MN State Fair: Learning about native plants

All right, back out to the state fair. People are often quick to think about the food, but how much attention do you pay to the native plants? That's the focus in just a few minutes at Dan Patch Park, the stage there, and that's where we find Luke and Linda Black Elk, who are about to speak about the native plants there on the grounds as part of Indigenous Peoples Day. Good morning. Tell us what you're going to be sharing with people today. Hi, everyone. Good morning, I'm Linda Black Elk with NATIFS, North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems. And when people come to the state fair, they see lots of concrete and lots of food. And I think a lot of people probably ignore the fact that we are constantly surrounded by food and medicine here as well. Yep. In the form of the plants. So today, NATIFS is sponsoring a scavenger hunt. Do you want to talk about that a little bit? Yep, so we have 10 plants. 10 plants. We have 10 plants that we have around the DNR building, right next to Dan Patch Park. And we have wonderful, wonderful prizes, if anyone, when someone solves the scavenger hunt and gets all the plants and brings back their finished booklet, they learn a little bit, they get a prize, and they get to explore the fairgrounds. Yep, and you get to keep the prize, the bandana, but you also get to keep this amazing informational booklet that we have included, where it has all the names of the plants in Dakota and Ojibwe, two of the primary indigenous languages here in Minnesota. And you also get to keep that booklet. It talks about how those plants are utilized as food and medicine and materials. So it'll be really fun. And it's a great opportunity to look at the state fairgrounds in a new way. Yes, I love that because we often get so focused on the event that we're on the way to or the food we're looking for, but all of these beautiful plants that are added in and sprinkled throughout the fairgrounds, this really puts a spotlight on those. And I love that. And the bandana looks beautiful. So that's a wonderful prize. We know that this is one of many parts of Indigenous People's Day. And just putting the words, just the meaning and how excited you are because the lineup of all the various events happening, they are kind of focused around the Danpatch Park stage. There's a lot happening today, which is really fun. Yes, and everyone is welcome to come and take part with us. We have dancers and singers and information all day. There are beautiful booths set up from various native organizations all throughout the Twin Cities. And the state of Minnesota. All right, Luke and Linda, thank you so much. Have a wonderful time today. We appreciate your time. Thank you.