Native American journalist and activist Minnie Two Shoes (Assiniboine Sioux) mastered the art of humor in journalism and co-founded The Native American Journalist Association (NAJA). She was born in the Fort Peck Reservation, Montana, and began her career as a publicist at the American Indian Movement (AIM), an advocacy organization founded in 1968 and modeled on the Black Panthers. However, her time there was cut short by FBI surveillance of the organization, which led to a purge of suspected informants.
Two Shoes earned a B.A. in community development from Native American Education Service College and began contributing to Wotanin Wowapi, the women-led newspaper of the Fort Peck Reservation, where she began using humor to make serious topics more approachable. She also edited and reported for Native Peoples, Aboriginal Voices, and News from Indian Country. She later moved to Minneapolis and spent the rest of her life pursuing journalism and mentoring younger Native American journalists.
