CARE Kicks Off “Year of Learning” on October 8 in Grand Portage

The Committee Addressing Racial Equity (CARE) kicks off “Opening Doors: A Year of Learning” Saturday, October 8 at Grand Portage National Monument from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Activities include Lacrosse, the “Gift Game,” drumming and singing and learning about the people, places, and history of Grand Portage. Starting at noon, the Grand Portage Community Center will provide free fry bread tacos. The entire community is invited and there is no charge to participate in the activities.

The event is sponsored by CARE, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Cook County Higher Education, and the Grand Portage National Monument.

CARE formed in early 2020 as the Community Leadership Group for Cook County, also known as Joint Powers. It began by focusing on two issues--housing and racial equity. With the establishment of the Cook County Housing and Redevelopment Authority this year, CARE made racial equity issues its priority.

The CARE group is made up of community members, representatives of Grand Marais, Cook County, Grand Portage, Cook County Higher Education, North Shore Health, and the school district. In regular meetings, CARE members met to discuss ways to prioritize racial justice issues across the policies, practices, and programs in their purview.

In the past year, CARE adopted its Land Acknowledgment Statement:

We acknowledge that Cook County, Minnesota, is located on the traditional lands of Indigenous people, including the Dakota, Cree, and Ojibwe people, most recently the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, who have cared for and called this place home for time immemorial. This land holds great significance, and it was taken through exploitation. Indigenous people have not only survived here but maintained a rich culture, which continues to thrive.

We embrace our opportunity to build relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability and offer allyship in a lifelong process of learning. We support and advocate for the sovereignty of Indigenous nations that are forever connected to this land.

Cook County Commissioner Ann Sullivan, a member of CARE, describes this statement as “an initial act of reconciliation.”

According to Sullivan, the “Opening Doors” initiative will focus on education for the entire community. Throughout the coming year, CARE will sponsor events that will include local artists, book studies, public speakers, and Indigenous games. The kickoff event this week corresponds with Indigenous Peoples Day.

For further information contact Nina McCune at CCHE at 218-531-9717.