Plenary Panel
Auditorium at Warren Alvarado Oslo School
9:30 AM
Notes by Kayla Ford
Moderator: Soizik Laguette (UND Earth Systems Science & Policy)
Panelists: Floyd Jourdain, Jr. (Red Lake Band of Ojibwe), Kim Christianson (North Dakota
Alliance for Renewable Energy), Nate Dorr (Northwest Minnesota Foundation)
Soizik: Define Sustainability
Balance, happy, healthy, productive lives
-Trying to get clean water.
-Trying to get away from poverty.
-Meet need of present community without harming future community.
Rural Area
-Non-metro, 80% of our land is rural
-How do we provide and live off land?
-Key is to use natural resources
Goal
-Find solution for residents to attract business
-What has and has not worked? (Sharing)
-Social aspect
Three pillars to balance:
1. Environment
2. Civic
3. Economic
Floyd: Land – Environment
Kim: Energy – Renewable energy, energy efficiency
Nate: Economy – Grant and scholarship programs
Floyd: Ojibwe
-Montana to Michigan
-4th largest nation
Myths about Indian Country
-Poverty, high crime
Reinventing Indian Nation
-Health, advice, resources (hunting), conflict
History
155 million acres
-50 to Indians, 105 to settlement
-Indians could sell allotments (many did): Leach Lake only has 4% of land
left
-Seceded millions of acres
Tribes given permission to have own government
-Not given a lot of rights
-Started self-empowerment for tribes
-Tribes put in Department of Interior (with water, oil, land, and other
resources)
-Anything tribes wanted to do, they had to get approval from
secretary
Tribes are now trying to take old thinking and make it more modern
-Re-do constitution to have accountability but not make it impossible to
implement ideas
-Community Education
-Education for band members (both about tribe and from a college)
Recommends book:
“Everything you want to know about Indians but are afraid to ask”
Closing Notes:
-Red Lake is a growing tribe
Kim: Energy efficiency
-Has worked with rural communities (Underwood, MN)
Decisions we make should only have positive impact on future communities.
Goal: Employment opportunities
Programs
Recyle
Land use & zoning
Parks
Golf courses
Green space
Water management
Flood control
Transportation
Community education
Energy efficiency – renewable energy
Reduce carbon foot print – for climate change
ACEE
-Ranks MN 9th and ND 50th for energy efficiency
ND
-We will get 5 million towards energy efficiency
-Renewable = wind energy
-Little solar, few geo-thermal (underground heat)
MN
-Required to sell energy with certain percent renewable energy
How to become energy efficient?
-State, federal, and private companies have energy saving programs
-Buildings that are energy efficient (such as library in Warren)
-Obama: States working to decrease energy use and create jobs = federal support
1. Take advantage of utility companies, federal, state, and county programs
2. Identify a community champion (or become one yourself)
3. Hold educational & informational meetings (such as this forum)
4. Include energy goals & strategies when planning
5. Have a “green team” committee
Nate: Economy
Why do people live and work in a certain place?
1. Social (friends and family)
2. Jobs
3. Natural resources
4. Structural (schools, businesses, places)
Grants
-Growing local talent
-Education (universities), work force initiative, market diversity
Education task force
Improve high school graduation rate
Create more graduate programs
Career exploration
-More career counselors (supposed to be 1 to 200 students, it is 1 to 500)
-Let students know what jobs are needed
Applied training
-Businesses in the schools (career exposure)
Training businesses
-Supervisor and customer service training
Entrepreneurs
Idea competition
-Business ideas = $10,000 in cash + technical assistance
-312,000 in loans
Business finance loans (that banks can’t do)
-762,000 in loans
Rural
Problem: “brain dead”
-People leave to get educated, then come back when 35 to raise family
Market diversity
-Who are you selling to?
-Outside selling (tourism, international markets)
Support local businesses
-Keep money local
-Supply trade closer to home
Community fund
-Grants to local projects
-Community projects
-Interest is what is spent, so money stays replenished