- Boozhoo, I'm Rita Karppinen, your host for "Native Report."

Miigwech for joining us for the 19th season.

From encouraging learning language through games, to inspiring children through a superhero, and even Indigenous-owned companies sharing the written word, tonight's episode of "Native Report" focuses on the creative ways people are sharing their heritage.

- [Narrator] Production for "Native Report" is made possible by grants from the Blandin Foundation, the generous support from viewers like Jack and Sharon Kemp, and viewers like you.

(soothing music) (soothing music continues) - Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing is a Native-owned publishing nonprofit company that focuses on creating and developing Native books for all that are written and illustrated by Indigenous peoples.

The "Native Report" team had the pleasure of meeting the couple behind the curtain, and learn a bit more about what goes on behind the scenes, and how they are supporting their community through writing and art.

(gentle guitar music) (soothing flute music) - We just felt it was critical that we, as Native people, determine our own story.

(Tom speaking Anishinaabemowin) (Tom continues speaking Anishinaabemowin) Tom Peacock.

I'm a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior, Anishinaabe, Ojibwe.

I grew up and lived there most of my life, between there and Leech Lake.

Black Bears and Blueberries is a small Native-owned publishing company.

We specialize in Native books, written by Native writers.

We also utilize Native illustrators and photographers.

And wherever we can, we use traditional stories, and we also use, of course, contemporary stories.

So we tried to build in a bit of both, and we focus mostly on the Midwest, on Dakota and Ojibwe books.

- I taught at UMD for 18 years, and I retired three times.

And then Tom came home one day and said, "You know, we really should start a Native publishing company."

He said, "There's a lot of Native books out there, but not by Native writers, and especially children's books."

He said, "We should do that."

He said, "You're gonna work your butt off, and we're gonna be a nonprofit, so you're not gonna make any money," and I said, "Okay."

We were gonna publish two books a year, and the first year, we did five, and on and on.

And so, you know, in the last couple years, we've done 37 books.

- [Tom] Well, most of our authors are first-time authors who've had rejections from other publishers before, and most of them are knowledgeable with the specific focus of their writing, whether it be traditional stories.

- My name is Anthony Anselmo, and I am the author of "The Spirit of the North Wind" that was published by Black Bears and Blueberries.

So today, we're having an Indigenous writers conference, so there's a bunch of Indigenous authors from Minnesota and other states that are here just collaborating, and learning from each other.

So working with them has been great.

Since this is my first book, it was my first kinda delve into the publishing industry, and so I didn't know what to expect.

And there was definitely some things I think we learned from each other.

I was kind of stubborn in the editing process, and it's kind of funny, 'cause when you look at your own work, sometimes you think, oh, that's as good as it can be, and it's tough to take suggestions from others, but I definitely learned to do that, and they did a really good job, and they know what they're doing, and they're writers themselves, which is super cool.

So I've learned a lot from them, and it's been a really good relationship so far.

So having my book here at this conference is kind of a dream come true.

It's something I'd thought about for a long time, and kind of envisioned in my head, but now that it's a real thing, and it came true, it's really neat to see.

And sometimes, I still don't fully, or can't fully process it, you know?

But I'm super happy about it, and I'm hoping that there'll be a lot more to come after this.

(dramatic music) - I have been bugging Tom and Betsy to do a gathers writing here, in this region, because we have so many Native writers.

And I think that oftentimes, especially as a writer, you're doing this by yourself, off over here, and you really don't know what's possible, and you don't know that other people are doing exactly the same thing, and have questions, and can help you.

You know, like they might do something over here that you don't know about, but you're doing this, and you can share that information with them.

So this kind of gathering of bringing writers and other publishing professionals together can open doors for everybody, I think.

The inspiration for my stories, I think is the resilience, and the beauty of Native people.

And there's some way where I want to capture that in my writing, so that Native people can see themselves, and see themselves reflected, because I think that's lacking.

- Well, our primary focus is getting out culturally appropriate Native books.

There are a lot of Native books that have been published over the years.

Many of them are written by non-Native writers, and of course, illustrated by non-Native illustrators who may or may not know anything about Native people.

