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The first woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice has died.

Sandra Day O’Connor died early Friday morning in Phoenix at the age of 93 due to complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness.

The 25th Navajo Nation Council and Speaker Crystalline Curley said in a statement, “it’s important to acknowledge Sandra Day O’Connor’s influence on the American Justice System by being the first woman appointed to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. In Diné culture, we honor the symbiotic relationship that exists between men and women.”

O’Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

She served on the court for 25 years.

Prior to her tenure on the Supreme Court, she was a judge and an elected official in Arizona, serving as the first female majority leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate.

She was honored in 2009 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from helping transform the American Judiciary by paving the way for women to join the nation’s highest court.

She was often referred to as “the most powerful woman in America.”

The 25th Navajo Nation Council sent their condolences to the family of Sandra Day O’Connor.

A virtual conference about issues facing the Columbia river was held last week, bringing together Native tribes and interested parties.

Steve Jackson tells us about the Transboundary Water Governance and Ethics Symposium.

Participants in the virtual conference addressed issues like climate change, the effect of the dams on endangered salmon, and water quality.

DR Michelle, Colville tribal member and spokesman for the Upper Columbia United tribes,spoke of tribal efforts to reintroduce native salmon above the major dams, like Chief Joseph Dam, where they haven’t existed for 80 years.

“And early on in some of these studies when we talked about doing educational and cultural releases, folks would say, ‘Oh, those fish aren’t going to know what to do, they’ve been out of those waters so long they’re not going to remember.’ And that first batch of fish we turned loose above Chief Joe went straight up the river, went heading for home, right up the headwaters where for thousands of years they’ve been, and after everything we’ve done to them, they still want to get to those spawning grounds.”

The conference was billed as a continuation of a dialogue that began before the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was organized to discuss serious issues that threaten the well being of the river system, issues that weren’t addressed when the Columbia River treaty between the U.S. and Canada was signed in 1964.

Negotiations are underway now behind closed doors to renew the treaty, which originally addressed flood control and hydro power management.

The rate of suicides involving a firearm is increasing nationwide, according to a new report.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports Indigenous people are seeing the largest increase.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there were about 27,000 suicides involving a firearm nationwide in 2022. That’s according to preliminary data.

The rate of suicide by firearm increased by 11% from 2019 through 2022.

Rates increased among all racial groups, but Indigenous Americans saw the largest increase at 66%.

The CDC says that could be attributed to lack of access to mental health care, high unemployment rates, and isolation in Indigenous communities, all issues exacerbated by the pandemic.

 

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The Native group Not In Our Honor in the greater Kansas City area renewed its call on the NFL and the Kansas City Football Team to end the use of Native American stereotypes and imagery in sports – as members of the group respond to the use of a headdress and face paint by a young fan at a recent game.

An image of the young fan at the game wearing a headdress and his face painted half black and half red has gone viral and has sparked much debate – both in opposition and support.

The fan’s parents have responded, coming to their son’s defense, which includes telling news outlets that he’s Native American.

Gaylene Crouser, executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center and member of Not In Our Honor, says the parent’s response that they are Native American misses the point.

“If they stopped and thought about it for a minute, and used a little empathy, they would be able to recognize that they wouldn’t like it if somebody took their sacred symbols and their culture, made a mockery of it, and turned it into a costume. I am sure they would not appreciate that. So it’s almost where people give them a pass on that. To me, it makes it worse because they should have known better.”

NEW: “The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians does not endorse wearing regalia as part of a costume or participating in any other type of cultural appropriation,” Chairman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Kenneth Kahn said in a statement to @FOS. pic.twitter.com/jg2gSRfozu

— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) November 30, 2023

Crouser says it’s the Kansas City team that is at fault.

“I always put those kinds of things really squarely on the team, and I think that the initial article that’s getting the backlash really nailed it on the head when they said, ‘If they had changed their name, prior to this incident, and if the NFL had put more pressure on them to stop appropriating stereotypes instead of what they did here, then we wouldn’t even be talking about that.'”

Crouser says that when it comes to Kansas City, the city should focus on what is good about their town.

“The football team is on the world’s stage. And with the world cup coming here in a few years, all of this is going to be even more on that world stage. And it’s upsetting to me that is great as so many people of Kansas City are and we have so many wonderful institutions here of art and culture that this is what gets the media attention. That this is what is in the forefront and shows representation of Kansas City. And, not only do Native Americans deserve better than this, Kansas City deserves better than this.”

