Cultural Connector

When Allison Waukau originated the Native American liaison position at Hennepin County Library (HCL) in June 2018, the role was to be grant-funded for 18 months. It has just been made permanent, thanks largely to her ongoing initiatives supporting the library’s Native community.

Among them, Waukau founded a Native Employee Resource Group for library and county employees, supporting isolated colleagues and helping recruitment and retention. She also convened the first Native Advisory Council for the library, one of the first of its kind nationwide. Composed of Native adults, youth, and elders, the council provides leadership and insight on Native American history, traditions, values, and culture.

Waukau is Menominee and Navajo. While HCL is on Dakota land, people from many tribes live in Hennepin County. “Coming from two different tribes helps me really connect to everyone,” she says.

When she first started, Waukau primarily brought library resources out to the community. “I didn’t necessarily think that it was time to encourage my community to come into the library,” says Waukau. Early on, she says, “A librarian told me that she didn’t think she had any Natives that come into her library. I said, ‘I can assure you that you do.’ ”

Over time, she says, she has helped her colleagues “feel comfortable with including Native authors and Native programming.”

Sometimes this was as simple as introducing herself and her work. Sometimes it meant recommending new policies to help Native patrons gain access to services, and organizing programs that celebrate Native culture, such as literacy activities for the Minneapolis American Indian Center Family Fun Night. During the pandemic she created culturally responsive Facebook story times that include Dakota language, and the Native Women and Friends book club Waukau supports has gone virtual, making participation easier for elders and former residents who returned to live on reservations after spending time in Hennepin County.

Waukau’s work also means reckoning with the library’s anti-Native roots. The system was founded by T.B. Walker, a tycoon who “pillaged the reservations for their lumber,” she says. That isn’t widely known—“people are shocked when they learn,” says Waukau—but it’s an active legacy; the system has a branch named after Walker.

Under Waukau’s guidance, her nominators say, “the Hennepin County Library went from being a distant neighbor to an integral and trusted part of the Native community. “

“I feel very privileged to have this position and support my community in this way,” says Waukau, “even though it is hard sometimes. Sometimes things move a little bit slow, but I do see change.” Next, she is working on a land acknowledgment, making sure it includes reparative actions, not just words.