On a hot Wednesday evening, a team made up of AICHO staff and Gimaajii Mino Bimaadizimin families came together to collectively run and walk 20 miles. Each step they took was a prayer to heal themselves as Indigenous people and stand in solidarity against racism and hatred directed towards Ojibwe people throughout Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Their steps contributed towards the solidarity relay called The Healing Circle Run organized by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

​The Healing Circle Run began in 1989 as a response to the escalated animosity towards Ojibwe people brought on by protests against tribes reasserting hunting, fishing, and gathering rights in the Ojibwe ceded territories of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The seven-day relay is a collective prayer to bring healing to participants, their families, reservations, the communities they pass through, the nation and the earth. Runners endure the long journey under the summer sun and heat, persevering through exhaustion. It is a sacrifice runners make to heal their loved ones and communities suffering from addiction, violence and untreated intergenerational, historical trauma.

The relay route connects 10 Ojibwe nations including Lac Du Flambeau, Mole Lake, Lac Vieux Desert, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Bad River, Red Cliff, Fond du Lac, Mille Lacs, St. Croix, and Lac Courte Oreilles, covering 600 miles. AICHO pledged and completed 20 miles on July 13, 2022, the fifth day of the relay in South Superior.

​The Native Americans into Medicine summer program took a tour at AICHO to learn more about AICHO’s missions, priorities and community initiatives to address and advocate for health justice and access in our communities on July 13, 2022

The Native Americans into Medicine summer program is a six-week summer enrichment program for undergraduate students pursing careers in health and medicine through the University of Minnesota.

The students learned about AICHO programming from Co-Executive Director LeAnn Littlewolf, the Indigenous First Gift Shop from Khayman Goodsky, and AICHO Galleries and Cultural Arts programming from Ivy Vainio. Miigwech NAM for visiting AICHO!

Youth learned to make traditional Anishinaabe wild rice poles through AICHO’s Giinawiind Giginitaawigi’gomin: Together We Grow Youth Program.

​Through this hands-on workshop, guided by Michaa Aubid (East Lake Anishinaabe) and Veronica Skinaway (Sandy Lake Anishinaabe), program participants learned the importance of treaty rights, how to operate power tools and how to knock rice with rice knockers. This knowledge is important when participating in the wild rice harvest, called manoominike in Anishinaabemowin.

​Last year, the program youth learned how to make wild rice knockers in a workshop taught by 1854 Treaty Authority, passing harvesting knowledge to the youth. In September, the Giinawiind Giginitaawigi’gomin program will participate in the annual manoominike with Ron Willis, under the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College CYFAR Grant activity.

Programs are funded in part by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association of Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Human Services Behavioral Health Division, Northland Foundation, United Way, Sheltering Arms Child Development and Family Support, and Statewide Health Improvement Partnership.