region - the Great Lakes hasthe largest supply of freshwater in the world.

In December 2011, mining interests and the Minnesota Chambers of Commerce filed alawsuit to block enforcement of the Minnesota water quality standard protecting wild ricefrom sulfate. Legislature introduced by mining interests of Wisconsin propose to gut l5 year-

Spirit writing Anishinaabeg art showing inter-relatedness of water and humans.

NiiJii Broadcasting is located in a renovated former school building in

Callaway, which has easy computer and parking access and is the foundatio

linked to our radio station frequencies.

KKWE 89.9 FM is distinguished by three significant factors: KKWE is the

only independent radio station, absent tribal government control or

financing. This is challenging but allows for more vital civil society

discussions. KKWE is the only radio station that will be wind powered in

2012. And last, KKWE is the largest radio station in range.

In August we began testing equipment and transmitting. This same

equipment is used for web based information work on the White Earth

reservation and beyond. KKWE went on-air live in November with staff to

supervise development of the programs and to recruit and develop youth

capacity to be involved in all aspects of internet web casting and

subsequently, internet media and community based radio broadcasts. Other

involved in the radio included one intern and 20 community member

volunteers on the radio and behind the scenes.

Volunteers assist in efforts to raise money for equipment, staffing and

implementation. WELRP continues to send volunteers to attend conferences

on media, Internet streaming and radio development. Volunteers work with

technical assistance providers who provide training on conducting liveInternet broadcasting or recording a program that will be aired. NiiJii

Broadcasting bridges the digital divide in this way while still appealing to

young people and our Diaspora community in the Twin Cities by the

creation of an internet-based news service linking reservation and urban

communities.

We are very thankful for your support!

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old legislation which requires full documentation of cle an mining activities prior to approv

of any new mine. Waterlegacya Minnesota-based environmental group has filed a motionto dismiss the Chambers of Commerce case, and protect the wild rice. Appeals on this caswere held March 1, 2012.

White Earth Land Recovery Project is an outspoken opponent of new mines acrossAnishinaabe Akiing which would bring contaminants into lakes and rivers and irrevocablydamage manoomin beds. Changing the standard will impact wild rice throughout the stateWhite Earth Land Recovery Project sent individuals to testify at the hearings, and on thework group for this past year. Weve written a number of articles on the subject, and are nworking to generate multimedia to organize around this issue.

We will continue to work on this issue in 2012.

In brief, our understanding is that the intersection between the issues of peak oil, climatechange, food security and economic decline will impact poor communities greatly.Projections of climate change mortality are highest in communities where there is inadequahousing - like aging mobile homes, combined with a lack of access to communicationsystems- i.e., basic phone services. We see this as a challenge in our tribal communities.

We also recognize the significance of fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is a consequence of lowincomes, rising fuel costs, inefficient homes, and declining budgets. Our community atWhite Earth has 700 families on fuel assistance, a figure replicated on other tribalreservations in our area. Minnesota Tribes received millions in fuel assistance from CITGPetroleum in recent years, on top of unmet needs provided by state and federal agencies.This generosity is gracious, but likely unsustainable.

Finally, in terms of food security- we recognize that our rural communities are nowincreasingly dependent upon food produced far away- the average meal here on White Earand in our region travels l, 546 miles from farmer to plate. We recognize this asunsustainable and we are unable to support our local food economies.

Climate change, fuel poverty and food security

KKWE 89.9 FM, NiiJii Radio, is on the air and online. This is a hard-wonaccomplishment for WELRP and reflects a great deal of work by ourcommunity volunteers and supporters. We estimate that the radio station

serves around l00, 000 in our listening area. Our mission is to have a

positive affect on the lives of the people living on the White Earthreservation and our l5, 000 urban tribal members as well as the surroundingcommunities through public discussion of issues and events that will

broaden the thinking and, we are hopeful, enlighten the community.

KKWE staff plans indigenous music content; generate local programming,interviews and news stories and national Indigenous news programs.Cultural content includes language, native storytelling, and we areleveraging in national and international programming. Through the work of

NiiJii Broadcasting we are beginning to allow the beauty of our community

to resonate once again - through the airwaves and through Internetstreaming.

In 2008 WELRP was awarded a construction license for a community-based

radio station by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In 2009 to2011 we struggled with this opportunity and received a PTFP grant of$466,000 to build a radio station, secure transmitter space and be on the air.The broadcast reaches a range of over two hundred miles in diameter,

reaching not only the Anishinaabeg communities, but much of northernMinnesota also.

The potential for transformative thinking is additionally buttressed by thetwo other tribal communities who also received radio construction permits,

built their stations, and now most of northern Minnesota has Native-runradio. These groups and other Native media interests were convened in earlyNovember of 2011 as the Ojibwe Media Group.

NIIJII BROADCASTING

KKWE 89.9

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The White Earth Land Recovery Project is a regional and national leader in the arena oftribal sustainable development and is creating a set of models, which have great resonancewith the Anishinaaabeg reservations in Minnesota and elsewhere. Our work is founded onthe analysis of both our food economy and our energy economy - and the recognition thatthe value of these two ec onomies is approximately one half of the income of our tribalmembers, and the majority of this set of purchases is outsourced to off reservationvendors. There is no local multiplier on our reservation.

Mino Waasamowin- or Good Energy, is designed to create energy security and energysovereignty for our White Earth Anishinaabe community and is part of a larger effort inIndigenous communities and communities of color to create this future. Our work here atWhite Earth is one of the front line initiatives in the region, and nationally, for a tribalcommunity to address the creation of a democratized, environmentally and culturally soundrenewable energy future. This is essential for our survival in a time of climate change andpeak oil, and is also esse ntial for our ability to determine our destiny.

In this arena of work we address the dire situation of Fuel Poverty in tribal homes on theWhite Earth reservation. The project also addresses reducing costs for tribal heating bills,and the continuation of training programs in coordination with tribal entities on the WhiteEarth.

Our work is focused on the creation of a strong reservation wide, interagency, inter-organization, and regional collaborative to insure our tribal community is a vital part of thenext energy economy. We are preparing for the future and insuring our people have a hand

in making a good future for everyone.

We trained 10 tribal members in windsmithing on our wind turbine, making it possible for

our tribal members to service medium sized wind turbines in this region and another 25

individuals on a 2.2 Kw solar installation, which was supported by Solar Energy

International staff.

These individuals were graduates and students in the Pathways to a Greener Future training

program, a project we were instrumental in preparing our Reservation Tribal Council to

undertake, resulting in a large federal grant for training on the reservation.

Unfortunately in the training prior to our two projects - one wind and one solar - these

students had no hands-on training, only classroom. We were able to offer these students a

chance to do some great work in renewable energy, and in the upcoming year, hope to have

two or more of these individuals involved in solar, thermal, wind and photovoltaics work

on the reservation, and on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

Mino Waasamowin (Good Energy) This solar installation on White Earth in 201provided hands on experience to tribal mem

You never change things by fightingexisting reality. To change something,build a new model that makes the existingmodel obsolete.

Buckminster Fuller,1895-1983