And of course, published by non-Native publishers who are always looking at the market.

So, you know, our focus has been on that small niche where mainstream publishers, for example, might not take a manuscript and publish it, because if they're looking at the money end, on being able to either break even, or make some kind of profit on a publication, whereas, you know, our print batches are small, and very often we use print on demand.

So we keep our books within that price range.

And we've been focusing in on the school market, although we sell in many book stores, and with other businesses, most of our business comes out of schools where there are significant Native enrollment.

And so that's what we've been doing.

- [Betsy] We wanna get the Native kids to be reading books about themselves, to see themselves in the books.

- Get used to rejections, you know?

I'd have a stack of rejections a foot high, if I collected them all, or saved them all.

You just need to have faith and keep submitting your work, because you know what you say is important, and it needs to be out there.

The best advice that I ever got was from a colleague that we wrote several textbooks on teaching Native kids, and she said, "Use your own voice," you know?

I think many writers try to create a unique writing voice, and that holds them up in their writing.

So she said, "Write as you speak," and that was the greatest advice that I had.

- Black Bears and Blueberries have published over 20 different books.

They hope to continue their work, and enjoy the fruits of their labor by passing on knowledge to the next generation.

If you'd like to find one of the books published by Black Bears and Blueberries, you can head to their website, or find in select stores.

(lively music) - Pulmonary fibrosis is scarring in the lungs, which makes it difficult to breathe.

Healthy lung tissue is soft and spongy, and fibrosis causes the tissue in the lungs to get stiff and thick.

This makes it hard to get oxygen into the bloodstream.

Pulmonary fibrosis is an interstitial lung disease.

Interstitial means the inflammation and scarring is in the tissue around the tiny air sacs called alveoli in the lungs.

There are many types of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis.

These can be caused by autoimmune diseases, or a history of chemical exposures, or other illnesses, and treatments are based on the cause.

Most of the time, it has no known cause, and this is called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

It can be difficult to diagnose, because there are many illnesses that can cause shortness of breath.

Your healthcare provider will take a history of your present illness.

It will be important to know any past illnesses, smoking history, past hazardous material or radiation exposures, and family history of lung diseases.

Testing how well your lungs are working may include pulmonary function tests.

These measure the size of your lungs, and how well they move air in and out.

You'll need to blow into a device called a spirometer as hard as you can for this test.

Pulse oximetry is another test, and uses a small sensor that is placed on one of your fingers to measure the oxygen level in your blood.

Sometimes, lung function is measured while you walk on a treadmill, or ride a stationary bike to see how your lungs are working when oxygen demand is higher.

Sometimes, blood gas tests are sent to a lab to check blood levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Chest X-rays and CT scans look for scarring.

Many people with fibrosis can have normal chest X-rays in early disease.

CT scans provide sharper, and more detailed images than a standard X-ray.

An echocardiogram can look at your heart using sound waves.

It can tell how well your heart is functioning, and if it's working harder than it should, to move blood in and out of your lungs.

Bronchoscopy uses a thin tube inserted into your mouth or nose to collect a sample of fluid, or cells from your lungs.

If more sampling is needed, a biopsy can be performed.

This is a procedure to collect a tissue sample, and sometimes is a surgical procedure, and sometimes can be done during a bronchoscopy.

If you are sedated during this procedure, you will need to have someone drive you home.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a serious disease, but advances are being made all the time, and these advances allow people to live longer, and have a better quality of life.

Sometimes, the disease progresses rapidly, and other times, people can live with it for many years.

Exercising, eating right, and protecting your lungs will help keep you as healthy as possible.

Medications are available to help, and medications that can make things worse are stopped, if possible.

Asking for a referral to a counselor or a therapist is not a sign of weakness, and can really work wonders.

As always, your healthcare provider will help you make the best decisions, and seeing them on a regular basis will catch potential problems earlier.

And remember to call an elder.

They've been waiting for your call.

I'm Dr. Arne Vainio, and this is Health Matters.

(lively music) - Educating the youth is no easy task, and finding creative ways to teach Indigenous youth about their culture and heritage is even harder, but have no fear, superhero Koda Two Hearts is here.

