By Allison Conner
Published 8:00 am on July 2, 2026
Long before he became a college instructor, Mitchell “Sonny” Johnson was a high school student listening to history lessons while waiting to hear something familiar.
As a Red Lake Nation tribal member, he expected local tribes to become part of the story. When they never did, he raised his hand.
“I asked if we were ever going to talk about any tribes, or any of the local tribes at all,” Johnson said. “I was told there wasn’t much written about that and there wasn’t a well-documented history. Even as a 15-year-old kid, I thought, ‘That doesn’t seem right. There’s more to the stories than that.’”
He never really let the question go.
Years after asking why Native stories seemed missing from his own education, the 2026 Bemidji State University graduate now finds himself at the front of a classroom teaching Ojibwe language and Anishinaabe Studies at Red Lake Nation College.
Johnson said choosing to learn history and Ojibwe language at BSU proved to be the turning point that connected his questions about the past with the work he now does every day — and his new bachelor’s degree affirms that choice.
“I absolutely made the right decision. I’m really pleased with my history degree from BSU,” Johnson said. “I’m really grateful to be a branch of that program that’s now continuing, and I’m going off to another college to help revitalize the language in that community.”
Johnson’s work at RLNC reflects a larger transformation unfolding across Minnesota and at Bemidji State specifically, where initiatives such as Nisidotaading — a course requirement for all students to take an Indigenous-focused class — help combat erasure and ensure more American Indian stories, voices, and pathways reclaim their place in the narrative.
“It’s a real full-circle moment. I started at Red Lake Nation College, moved on to Bemidji State, and gained a lot of knowledge that I now use professionally,” Johnson said. “A lot of the history classes I took at BSU were very inclusive and allowed for multiple perspectives and worldviews. I thought they presented a much better and fuller approach to history.
“To now be a part of that shift, and to take lots of knowledge from Bemidji State and apply that to my classroom, that’s kind of cool.”
Teaching through perspective
Johnson credits his professors at Bemidji State for shaping not only what he teaches, but how he teaches.
The university’s emphasis on multiple perspectives and its strong Ojibwe language program gave him the confidence to return to Red Lake and carry those lessons into his own classroom.
“I didn’t just get the facts from Dr. (John) Ellis,” he said. “I watched him teach, I watched how he interacted with students, a lot of the skills that I observed from him I now use when I’m tutoring or advising my own students.”
In his Anishinaabe Studies class at Red Lake Nation College, Johnson guides students through some of the hardest chapters in United States history. But he is careful not to let trauma become the final word. He wants them to leave with an understanding not only of what was lost, but of what endured: the languages, traditions, and ways of life carried forward by generations who refused to let them disappear.
“A lot of the 20th century has a difficult history,” Johnson said. “But I also try to really balance that with that master narrative of, yes, all this bad stuff happened, but look at all the resiliencies. Look at all the different efforts throughout Turtle Island to maintain and continue ways of life.”
Whether teaching Ojibwe language or Anishinaabe Studies, Johnson wants students to leave with more than facts. He hopes they gain a broader perspective, and willingness to question assumptions, and the confidence to continue their own educational journeys.
“I hope they come away with a better understanding of language, culture, and history. Hopefully the leave with a challenge to a bias they had before the class,” Johnson said. “And whether they’re Indigenous or not, I hope they leave with a stronger sense of who they are.”
