Indigenous-Led Collectives Are Keeping Minnesotan Communities Safe From ICE

[cbabe]

https://truthout.org/articles/indigenous-led-collectives-are-keeping-minnesotan-communities-safe-from-ice/

Indigenous-Led Collectives Are Keeping Minnesotan Communities Safe From ICE

Members of the American Indian Movement and the Many Shields Warrior Society are patrolling the streets of Minneapolis.

By Theia Chatelle , TRUTHOUT
Published February 7, 2026

A cozy cafe in the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has become a staging ground for Indigenous-led patrols working to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) off their streets. Pow Wow Grounds, opened in 2011 by Bob Rice, has been both a gathering place for community members attempting to make sense of the scale of violence they have witnessed over the past few weeks and a place to strategize an autonomous response.

During Truthout’s visit to the cafe at the end of January, wagons full of supplies — from food and gas masks to Narcan — passed in and out of Pow Wow Grounds’ front door, which for the first time was kept locked to keep ICE agents out. The door was unlocked again and again to allow the wagons into the newly repurposed All My Relations gallery space, which is housed with Pow Wow Grounds in the Native American Community Development Institute.

“Look outside,” Rice said during an interview with Truthout in the cafe. “This is the American Indian Cultural Corridor, the heart of Native life here in Minneapolis. They come here to try to intimidate us, but we will not bow down.”

Rice’s efforts to supply the Native
community and its allies with “soup and supplies,” as he told Truthout, have been successful. Members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and of the Many Shields Warrior Society (an Indigenous community security group) have been patrolling the streets of Minneapolis’s Phillips neighborhood since the start of the occupation, and they do not plan to stop.

“We all have a place. My place is to make sure people are fed and get a cup of coffee,” Rice said.

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[haele]

1. As was indicated in the article, the historical reaction to trauma is fairly recent...

I find it telling that Noem, from South Dakota (where the majority white state governmental entities generally see indigenous people's rights at the same level as wildlife and park lands, not "citizens" ), didn't consider the potential for AIM stepping in as opposition to ICE terrorism.

The CBP down here in San Diego have actively worked with the local tribes to ensure they won't interfere with each other, as at least around here, the Kumayay and to some degree the Pima have a significant influence in real estate development and some of the economic tourism efforts in the county.
They own - and rent out for a nice profit - a significant amount of back county property used for ranches, orchards, historical sites/resorts, and gemstone mining, and own quite a few lots in the city itself that are generally rented to immigrant and native businesses and housing.
The tribes down here might not have a seat on the city council or board of supervisors, but they certainly have the ears of them - which does flow up to the State and Federal representatives.