North Dakota
Tribes underscore how economic development, social programs are helping members
Leaders of tribal nations highlighted efforts to bolster their communities and strengthen their sovereignty at an annual summit this week.
Frank Jamerson, vice chair of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said the tribe has made progress building relationships with other government agencies.
“We’re now able to take those steps forward so we can start showing the United States government that we as Native Americans can start taking care of ourselves,” Jamerson said.
During the event, which took place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Bismarck Event Center, the five tribes that share geography with North Dakota were invited to provide updates on projects and programs and to speak to accomplishments and challenges in their communities.
Standing Rock, for instance, will soon start construction on several new greenhouses. The goal of the program is to help the tribe produce more of its own food.
Standing Rock is planning a new records building, as well. The facility will store the tribe’s historical documents, Jamerson said.
“It will be like a teaching tool for our younger generation — that they can see the history,” said Jamerson, who spoke at the conference on behalf of Chair Janet Alkire.
The vice chair also highlighted a successful housing program for employees of the Prairie Knights Casino and a program that provides free meals for elders.
Spirit Lake Nation Chair Lonna Jackson-Street said her tribe is working to administer more public programs without assistance from the federal government.
“We believe that tribal government is the best-situated to provide for public welfare and law and order on the reservation,” Jackson-Street said at the conference.
Spirit Lake leaders are considering assuming responsibility for law enforcement services currently provided through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Jackson-Street said.
The tribe has already signed an agreement with the bureau to employ three of its own law enforcement officers. She said the agreement allows the tribe to bypass the agency’s background check process, which in the past has significantly lengthened the hiring process.
She noted that the tribe already manages programs formerly administered by the Indian Health Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa recently opened a food distribution center and this fall will welcome a new addiction treatment center, Chair Jamie Azure said.
Turtle Mountain also is adding new recreational facilities, he added.
A new water park recently opened on the reservation, and a trampoline park is slated to open within the next few weeks.
“We started hearing that the kids wanted a safe haven to go to — somewhere fun in the community that was safe, where they felt safe,” Azure said.
Azure said the tribe has formed a drug task force to combat drug trafficking.
The task force and state are “working together to stop the drugs from coming into our communities,” he said.
MHA Nation Chair Mark Fox shared a long list of new developments on the Fort Berthold Reservation, including public schools, medical facilities, government buildings and community centers. Like Standing Rock, the MHA Nation is also planning to build a greenhouse.
Fox also noted that the 4 Bears Casino has taken a significant revenue hit due to the explosion of electronic pull tabs in North Dakota.
In order to help its tourism industry bounce back, the MHA Nation is also planning updates to the 4 Bears Casino, as well as to build a new casino near White Shield, Fox said.
“Our strategy is not to retreat,” Fox said. “Our strategy, given our resources and everything else we do, is to reinvest.”
In the future, the MHA Nation hopes to open a regenerative treatment center for diabetes and other illnesses.
Fox said the MHA Nation is also investing its wealth outside the reservation. It has purchased land for development in Las Vegas, for example.
“Real estate development makes money,” Fox said.
Leadership from the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribe was unable to attend the conference.
Many tribal leaders also took the opportunity to bid farewell to Gov. Doug Burgum, who started the conference six years ago. Burgum is not seeking reelection to the office of governor. His term ends in December.
During the conference, Burgum urged a continued focus on state-tribal relations.
“My first challenge for all of you is to say, ‘Hey, this is just the beginning. … We’re keeping this thing going, we’re moving forward,’ ” Burgum said. “One of the advantages we have as a state is that we’re nimble, we’ve got all these abundant resources, and we can tackle even the biggest challenges.”
This story was originally published on NorthDakotaMonitor.com
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North Dakota
My Heartfelt Christmas Wish To You North Dakota
My Heartfelt Christmas Wish To You North Dakota.
Not a “catchy-clicky” title and I doubt many of my listeners or readers will probably even read this article.
However, I wanted to share something with you that is on my heart. This is so not me, as I’m more the guy who writes about “North Dakota’s 10 most quirky this and that”.
It’s not that I’m not a sensitive guy, because when I was growing up, I was probably too sensitive. I would avoid sad movies, songs, or anything that would spark too much of an emotion.
Yes, you could say my heart has become a bit jaded and cold over the years. It’s not something I’m proud of but more of a defense mechanism.
2024 has probably been one of the most challenging years for my family.
From losing loved ones to family issues to health issues to very challenging financial times, it’s been one of those years where you just can’t catch a break. I’m sure many of you can relate.
As we were attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service last night a young child caught my eye.
She was a cute little toddler who was starting to act up. Something I remember oh so well at church with my little now 20-year-old son.
As her father took her outside the sanctuary to attend to her, I couldn’t help but notice this child’s extremely unfair situation. She had a disability at a year or so old, that none of us could ever imagine. It broke my heart.
This poor child and her family no doubt have a long road ahead of them. As we lit our candles later in the service, I caught the wonder in her eyes, and it couldn’t help but melt my cold heart at the time.
She was perfect and I found myself saying a prayer for this little blonde girl with curly locks and her family.
Her situation also reminded me that I should be thankful for what I have and not what I don’t this Christmas. This is my Christmas wish for you North Dakota, that you will realize the same thing.
