Senate legacy committee hears wide slate of arts, culture and heritage funding requests and lays them over for possible inclusion

The Minnesota Senate Environment, Climate and Legacy Committee on March 25 heard testimony on more than a dozen requests for appropriations from legacy funds, with advocates stressing cultural preservation, arts education and community access.

Chair Senator Kari Herr convened the meeting and moved through a long agenda that included presentations from the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and representatives of dozens of cultural and community organizations. ‘‘Miigwech, Pedamia. Thank you for allowing us to talk about the exciting work we have done in protecting and revitalizing the Dakota and Ojibwe languages here in Minnesota,’’ Shannon Gizik of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council told the panel during opening testimony on language grants.

Why it matters: Committee members emphasized that legacy funding supports community-based education, cultural preservation and local economic activity — from language work in tribal communities to small-business sales at a downtown festival. Most presenters asked the committee to include their projects in the omnibus legacy appropriations bill; the committee “laid over” each senate file for possible inclusion rather than taking final votes during the hearing.

Key testimony and requests

- Indigenous languages: Shannon Gizik and testifiers from Dakota and Ojibwe language programs described grant-funded work to document, teach and expand Dakota (Dakota Iyapi) and Ojibwe (Ojibwe) instruction in schools and community settings. ‘‘If you don’t know, Dakota Iyapi, or the Dakota language, is the first language of Minnesota,’’ testified Ethan Neardels of Dakota Language Society, noting the…