National Native News

News For All Americans

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

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The Reno Sparks Indian Colony says it will end its legal fight against a lithium mine on sacred land after a Nevada court dismissed their lawsuit.

The Thacker Pass lithium mine would be located at the site of a village that was massacred.

Christina Aanestad reports.

“We didn’t lose the lawsuit because we were wrong. We lost the lawsuit because the law favors mining.”

Reno Sparks Indian Colony Chair Arlan Melendez says continuing a legal fight against the Thacker Pass lithium mine would be costly and take too long,

“By the time you would get through to appeal, they would have already desecrated all of the sacred sites.”

But the Washoe Paiute and Shoshone Tribes that make up the colony aren’t giving up the fight either.

Melendez says the next phase will be a public awareness campaign about the $2 billion project – the largest open pit lithium mine in North America.

To produce electric vehicle batteries in the push to transition off of fossil fuels and combat climate change.

Will Falk is the tribes’ lawyer.

“This project is absolutely a fossil fuel-based project. They’re gonna burn 12,000 gallons of diesel and gasoline on site every single day to operate the Thacker Pass lithium mine. There’s going to be over 152,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, emitted by operations of the Thacker Pass lithium mine single year. That’s the size of a small city.”

The lithium will go to General Motors (GM), which invested $650 million in parent company Lithium Americas earlier this year.

GM makes the electric Hummer, a large SUV that is predicted to emit more emissions than a gas-powered sedan, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a non-profit climate research center.

There are more than 21,000 other lithium mining claims in the state of Nevada alone, according to the Nevada Division of Minerals.

Brenda Beyal sits with the third grade students in a circle as each student shares how they can manage stress by singing their answer in the middle of the song “Shí Naashá”. (Photo: Martha Harris / KUER)

In Utah, a group of educators at Brigham Young University is working with the eight sovereign nations in the state to create lessons that reflect what tribes want taught about them.

KUER’s Martha Harris went to a classroom to see one of these lessons in action.

Brenda Beyal is visiting a third grade class at Spanish Oaks Elementary in Spanish Fork.

She’s teaching the students how to say words in Navajo, her Native language.

Beyal is Diné, a member of the Navajo Nation.

The students are learning the song “Shí naashá.”

What makes this lesson unique is it has the Navajo Nation stamp of approval. It’s a part of BYU’s Native American Curriculum Initiative.

The project started because of what Beyal heard from teachers.

Educators wanted help knowing what’s appropriate to teach about Indigenous people. So Beyal and her colleagues started creating lesson plans.

“It was important that we actually go to the sovereign nations and we asked them, what would you like the children of Utah to know about your ways?”

Beyal says every single tribe wanted kids to know that they are still here. They’re not historical figures.

“But then after that, every one of them has a different topic or content that they want children to know.”

Beyal says many lessons treat Indigenous people as having one singular viewpoint.

“Within Utah, there are eight sovereign nations with eight different ways of viewing things, different cultural ways, different arts.”

In these lessons, students are not just learning about the sovereign nations and their history. They’re learning from them and through their perspectives.

 

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Monday, December 11, 2023

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Canada’s Assembly of First Nations has a new leader.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, Cindy Woodhouse, a regional chief from Manitoba, was elected the new national chief.

The voting took place over two days last week.

Of the six candidates in the race, no one claimed the required 60% of the votes until Woodhouse did on the second day of voting.

The voting at times became heated as Woodhouse and her main opponent traded accusations.

It wasn’t until the seventh round of voting that David Pratt conceded.

Woodhouse says her main priority, now that she’s the national chief, is taking care of First Nations children.

“Now the child welfare system that has been separating our kids for far too long.  We need to push to bring our families home together again.”

 Woodhouse also says there’s a lot of work to do in the days ahead.

“Our people need housing and our people need economic development.  We need policing and justice for our communities so we have safe communities.  Because we’re dealing with a lot of drug epidemic.  And my condolences to so many of you, us to in our community we face that.  And right across this country we hear over and over again about the things that our people face.”

Woodhouse also pleaded with Canadians to support First Nations.

She also thanked the outgoing National Chief Roseanne Archibald for smashing the glass ceiling that allowed a woman to be elected into the top job.

Archibald was ousted during the year after a probe into complaints from staff members about her conduct, which included harassment and violating internal policies.

Wildfire on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River on the Sula Complex in the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana.

Federal land managers say they will invest nearly $70 million into co-management agreements with tribes.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports the announcement came out of last week’s White House Tribal Nations Summit.

The U.S. Forest Service says it will invest millions of dollars into land management agreements with tribes.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have already participated in projects to recruit more smokejumpers as well as to restore native plant species in the Bitterroot National Forest.

