Roxanne Johnson

Roxanne Johnson is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe. She is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator with over 23 years of experience, currently working with Mewinzha Ondaadiziike Wiigaming in Bemidji, Minnesota. Since 2024, Roxanne has led and evolved a meal delivery program that offers access to nutrient dense, culturally relevant meals made from scratch to relatives receiving care from prenatal through one full year postpartum. The program has grown into a community-responsive service supporting both food access and ancestral foodways. Weekly deliveries of made-from-scratch meals are paired with simple recipes and kitchen tools, building lasting practical skills. The program was co-designed with the families to reflect rural realities, cultural food preferences, and the nutritional needs of mothers during critical periods of health and recovery.

Mewinzha Ondaadiziike Wiigaming (Long Ago Women Birthing in Lodge, Home or Hospital) is a Native American non-profit located in Bemidji, Minnesota. As the region’s only Native provider braiding western and traditional knowledge, this Anishinaabe organization offers comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care, traditional midwifery, doula services, lactation support, nutrition, two spirit advocacy, and Anishinaabe health and wellness programming for women, children and families. Anishinaabe knowledge systems guide every aspect of this work: how we care for ourselves and one another, how we hold relational responsibilities, and how we learn through experience, story, reflection and ceremony.  Mewinzha partners with an Indigenous evaluator to ensure evaluation approaches are community-led and grounded in Anishinaabe values. The work is guided by the teachings of Mino-bimaadiziwin—living well, being healthy, and leading a good life.