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Federal regulators this week said the Seli’š Ksanka Qlispe’ Dam didn’t draw too much water out of Flathead Lake last summer.

As Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports, some residents blamed the dam operator for historically low lake water levels.

Flathead Lake’s low waterline last summer was the result of a shallow snowpack and warm temperatures melting that snow quickly.

Residents filed complaints with federal energy regulators arguing that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes drew too much water out of Flathead Lake.

They say that harmed the tourism industry.

Regulators say the dam stayed within the bounds of its license.

The CSKT are fending off another complaint, too.

A separate group of residents and business owners argues the dam should follow an old management plan that would keep more water in Flathead Lake.

CSKT officials say that plan was never approved and would reduce downstream flows, harming fish and other aquatic species.

Nellie Moore frequently hosted panels that explored the impact of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. (Photo: Rob Stapleton)

Nellie Moore was a broadcast journalist who leaves a big footprint in Alaska and beyond.

She died last week at the age of 69.

Moore was one of the first Indigenous women to report in Alaska and was one of the early hosts of National Native News.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA tells us how it all began in the Northwest Arctic community of Kotzebue.

You can thank Ed Ward, Nellie Moore’s dad.

In a 2016 interview, she describes him as a man “crazy about radio”, with a big stash of radio parts in their home.

“I don’t know how he learned to get into radio. But anyway, he had us doing it. And I would always find the tubes that somebody needed and put them in the tube tester to make sure they worked (laughter).”

Moore’s hands on experience impressed Alaska radio pioneer and author Alex Hills, who first met Moore at the Kotzebue airport, when her father brought her to meet the man who would become the first manager of KOTZ.

“I thought she was a rare find in many ways.”

Under Hills’ guidance, the station went on the air in 1973.

Moore was barely out of high school, when he hired her to be the station’s first news director.

“Nellie, later as most people in Rural Alaska know, became Alaska’s leading Native journalist. But then she was just a young 19-year-old. Kinda spunky actually.”

That was Hills on the same radio show as Moore to talk about his new book on Alaska’s early days of radio and telecommunications.

One of the photos in the book is of Moore, when she interviewed the late Gov. Jay Hammond (R-AK) at the Kotzebue Airport, dressed in a pair of overalls with a blue bandana on her head.

Nellie Moore sitting down at the Kotzebue airport interviewing Gov. Jay Hammond (R-AK) sometime in the early 1970’s. (Courtesy Nellie Moore’s family)

“Nellie had her tape recorder and a microphone. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, Nellie was leaning forward, and the governor of Alaska was leaning back. That told me a lot about her interview style.”

Moore’s daughter Liz Cravalhos says no matter how successful her mother became, she never changed.

“That was her thing. She was a village girl, and she wasn’t going to be shy about talking about important issues.”

And that, says Alaska Native historian Paul Ongtooguk, was her legacy.

“Nellie demonstrated that journalism could be the voice of Alaska Native communities, in which Alaska Native communities could have a mirror, to help us understand our own communities.”

It wasn’t long before Moore went to work at KNBA in Anchorage, serving Native communities nationwide.

Jaclyn Sallee, president and CEO of Koahnic Broadcast Corporation which runs KNBA, says Nellie also produced programs the station continues to air today.

The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas is seeking Native youth to take part in its Native youth leadership summit.

The summit brings young people from across Indian Country to the university to explore career opportunities in food, agriculture and nutrition.

Applications are now open online for this summer’s summit for people ages 18-25.

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This week, U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk/D-KS) and Tom Cole (Chickasaw/R-OK) reintroduced legislation to investigate, document, and report on the histories of Indian boarding schools and their long-term impacts on tribal communities.

The bill has been endorsed by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS).

NABS CEO Deborah Parker talked about the legislation at the 2023 White House Tribal Nations Summit.

“It’s much needed to help us tell the story, help us understand what happened to our Native American children in U.S. boarding schools. And we deserve, America deserves, not only Native Americans, but students, but people, any human being who is living today deserves to understand the truth about what happened in the United States.”