The Forest Service also announced that it will hire a liaison that will help the CSKT provide input on forest management in northwest Montana.

CSKT are the only tribes in Montana to enter into the new agreements with the federal government.

Other projects across the country include management of national monuments, fish habitat restoration, and using traditional knowledge for vegetation management.

The Indian Health Service is working to provide tens of thousands of children’s books to Native families across the country.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more.

The federal agency gave a $200,000 grant to Reach Out and Read, a national nonprofit that integrates reading into pediatric care. 

The group will use the money to buy more than 30,000 children’s books.

They’ll be handed out to Indigenous families during well-child visits at dozens of Indian Health Service clinics. 

That includes 11 in New Mexico, one in Colorado, and one in Wyoming. 

Marty Martinez is Reach Out and Read’s CEO. He says the books feature Indigenous characters and are written in half a dozen different Native languages.

“To give families a book for a two-year-old or a three-year-old that’s related to their culture, that ties in a Native Illustrator or author or a great story – and celebrates that – is so meaningful.”

And helpful to their development.

The group says about one-third of young children – and half of those living in poverty – start kindergarten without the skills they need to do well in school.

 

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Friday, December 8, 2023

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Tribal leaders from across the country say substance use and mental health issues are priorities for the federal government to address with tribes.

The topic was part of the agenda Thursday at the White House Tribal Nations conference at the Interior Department.

Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.

During a panel on substance use with tribal leaders, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta told the audience the Department of Justice (DOJ) is learning from tribes.

She says that’s helping them adjust what they’re doing wrong and will fill gaps that supports tribal solutions.

A concern among leaders is combating the fentanyl crisis, which Gupta says the agency is working hard on.

“The justice department is obviously in the fentanyl crisis, doing everything that we can to cut off the supply chain cartels in Mexico and companies in China etc. But we are also taking what I heard very loudly and clearly the kind of prevention intervention, recovery treatment approach to and we have to support the whole bandwidth and it won’t be done through the justice department alone. It will be done in coordinating with all of the agencies and many more here at the federal government. “

Stephen Roe Lewis, the governor of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, says substance use is impacting tribal communities across the country hard, including in his home state.

“In the state of Arizona, the state doesn’t have the resources to address this wide spread issue, it has to do with enforcement. It has to do with also providing the resources, supporting the tribes. Of course, in Arizona there’s 22 tribes. Supporting the tribes with those resources to address the horrible surge of drug and alcohol abuse. And all the social issues, and it’s not just that too. It’s not just those individuals, our loved ones, our relatives. It’s the families as well. And it’s also providing them those wraparound services, and the housing as well. When you have the state, even though it’s a state issue, but it’s using federal funds, Medicaid funds, and Indian health service resources as well. ”

Sharon Hildebrand, Vice President of Tanana Chiefs Conference in Alaska, says one thing that can help is recognizing Indian Country in Alaska.

“We feel it’s really important that the DOJ addresses the issue of recognizing Indian country because in their funding formulas, Alaska is not recognized as Indian Country. So it’s important that we bring that forward in terms of funding, not only for Alaska, but for everyone in terms of equity.”

The two-day summit was an opportunity for tribal leaders to engage directly with federal and White House officials.

Thursday afternoon leaders met with a number of agency officials in private meetings.

Before the summit concluded there were panels on Native families and children, Native languages and cultures, and tribal economic development.

An open field on the Wind River Reservation. (Photo: Hannah Habermann / Wyoming Public Media)

The Wind River Food Sovereignty Project is working to address food insecurity and lack of access to healthy food on the reservation.

It’s now one step closer to that goal.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann has more.

After five years of connecting people to the land through food, the Wind River Food Sovereignty Project is finally getting some land of its own.

The group helps to increase the supply of healthy and affordable food on the Wind River Reservation by supporting local food production.

The 30-acre property is in Fort Washakie and will be home to a demonstration farm and learning garden.

Kelly Pingree is an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and is one of the project’s co-directors.

She says she hopes the land can also be a healing and relaxing space.

“Gardening always made me happy. You know, I don’t know, just planting something just makes you happy. Watching it grow makes you happy.”

The group also hopes to build a walking path around the property and plans to host educational classes about growing and preserving Indigenous foods.

The Wind River Food Sovereignty Project recently acquired a 30-acre plot of land on the Wind River Reservation – and they’re planning to use the space to help support local food production and education.

The space will be home to a learning garden and will host programming focused on growing and preserving Indigenous foods.

There will also be irrigated plots of land available for those who want to produce food for the community.

Livy Lewis is one of the project’s co-directors.

She says they plan to build food storage and a commercial kitchen.

“One of our end hopes is that we can get locally produced food into some of the institutions, like the school districts and casino restaurants, Senior Living.”

