At Awakaan Bimaaji Animal Shelter, our mission extends far beyond providing temporary shelter for animals in need. Our Board of Directors remains deeply committed to creating a compassionate, sustainable, and culturally grounded organization that protects the wellbeing of animals while honoring the traditional teachings and way of life of the Anishinaabe people. Every decision made by our leadership is guided by the belief that animals are not disposable or forgotten beings,

This spring we collaborated with White Earth Animal Control to get more animal-related events out in the community - we volunteered at each event in various capacities to serve as many people and pets as possible. From March through May we visited the Pine Point, Rice Lake, White Earth, Mahnomen, Waubun, Elbow Lake and Naytahwaush communities to help give away pet food, pet supplies and flea and tick medication. It was nice to meet so many new people and to see so many famili

In mid May we welcomed the 4 Luv of Dog and Spay Neuter Impact Project crew to the White Earth Reservation for their annual free SNIP clinic through collaboration with the Naytahwaush Charter School, Naytahwaush ENP Program, White Earth Nation, White Earth Animal Control and Naytahwaush Community Council. It was an eventful weekend in Naytahwaush with the 4LOD crew spaying and neutering an impressive 101 pets. We are excited to work with everyone again in 2027! (Photo by 4 Lu

The White Earth Reservation happily welcomed back the wonderful SIRVS crew for another free pet clinic in March! We collaborated alongside White Earth Animal Control and White Earth Nation to volunteer and host the event at the Naytahwaush Sports Facility once again. Altogether they were able to see 250 pets - 201 for wellness exams and 49 for spay and neuter surgeries. We donated microchips so pets could be microchipped free of charge and the SIRVS crew chipped quite a few!

Extremely excited to break the news - we filed our 501(c)(3) application in mid September and weren’t expecting to hear back until early spring but we got some awesome mail this afternoon - we are now officially a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization! :)

We were honored to share a parade float with Humane Society of the Lakes at this year’s annual Parade of Lights in Detroit Lakes, MN on December 1st, 2025 - such a cool experience! One of our Board members, Tom, walked with his beautiful adopted Siberian Husky, Fluff to pass out glow sticks to all the folks watching while the Humane Society of the Lakes crew handed out candy and adorable dog toys. Kevin and Amanda rode on the float with Marisa and T-Bone sporting some cool fl

4 Luv of Dog (in collaboration with Awakaan Bimaaji, Naytahwaush Community Council, White Earth Animal Control, White Earth Youth & Elder Fund and Tim and Cheryl Rindahl who offered delicious meals) came together to host a free pet clinic for reservation residents on October 4th and 5th, 2025 at the Naytahwaush Sports Complex. It was a huge success with 287 animals being seen altogether. 85 cats were spayed or neutered and 93 were vaccinated. 49 dogs were spayed or neutered a

We were so excited and honored to be invited to attend the 2nd annual IAHWG in September in White Earth, MN. Not only did we learn...