We headed towards Minnesota and the sovereign nation of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, on Friday, May 5th, in anticipation of our two week service stint with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). After a long day of driving, we spent our first night in Minneapolis, where we were hosted by Faith Mennonite Church for soup, supper, and a little bit of MDS history with Glenn Geisinger, the MDS Minnesota Unit Chair. As we continued our journey north on Saturday we stopped at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post, where we learned about some of the unique Ojibwe history and culture of the region. After lunch at the Grand Casino, we headed for Bimidji, where we were joined by the MDS Red Lake long term volunteers for dinner. We finally arrived in Red Lake around 8pm and moved into our temporary home at the Seven Clans Casino, where we will be living until the MDS volunteer space is ready to host us.
We are grateful to be here and excited/nervous to jump into our work tomorrow at 7am!
Enjoy a few pictures from the weekend….