Wind River Food Sovereignty Project has also provided grants and training to local cattle ranchers, hunter-gatherers, farmers, and other food producers – and they run farmers markets on the reservation in the summer and winter.

 

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Thursday, December 7, 2023

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Interior  Secretary Deb Haaland told tribal leaders Wednesday morning that President Joe Biden and his administration are committed to investing in tribes and strengthening nation-to-nation relationships.

Joining virtually after testing positive for COVID, Sec. Haaland addressed leaders virtually in remarks at the 2023 White House Tribal Nations Summit.

Sec. Haaland says some of their accomplishments are protecting cultural resources, working to address decades of federal underfunding to tribes, water infrastructure investments, and investigating Indian boarding schools.

“This is our third year in office, and now things look very different. Because we’ve taken your words and feedback and put them into action. Throughout this administration, our work is guided by Indian country, for Indian country, Because representation matters.”

Leaders in attendance, like All Pueblo Council of Governors Chairman Mark Mitchell from New Mexico, says tribal leaders are holding the administration accountable.

“Making sure… the federal government by way of the President, we hold him to his words from last year. We want to hear what type of, or how the report is for this year from last year. It’s imperative that the leadership here that we do have that government to government relationship.”

Chairman Mitchell was among a handful of tribal leaders who met with President Biden privately moments before the president delivered his remarks.

President Biden announced and signed an executive order, which he says affirms tribal self-governance and cuts “red tape” when it comes to federal funding.

“It requires federal agencies to streamline grant applications, to co-manage federal programs, to eliminate heavy handed reporter requirements that gives Tribes more autonomy to make your own decisions. Not to mention, it’s more efficient.”

Brandon Yellowbird-Stevens, Vice Chair of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, hopes the order will streamline the process.

“Many tribes, doesn’t even matter if you’re small or large and have the infrastructure, it becomes cumbersome. Managing the grants, the strings attached, the reporting – and many times, tribes just don’t have the capacity to seek out the grants. And when they do, they need extensions, they need to forward the funding, and what not. And what this executive order hopefully fulfills is more ability and autonomy for tribes to utilize the funding, take it how we need it, and utilize it at the rate we need to.”

The order also creates a clearing house for tribes to find federal funds.

The White House Tribal Leaders Summit continues Thursday at the Interior Department.

Watch Summit Session One

Watch Summit Session Two

Courtesy Alaska Public Media

Southeast Alaska is mourning the loss of a Haida elder from Craig, who died at the age of 102.

The Tlingit and Haida Central Council shared the news of Fred Hamilton Sr.’s passing by saying “he has walked out into the forest.”

Hamilton was of the Raven moiety and Owl, Brown Bear, and Flicker crests.

The council says the elder, who was born in 1921 and the middle of nine children, was the oldest known living Haida.

Whether it was serving on school boards or city councils, or as a volunteer fighter and a timekeeper at school basketball games, volunteering was important to Hamilton.

At his 100th birthday celebration, he gave this advice: “Be friendly, help others and to not dwell on bad things that may happen in life.”

 

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Wednesday, December 6, 2023

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Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland hosted a press call Tuesday in advance of the 2023 White House Tribal Nations Summit.

According to the Biden Administration, the summit is an opportunity to strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship with tribes.

Sec. Haaland says a historic $45 billion annual budget has been invested in Indian county.

“These investments are transformative and are addressing issues that for too long have been ignored an which are now having direct and immediate impacts on people’s lives. The announcements we make this week are part of the lasting impact we are building in Indigenous communities.”

Sec. Haaland planned to chair the summit, but instead she will join virtually after testing positive for COVID-19 Monday.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) held a tribal leader planning session Tuesday.

Attorney Robert Odawi Porter is a former president of the Seneca Nation and now represents tribal clients.

He was at the NCAI tribal briefing.

Porter says justice issues are among tribal priorities.

“One of the things that was really coming out today was how do we target the problem in Indian Country dealing with the fentanyl addiction. Our leaders are working collectively to try to expand tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian drug offenders. This is trying to fix a 50-year problem of the supreme court saying tribes don’t have jurisdiction over non-Indians and what we see now with fentanyl and opioids is an unbelievable epidemic in part made worse by the lack of jurisdiction.”

The summit is taking place at the Interior Department Wednesday and Thursday and will be live streamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Frybread Face and Me is a new feature film out now on Netflix with an all-Native American cast.

Clark Adomaitis has more.

Frybread Face and Me is written and directed by Billy Luther, a Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo man in his mid-40s.

Luther also narrated parts of the film.

“My grandmother always spoke to me as if I understood her. English was something she refused to learn. I’m sure She thought one day I would answer her back in Navajo.”

It’s a coming-of-age story set in the year 1990.