Parker says they’re seeking records and information from both the federal government and churches that ran the schools.

“We know parents are still looking for children to this day, their relatives who never came home. Most of the parents are no longer with us, but there are elders who have brothers and sisters, siblings, cousins who never made it home from the boarding school. So, they are missing. We’re trying to help families locate their loved ones…we still know our communities have, we have broken systems within our communities because we don’t know where our loved ones are.”

The legislation would establish a formal commission to investigate federal Indian boarding school policies, develop recommendations for federal entities to help with healing efforts, and provide a forum for victims to speak.

Reps. Davids and Cole, co-chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus, say they’re committed to investigating the abuses at the institutions, which are connected to an estimated 500 student deaths.

The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2024 has also been endorsed by the National Congress of American Indians.

An Indigenous author recently released a children’s book on the jingle dress dance and its healing power.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports, the idea for the book came about during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, Deidre Havrelock saw countless videos online of Indigenous women and girls jingle dress dancing – a century-old tradition that started during the global flu pandemic.

Havrelock is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta, Canada.

“I was like, no wonder it’s just so beautiful, right? It’s 100 years later, and they’re still doing this – even more so, like, it’s just exploded. And, I thought, I wanted to capture this historic moment through a picture book.”

Why We Dance: A Story of Hope and Healing follows a young girl’s relationships with her mother, aunt, and cousin as she gets ready for the Jingle Dress Dance.

The lyrical story ends with colorful illustrations of the joyful dance.

Illustrator Aly McKnight is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho.

“Celebrating healing is such a needed thing in this world, just considering what we deal with on a daily basis. And kids need that – like, adults need that.”

The book is available in libraries, bookstores, and online.

Courtesy Grand Canyon University Athletics

The Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) announced Wednesday a partnership with Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Phoenix, Ariz.

NABI serves Native youth and hosts an all-Native basketball tournament.

In 2023, Native youth from across the U.S., Canada, and as far away as New Zealand took part in week-long events using courts across the Phoenix area.

The partnership at GCU is expected to host more than 160 teams this summer with more than 1,600 athletes and 400 games on the college campus – utilizing 13 courts.

The championship games will continue to be held in downtown Phoenix at the arena where the Phoenix Suns play.

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Following her recent address to state lawmakers, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) is facing repercussions for her rhetoric relating to the state’s reservations.

In response, Native leaders are questioning the intent of her speech.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene reports.

Gov. Noem says the influx of migrants across the southern border is making every state in the US a “border state.”

She says the state stands ready to send razor wire and national guard troops to help Texas with the crisis.

Noem alleges cartel affiliates, including a group known as the “Ghost Dancers”, are hiding in South Dakota’s reservations.

“The fact of the matter is we know these gangs and this violence is there, and people don’t talk about it, but it needs to be a truthful conversation on what can we do to work together better to make sure people are safe and that we really do have law and order.”

Ghost Dancers is a support group of the Bandito Motorcycle Club.

Some take issue with the use of the group in the speech, including both Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out and State Rep. Peri Pourier (Oglala Lakota/D-SD).

Rep. Pourier says Gov. Noem is using the issues faced by the tribe as a platform for national political ambitions.

“Are we trying to deal with it? Absolutely. Are we under resourced? Absolutely. I wish that was a part of her speech. Not gangs and cartels and ghost dancers. Create a big boogeyman that doesn’t exist. We have real issues, we have economic development issues. To go this far on this platform is disrespectful.”

Some political observers see Gov. Noem as a strong potential vice-presidential pick for the 2024 Trump campaign.

Gov. Noem did meet with Rep. Pourier following the speech and says she is interested in improving the relationship between state government and the tribes.

In a statement, President Star Comes Out says Gov. Noem’s speech is an effort to frame the situation at the border as a Republican crisis to reelect former President Donald Trump.

President Star Comes Out calls for a bipartisan solution.

As a result, President Star Comes Out formally banned Gov. Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation.

This is the second time Gov. Noem has been barred by the tribe.

She was banned in 2019 for pushing a legislative package to aid Keystone XL oil pipeline construction.

