November is recognized as Native American Heritage Month, so all can celebrate the history, rich cultures and vast contributions of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians across what is now known as the United States.

Minnesota, or Mni Sóta Makọce, is located on the ancestral and contemporary lands that have been called home by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. Today, 11 sovereign Tribal Nations share geography with Minnesota – four Dakota and seven Ojibwe. Minnesota is also home to robust and resilient urban Indigenous communities made up of citizens and descendants from Tribal Nations.

Native Americans have a long history of defending and serving our nation. Native Americans have one of the highest records of military service per capita of any ethnic group. In fact, 25 percent of able-bodied adult Native Americans enlist in the armed forces, compared to 3 percent of the general population. Yet fewer than 50 percent of eligible American Indian Veterans apply for benefits they have earned.

The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs continually focuses on making sure Native American Veterans get the benefits they’ve earned.

The Tribal Veterans Service Officer (TVSO) initiative operates in partnership with the Governmental and Tribal agencies, the Governor's Office, Minnesota State Legislators and the Minnesota Native American Nations. MDVA worked with Veterans in areas such as Red Lake and Grand Portage and developed a program that is culturally connected.

“Helping Veterans get the benefits they’ve earned is what gets me out of bed each morning,” says Todd Dionne, one of four MDVA TVSOs and a Veteran of 20 years of active-duty military service.

Clarence “Clinker” Everson has worked at MDVA since 2008. A Vietnam Veteran, he served in the Army from 1967-69 and was wounded before making it home. “I love helping Veterans! As I’m one, it helps to be on their same level of thinking,” says Clinker.

“MDVA gave me the opportunity to help Veterans firsthand and taught me a lot about how to help. I had quality teachers when I first started. They gave me the ‘get up and go’ to keep moving forward.”

Clinker adds that he takes to heart the hard lessons learned when he returned home. “When I came home, no Service Officer came looking for me to see if I needed help. Now, it’s my job to search for Veterans. I ask, watch and approach them. I talk with them and see if they are in the system and find out what happened to them while they were in the military. No one has to be a certain race, ethnicity or gender – I treat all who served in the military the same.”

A former jet mechanic in the Navy, Ernest Steel has been a TVSO since 2007.

“My first year in the Navy was mostly training in F-18 powerplants. I didn’t go to sea for my first rotation. Once I got my sea duty, I was stationed on the USS Nimitz in 2005. I believe PBS had our cruise on their series called Carrier. We were in the Persian Gulf for three months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom.”

Ernest says it was a relative who also served who led him to his current role at the MDVA. “I had an uncle who was in the Army’s 101st Airborne in Vietnam. He was injured and came home with a Purple Heart. He was the one who helped me contact a County Veteran Service Officer and let me know that this job was available. Now I help make a difference for Veterans by letting them know there are people here to support them. I let them know that they are not alone.”

Ernest reflects on why we need to honor his culture in November. “It’s important to recognize Native American Heritage Month because it shows that our people are still here. I’m sure there are some places where people think that Native Americans ceased to exist. In some countries I have visited they have no idea what a Native American is. So, it is good to recognize that we are still here.”