An adolescent Navajo boy growing up in San Diego spends a summer with his grandmother on the Navajo Nation.

“We didn’t have to try to get it right. We got it right, because we live this and this was our world.”

Director Billy Luther says the cast was all Navajo, save one member, who is an Alaska Native. He also hired Navajo crew members.

“I just wanted to cast people who understand this world, this Navajo world. And I wanted most of these people have to speak Navajo. I just don’t see it being any other way. I think if I was working with a non-Native crew, I would have had to kind of tell them how to do it.”

The film is semi-autobiographical.

The protagonist is based largely on Luther’s own life growing up as a Native American child in Southern California.

The film explores the different sides of his life and identity.

“I just tell the story that is true to me. growing up off the reservation, an urban Indian. also being three tribes. Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo are very different from each other. So my perspective, my outlook and also just my way of life is unique. But I think that’s true for you know, majority of Native storytellers, filmmakers, writers, is just diving into that truth it’s going to be authentic.”

Billy Luther lives in Los Angeles and he’s part of a growing community of Native American filmmakers there.

 

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Tuesday, December 5, 2023

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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.

Courtesy Center for Native American Youth

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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Monday, December 4, 2023

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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.”

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.

This old mission is one of the historic structures preserved by the Pueblo of Zuni Tribe in New Mexico using federal funding. (Courtesy: Pueblo Of Zuni Tribe / U.S. Interior Department)

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.

 

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Friday, December 1, 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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Thursday, November 30, 2023

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Ahead of next week’s White House Tribal Nations Summit, we’re taking a look at some of the priorities of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), who will chair the summit in Washington, D.C.

One initiative is her investigation into the troubling legacy of U.S. Indian boarding schools.

Earlier this month, Sec, Haaland completed the 12th and final stop on “The Road to Healing” tour.

The year-long tour across the country provided the opportunity for survivors of federal Indian boarding schools to share their stories with Haaland and other federal leaders.

The tour also connected communities with trauma-informed support, and gathered permanent oral histories.

Just two days after the final stop, Sec. Haaland reflected on the healing tour during an interview with New Mexico PBS.

“In so many instances, folks have told us that they were reluctant to share a thing with their families, but felt it was time to finally say something about the experiences that they have had. We feel that is, you know, that’s healing for people. And that was the purpose of our road to healing was to really start healing for the country. This is a history that all Americans share, not just Native Americans. And so ensuring that we are open and honest about the past history of this country has been really important to us. And I think overall, it’s been a really good experience for everyone who has participated.”

Sec. Haaland says further healing efforts will include Native language preservation and an oral history project.

“We want to make sure that that information is open to our larger countries so that people can learn. And it’ll take a lot to heal, but certainly ensuring that we can help with things that Indian communities have lost during these assimilation policies, and namely, I should say, Native languages. That was a topic. that was so often reiterated around the country. And so we know that President Biden has been incredibly supportive of Native language preservation and we’ll continue with that as well.”

Sec. Haaland will join White House officials in chairing the 2023 White House Tribal Nations Summit, which provides an opportunity for tribal leaders from the 574 federally recognized tribes across the country to engage with the Biden Administration.

Courtesy: Popping Bubbles / Facebook

The fourth season of the show Native Shorts, presented by the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program, premieres Thursday night on FNX Television.

Jill Fratis from our flagship station KNBA spoke with one of the show’s hosts about the new season.

The show focuses on short Indigenous films from around the world.

Host Ariel Tweto is Inupiaq.

She connects with the everyday viewer asking questions that the audience might have about the film.

Tweto says they have a lengthy process to choose which episodes air on the show.

“I mean we wanted an array of films or genres, and so they’ll find a horror, a romance, comedy, something very abstract and so we want to get films from all over the place.”

From New Zealand to Australia to the Aleutian chains of Alaska, Indigenous filmmakers share stories of their cultures and ways of life.

Tweto says she notices a lot of differences from one continent to the next.

“Just to see how other people live is I think really special. I’ve learned a lot just about different cultures from around the world. I think that’s really cool. Different ways of storytelling, how someone in New Zealand tells a story a lot different than someone say from Finland, and it’s cool to see the diversity.”

Tweto says Native Shorts is a great platform to showcase short films, when in the past, it was only shown at film festivals.

“It’s so cool that we get to showcase the short films because there’s not really a platform for short films after festivals. Usually if it’s not in a festival, it’s just, I don’t even know where it goes, so this is just a really cool opportunity for us to showcase all these amazing Indigenous filmmakers and actors and actresses.”

 

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Wednesday, November 29, 2023

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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.

Gregory Golodoff in 2018 attending the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Attu, in which the United States fought the Japanese to regain control of the island. (Courtesy KUCB)

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.

Gregory Golodoff, (Courtesy Golodoff family)

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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