Not in our Honor plans to be at the next home game on December 10 to demonstrate.

A U.S. House committee held a hearing last week on cultural and historic preservation.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Will Walkey reports, it comes as major federal funding for these programs has expired.

Many who testified say accurately telling the story of the U.S. is more important than ever, especially for marginalized communities like Tribes.

Pressures from climate change and development are threatening cultural resources like buildings and burial sites.

And funding often doesn’t meet the needs of communities who want to preserve their history.

Reno Keoni Franklin is chairman of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians in California.

“Tribal historic preservation officers receive funding that is nowhere near the amount that we need in order to adequately do our job to the best of the abilities and protect not just our own historic resources, but the historic resources of the country.”

Federal grant money for state, local, and tribal preservation offices expired in September.

A bill introduced this year in Congress would reauthorize and increase that funding from $150 million to $250 million.

Proponents say the money is needed to keep up with inflation and increase staffing around this issue.

Tributes were paid this weekend to pioneering Latina journalist and frequent National Native News contributor María Martin, who passed away at the age of 72.

Media pioneer María Martin, creator of the groundbreaking, award-winning public radio program “Latino USA,” died Saturday after complications from a medical procedure. She was 72. Martin’s goal was to bring diversity to media, public radio in particular. https://t.co/NwP5zhjHDk

— NBC Latino (@NBCLatino) December 3, 2023

A mentor, friend and colleague. RIP., María Martín. A pioneer, who changed the media landscape, telling stories from her beloved continent of the Americas. We will miss your voice and stories. QEPD. #Guatemala pic.twitter.com/cubVEvLi8f

— Alfredo Corchado (@ajcorchado) December 2, 2023

RIP María Martin public radio pioneer. I met Maria and admired her at the community radio station where I got my first journalism job. She was a force of nature in the Americas. So glad we reconnected in Guatemala where she made her home. Her voice will be missed. pic.twitter.com/34SjzzJAcy

— Angela Kocherga (@AngelaKBorder) December 2, 2023

My tribute to my friend, whose arms were open wide to adventure, to take in the tales of Latinos and Latin Americans, to embrace the world with her love and cheer. #MariaMartin #LoveandLight #Poderosa https://t.co/ClRcDBzTFY

— Suzanne Gamboa (@SuzGamboa) December 3, 2023

Radio journalist María Martin, a former @NPR colleague who created the radio show @LatinoUSA, has died in Austin, TX. https://t.co/aQggbpYdDh Heartbroken. María was one of the most generous souls I’ve ever met. I will always admire her. Grateful she’ll always be part of my life. pic.twitter.com/WMGMayXvCN

— 𝙟𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙯𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙖 (@jczamora) December 2, 2023

Utterly shocked and saddened to hear that Maria Martin— THE pioneering voice in Latina audio journalism has passed. I got 2 produce a story about her creating Latino USA & hearing her speak inspired & prepared me for the road ahead. RIP 🕊️Maria Martin. A LEGEND WHO DESERVED MORE.

— Monica Morales-Garcia (@monic_ughhh) December 2, 2023

Utterly shocked and saddened to hear that Maria Martin— THE pioneering voice in Latina audio journalism has passed. I got 2 produce a story about her creating Latino USA & hearing her speak inspired & prepared me for the road ahead. RIP 🕊️Maria Martin. A LEGEND WHO DESERVED MORE.

— Monica Morales-Garcia (@monic_ughhh) December 2, 2023

 

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Lake County says it will no longer handle felony cases for tribal members on Northwest Montana’s Flathead Reservation come next spring.

But as Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports, there are many open questions about whether the state will fill that void.

The agreement known as Public Law 280 gives Lake County authority to charge and prosecute tribal members for felony crimes, but the county says it’s withdrawing because the state isn’t paying for that work.

That means the Lake County jail and attorney’s office will no longer handle cases involving tribal members.

Under the agreement, the state is supposed to take over that responsibility, but Lake County Commission Chair Gail Decker says Gov. Gianforte (R-MT)’s office has met the county with silence.

“I think the governor’s office has been aware that this has been a distinct possibility for several months, but no, we have not heard anything.”

Gov. Gianforte has six months to officially recognize Lake County’s decision.

