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St. Paul school celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Several vendors were at the event introducing people to Native games and art and connecting people with county resources.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Hundreds of people celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day at American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul.
Students and their families along with community members were able to play Native games, watch an Aztec cultural group dance, and participate in various activities like lacrosse and archery.
Students still had class, but they were able to spend time outside to take part in the celebration. The St. Paul school has nearly 600 students and is open to students of all backgrounds. Its education focuses on the American Indian Experience.
Eighth grader Hopela White describes Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a “day to recognize like Indigenous people everywhere, to like celebrate the culture, and to also recognize the bad things that happened to us and how we came back from them,” she said.
Minnesota lawmakers got rid of Columbus Day and replaced it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day to stand in solidarity with Native people.
White recognizes some still call it Columbus Day in Minnesota and wishes they would stop.
“It makes me angry because I don’t think people like that should be celebrated,” she said.
Her hope is that one day more people will celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day and want to learn more about her culture. For White, being alive sends a strong message.
“We are free,” White said. “They tried so hard to get rid of us and our practices, but they failed.”
Her friend 13-year-old Kimimila Wahpepah feels the same way.
“We’re still here and embracing our culture,” she said.
Charlie Hall, 14, said his ancestors couldn’t celebrate the way he can now.
“I’m pretty proud because it’s an honor that the Native people are still here today,” Hall said.
He’s a proud drummer and it’s one way he connects with his ancestors.
“It’s important because it’s celebrating the things that Native people went through a long time ago,” he said.
White and Wapepah are also trying to bring more awareness to help Indigenous people who couldn’t be there.
“Back there we made a poster MMIW and that stands for Missing, Murdered, Indigenous Women and I think more people should know about that because it’s happening now and it’s happening every day,” White said.
White said Indigenous men, children and two-spirit people are also missing and in need of help.
So, while this day is about celebrating their culture, it’s also about bringing awareness for people who are missing.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty filed what she says is the state’s first Prosecutor-Initiated Sentencing Adjustment (PISA) petition on behalf of Jerome Nunn.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man convicted of first-degree murder nearly 30 years ago stands on the cusp of having his sentence adjusted to reflect the turnaround in his life, the first person to have this opportunity since a law was passed in 2023.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty met with reporters Wednesday to discuss what she believes is the first petition filed since Prosecutor-Initiated Sentencing Adjustment (PISA) became law. It involves a man named Jerome Nunn, who was convicted at age 19 of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder back in 1995.
A case file says Nunn fatally shot Abdul Poe and wounded a man named John Holmes in a dispute over drugs and money that had allegedly been stolen from him.
In the years since his conviction and incarceration, Moriarty, Nunn’s attorney and others say he has made a remarkable transformation, earning three college degrees, becoming an ordained minister and helping to craft the Department of Corrections’ restorative justice program.
Nunn was assigned to work release in April 2023, and is currently working for a nonprofit helping men and women released from prison re-integrate into the community. By filing the PISA petition, Moriarty is asking a judge to reduce the remainder of Nunn’s sentence (supervised release) to time served to effectively end his commitment to Minnesota’s criminal justice system and “get him into a place of unconditional freedom.”
The movement to forgive Nunn for his crimes actually started back in 2014, fueled by the mother of the man he murdered. Danielle Jones told Nunn she forgave him and began advocating for his release from prison. In a breaking voice at Wednesday’s press conference, Nunn thanked Jones – a woman who has become a spiritual mother of sorts to him – and vowed to seek atonement for his actions as a younger man, always mindful of the harm has caused.
“Everyday I get up to make a difference,” Nunn told reporters. “I stand appreciative – I stand grateful.”
A Hennepin County judge will set a hearing for within the next 60 to 90 days to hear the petition and decide whether to end Nunn’s sentence.
Billy Wilder’s classic movie has moved to the big stage.
MINNEAPOLIS — “Some Like It Hot” is headed to Minneapolis as a new Broadway musical and a classic slapstick movie.
The show runs from Tuesday to Sunday and features two musicians escaping from gangsters in the 1920s.
The original movie premiered in 1959, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Curtis and Lemmon masquerade as female saxophone players to get away from gangsters, and get entangled in a whole new set of drama.
As the creative team brought this classic movie to 2024’s stage, they updated parts of it to reflect modern times and center a message of acceptance and gender fluidity.
Edward Juvier, who plays Osgood, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to share more about the show.
Tickets start at $40 and can be purchased at this link.
Backyard surveillance video catches the moment a 4-year-old is seen running away from a coyote chasing close behind her.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Surveillance video catches a 4-year-old running away in fear of a coyote chasing close behind her in a Northeast Portland backyard.
“Dad, there’s a coyote,” the child said while running.
Her dad, initially with his back turned, said “no” and then after seeing the coyote, yells “oh, (expletive)! Holy (expletive)!” and chased after it.
The 4-year-old jumps on a child picnic table in the backyard to get away. The coyote appears to pause for a second near the picnic before making its escape. The father, a Vancouver firefighter, quickly picks her up to get out of the backyard.
“There’s a coyote,” said Charlie Schmidt, the father. “There’s a coyote! Quickly get inside!
Videos from security cameras around then show the coyote then run toward other children before running away.
Schmidt told KGW it’s not uncommon to see coyotes around the neighborhood. Though, he’d never seen anything like this.
“I was happy that nothing happened but little scared that it was chasing them,” he said. “That seems a little abnormal for their behavior.”