Mark Mindt is an educator, writer, and artist who has been using his skillset and creative mind to help students learn their cultural teachings through the creation of superhero, Koda.

The "Native Report" team got to see one of his workshops firsthand.

Check this out.

(gentle guitar music) (soothing flute music) - When I was younger, my grandmother would always call me her Koda, her little friend, and that stuck with me, but I never thought much about it.

I would be making artwork ever since I was in preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, all my life.

And it just turned out where I was a natural storyteller.

But in third grade, I was illiterate.

I couldn't read, couldn't write, wasn't very good at math, but I could tell stories, make artwork, and later on, with an ear for music, we could play some music.

And it just kind of worked out a way where that became my identity, my, my gift, my talents.

And that brought me to education, and school administration, and here today.

My name is Mark Mindt from the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation.

I'm at Red Lake Nation this week at the Middle school, presenting "Koda the Warrior," Koda the Writer series workshop with our students.

As a student growing up, I struggled in academics, but I was always great at storytelling, and making artwork, and it just seemed where all my artwork pieces became a story, and as it grew up in life, I kind of put those pages together, redrew them, and I started thinking, what would it look like if I could draw something that other people would put together?

My students also told me, "Why don't you make comic books of your own?"

So that's what I did.

Our students, they inspired me, so I thought, I'm gonna listen to you.

So we started making one version that grew into two, and, three, and four books.

It's just one thing that, my students always motivated me.

The storyline is about a superhero who is also a teacher.

Now, the teacher, only his students know that he has those powers, his superhero powers, but he travels.

As he travels to different locations in North America, he gains wisdom, knowledge, that he can bring back to his students.

So his superpower is he can learn, and he can bring it back, and teach it.

And as he's traveling, that's kind of one of the storylines.

In book number one, gets his powers.

Book number two, he travels and passes it on.

I always know that stories, they're never over.

It's always to be continued, so the nice thing here was taking book number one, when you hold it up, you can also hold book number two right beside it.

The idea is by the end of book one and two, not only does the story inside tell us the story, but outside, the mural, it actually shows that it's linked, book three, four.

So as I've gone through this, my goal is to, of course, fill a whole wall with a mural of all the comic issues that we have, and as we move forward.

So, let's just keep making our stories connect.

When I travel to schools, and I visit with different grade levels, of course we have a writer's workshop where students, they come in, of course, not knowing who I am, but I just say, you know, first off, I'm a guest in your school.

Show me how I should maintain myself, how I should behave.

And then from there, they show me their writing skills, whatever level they are, their art skills, we put those together.

So, my goals are being met by, at the end of my time with the writer's workshop, the students create comic strips that we put into a comic book for their school, individually.

And later on, they can share that comic book with family, friends, and they see their artwork being published.

That's empowering, when they see their words have meaning.

We have a concept of what our joys are, our gifts in life, as well as our dreams and goals.

But when all three of those areas, when they intersect, that's your vision, what you want to accomplish in life.

So what I do here is I'm empowering that imagination.

And within imagination, it covers academics, behavior, and attendance.

So, this session we have, by the end of it, students will have evidence of what they're creating becomes that academic goal, or that career goal down the line.

I think when you put those things together, the kids' dream, the children's dreams, the vision becomes so clear.

I always recommend this.

The toughest thing is sitting down and starting, because there's so many distractions.

So grab your pencil, paper, paintbrush, or maybe it's the art of storytelling.

Always be listening.

Be hungry to learn something more.

And don't be the worst critic to yourself.

Just say, I'm going to get better.

Be kind to yourself.

I'm always improving, it looks great, someone loves this.

Someone loves what I do.

Our children are always resilient, but there's a strength that they have inside of them.

The strength that says, we want to be there for each other, we want to be family members.

So we show up to school, our attendance is number one, and we're already good people.

So when the students come in, how do we behave at school?

What's the expectation?

So we're here, we're good people, and we have great teachers, so the learning comes easy.

I think those three parts of that concept, it really fulfills me when I go to every school.

You're here, you're a good person, learning comes easy.