Damien Sanderson, left, was the first person killed by Myles Sanderson during the 2022 rampage.

An inquest into Canada’s deadliest stabbing incident in 2022 is over and 29 recommendations have been put forward.

Myles Sanderson killed 11 people in the James Smith Cree Nation in September of 2022, leaving the community in shock.

Dan Karpenchuk has more.

The 29 recommendations include better access to addictions and cultural programming in prisons, reforms to how inmates are allowed on supervised release, and having those with a history of domestic violence given a higher priority for arrest when it comes to breaking release conditions.

Myles Sanderson was in breach of his parole conditions at the time.

Chelsey Stonestand speaks for the Burns family, which lost six members. 

“It’s not perfect, recommendations. But it’s practical. At the end of the day I think there’s comfort in this inquest and the recommendations that are going to be implemented.”

The inquest was also told that inmates who receive psychiatric care in federal prisons are released with a week’s worth of medication and then left to find their own doctor.

Sanderson had been taking medications for ADHD while in prison. 

There were also recommendations for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for more engagement with parole officers, more officers in some locations, and better communications with First Nations leaders.

Rhonda Blackmore is the commanding officer for the RCMP in Saskatchewan.

“I think because there is a lot of positivity that can come out of those recommendations, that we will work very hard to address those recommendations. And do what we can to implement.”

Some First Nations leaders say the challenge now will be to make sure that affected agencies will act on the recommendations, which are non-binding.

Some of those leaders have also called for a national inquiry into the killings.

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A South Dakota Senate committee is rejecting an effort to rename the Scalp Creek Lakeside Recreation Area in the state.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene reports.

State Sen. Shawn Bordeaux (Sicangu Lakota/D-SD) from Rosebud says it’s time for the state to move away from hurtful names.

“Scalp Creek Recreation Area is a beautiful place, often visited by families and children. Such a place should not be marked by an association with such terrible history. South Dakota should take the initiative here and change the name to fit the place.”

Bordeaux proposes the area be named “Naca Topa”, which translates to “Four Chiefs.”

State Game Fish and Parks oppose the bill idea.

Scott Simpson is deputy secretary with the department.

He says the name change should not appear in state statute.

“This legislation is not necessary because South Scalp Creek Lakeside Use Area is not named in statute. I think that should be a much more public process. There’s no official process for the naming of a lakeside use area. We believe that we have an open palate and I’ve visited with the sponsor about this. I visited with the sponsor about this. I think there’s some different directions we can go and maybe come up with an appropriate alternative.”

Simpson says a name change public input process could take as long as a year, but couldn’t offer a firm timeline.

Sen. Bordeaux says he will work with Game Fish and Parks officials through the process.

The leader of an effort to create an inter-tribal network of electric vehicle charging stations says the project is rolling along.

Chuck Quirmbach of station WUWM reports.

Bob Blake heads Native Sun Community Power Development, a non-profit in Minneapolis that promotes renewable energy.

Blake is also a tribal citizen of the Red Lake Nation.

He says a few years ago he was protesting the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline in the Upper Midwest and staring down law enforcement officers that he respected.

“I’m sitting there and I’m protesting, and they’re looking at me, and I’m thinking ‘There’s got to be a better way to do this.’

So, in an attempt to reduce the demand for oil, Blake says he got the idea of creating an inter-tribal electric vehicle charging network.

With financial help from the U.S. Department of Energy, about ten charging stations have been built on tribal lands and electric vehicles have been delivered to the Red Lake and Standing Rock communities.

Blake says twenty to thirty tribes, mainly in the Upper Midwest seem interested in creating the charging network.

So, he’s fired up.

“I am pretty excited, because tribal nations are always the last to get this sort of technology. For us to be able to be the first, it’s a big thing.”

Blake says having charging stations on a lot of tribal lands should also help draw tourists, if electric vehicle use continues to grow. He says he hopes to expand the inter-tribal charging station network to the West Coast.

On Monday, the New Mexico Senate confirmed Josett Monette as cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department.

She had served as deputy secretary of the department, and prior to joining the state, she was in the legal field and in education.

