An emotional gathering in South Minneapolis days after five were shot and killed in what police are calling gang violence in the Native American community.
Smoke from the fire filled the air with the smell of sacred sage burning as hundreds gathered at Cedar Avenue Field Park in South Minneapolis to mourn the death of five people killed, and at least three injured in shootings Tuesday night into Wednesday.
"Our people are broken today," proclaimed Sharon Day who is executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force.
She remembers when her grandson was killed - and the fire - and the people who came to support her.
"When I lost my grandson a couple of years ago, we don't really realize when we say to somebody, you know, like, my sympathies are with you, sending you strength and love," says Day. "Until you're on the receiving end of that, you don't really know what that means. But that comfort in just kind words, those few kind words, are so meaningful to somebody at that moment."
May 1 was supposed to be a day of celebration, the start of American Indian Month in Minnesota, but the events were canceled in the wake of the violence.
"These young people came through our programs," Day explains. "We know them. It's just such a tragedy, you know, to lose so many so quickly."
Minneapolis Police share in concern for the community
"It's very, very humbling to be here and to be welcomed here in really kind of a sacred place, while the community is mourning, while the community is praying," says Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
O'Hara was there too, sharing his apprehension for being allowed to witness the sacred event.
"I wasn't sure about, you know, what would be appropriate and what would be respectful," he says. "But the community made it clear that they wanted us here and they want to feel safe."
He added that they do have extra patrols in the area and are making progress on the investigation.
"In our role as law enforcement, you know, we need to look at the facts and the evidence and take the investigation to its conclusion as best we can," O'Hara explained. "And at the same time try and do whatever we can to prevent things from occurring, when we're able. But unfortunately we cannot literally be in every inch of the city all the time."
He says he continues to hear the same message from the community.
"I mean, on any given day in this town for almost three years I've been here, the number one complaint I have gotten is that there is not enough police presence," O'Hara told WCCO Radio. "And I hear that. And that is only exponentially worse whenever there's an issue of violence in a neighborhood that really just tears apart, you know, families and communities there."
After the healing ceremony, people lingered consoling one another, including Mary Lagarde, who is the executive director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center, and a member of the White Earth Nation.
"If we don't know those that were shot and killed, we know their families," Lagarde said.
She and others again like Sharon Day calling for peace and action.
"We need to raise our young women to be strong and independent and loving, and we need to raise our young men to be kind and gentle and loving," Day says.
Three people were killed in a shooting on the city's south side Tuesday night, with another killing Wednesday afternoon just blocks away. A fifth person was shot and killed Wednesday evening in the 3000 block of 15th Avenue South.
Minneapolis Police investigators believe the shootings are gang-related and possibly related.