BEMIDJI — A Bemidji woman with a profound impact on community organizing for social justice issues died at the age of 54.
Simone Senogles was a Red Lake band member with given names of Chinoodinikwe and Miskomakwakwe. She was the operations director for the Indigenous Environmental Network, a global organization that organizes campaigns around environmental justice.
She was also one of the founders of MMIW 218, raising awareness and building community for families of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives in the Bemidji area.
Among her many tributes Monday, Sept. 23, MMIW 218 said Senogles “reminded us that violence on the land and violence on our bodies are connected, and she stood boldly to protect both.”
Senogles was featured on KAXE over the years to discuss this connection, including in this excerpt from 2018.
“If you want to disempower a people, you attack the women, and I think Indigenous women have been dealing with that and are still dealing with that,” Senogles said.
A wake for Senogles will begin Thursday evening at the new Red Lake Center, with traditional services to follow Friday morning. There has been a Go Fund Me site set up in her honor.
-
Lorie Shaull/KAXEMino-bimaadiziwin is Ojibwe for "living a good life." Jennifer Compeau and Jason Gourneau shared how they moved from addiction to stability by leaning on culture. -
The feds say they need more documentation from those states to support some Medicaid claims for services that are at high risk for fraud. -
Lorie ShaullBetween 36% and 41% of various services provided by the surveyed groups, ranging from healthcare to legal assistance, “have been or will be reduced due to funding cuts,” according to the report. -
And: The Boundary Waters could partially reopen soon, as tens of thousands of acres burn and local economies take a hit. -
Contributed/GoFundMeMichael Brown has undergone two surgeries and is recovering at Sanford Health Hospital in Fargo after a Bemidji Police Department squad struck him July 15, 2026. -
Epidemiologist Elizabeth Schiffman joined the KAXE Morning Show to talk ticks after a death from a rare tick disease in the Brainerd lakes area. There are many rare diseases and types of ticks in Minnesota. -
Contributed/Undated photo courtesy of Niron Magnetics via MinnPostThe company boasts University of Minnesota-linked, homegrown technology that could reduce reliance on the rare-earth minerals industry China mostly controls. -
Lorie Shaull/KAXELaw enforcement has identified a family in connection with the May 2026 fire in northern Crow Wing County, but they've been uncooperative, and the sheriff doesn't expect charges. -
Lorie Shaull/KAXECommunity members and dancers provided a healing space for the grieving family of Rikki Skog, 37, whose body was found July 16, 2026, under suspicious circumstances. -
Plus: Minnesotans have until July 22, 2026, to submit comment on the MPCA's Impaired Waters List.