Sec. Monette is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota.

She has raised three children as a single mother.

In a statement, Sec. Monette says she’s committed to advancing the priorities of the governor’s administration in support of the 23 tribes in the state and all of New Mexico’s Native people.

She’s replacing a cabinet secretary who was criticized by Native women advocates for past abuse charges.

The governor’s office also faced criticism for ending a missing and murdered Indigenous relatives task force.

In a statement, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) said Monette’s extensive background in serving Indigenous people uniquely positions her to address the challenges facing tribal communities and realize the opportunities.

Sec. Monette was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

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While efforts to repatriate Alaska Native remains have been ongoing, keeping track of those remains has been difficult. But now the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, Alaska is building a database of repatriation efforts for the archipelago’s communities.

As KMXT’s Brian Venua reports, tribes will be able to track repatriation progress online in about two years.

Amanda Lancaster is the Alutiiq museum’s curator of collections.

She says the $100,000 grant comes from the National Park Service’s Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

“One of the major problems with NAGPRA is that there is not a central database that shows what has been repatriated (or) what has been claimed. Oftentimes tribes will spend time pursuing this repatriation and then it turns out that that set of ancestral remains was returned and buried 20 years ago.”

The new grant now gives the Alutiiq Museum federal funds to create a central database that tracks repatriation progress.

The money is going to be split for travel to villages to meet with Tribal representatives and for staff to dedicate their time towards the project.

The press release says the project is called Angitapet, an Alutiiq word that means “we are returning them”.

Lancaster says the museum will also use funds to contract outside software developers to create the system.

“Part of that money is earmarked for them to work on that database for us to create a login system so that tribes can actually access the database themselves.”

This is just the latest step in bringing Alutiiq and Sugpiaq remains back to the archipelago.

NAGPRA was passed in 1990. The Kodiak Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Repatriation Commission was founded in 2007 to set their priorities.

The Kodiak Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Repatriation Commission and museum staff have been working to repatriate several human remains since 2007. Lancaster says the commission last met in 2022 after the museum got a similar grant that would fund more research to find additional remains

“We identified 12 collecting institutions in the U.S. that had the remains of at least 168 Alutiiq ancestors – and those are just the ones we know about.”

The database is expected to be completed in the next two years and will only be accessible to Kodiak’s ten federally-recognized tribes.

Two Native groups are headed to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, but not to cheer on the NFL championship game between Kansas City and San Francisco.

As Jill Fratis from our flagship station KNBA reports, they’ll be holding a demonstration on Sunday.

The greater Kansas City area group Not in our Honor plans to make the trip to Vegas for what members say will be a “peaceful demonstration” outside the stadium.

They’ll be joined by the group Arizona to Rally Against Native Mascots.

Members of the groups are advocating for the Kansas City Team to change its name and for the end of Native cultural appropriation. 

Gaylene Crouser is executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center and a member of Not In Our Honor.

She will be in Vegas for the demonstration and says that showing up to such a big event is important.

“Stand up and show that there is opposition to the use of our imagery, and likeness and the bastardization of our culture, and all of those things that it’s not okay. And that they don’t have the support of all of Indian Country.” 

The Kansas City team has been gaining much attention, all due to the celebrity of Taylor Swift.

The singer is dating one of the players.

Crouser says she thinks Swift could be an advocate for the Native groups.

“If she were to say to them, ‘Hey, I really I want to support my boyfriend and I really want to do whatever I can, but this particular issue is wrong to have human beings as a mascot’, and to utilize the imagery that way, and come out against it. I believe she would have a lot of sway.” 

Crouser says she is thankful Swift has not taken part in evoking an outdated stereotype of Native people when fans chant and do the “Tomahawk Chop” at games.

And as far as the team changing its name?

Crouser thinks it will have to take something drastic like a financial hit, but Not In Our Honor plans to continue to hold demonstrations as long as it takes.

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An Alaskan writer’s new book has gotten a nod from the American Library Association’s prestigious Newbery Award.

KOTZ’s Desiree Hagen reports, the book is a retelling of an Iñupiaq story that was lost for nearly a century.

Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson (Iñupiaq) lives in Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska, a community of about 300 people roughly 70 miles above the Arctic Circle.

The 46-year-old author and illustrator published her first book Eagle Drums last September.

The book is the retelling of the first Messenger Feast, a traditional mid-winter gathering that celebrates Iñupiaq dance, art, and storytelling.

The festival died out after Presbyterian missionaries came to the Arctic, but was revived in the late 1980s.

“So it’s a feast that celebrates connection with each other, but also how our people got music, and song and dance from the eagles.”

Hopson’s book follows a young hunter named Piŋa who is kidnapped by a giant eagle.

Taken to the eagle’s village, Piŋa learns practical wisdom and drumming along with traditional Iñupiaq values like sharing, community, and avoiding conflict while living among giant eagles who frequently shapeshift into humans.

Interspersed between pages are Hopson’s colored pencil illustrations guiding the narrative.

Hopson says her two daughters were her biggest inspiration for the book.

”I think it’s important that we create things for our kids to see themselves in.”

Her book has already received several awards including the American Indian Youth Literature honor, which recognizes the best writing and illustration by and about Indigenous Peoples.

Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday’s legacy is being remembered after his recent death in Santa Fe, N.M.

His first published novel House Made of Dawn made him the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Hannah Bissett has more.

N. Scott Momaday, or Tsoai-talee, which means Rock Tree Boy, was an author, poet, painter, and lecturer.

He often wrote about his experience as an Indigenous person in modern times.

In the 70s, that was uncommon, according to his close friend and coworker, Shirley Sneve.

Sneve, who worked with Momaday on several projects throughout the years, remembered the impact he made with his first book.

“That was a game changer in history that he was able to tell this intimate story about the experience of a warrior in modern times and what that legacy left in that story, left for the Kiowa Nation.”

At the time of publishing House Made of Dawn, the understanding of PTSD for veterans was slim to none.

Sneve says that Momaday’s ability to write this story resonated with veterans coming home from war.

“To be able to hear a story and think to themselves, oh my gosh. that’s my story. Now I understand why I feel the way we do.”

They met on the PBS program American Masters, where Momaday was the star of an episode.

“I always wanted to get some story from one of our famous people on that program, because after all we are the original American masters.”

To make that happen, she began the work for the episode, including the search for an all-Kiowa production team.

“His way of storytelling has just really honored the Kiowa legends. So, I was just really grateful that we were able to put that documentary together with American Masters so, we could honor the legacy of this great poet and writer.”

Momaday also wrote stories of children’s literature and taught at a variety of universities.

He was also an illustrator, particularly in watercolor, which is highlighted in several of his poetry books.

He passed away on January 24 in his home at the age of 89.

Momaday is survived by his two daughters and their children.

Listen to Native America Calling’s Commemoration of Momaday’s life with special guests Jill Momaday (Kiowa), Jacob Tsotigh (Kiowa), Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), Heid E. Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), and Jeffrey Palmer

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A former employee of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana pled guilty to stealing nearly $80,000 from the tribe.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports.

Federal prosecutors say former Blackfeet Operations Manager James McNeely admitted to stealing COVID relief funds.

Prosecutors say McNeely submitted fraudulent reimbursement requests to tribal officials for COVID-19 supplies on Amazon, but never actually purchased anything.

McNeely faces up to ten years in prison.

His sentencing is scheduled in June.

A bill introduced by U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk Nation/D-KS) and Eli Crane (R-AZ) to support Native entrepreneurs has passed the House Committee on Small Business with bipartisan support.

The legislation is intended to enhance the Small Business Administration’s Office of Native American Affairs.

Rep. Davids says small businesses are the heartbeat of tribal communities and economy.

She spoke Wednesday during a committee markup.

“The SBA currently lacks congressional mandate for this office limiting the capacity for the office to do the work it needs to do and leaves it vulnerable to challenges or changes to one administration to the next.”

The legislation would codify the office into federal law, establishing an administrator role to oversee operations in order to create a better government-to-government relationship with tribes.