Gov. Gianforte’s office declined to answer MTPR’s questions about whether the governor will do so and whether the state plans to take over felony jurisdiction for tribal members.

During a public meeting, law enforcement agencies on the reservation told residents they won’t see much of a change on the ground when the county withdraws.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Police Chief Craig Couture.

“So if you have a 911 call, any emergency that happens, everyone in this room will be responding if they’re close enough. Others will stay out to handle other calls like we always do.”

Couture says the tribal jail and prosecutor’s office do have the authority and ability to handle felony cases involving tribal members if need be.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland says her agency is continuing work on missing and murdered Indigenous people.

We’re taking a look at some of her priorities ahead of next week’s White House Tribal Leaders Summit, which she’ll chair.

Sec. Haaland says the Interior Department is reviewing recommendations recently released by an advisory commission, which was created to address MMIP and human trafficking.

“Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples is, it’s an issue that has been present here since colonization started on this continent. It’s going to take more than a few pieces of legislation to remedy this really horrible, these horrible events. And so we’re going to keep working on it.”

Sec. Haaland says a missing and murdered unit created in 2021 has increased investigations across the country, which she says is devoting time and funding to help solve cases and help families heal.

Sec. Haaland talked about work on MMIP during a recent interview with New Mexico PBS.

 

The National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Rights Fund, and the National Native American Bar Association are celebrating the confirmation of Judge Shanlyn Park to the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii.

Judge Park is the first Native Hawaiian woman to hold that federal position in the state.

Native Hawaiians make up nearly 22% percent of the population served by the district where she’ll preside.

Leaders of the Native groups say despite the impact federal court decisions have on Native communities, Native people are under-represented with only seven of the more than 870 federal judges currently serving across the country are from American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

The organizations are praising the appointment, saying Judge Park has deep ties to her community, and understands how federal laws and policies impact Native Hawaiian, American Indian, and Alaska Native people.

 

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The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) will continue to collaborate with jurisdictions to provide “robust” law enforcement services, according to tribal officials.

This comes after the Lake County Board of Commissions notified Montana’s governor last week the county would no longer provide law enforcement services on the Flathead Reservation.

Lake County commissioners say the state should pay the county for law enforcement services on tribal lands, but a judge recently ruled the state is not required to do so.

The county said it will no longer oversee felony cases on the reservation.

In a statement Tuesday, CSKT Police Chief Craig Couture said the change from Lake County does not impact their ability to provide the highest quality law enforcement.

CSKT Tribal Council Chairman Tom McDonald in the statement said they’re committed to doing what’s best for their communities and will continue to work in partnership with other governments that share felony jurisdiction.

The tribe says it will collaborate with the state and federal government on next steps.

Attu was one of the forgotten Alaskan villages of World War Two, an isolated island on the Aleutian chain, where the Unangax̂ seemed to have a good life.

But then in 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded and took all 40 villagers to Japan as prisoners of war. Until this month, there was only one last survivor.

And as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports, Gregory Golodoff’s death marks the end of an era.

Final prayers and songs for Gregory Golodoff were heard at the Anchorage Russian Orthodox Cathedral this week.

He died at the age of 84, not too long after the death of his younger sister Elizabeth.

Golodoff was only three years old when his mother, father and all seven of the family’s children were taken to Japan, where only half of the village survived.

In a 2018 interview, Golodoff said he said he was lucky he arrived in Japan, well-fed, due in part to success the Unangax̂ had at hunting and fishing,

“I was so fat, I guess. Chubby little boy.”

He doesn’t remember much, except the constant hunger.

“We only get one bowl of rice a day. Sometimes one salted herring, you know. And sometimes we get a fry bread a day.”

The rice was actually less than a cup, because it was watered down.

“I understood this was all I get (laughs).”

He said the Japanese cooks did give him the burned scrapings from the rice pot, even though they were starving too. Captives and captors alike suffered through the final days of the war.

But the difficulties did not end with World War II.

His father, two brothers, and a sister died before the federal government rescued them.

They were never allowed to go home to Attu – and relocated on Atka, an island about 500 miles away.

Dimitri Philemonof, a longtime Unangax̂ leader, describes Golodoff as a humble man, who never spoke of the war, but instead devoted himself to his new community.

Golodoff became a tribal leader in Atka in the 1980s and oversaw significant growth, including the building of a large subdivision and a new school.