I love when I see that excitement in not just the students' eyes, but the teachers and principals, and they walk through the room, they say, "That's the best our students behaved all year," or, "I haven't seen that student write yet.

Look how much they wrote, or look at their story."

And then we get it printed, so then they get to share it with one another.

So that's so rewarding when I can make their comic books for them, and that's their own work, and that stays within their school.

That's a great experience.

It's been a great response.

Over the last two years, I've been busy every week during the regular school year.

There's some weeks where I'm at a school, just maybe one school for five days, or maybe two or three schools throughout the whole week, but it's great to travel, and visit other reservations, on and off the reservation setting.

It's just, it's been one of those experiences that I want to keep and continue, and grow my skills as a professional.

Koda in the Dakota language means friend or ally, but it's really more so like a really strong relative that's always looking out for you.

Me, as a teacher, I knew that it wasn't just a matter of teaching, it was being a good relative, being a great uncle, or you know, just somebody that they go to when they need something, or need some advice, or just an ear to listen to.

So it just seems really natural that a character, a superhero, is named Koda.

When he travels, he really wants to be a friend, a relative to everybody.

Ever since I was a young person, I knew I wanted to be a teacher.

I just didn't have the skills to read and write, but I later gained them.

And that's where, when you say as an educator, I know that students struggle, and they just need somebody there to help 'em, be in their corner cheering them on, and that's where Koda comes in line there, that he's a superhero, that only his students know his skills, but he also knows his skills and the talents, the students' superpowers.

How great is that?

The goal of Koda is to empower that creativity in everybody.

Not just the students, but the educators in the school, the working staff, that your imagination is so important and so powerful that if we can see something, we know what it should be, but we write it down, we draw it out, it becomes something real.

This has been going on for thousands of years.

We're all connected in some way.

And what you experience, I experience, it's gives us a level playing field, helps us understand one another, be more empathetic.

So when you can share your story, and I say, "I know about that too, tell me your side of it."

It helps me understand myself, as well as you.

- Mark has traveled throughout Minnesota, Montana, and even South Dakota, sharing Koda stories.

If you are interested in hosting one of these workshops at your school, please reach out to Mark Mindt at phd.koda@gmail.com.

Preserving Indigenous language is a top priority, with census figures showing fewer than 10,000 Anishinaabemowin speakers in the United States alone.

Action must be taken to keep the language alive, and action is exactly what Tony Drews, creator of Nashke Games, is doing.

He is increasing awareness of Ojibwe language and culture through gameplay.

We got to play some of them.

It was a blast, to say the least.

Check this out.

(gentle guitar music) - We'll be playing our Mii Gwech game.

It's our flagship game.

This is always a crowd pleaser.

Everyone always has a really fun time playing this.

We're going to use Mii Gwech as an opportunity to talk about culture.

Embedded in the name, there's cultural significance, and each one of these items has so much cultural significance, too, that we'd be able to use this deck, maybe in a classroom, to talk about the impact that blankets have on Ojibwe culture.

(Tony speaking Anishinaabemowin) My name is Tony Drews.

My Ojibwe name is Chinoodin, which means Big Wind, and I'm the founder of Nashke Games.

Where the inspiration of Nashke games came from, I spent five years at the Anoka-Hennepin Indian Education Program, working with Native youth for culture enrichment, and trying to get our youth in the suburbs excited about their culture and language.

It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be, teaching our culture and our language on the chalkboard.

Our students just weren't excited about that.

One day, I reached back into my knowledge, and I had a moccasin game at home, so I just brought it in to show my students, and things were a little different that day.

They were inquisitive, they were asking questions.

I just thought I had something there, so I had thought to myself, how can I take the things that I'm trying to communicate to them, and get them excited like they are with this game?

So then I went home and thought about it, and then I started printing some games off on my computer.

And yeah, when I brought them in, it just changed everything, yep.

They were excited to learn.

They were retaining.

Before, when I was teaching on a chalkboard, week after week, asking the same questions, but things changed when we came up with the games.

