Tribal engagement and outreach
University of Minnesota Extension partners with American Indian communities throughout the state. These partnerships aim to connect tribal community members to the University and give them a voice at the University. Extension experts work with tribal communities to create programs that work for their needs and culture.
Director of Tribal Engagement and Outreach
Rachel Morin is responsible for building internal and external partnerships and engaging Minnesota’s tribal partners as well as Native American-led organizations.
This includes eliciting the community’s voice and identifying opportunities to partner with tribal communities. She also works with Extension administration and department leadership to create a supportive workplace for our Indigenous staff and faculty.
Rachel’s role supports Extension’s commitment to connecting community needs and University resources to address critical issues in Minnesota, particularly within the Native American community.
Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program (FRTEP)
The University of Minnesota Extension Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program (FRTEP) program facilitates a wide range of programs centered around traditional agriculture, sustainability, and community development, providing science-based education and culturally adapted programming.
Given that each tribal nation has unique relationships with land, water and people, the goal of Minnesota’s FRETP program is to provide robust sustainability, natural resource management, and environmental education and outreach based on the identified learning needs of each community. The significance of the work must be understood within the historical, cultural, and contemporary context of the tribes' peoples, their treaty rights, and natural resources.
Nikki Crowe is a regional Extension family resiliency educator for American Indian communities. She collaborates closely with local Tribal Nations to offer education that focuses on revitalizing Indigenous foodways, youth development, and restoring and conserving traditional food systems. Her work improves the health and wellbeing of Indigenous communities and through meaningful cultural experiences in all seasons: berry camps, traditional Ojibwe plant uses, treaty rights, fishing, wild ricing, traditional games, and more.
White Earth Nation 4-H Youth Program
Dana Trickey is an Extension educator and leader of the White Earth Tribal 4-H Youth Program in Moorhead, which provides cultural experiences, leadership opportunities, and programming for elders, families, and partners on the reservation and in surrounding Indigenous communities.
Participants learn about cultural STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) topics like sugarbush (maple sugar) harvest, fishing, traditional arts and crafts, cooking, canoe building and more.
Family resiliency and community healing
Briana Matrious is an Extension Tribal community facilitator based in Andover who works on several projects dedicated to healing justice. She facilitates Mending Broken Hearts and Healing Through History workshops that strengthen participants’ capacity to understand collective and historic trauma and recover from loss, grief, and addiction.
Matrious is also part of Extension's American Indian Resource and Resiliency Team (AIRRT) that creates and delivers culturally adapted, holistic health education as part of the Community-based Opioid Prevention Education (COPE) project.
Tribal climate adaptation and resilience
Cristina Weske is a dedicated Tribal Climate Adaptation and Resilience Extension Educator through the Climate Adaptation Partnership. Weske's programming emphasizes supporting native cultural ways of life and community food systems, with a focus on integrating the latest local climate data into outreach efforts with native communities.
Nibi Miinawaa Manoomin Symposium
Tribal nations of the upper Midwest, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, host this bi-annual symposium as an important step toward the emergence of mutual understanding of the significance of wild rice.
The next symposium will reconvene in 2027.
University and community partnerships
The Native American Community Clinic invited Hennepin County Master Gardener Volunteers in the fall of 2023 to help revitalize and restore a courtyard garden back to a beautiful healing and gathering space for residents. Translated as “Come in and Rest” in Ojibwe, the population of Bii Di Gain Dash Anwebi is primarily made up of Indigenous and East African elders, for whom the gardens provide a space to relax and rest in the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Volunteers consulted residents and other Indigenous elders to incorporate sacred plants, including tobacco, prairie sage, cedar, and sweet grass. More than 60 volunteers worked together to clear overgrown areas, add new mulch, soil, and plants, and make the garden more accessible with new pathways, more seating, and waist-high raised beds. The East Phillips neighborhood struggles with a lack of green space and a history of environmental pollution, making this garden transformation at Bii Di Gain all the more important.
This multi-region project aims to create a sense of place for the Tamarack region in Aitkin and Carlton Counties, known as the “wild rice basket,” to ensure that wild rice and its ecosystems are protected.
Partners are working to strengthen bonds between local, regional and downstream Indigenous and non-native communities through communication about wild rice by preparing a comprehensive report and sharing the information and interviews gathered through story maps, presentations and events. Partners include the University of Minnesota Center for Changing Landscapes, WaterLegacy, and Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships.
An ongoing Central RSDP partnership is deepening cultural and educational resources for students at Leech Lake Early Childhood Development in Cass Lake. The Megwayaak Project promotes nature-based play and cultural immersion for children, teachers and families.
The first phase of the project was designing and building the Megwayaak trail in the woods behind the childcare center. Staff from the University of Minnesota Ojibwe Language Program helped create outdoor guides for early learners that incorporate Ojibwe language and cultural knowledge.
Currently, partners are working on building an outdoor classroom on the completed Megwayaak trail, and developing a second trail in the nearby community of Bena.
The University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership is collaborating with the Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage Band, and Bois Forte Band of Lake Superior Chippewa — along with 13 other regional partners — to create a climate resilience collaborative for the Arrowhead Region.
Following the leadership of the tribal nations on climate change adaptation, we are supporting the creation of a climate resilience plan by providing climate projections, potential solutions, and continued partnership building.
Ogema Organics partners with local native businesses, nonprofits and industry partners to create an integrated food network on the White Earth Nation Reservation. Their goal is to build deep winter greenhouses powered by integrated renewable energy in villages across White Earth. This will better prepare residents to adapt to climate change by having access to local, fresh food grown all year long.
Akiing 8th Fire, a native-run solar thermal company, is developing and sharing solar thermal informational videos and hosting community-based events in Tribal nations across Minnesota to promote clean energy education, community engagement and accessibility, while fostering partnerships and breaking down barriers to a sustainable energy future.
During 2024, many Tribal nations had staff scrambling to find the time and resources needed to apply for federal grants. With support from CERTs Seed Grants, the Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association was able to distribute funds to Tribal staff across the state to develop project concepts, support grant writing, plus aid other application efforts for Tribes applying for federal funding.
RSDP supported Duluth-based non-profit WaterLegacy in developing a new digital resource called Wild Rice (Manoomin) in the Tamarack Region: Value, Abundance, and Need for Protection. In addition to scientific findings and environmental data, the report harnesses interactive tools and highlights personal stories from those who have lived experiences with wild rice.
This project focuses on developing an interactive presentation series and a citizen water quality monitoring training program to identify wild rice waters impaired by pollution. It also analyzes how sulfate contamination threatens manoomin growth, food sovereignty and health in Minnesota. The goal is to educate and engage students and community members about their role in protecting wild rice and aquatic ecosystems.
More from Tribal Engagement and Outreach
Contact Rachel Morin at [email protected] to discuss how your organization can partner with Extension.