“Throughout his life he has been a great leader. I never saw him hate or anything of that sort. I think that says a lot for the Aleut people.”

Philemonof said Golodoff exemplified the Unangax̂ value of quiet perseverance through life’s hardships.

Rachel Mason, a cultural anthropologist, interviewed Attu survivors extensively.

“It was sad to say goodbye to the last Attuan. But what’s encouraging is that the descendants of Attu are still really a vital group.”

Mason says Gregory Golodoff was the last link to the people of Attu, but for his descendants, he it is not the end of the story.

Chef Sean Sherman is traveling to Dubai to discuss Indigenous food and knowledge at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

According to the North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems, Sherman will discuss the role Indigenous knowledge can play in navigating climate issues.

He was invited by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The conference takes place November 30 through December 12.

 

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A new study finds that Canadian coal mines contribute nearly all of the selenium found in Montana’s Lake Koocanusa.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton has more.

For decades, coal mines along British Columbia’s Elk River have sent large amounts of selenium into Lake Koocanusa in northwest Montana.

Selenium is naturally occurring, but at high levels can harm fish reproduction.

Researchers wanted to know how much natural selenium came from the lake’s largest tributary, the Kootenai River.

Study author and U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologist Meryl Storb.

“Over the last decade, the Elk River is contributing 95% of the selenium into Koocanusa from those two sources.”

That’s striking because the Elk River accounts for a quarter of all waters flowing into Lake Koocanusa, but is contributing nearly all of the selenium.

Montana and British Columbia tribes are pushing U.S. and Canadian officials to shut the mines down.

The House Natural Resources Committee will host a roundtable titled “Strengthening Historic and Cultural Preservation.”

The roundtable is in commemoration of Native American Heritage Month.

The panel will discuss how Congress can better support and improve historic and cultural preservation.

Panelists include tribal historic preservation officers and tribal leaders.

Members of Congress expected to attend are House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member U.S. Rep Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM).

The roundtable will take place in person Wednesday in Washington, D.C. and will also be livestreamed.

Two small business owners rooted in western Alaska have spent countless hours preparing for a busy holiday season, as people gear up for gift-giving.

KNOM’s Ava White has more.

For artists with small businesses, the holiday season kicks off well before the temperature starts to change.

Shirley Hootch of Emmonak is a Yup’ik jeweler who specializes in handmade earrings made of caribou antler and walrus ivory.

She says she sources her materials through her family in Point Hope.

The first earrings she ever created, she says, remains one of her most popular sellers.

They resemble traditional Yup’ik masks.

She says she never makes more than five pairs of the same earrings, so each pair is truly unique.

“By supporting artists and jewelers and carvers, you get a one of a kind treasure.”

Nikki Corbett of Bethel is the owner of a popular qaspeq company called Sew Yup’ik.

Corbett says that when you support Alaska Native artists through your purchases, you have the chance to engage and connect with their culture.

“I don’t want people to be wearing the same one. I really tried to make each one individualized with its trimming and the accent hoods, or cowells.”

She says she makes sure to set good intentions because if she doesn’t, she risks passing negative energy to the piece she’s sewing, and that can transfer to the customer.

The state of Oregon recently announced its first Tribal Affairs Director.

Shana McConville Radford will serve in that position.

McConville Radford recently was the deputy executive director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

She has more than 15 years of experience with tribal relations, policy, and intergovernmental affairs.

McConville Radford will help with communication and collaboration with the nine tribes in the state.

 

 

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Lake County says it will no longer provide law enforcement services on Northwest Montana’s Flathead Reservation.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports the decision follows a recent court ruling.

Lake County commissioners say the state should pay the county for law enforcement services on tribal lands, but a judge ruled earlier this month that the state isn’t required to do so.

Lake County commissioners last week sent a letter to Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) reiterating the county will no longer oversee felony cases on the reservation.

Commissioners issued a resolution to withdraw from the decades-old agreement with the state and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe (CSKT) earlier this year.

State law required Gov. Gianforte to recognize the decision by Nov. 26.

The state will eventually take over law enforcement services.

County commissioners have long argued that the county doesn’t have the tax base to pay for law enforcement on tribal lands.

Lawmakers this year passed a law allocating $2.5 million annually to Lake County, but Gov. Gianforte vetoed the bill.

Gov. Gianforte’s office says it will “work with stakeholders to find the best path forward.”

