Still Here and Planning for the Future

As the Metropolitan Council - the regional government for the Twin Cities, Minnesota, metropolitan area - developed its most recent, long-range, regional policy plan, it took a new approach to engaging with American Indian communities. Borne out of an interest in including a land acknowledgment, the Met Council convened an American Indian Advisory Council (AIAC) that included Dakota, Ojibwe, Lakota, and Ho-Chunk elders and local community leaders.

The AIAC recommended the Met Council first make assurances through policy commitments to demonstrate its partnership with the region's American Indian communities. Throughout 2024, Council staff worked with the AIAC to develop land, water, and people commitments that reflect community priorities. In early 2025, the Council adopted the regional policy plan, including the commitments, and an AIAC-developed acknowledgment statement. Council staff and the AIAC continue to work together to implement the commitments.

In this presentation, a Council member, an AIAC member, and staff share their experiences working from commitments to acknowledgement to policy adoption and implementation through an ongoing relationship with the region's American Indian communities. They describe culturally informed meeting structures and internal staff capacity for productive engagement, and tell how this work has changed planning approaches.
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