All of our children were so excited when I met them to tell me that they were Native American, or they were Ojibwe or Dakota, and some of them even knew what tribes they were from, but they didn't know the cultural identity piece.

And as that light bulb went off, you could start seeing them understanding where that Native pride was coming from.

I have right now, currently two main lines of games.

We have re-imagined traditional games that are games that our people have been playing for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Just by playing them, you're immersing yourself in the Ojibwe language and culture.

And then we have a series of contemporary games that are fun games, but are based in Ojibwe culture and language.

Can we say (speaking Anishinaabemowin)?

(players speaking Anishinaabemowin) - That means hurry up, so if your friend's taking too much time, you say (speaking Anishinaabemowin), and then maybe (speaking Anishinaabemowin).

(players speaking Anishinaabemowin) - Yeah, yeah, that means give it to me, give me my stick.

I'm privileged to bring the knowledge that has been passed to me into these games.

I own none of this knowledge.

These are just things that I'm putting together that I've been lucky enough to experience through my life, and passing it on to the community.

So we only need to say, can you guys say (speaks Anishinaabemowin)?

(players speaking Anishinaabemowin) (Tony speaks Anishinaabemowin) (players speaking Anishinaabemowin) - So that's the scoring.

One or two points are what you're gonna score.

If they all land up on their backs, we get (speaks Anishinaabemowin), we get one stick.

If they all land on their bellies, we get (speaks Anishinaabemowin) one stick.

If two of them are on their backs, and the two plain ones land on their bellies, we get (speaks Anishinaabemowin), one stick.

However, we can score two points if two snakes land on their backs, and two sticks land on their bellies that are marked.

These snakes are marked with colors of our four directions, and this will get you (speaks Anishinaabemowin).

Can you guys say (speaks Anishinaabemowin)?

(players speaking Anishinaabemowin) - (speaks Anishinaabemowin) is two sticks.

Really hate to generalize Natives in one big word, but generally, most Native American tribes have some sort of hand and stick game.

So the snake game, Ginibeg, is one of those games that the Anishinaabe have.

And we use this game as a catalyst to talk about our culture.

And essentially, this is a dice rolling game.

The snakes represent dice, and when you roll 'em, depending how they fall, you get certain points.

And we use sticks, (speaks Anishinaabemowin), as those points.

And what happens is there's a bank of sticks, and as they go around, you get the sticks that you earn from how the snakes land.

But then, once all the sticks are gone, you start taking them from your friends and family, and then whoever has all the sticks wins.

The community response is wonderful.

I've been asked to travel as far as Kingston, Ontario to talk about our culture and language.

I have been so busy in our Minneapolis Native community with game nights, and tabling, and getting to work with so many youth.

It has been a very exciting experience, and I thank the community for that.

Our games are meant for the family, so whatever that looks like.

When we go into schools, we've worked with students as young as kindergarten.

All of our games are meant to be the catalyst to talk about that culture.

Oh, (speaks Anishinaabemowin).

How many points do you think you got?

(speaking Anishinaabemowin), in English?

- Two.

- Yeah, yeah.

You get (speaks Anishinaabemowin).

And we'll do it again.

'Cause you scored, you get to go again.

- Ooh, look out.

- So we have two main games in our contemporary catalog.

We have Mii Gwech, which is a fur trade era game.

And we have Bineshiiyag, which is our take on Go Fish.

But instead of using the terms, "Do you have?"

We say, "Do you see?"

And then we use our winged relatives in our box sets.

We have two different versions right now, but they're interchangeable.

When I started this, it was just meant to provide resources.

I did not see this professional development, or this community aspect of my business as a potential, but it's been the most fun, and the most engaging, and the most fulfilling.

- As Drews said, Nashke Games donates a portion of their profits to Native youth in the form of scholarships, or other investments in the Native community.

If you'd like to donate, head over to nashke.com.

If you missed a show, or wanna catch up online, find us at nativereport.org, and don't forget to follow us on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for behind the scene updates.

Drop a comment on social media if you enjoyed the show.

Thanks for spending time with your friends and neighbors from across Indian Country.

I'm Rita Karppinen, we'll see you next time on "Native Report."

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (soothing music)