This week, a small plane’s emergency landing on the Red Lake Reservation is raising questions about tribal sovereignty, and a Native All-American football game returns to the Twin Cities.
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Producers: Chaz Wagner and Dan Ninham
Editing: CJ Younger, Emily Krumberger, Victor Palomino
Anchor: Marie Rock
Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
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TRANSCRIPT
[Music: Minnesota Native News Theme]Marie Rock: Welcome to Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock. This week, how a small plane emergency landing is raising questions about tribal sovereignty and a Native All-American football game returns to the Twin Cities. First, producer Chaz Wagner tells us what happened after a small plane landed on the Red Lake Reservation.
Darrin Smedsmo: Yeah, I was flying directly from Roseau to Bemidji. It was a beautiful Wednesday morning.
Chaz Wagner: Minnesota pilot Darrin Smedsmo was flying above Lower Red Lake on October 15th when he experienced catastrophic engine failure.
Darrin Smedsmo: In my 1946 Stinson 108-1, got over Lower Red Lake and my engine had seized up.
Chaz Wagner: He quickly prepared for an emergency landing on the closest road. A nearby Department of Transportation worker helped Smedsmo.
Darrin Smedsmo: A neighbor of mine was right behind me, saw the whole thing. He works for the Department of Transportation. So, he stopped traffic and called Tribal Police.
Chaz Wagner: The Red Lake Tribal Police were the first to arrive on scene, quickly seizing the plane. Citing a 1978 resolution prohibiting the flying of airplanes at a low altitude over Red Lake Tribal lands.
Darrin Smedsmo: I was supposed to have a court date of November 3rd. October 31st, I got a call from the prosecutor and he told me that I could rip up that original ticket, and that I should be expecting something in the mail.
Chaz Wagner: Red Lake Tribal government released a series of statements saying: The landing created immediate safety, liability, and resource protection concerns for the tribe. Red Lake is the only closed reservation in Minnesota due to its refusal to participate in the 1887 General Allotment Act.
Rebekah Tweten: Red Lake maintained its hunting and fishing rights and it is a little bit separate from the other tribes. whether Chippewa or Ojibwe tribes.
Chaz Wagner: Rebecca Tweedon is a Red Lake citizen and a U. S. Army veteran. Red Lake Nation maintains the right to limit who can live there and who can visit.
Rebekah Tweten: Because our ancestors didn’t live in one place on this little allotted piece of land. They went with the seasons. And we have this little piece of land and we have to hold it because it’s all we have.
Darrin Smedsmo: Oh, I’ve flown over that area many times.
Chaz Wagner: Darrin Smetsmo says that he wasn’t aware of any protocols about flying over Red Lake.
Darrin Smedsmo: The flight school that I was on my way to had never heard nothing about it and they train over that land.
Chaz Wagner: For Minnesota Native News, I’m Chas Wagner.
Marie Rock: Next, producer Dan Ninham talks to two of the coaches for the Native All-American football game and camp at Vikings Home Stadium.
Ahman Green: You gotta be somebody that understands teamwork and you got talent and so you got to use that talent to then work with other people.
Dan Ninham: That was Ahman Green, Choctaw Nation, one of three coaches involved in the 2025 Native All-American football game and camp next month at U.S. Bank Stadium. Green is a former 12-year NFL running back and national champion college athlete.
Ahman Green: The success is going to be getting 50 plus or more players to all be able to understand like you still got to play for one another even though you just met each.
Dan Ninham: The game is a collaboration between the Native American Athletic Foundation, the Minnesota Vikings and the National Football League. The Vikings have hosted a similar game in 2022 and 2023.
Levi Horn: I try to coach with love and coming with a counseling background.
Dan Ninham: Levi Horn, Northern Cheyenne, is another coach involved in this year’s game. Horne also talked about his coaching philosophy.
Levi Horn: I don’t want to sit there and just send you running. I want to be able to break that down, what’s going on.
Dan Ninham: Levi believes the success will come after the game.
Levi Horn: The success is going to be them with their families. Those teachings that, you know, maybe they didn’t get right away. Maybe they weren’t mature enough to get right away. And some of them are going to have the chance to go on and represent their tribes, our people, at a university.
Dan Ninham: For Ahman, measuring success in this game goes beyond the final score.
Ahman Green: We’re human beings at the end of the day that we got to do something very extraordinary, and for me to be a part of this is just me paying it forward.
Dan Ninham: The 2025 Native All-American football game will take place on December 14th. For Minnesota Native News, I’m Dan Ninham.
Marie Rock: That’s all we for this week’s episode. Join us next time for more voices and stories that inform, uplift, and shape our communities, right here on Minnesota Native News.
[Music: Minnesota Native News Theme]Marie Rock: Minnesota Native News is produced by AMPERS: Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities. Made possibly by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
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