(gentle bright flute music) - [Sarah] Giiwedinong means in the north.

(gentle bright flute music) It is a little museum that could.

(gentle bright flute music) We did that in seven months, which is unheard of.

- [Winona] Each of these treaties had some agreements, the only part that they kept was they promised to take our land and they took it.

(gentle bright flute music) - When folks come into this museum, the vision we have is when you come in, it's like you're walking into the world of the Anishinaabe people.

Who we are, who we are as a culture, who we are as a society, what are our beliefs, what are our morals?

So that's why you see some of the clans when you come in, you see the mural of the clans, you'll see the migration map.

- And then you come in and the outside display is on treaties, but it's not just treaties with Americans.

The first treaty is with the creation, and then the treaties with the Haudenosaunee, the six nations with the Dakota, the Buffalo Treaties.

We wanted to show that treaties are agreements made between nations in civil society to make things better.

The two inner exhibits are really the water protector exhibits.

We wanted to actually honor people's courage and honor the water protector movement.

- [Sarah] And also when you come in here, we're in this beautiful room for Rabbett Strickland.

His paintings tells these stories as well, like spiritually.

(gentle bright flute music) We said we wanted to buy this and put this together, and everything we said it was gonna be, talking about the Anishinaabe people, justice, our art and culture, and also the water protectors.

This is all done by donations.

This wasn't done by grants or anything.

And then there was a handful of us who volunteered to remodel this and gut it out.

- [Winona] Well, this is was once a Carnegie Library.

I think of Carnegie Libraries as a place of enlightenment.

I always thought it should be this, and then when Enbridge bought this museum and turned it into their headquarters for basically expansion in this area, I was really offended and I really wanted to see something better come of it.

And so when Embridge started selling off their properties, we were able to buy 'em.

I and Sarah are both veterans of Standing Rock.

We spent a lot of time out there at Standing Rock, and we spent seven years fighting Enbridge.

In that territory and in that land, we learned a lot and we saw a lot of courageous people and we saw a lot of people who went to great risk, we saw corporations that did wrong.

- For me, personally, it's a cultural duty.

It's because it brings back to the whole vital that it's life.

My children and nobody else's children can live without water, nothing can.

So that's what it means to be water protector.

(bright vocalizations) (gentle music) - I think we should all be water protectors.

You can live without oil, but you can't live without water.

And water is life.

And in this area, we have a lot of water, and this is the fifth of the world's water.

And in a world that is parched and is water-challenged, increasing people do not have access to drinkable water, we have water, and so we think that it should be protected.

None of us were really familiar with pipelines.

I wasn't either, they're outta sight and out of mind.

I don't think about 'em, but this country is crisscrossed with millions of miles of pipelines, and a lot of those pipes were put in a long time ago, and they're falling apart.

And so I really think that the company that made the money off of the pipeline should clean it up.

It's just kinda like, basic common sense.

You made the mess, you clean it up.

They put the pipeline in a new corridor, which cut through this pristine territory.

We tried to stop them.

I, as a citizen, went to almost every public hearing.

I'm with thousands of other people, 69,000 people testified against the pipeline.

- We did everything we could.

The regulatory system, to us, I felt that it was rogue.

I remember coming to a community meeting here in Park Rapids and the school was full, and Enbridge and everything was here, and it was overwhelming, residents from Park Rapids said they didn't want the pipeline, but still they get it.

I would do it over again.

(gentle flute music) Some water protectors would come in when we were here.

To them, when they left the building, they felt healed.

First of all, the Native folks that do come in, they're excited.

They're like, "Is this just temporary or are you here forever?"

And I was like, "We bought it, we're here forever."

And especially elders, they're excited that they think it's good.

As far as folks non-Native, oh my god, they're so excited.

Every person that comes in or didn't even know what to expect when they walked around, I've seen some folks in tears.

I've had some folks come up to me and say, "I just wanna say to you, 'I'm sorry.'"

I've seen that, and they're like, "Thank you for doing this, this is so great."

My biggest goal when they come out is that our children can have that equal balance of who they belong, where they belong, and to the Native students, I'm Anishinabe, I'm Dakota, and I'm proud.

Did you hear about us?

Did you learn about us in this museum?

So that's what I want, folks, when they come out of here.

- One wouldn't wake up and say, "I'm gonna put together a museum."

In my mind, I had this, that this should be something great.

I was raised in museums, so I realized that people can make museums.

You don't have to be a professor, people can make museums.

- At the end of the day, we're still here.

Who left?

Enbridge.

Our territory and our land is beautiful.

This is healing.

To create this was like a creation of healing, to be honest with you.

And yeah, it is a victory to me, because you know what?

We're still here.

(bright spirited flute music) - [Announcer] Funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008.

And by the members of Prairie Public.