Be thankful for who you have around the tree today, not what’s under it.
Merry Christmas to all my listeners and readers. I hope at least a few of you get to read this and it will touch you the same way this little girl touched me on Christmas Eve.
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North Dakota
Could a Bismarck woman become North Dakota's 1st saint?
BISMARCK — Christmas Day marks the ninth anniversary of 31-year-old Michelle Duppong’s death. While her family and friends will feel her absence on this day, they also feel the love, kindness and faith she demonstrated during her short life, along with abundant hope that she not only shared while alive but continues to share in death, which is one of the reasons she is slated to become the first person from North Dakota to become a Catholic saint.
In June 2022, Bismarck Bishop David D. Kagan announced the opening of a diocesan investigation into Duppong’s “holiness of life and love for God,” officially starting the long and arduous process of canonization to a saint. On Nov. 1, 2022, Kagan deemed Duppong a servant of god.
Duppong is on track to be the first North Dakotan and one of few around the world to be canonized, said Father Tom Grafsgaard, of Hazen, North Dakota. According to Catholic publications, only 11 people from the U.S. have become canonized saints.
“It’s never happened in the history of North Dakota in either (the Bismarck or Fargo) Diocese,” Grafsgaard said. “It’s quite exceedingly rare for this to be happening.”
In the process of canonization, the Catholic Church declares people “saints.” There are three paths to sainthood: to have died as a martyr for Catholicism; if one lived an expression of love and died a rather quick and unexpected death; or if they gave a heroic example of living all the Christian virtues.
The process of canonization is governed by a strict canonical or juridical procedure established by St. John Paul II in 1983.
After Kagan began the process, Duppong’s cause entered the diocesan phase of investigation into her life. The Michelle Duppong Guild was created — a group tasked with promoting an awareness of her life. Officials are poring over Duppong’s writings, work, demonstrations of faith and the great number of lives she touched while alive, which are illustrated through interviews with those who knew her, Grafsgaard said.
Her case will be built up and eventually sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints in Rome for the Roman Phase of canonization. A Vatican panel will also investigate and determine if Duppong lived a heroically virtuous life. The Dicastery can then issue a “decree of heroic virtue” in which Duppong would be given the new title of “Venerable Servant of God.”
The third step, beatification, then begins. During this phase, it must be proven that one miracle has been granted by God through Duppong’s intercession. If the Pope declares a true miracle occurred, then Duppong would be declared “Blessed.” Last, a ceremony of canonization would take place where the church declares her a Saint in heaven with God.
“The process is very long,” Grafsgaard said. “I often say, ‘It takes as long as it takes.’ ”
Michelle Christine Duppong was born Jan. 25, 1984, the fourth of six children to parents Ken and Mary Ann Duppong. She grew up on the family farm in Haymarsh, North Dakota, where her parents said she loved to help with chores, including caring for sheep but especially gardening, mowing, pruning, weeding, harvesting and canning, according to her mother.
Duppong was named valedictorian and president of her senior class and later attended North Dakota State University, where she earned a degree in horticulture.
After earning her degree, she became a FOCUS missionary at four college campuses, including the inaugural year at the University of Mary, mentoring college students to draw them deeper into the faith. FOCUS is an apostolate dedicated to evangelizing college and university students.
In 2012, she became the director of faith formation for the Bismarck Diocese, where she led parish missions, launched a podcast and spearheaded a three-day Eucharistic conference that drew thousands to the Bismarck Civic Center in 2013.
In the fall of 2014, Duppong was experiencing sharp abdominal pains that doctors initially thought were ovarian cysts, a common but painful issue for women that will sometimes dissolve and go away without major medical treatment. But by December, the pain was unrelenting, and an outpatient surgery was scheduled that month to remove the cysts.
According to Mary Ann Duppong, surgeons were “shocked to find” Michelle Duppong’s abdomen was “full of stage four cancer.”
Doctors expected the young woman to die within months, and hospice care was recommended.
“Michelle was not one to blame anyone for anything,” Mary Ann Duppong said. “Her attitude was, ‘If God wants me to go through this, I will go through this.’ “
Despite the diagnosis, Michelle Duppong continued her life for nearly a full year.
According to the website that outlines the canonization process for Michelle Duppong and its status, she told one of the sisters providing hospice care that she believed she would pass on Christmas Day. Michelle Duppong died at 11:23 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2015.
Shortly after Bishop Kagan initiated the process for Michelle Duppong’s canonization, U.S. bishops affirmed their support for the cause’s advancement.
In this first stage, the primary focus is to raise awareness of Michelle Duppong and the push for her sainthood by spreading as much information about her and her life as possible, which is done through the creation of a guild and much of which can be found at
www.michelleduppongcause.org.
In January, a FOCUS-produced documentary titled “Thirst for Souls: The Michelle Duppong Story,” was screened at a FOCUS convention in St. Louis. Afterward, Michelle Duppong’s parents were inundated for hours with comments about how much the movie and Michelle had influenced viewers.
While one cannot necessarily predict when or if Michelle Duppong will become a saint, Grafsgaard said a bishop must believe canonization is likely to begin the process.
“For a bishop to initiate a cause, there should be a well-founded hope for its success,” he said. “There certainly was reputation in her life, and she continues to have it in her death.”
North Dakota
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