Enhancements include being able to expand its grant-making ability, provide training, counseling, and technical assistance.

Since October of last year, Anchorage, Alaska, has been visited by a rare, feathered celebrity – a white raven.

The bird is not an albino, but leucistic, which means it has a gene that causes a loss of pigmentation. It also has blue eyes.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has followed a Facebook page called “Anchorage White Raven Spottings”.

Almost every day you can find new photos of White Raven on the page aloft with its feathers, translucent through the light, and at play with another raven in the snow.

The photos that have caught the eye of Meda DeWitt, a Lingít healer who works with medicinal plants.

She says she first heard about White Raven years ago from another traditional healer, the late Rita Blumenstein, a Yup’ik from Southwest Alaska, known as Grandma Rita – trained by her elders from childhood to ease pain and suffering.

“This is one of the stories that she would tell that brought hope. She would say, ‘We will see a White Raven and that’s when we’ll know that humanity as a whole, and not just Alaska Native people, is shifting towards one of peace.’”

DeWitt says it’s a prophecy Grandma Rita heard from her elders.

She says not to forget that raven is also a trickster.

Her uncle tells a story about how Raven wanted to bring mankind fresh water to drink, so he stole a bucket from a chief’s house.

Soot blackened his feathers as he escaped through a smoke hole.

In another version, Raven steals the sun, the moon, and the stars to bring light into the world.

DeWitt believes Raven has transformed yet again to encourage mankind to save the planet, a message especially important to Alaska Natives.

“Our whole job is to steward the earth, and if the earth is sick, that means that we’re sick. And we are actually possibly looking at human extinction. When I see something like the White Raven, it gives me a profound sense of hope. Even beyond hope, knowing that we’re going to be successful.”

Floyd Guthrie (Tsimshian, Lingít, and Haida), another traditional healer, has been waiting for White Raven’s arrival.

“It makes our hearts feel good, because we connect to the truth of his existence.”

Guthrie and his wife, Dr. Marianne Rolland, specialize in treating trauma.

Years ago, long before the bird appeared, they named their counseling center in Anchorage the White Raven Healing Center.

“White Raven opens hearts. And opening up hearts, opens up flow of creativity.”

Rolland says she’s not surprised to see all the White Raven-inspired artwork that has been posted on Facebook – sculptures, paintings even beaded earrings.

The photos run from regal to rogue.

One of the latest shows the bird demonstrating the trickster nature of White Raven, as it strutted with an empty container of Häagen Dazs White Raspberry Chocolate Truffle ice cream.

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Farmers, landowners, and local government agencies will come together Wednesday on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation in Colorado for the latest listening session on a plan to protect and manage the Mancos River.

KSJD’s Chris Clements reports.

The group behind the plan is made up of municipalities and organizations that lie along the river like Mesa Verde National Park, the Mancos Conservation District and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, which have voluntarily joined together.

The listening session is intended for tribal members and ag producers who rely on the river to give feedback on a new watershed stream management plan.

Sensa Wolcott is the watershed coordinator for the conservation district.

“There are certain times in certain spots where the river does dry up. Especially obviously, in drought years, and that is really hard on irrigators. And it’s really detrimental to the ecology and the riparian aquatic animals as well, you know, like fish can’t move.”

Wolcott says the first draft of the plan will likely be finished by late February.

It’ll serve as a guide for communities to better use and conserve water resources, and could include voluntary or compensated changes to irrigation rules during drier years.

More outreach sessions will take place starting this summer for feedback on the first draft.

The finalized plan isn’t expected until 2025.

At the Museum of Natural and Cultural History on the University of Oregon campus, an early Native American dwelling and tools are on display. (Photo: Brian Bull / KLCC)

After a nearly four-year hiatus, Gov. Tina Kotek (D-OR) has revived a task force dedicated to taking stock of Native American items in state and public collections.

KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.

Then-Gov. Kate Brown (D-OR) established the Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items in 2017.

Its 16 members were from all nine federally-recognized tribes within Oregon, as well as government, university, and law enforcement officials, but their operations were paused in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic spread.

