Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Nonprofit Acquires Bemidji's Central Elementary

Sacred Bundle plans to transform the former school into a multi-purpose community center focused on Indigenous culture and education.

Published on Mar. 4, 2026

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The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe nonprofit organization Sacred Bundle has acquired the former Central Elementary school building in Bemidji, Minnesota with plans to transform it into a multi-purpose community center. The organization, founded in 2018 by the late Mike Myers, aims to bring families together through educational programming centered around Ojibwe language, culture, and traditional practices. Sacred Bundle's leaders Birdie Lyons and Erika Bailey-Johnson emphasize that the new "Minwaadizi Center" will be open to all community members, not just Native Americans.

Why it matters

The acquisition of the former Central Elementary school by Sacred Bundle represents an opportunity to reclaim and reimagine the role of educational spaces, moving away from the harmful legacy of Indian boarding schools towards a community-driven model focused on cultural preservation and intergenerational learning. In a city and region grappling with the impacts of colonization, the Minwaadizi Center has the potential to foster healing, connection, and a renewed sense of belonging for both Native and non-Native residents.

The details

Sacred Bundle, a tribal nonprofit chartered by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, acquired the former Central Elementary school building after it was declared surplus property by the Bemidji Area Schools Board of Education. The organization, led by Birdie Lyons and Erika Bailey-Johnson, plans to transform the space into a multi-purpose community center called the Minwaadizi Center, which will offer educational programming, childcare, and other services centered around Ojibwe language, culture, and traditional practices. The board of Sacred Bundle is majority women from four different tribal nations, aligning with the organization's mission to empower Indigenous communities.

  • Central Elementary was closed as a cost-saving measure by the Bemidji Area Schools Board of Education in 2021.
  • Sacred Bundle toured the Central Elementary building in October 2024 and decided to pursue acquiring the property.
  • The Bemidji Area Schools Board of Education approved the sale of Central Elementary to Sacred Bundle at a special meeting on February 20, 2026.
  • Sacred Bundle plans to open a public computer lab/workspace in the Minwaadizi Center by December 2026 as part of the first phase of renovations.

The players

Sacred Bundle

A tribal nonprofit organization chartered by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in 2018, with the mission of bringing families together through educational programming focused on Ojibwe language, culture, and traditional practices.

Birdie Lyons

The president and CEO of Sacred Bundle, and the widow of the organization's founder, Mike Myers.

Erika Bailey-Johnson

The vice president and project manager of Sacred Bundle, and a former sustainability director at Bemidji State University.

Bemidji Area Schools Board of Education

The school board that voted to close Central Elementary in 2021 and later declared the building as surplus property, paving the way for Sacred Bundle's acquisition.

Carolyn Jacobs

A donor to Sacred Bundle whose contribution was a key source of funding that allowed the organization to purchase the former Central Elementary building.

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What they’re saying

“A sacred bundle is everything you learn from the time you're born — all the experiences you carry — until the day you leave here. You learn from all of that, good or bad. And that's your sacred bundle.”

— Birdie Lyons, President and CEO, Sacred Bundle (Bemidji Pioneer)

“One of the things (Myers) always said is that your bundle is meant to be shared. Where he and I really connected was on education, especially environmental education with an Indigenous lens.”

— Erika Bailey-Johnson, Vice President and Project Manager, Sacred Bundle (Bemidji Pioneer)

“There's a lot of harmful things that happened to our people through the Indian boarding school process. Whatever (the boarding school) model did, we want to flip it totally around. The Indian boarding school model stole our babies from our families, so we focus on bringing families together to learn culture and language.”

— Erika Bailey-Johnson, Vice President and Project Manager, Sacred Bundle (Bemidji Pioneer)

What’s next

Sacred Bundle is working with students from Bemidji State University's Project Management class to solidify plans for renovations and programming at the Minwaadizi Center, including exploring options for childcare, housing, and other community-driven uses for the former school building.

The takeaway

The transformation of Central Elementary into the Minwaadizi Center represents an opportunity for the Bemidji community to reckon with the legacy of harmful educational institutions and instead embrace a vision of learning and gathering centered on Indigenous values of family, culture, and environmental stewardship. By empowering a diverse, women-led board of tribal members to lead this community-driven project, Sacred Bundle is charting a new path forward that prioritizes healing, belonging, and the reclamation of ancestral knowledge.