CSKT declined to comment.

A Montana woman, and member of the Gros Ventre Tribe, is one of CNN’s Top Ten Heroes for 2023.

Yellowstone Public Radio’s Orlinda Worthington shares her story.

Tescha Hawley lives near Harlem, just north of the Fort Belknap Reservation where she grew up.

It’s a remote part of northeast Montana, 40 miles south of the Canadian border.

Her journey to helping others began during a difficult time for her personally.

“Back in 2017, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I quickly realized that our worlds don’t communicate in the same way when it comes to healthcare,” Hawley said.

The lifesaving treatment she needed several times a month was 200 miles away.

“Transportation in our community is a huge barrier.”

After her recovery, she started the Day Eagle Hope Foundation to help alleviate barriers for others.

“There was a missing link in the services between our reservation and between our community and the major hospitals in the state of Montana and I decided to really look at patient navigation and to connect these two worlds together so we could better understand each other,” Hawley said.

Hawley began the foundation with her own money during COVID-19.

She now writes grants for her foundation, and has expanded services outside of healthcare.

“I received $250,000 over the next two years to deliver non processed, traditional, organic food, from our farmers and ranchers locally. That’s both Indian and non Indian farmers and ranchers.”

When Hawley first learned she’d been named a CNN Top Ten Hero, she tried to keep it quiet.

“I just wanted to traditionally, humbly go about my business, do the work that needs to be done. And it wasn’t until they explained to me that this could expose our work to other funders, donors, which will in turn help my community. So. You know, when I win, my whole community wins.”

The hero of the year will receive a cash prize.

Voting can be found online.

Memorial services are planned for Monday in Anchorage, Alaska, for Gregory Golodoff.

As KNBA’s Rhonda McBride reports, he was the last surviving prisoner of war from Attu, a small Unungan village in the Aleutians.

He was 84.

When Golodoff was a young boy during World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army captured him, along with about 40 Unangax̂’, who were sent to Japan as prisoners of war.

Only half survived. The rest were never able to return home.

The federal government decided their island was no longer fit for habitation – and that it would be too costly to rebuild the community.

Instead, the government moved them to Atka, about 500 miles to the east.

Golodoff spent most of his life in Atka.

He was living in Anchorage with his wife, when he died on November 17.

Golodoff’s younger sister, Elizabeth Kudrin, died earlier this year in February.

The two said very little about their childhood experiences as prisoners of war, except that they suffered from constant starvation.

 

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When water solutions are discussed, many utility and business leaders are in the room. But at the annual One Water Summit recently held in Tucson, Ariz., some Indigenous youth got a chance to weigh in, too.

Emma VandenEinde reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

It was the last session of the conference.

Some of the youth were not sure if anyone would show up. But after the session was over, several attendees in the room were in tears.

The youth are members of EcoTruths for Indigenous Youth, a team of students who are taught by elders about the earth and environmental policy.

Eight-year-old Kii’yaa’nii Ross is Diné, Yaqui, and Purepecha. She has one goal in mind.

“In golf courses, they’re wasting a lot of water, like gallons of gallons of water year after year. And they should use dirt instead because, like, come on we’re in the desert.”

Some youth expressed the need to balance housing development with water conservation.

Others want to control water runoff with Native plants. But the youth felt honored that they were listened to and hope more leaders will do the same, as their solutions will impact the rest of their lives. 

This story was supported by The Water Desk, an initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.

A group of Native youth advocates recently attended a Tribal Youth Forum in Washington, D.C.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann spoke with a young woman from the Wind River Reservation who went to the event.

Mazie Countryman is a sophomore at Idaho State University. In addition to being a full-time student, she’s part of the executive committee for the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) organization. She’s an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho tribe.

Countryman, along with ten other Native youth leaders from the group, went to Washington D.C. earlier this month. Countryman spoke on a panel about boarding schools and the Indian Child Welfare Act.

“Most of our grandparents have gone through a residential school and have lived through that, and they just wanted us to give our perspective on how it has affected us through generations.”

The forum is in its third year. Its goal is to create a space for federal officials to hear directly from Native youth.

Countryman says when she graduates she wants to work as a pharmacist on a reservation while continuing to advocate for Native youth. 

Little Bird is now streaming on PBS, and as Hannah Bissett from our flagship station KNBA tells us, it’s a Canadian series that examines self-discovery and the Sixties Scoop.