Jesse Beers is the cultural stewardship manager for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians and was with the original task force.

“I really want to convey how happy I am that this is being reconvened, because it was an important task force. There’s items that the state may hold that tribes aren’t aware of, and there’s knowledge that tribes have the state is unaware of, so it’s a way of building relationships.”

Oregon became the first state to share survey findings on tribal items in 2019.

A signing ceremony between two tribal colleges to help address teacher shortages in Indian Country was held this week in Macy, Neb., at the Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC).

NICC signed an agreement with Haskell Indian Nations University, which is located in Lawrence, Kan., to increase opportunities for tribal college students at NICC who earn an associate degree in teacher preparation to transfer to Haskell for a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

Kristine Sudbeck, NICC academic dean, expressed her gratitude for the partnership, saying it will help their students reach goals of becoming teachers.

“And trying to serve the needs of our students where they are at and really trying to promote more Native teachers that will stay in the communities because they’re invested.”

Kameron Runnels, vice chairman of the Santee Sioux Tribe, attended the signing event and talked about why representation matters.

He says it’s important that young students see Native teachers who can help inspire them as they become future leaders in tribal communities.

“We talk about that all the time, our kids running our tribe, our kids being professionals.”

The effort between the two tribal colleges is to create a pathway for graduates to become certified teachers in elementary school settings.

The agreement goes into effect this summer.

NICC offers students certificates and associate degrees at three campuses in Nebraska and online, and is working on offering its first baccalaureate program.

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A Navajo Nation Council delegate has stepped down from his seat.

Seth Damon will take up a new position as Deputy Secretary of Indian Affairs for the State of New Mexico.

KSJD’s Clark Adomaitis has more.

Seth Damon bid farewell to the Navajo Nation council.

“My family and I share a deep appreciation for the communities I had the privilege of representing over the years. And thank you for standing with me during positive and very oftentimes difficult times.” 

Damon is accepting a new position in New Mexico’s Department of Indian Affairs, a department that recently replaced a controversial cabinet secretary, and that has been criticized for its response in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives crisis.

“What Speaker Damon did is really going to help us especially the New Mexico (Navajo) chapters.”

Eugenia Charles-Newton is a Navajo Nation council member who co-sponsored a number of bills with Seth Damon.

Charles-Newton spoke to Council on Seth Damon’s last day.

“Because we do really give millions of dollars back to the state of New Mexico who are trying to help us to with water projects with Chapter projects with road projects. And because of the miscommunication that happens between the federal or the sorry, the state government and the Navajo Nation. I think that Speaker Damon is a perfect fit to try to fix that issue.”

The Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council says that an interim council member will be appointed to fill Damon’s vacant seat.

A special election will be held to permanently fill the seat.

The Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak, Alaska, in collaboration with the Alutiiq Museum, have released a textbook to help revitalize an endangered Alaska Native language.

As KMXT’s Davis Hovey reports, it’s a new tool to teach the next generation of Sugpiaq or Alutiiq speakers.

A new Alutiiq Language textbook, released last month, focuses on the Koniag dialect, although it’s open to anyone who wants to learn Alutiiq.

Dehrich Chya, Alutiiq Language and Living Culture Manager at the Alutiiq Museum, is one of the co-authors.

He says many Alutiiq speakers were consulted to create this textbook.

“Whenever we’re doing any language, producing any language materials, we work as much as we can with language speakers who live here in Kodiak. Over the past few years, that has gotten harder and harder as speakers have passed on.”

Chya started his language journey with nearly no knowledge of Alutiiq, having rarely heard it spoken when he was growing up.

Now he is an advanced speaker who still considers himself a language learner.

He says this textbook, in conjunction with all the other online language resources, can help revitalize the endangered Alaska Native language, but there are still challenges that exist for a beginner to become fluent in Alutiiq.

“I think the hardest part of learning the language is finding time to use it with somebody. Because language learning for a lot of people is quite a personal journey and not everybody has the opportunity to have other people around them who are also learning at the same time or at the same rate.”

