Red Lake Nation Flag Raised at Bemidji City Hall for Roger A. Jourdain Day

The City of Bemidji raised the Red Lake Nation flag on Friday in honor of Roger A. Jourdain Day. Local officials and family members gathered for the flag raising at Bemidji City Hall.

Jourdain was Red Lake’s first tribal leader. He was elected tribal chairman in 1959 and served in that role until 1990. Jourdain is credited with lobbying for federal support and protecting Red Lake’s tribal sovereignty, and his memory lives on.

“It is super important for my family to be represented in a good way to show that Roger Jourdain’s legacy is still, you know, within our family,” said relative Chelsey Jourdain. “They say that generational wisdom travels within people, right? It kind of echoes through time like that, and it shows up in people that we really look up [to] and idolize. I idolized my grandpa growing up, and just learning from him was, just kind of shaped who I am today and what I do for work and how I lead myself.”

Roger A. Jourdain Day was first recognized in Bemidji in 2011, and it’s celebrated on July 27th each year. Since that date falls on a Sunday this year, the flag raising was held on Friday instead.