A new series is making waves in Canada with themes of discovering one’s identity, the Sixties Scoop, and Indigenous narrative sovereignty.

The series is called Little Bird and is streaming on Crave, a streaming platform, and has become one of its first drama series.

What makes this series stand out the most, beyond the material, are the writers and producers behind the series.

Jennifer Podemski is an Anishinaabe (First Nation) and Ashkenazi (Jewish) woman and worked on the show for several years.

She is a producer, actress, and director and began her work on Little Bird as early as 2015.

She has been telling stories from an Indigenous perspective throughout her career.

“It makes, I think, all the difference because the complexity that comes from authentic storytelling is so much more rich and layered and nuanced than what you get when other people tell our stories.”

The series focuses on an Indigenous woman who is taken in something called “the Sixties Scoop, ” a period in the 1950s to 1980s where young Indigenous children were stolen and adopted out to non-Indigenous families as a way to assimilate them.

“Hundreds of thousands of children were moved during the time. And although it does not represent every person’s story, we’ve done our best to create a story that does reflect the most collective experience possible.”

Podemski says that talking about these issues can highlight overlooked parts of history.

“We have a lot of history to retell. In order to catch up with our modern scenarios. And start to imagine ourselves into the future.”

Podemski is hopeful about the impact that stories like Little Bird will have on our future and reshaping traditionally exclusionary media like television to include Indigenous stories by Indigenous people.

 

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In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we’re celebrating Native arts and cultures.

Today, we’re featuring an exhibit in Santa Fe, N.M. exploring the art of parka making.

“To Keep Them Warm” at the Museum of International Folk Art explores the art of the Alaska Native parka.

“The parka is so much more than just its final product, you know, the final parka. It’s a whole outlook on the world.”

Melissa Shaginoff is co-curator of the exhibit.

“It’s about having relationship with the land and the animals and with each other. The spirit of Ghhúunayúkata, or to keep them warm, is really this gift of love, you know, and wanting to warm our family. But also to honor the land and the animals.”

The exhibit features 20 parkas from the mid-19^th century to more contemporary ones.

“This exhibit is really about the whole story of parka making and really about…how we relate to each other, from the hunter to the parka maker to the person who is gifted a parka. It’s really a whole story, and it’s so much more than just a garment. It really represents our whole culture and how everything is interrelated through kinship and through a deep respect and love for each other.”

The traditional garments were made for survival in harsh environments.

The collection here represents Yup’ik, Inupiaq, Unangan, Dena’ina, Koyukon, and St. Lawrence Island Yup’ik.

“So you have everything from you know caribou to bear guts to fish skin…to bird skins. We have we try to represent as much as animal material is used in Alaska as we could…So, as parka making continues to change and adjust just as our traditions are fluid and changes and adjusts, you see this transition from sinew into sort of modern uses of thread, and then contemporary parkas from neon shoes strings, to velveteen and beadwork as well.”

A rich selection of drawings, photographic portraits, dolls, and other art are shown through the space – all by Indigenous people.

Shaginoff says there’s a deep connection between people in the North and the Southwest.

“I think that, you know, as we continue to show who we are and tell our stories, we’re only going to strengthen the interconnectedness that, you know, our ancestors knew that we needed to survive.”

The exhibit is showing through April 2024 and is of no cost to Alaska Native and Pueblo people.

The National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides funding for humanities projects across the country, is working with the Interior Department on the agency’s Indian boarding school initiative.

Shelly Lowe (Diné), chair of NEH, says part of the work is to support projects that bring people together and tell stories in history not often taught in school.

“One of the things that we have been doing is supporting the work that they’ve been doing in the archives to pull out records of federal Indian boarding schools to digitize that material, and to eventually make that material available to the public so that we can have an understanding of this experience of this history in the United States. And that we can create materials to teach this history so that everybody knows that this happened, and the effects of the boarding schools, on tribes and communities in the United States.”

Lowe says next steps includes finding ways to support tribes and communities that have shared their stories.

“One of the ways that we want to do that is to help really support language revitalization, language programs for tribes and cultural revitalization, those two things that were really kind of stripped away from tribes and communities through the boarding school experience. And that’s just one example of some of the work that we want to continue moving forward.”

Lowe talked about the initiative during a recent visit to Alaska.

 

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