Dehrich Chya, the Alutiiq Museum’s Language and Living Culture director, sits with Elders at a weekly session in Kodiak on Sept. 16, 2022. (Photo courtesy Valerie Kern / AKPM)

With Elders and fluent Alutiiq speakers dying off, there is a need for more speaker-teachers to help the next generation achieve proficiency in their second language.

That’s where Peggy Azuyak comes in. She’s teaching Alutiiq language classes to young adults at the Kodiak College, under the University of Alaska Anchorage.

“I’m using it right now in my Alutiiq 102 class. This is the first semester I am able to use it with students.”

The new Alutiiq Language textbook features 15 chapters, including sections on numbers and math, and is targeted towards high school and college age students.

“Several high school students have been interested in going through either the Kodiak High School or College courses and are involved with teaching the language in their home communities.”

Anyone who wants to learn to speak Alutiiq can access the Alutiiq Language textbook online for free.

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Over the weekend, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City closed two halls exhibiting Indigenous cultures of North America – the Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains.

The move comes after the Biden Administration’s recent updates to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which includes tribal consultation and consent for exhibition and research of artifacts.

In a letter to museum staff from the museum’s president, both halls are said to display artifacts that could require consent under the new regulations.

The letter goes on to say the halls are severely outdated and rather than covering or removing items, they’re closing the halls.

The museum is also covering seven cases with Native items located in various areas in the museum.

The museum says it will work with tribes and Native communities and will use this as a learning opportunity.

Delbert Anderson leads musicians in performing a single note, as part of a 4.5 year long performance of a composition called “The Long Walk.” (Photo: Clark Adomaitis / KSUT/KSJD)

A Farmington, N.M. musician is channeling John Cage and his Navajo ancestors to honor those lost in the Long Walk.

KSJD’s Clark Adomaitis has the story of a musical performance that will run for four and a half years.

Delbert Anderson is a jazz musician and composer in Farmington.

Recently, Anderson launched a performance of a piece he calls “The Long Walk”.

It’s an abstract piece of music that lasts for four-and-a-half years, but only includes 50 notes in total.

There are months of musical silence between each note.

The four-and-a-half-year-long piece represents the amount of time of the Long Walk of the Navajo – 1674 days.

That’s the length of time Navajo people were forced from their homeland in the 1860s by the U.S. government.

In December, Anderson gathered with community members and musicians at an art gallery in Farmington.

The performance was a single note played for a 30-second interval – a concert D.

“For those of you who want to participate, you’re welcome to sing the note as well. you can hold the note as long as you you want. Some people just do a simple bop. And that’s it.”

On the Long Walk, more than 10,000 Navajo people were forced to march hundreds of miles to an internment camp in New Mexico.

They were malnourished and weren’t clothed properly. During some periods, 20-30 starved each week.

These are the details performers and audience members consider in the moments before the note is played.

The musicians hold the D note, as we reflect on a history that’s more than a hundred years old.

Following the note, there’s silence for some time.

Sam Bader (Native Hawaiian) is a trombonist who lives in Farmington.

“When I played that concert, D on my trombone, I just felt echoes of like generations of, of ancestors. And I think I really felt it in the silence after I played. I had to close my eyes and just kind of sit and think with it for a little bit.”

The 50th and final note will be performed on June 1, 2028.

In the intervening time, several dozen additional notes will be played.

Between each of those notes, there are periods of silence – silence that reminds us what the Navajo people faced during their Long Walk.

Pete Kaiser (Yup’ik) won his eighth Kuskokwim 300 Sled dog race, as he crossed the finish line in Bethel early Sunday morning.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has more.

Kaiser raced over a hard and fast trail in sub-zero temperatures over the frozen Kuskokwim River.

The trail runs 300 miles to Bethel and Aniak and back, following an old route used to deliver mail by dog team.

Kaiser is from Bethel.

He and his team of twelve dogs, which made it from start to finish, take home a $28,500 prize.

Kaiser won the 2019 Iditarod and beat this year’s champ, Ryan Reddington, who came in seventh.

Reddington (Inupiat) was the sixth Alaska Native musher to win the Iditarod.

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