On the ground in Minneapolis: ‘The fuel of the resistance’

MINNEAPOLIS — The menu at the Powwow Grounds Coffee house on historic Franklin Avenue has grown in recent weeks. Along with the usual double latte or iced cappuccino there are more important items available: peace, community and a sense of security.

Nestled in the heart of the American Indian Cultural Corridor in Minneapolis, the coffee shop and neighboring art gallery space have morphed into a community kitchen, warming space and distribution center for food and supplies for a neighborhood riven with fear and confusion following the death of Renee Good at the hands of a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis in early January.

“We all came together and said, ‘Okay, let’s prepare for the worst,’” said Robert Rice, the White Earth Ojibwe citizen who owns Powwow Grounds Coffee, which many consider Ground Zero for the city’s urban Indians. “We’ll be a community and we’ll stand together.”

First up are security concerns.

Masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have pulled people from cars and conducted sweeps of neighborhoods and workplaces in search of undocumented immigrants. Reports of Native Americans getting targeted in the immigration sweeps have sent waves of fear through the community.

“People can’t go outside because they’re scared to run into ICE and get detained and deported,” said Khalani Freemont, a Omaha Tribe of Nebraska citizen. “I’m scared of that every day.”

‘Do your thing’

A half a century ago, the American Indian Movement was established across Franklin Avenue from where Powwow Grounds Coffee stands today. AIM’s first actions were citizen patrols looking to keep Native Americans safe in an environment of overzealous law enforcement activity. The patrol system was reinvigorated during the riots that followed the killing of George Floyd in 2020 by a Minneapolis police officer.

It’s active again these days with volunteers from AIM and other organizations keeping an eye on the corridor, which includes centerpieces such as the Minneapolis American Indian Center and the Little Earth housing community.

Powwow Grounds is the anchor of the community.

“It’s a place where you can come and be safe,” said Freemont, who for years has been active in the neighborhood security patrols. “Just like somewhere peaceful where someone can stay and feel safe and know that they have the community around them.”

And maybe get a meal, said Rice, who figured the best way he could help the community was through, well, soup.

“Soup is a big thing, you know, for protesters or patrollers,” he said. “They can come in here and get something to eat. Shut down, take a break, get warm, and then, you know, get back out there, do their thing.”

Rice says he shut down the register in the coffee shop and relies on donations during this time of stress in the community.

“I’m not actually out on the front lines, but I can do something, you know? My something is, I cook,” he said. “So that’s been my focus. And I’m just one spoke in this wheel we call the community. You know, it’s just an amazing group of people.”

In the gallery space adjoining the coffee house, stacks and stacks of supplies line the walls. Crow Bellecourt, the executive director of the Indigenous Protector Movement and the son of one of the founding AIM members, surveyed the resources.

“We have a lot of donations coming in,” he said.

In one corner sits food and household supplies for families scared to go out to the store. In other piles are items for people who chose to venture to the front lines and confront the ICE officers conducting raids.

“We keep all our sage, our tobacco sweetgrass in the corner here so people can protect their spirits,” said Bellecourt, Bad River Band of Chippewa Indians. “And then we also have energy drinks, first aid stuff. And goggles, if you get sprayed by pepper spray.”

Outside, a fire burns throughout the day and evening to warm the hands, feet and hearts of the community.

“We communicate with our spirits through our fires and our prayer fires,” said Freemont. “People keep asking if this is just for Native Americans. No, it’s for everybody. We have people in and out every day hauling stuff to different communities.”

Rice said the ICE raids have raised questions as well, including whether it’s legal to stop people on the street and ask for identification.

“Where’s the Constitution here?” he asked. “They’re not supposed to be able to do that. We’re basically here to help push back on that. That’s what we’re doing here.”

Attorney Chase Iron Eyes from the Lakota People’s Law Project agreed. An Oglala Lakota citizen, he drove over from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to represent people caught up in the ICE raids

“Those who would seek to do violence against peaceful American families are finding that they have met their match in Minneapolis, Minnesota,” he said, “because there are Native people here. We know what it’s like to be free. We know freedom in a different sense of that word. And all of America is welcome to know that freedom that we know.”

He feels that sense of freedom at the Powwow Grounds Coffee shop.

“The Powwow Grounds is a source of light,” Iron Eyes told ICT. “It is a source of light for those in Minneapolis who want to ensure the safety and the sanctity and integrity of the United States Constitution.”

‘Center of chaos’

Driving around the neighborhood near the Powwow Grounds, Bellecourt noted that things have changed since his father, Clyde Bellecourt, and others founded AIM in 1968. There are new tribal offices and embassies, new housing, a new drug recovery center, with more buildings under construction.

Some things, however, still need attention, including the homeless encampments under roadway bridges.

“Here we are in 2026,” he said. “Still fighting the good fight. And it just strikes me as odd. This is always the center of chaos. Like with the George Floyd riots. And then now we have these big ICE raids. It always pops off in Minneapolis, St. Paul. Crazy.”

Perhaps there’s something in the Twin City air?

Or maybe it’s something else, said Iron Eyes.

“It’s got to be the Powwow Grounds coffee,” he said. “It’s the fuel of the resistance.”

Stewart Huntington is an ICT producer/reporter based in central Colorado.

The post On the ground in Minneapolis: ‘The fuel of the resistance’ first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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