Name: American Indian Red Dress Day
Start: 2024-04-04T14:00:00-05:00
End: 2024-04-04T16:00:00-05:00
Location: Health Sciences Education Center Room 3-110

Join us to hear from speakers Chairwoman Karen Diver, Representative Ruth Buffalo, Hope Flanagan and Juliet Rudie share information on missing and murdered American Indian Women and Girls and the Red Dress Story.

Guest’s are encouraged to bring a red dress to donate

Audience for this event: SPH faculty, staff, students, alumni and the general public

Speaker(s)

Chairwoman Karen Diver

Learn more about Chairwoman Karen Diver

Karen Diver is currently the inaugural Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs – University of Minnesota.

In addition to previous roles in higher education, Karen served President Obama as the Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs at the White House in the Domestic Policy Council from November 2015 until the end of the Administration.

Karen served as Chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa from 2007 – 2015, and Executive Director of the YWCA of Duluth from 1992-2003.

Her current service includes the Great Lakes Fishery Commission as a US Commissioner, and member of the Climate Related Financial Risk Advisory Committee of the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the Department of Treasury.

She has a Bachelors in Economics from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Representative Ruth Buffalo

Learn more about Representative Ruth Buffalo

Dosha! Welcome, friends! Thank you for taking the time to get to know me.

I am the daughter of an outstanding Hidatsa/Mandan woman who raised as a single mother me, my six siblings (three older brothers and three younger sisters), and two of our cousins. We were raised in Mandaree, North Dakota, where I still have family today.

To this day, my mother is a strong community advocate who pushed each of her children to receive a quality education. My father is a Chiricahua Apache man, and a U.S. Air Force veteran who proudly served our country.

At an early age, I set out to address the healthcare issues my family experienced and ultimately became a public health professional. I’ve devoted my education and career to improving the health and lives of the public. I earned master’s degrees in public health, management, and business administration. Each of these programs have uniquely prepared me for the challenges of making important decisions that impact our future.

I love community work and am passionate about improving the quality of life for all North Dakotans. I’m actively involved in several boards and advisory councils ranging from local food systems to low income youth interested in the STEAM fields. And, I’m the first Native American Democratic woman elected to the North Dakota Legislature.

I’m also the proud mother of four beautiful children and married to my college sweetheart!

Juliet Rudie

Director, Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office

Learn more about Juliet Rudie

Juliet Rudie is a tribal member of the Lower Sioux Indian Community and lifelong Minnesota resident. Ms. Rudie’s career in public safety spans almost 28 years.

She began as a patrol officer with the Saint Paul Police Department in 1990, later serving as a sergeant assigned to various divisions including Juvenile Investigations, Missing Persons, and the Director of Training.

Ms. Rudie joined the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office in 2011, serving as an Inspector, Undersheriff of the Administration Division and Chief Deputy.

Ms. Rudie began leading the first-in-the-nation MMIR Office in 2022. The MMIR office is housed in the Department of Public Safety Office of Justice Programs.

Our mission is the development and implementation of systemic legislative and transformative social justice policies paired with the application of sufficient resources, programs and services that will foster safety, equity, healing, civil and human rights of Indigenous peoples and communities in Minnesota.

Hope Flanagan

Community Outreach and Culture Teacher

Learn more about Hope Flanagan

Hope Flanagan (Seneca) is from the turtle clan. She is an elder who teaches about plants and wild plant gathering. She is also a Storyteller in the Native Community. She has taught and worked in the Twin Cities Native Community since the late 70’s. Most recently, Hope taught in an Ojibwe Immersion classroom for ten years, and prior to that as a Storyteller for Minneapolis Public Schools in drug and alcohol prevention for six years. She has worked at DWH since 2009 and transitioned to a year round position in 2018.

School of Public Health

Events Calendar

American Indian Red Dress Day

Speaker(s)

Chairwoman Karen Diver

Learn more about Chairwoman Karen Diver

Representative Ruth Buffalo

Learn more about Representative Ruth Buffalo

Juliet Rudie

Learn more about Juliet Rudie

Hope Flanagan

Learn more about Hope Flanagan

Details

Venue

Organizer

Related Events

American Indian Red Dress Day

Speaker(s)

Chairwoman Karen Diver

Learn more about Chairwoman Karen Diver

Representative Ruth Buffalo

Learn more about Representative Ruth Buffalo

Juliet Rudie

Learn more about Juliet Rudie

Hope Flanagan

Learn more about Hope Flanagan

Contact

Details

Venue

Organizer

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