Residents of the Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota are wrestling with questions of identity, culture, the possibility of losing their lands or even disappearing completely.

At the center of this is blood quantum, the system imposed by the U.S. government to determine tribal membership.

A new Wilder Foundation Research study projects that unless there is a major change to the criteria, Red Lake, like many tribes across the nation, faces catastrophic population loss in coming years.

The 2023 legislative session started today with the swearing-in of Minnesota’s most diverse class of lawmakers, including 25-year-old Zaynab Mohamed, whose campaign started with “a piece of paper and $3,000 in debt.