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(Photo: Dan Boyce / Mountain West News Bureau)
A new philanthropic fund has launched to help tribes pay for clean energy projects.
As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Hanna Merzbach reports, the investment fund could help tribes unlock tens of millions more in federal money.
Since the Inflation Reduction Act took effect, there’s been historic funding for communities to develop solar, wind, or geothermal power.
But Chéri Smith with the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy says Indigenous peoples often don’t have the money to pay for those project’s upfront costs like feasibility studies and permits.
“It’s kind of like the feds say, Hey, tribes, here’s some money, go eat at this amazing restaurant. Here’s the menu. here’s 75 and everything on that menu is $100 or more.”
Now her organization and other donors are trying to fill that gap so tribes can develop their own reliable sources of power.
Smith hopes to open up applications to tribes in the next couple months – and give approvals within 30 days.
(Courtesy Netflix)
The new film Rez Ball streaming on Netflix follows the Chuska Warriors, a high school basketball team from a town in New Mexico on the Navajo Nation.
Clark Adomaitis spoke with the Shiprock based designer who designed the Chuska Warriors’ basketball uniforms that are featured prominently in the movie.
Rez Ball follows the high school basketball players as they deal with issues that disproportionately affect Indigenous communities, including suicide and alcoholism.
SpringHill Company, Lebron James’ film production venture, produced the film. But the film’s wardrobe didn’t feature Nike-exclusive clothing despite the basketball legend’s life time deal with the company.
Instead, the players don uniforms designed by Shiprock, N.M. resident Roddell Denetso.
“I’m just this little Rez kid with, with a shop that I ran out of by my house from Shiprock.”
Denetso runs a one-person business Black Streak Apparel, designing Indigenous-themed sports garments for youth teams all over Indian Country.
He often designs teams’ jerseys based on their tribal imagery.
Denetso designed Chuska Warriors’ home and away uniforms, a turquoise championship colorway, shooting shirts, team bags, travel gear, full zip jackets and pants, the cheerleaders’ uniforms, and other apparel seen throughout the movie.
“What if I do pinstripe but with spears?, in return, it goes with the team name, which is the Warriors. then the colors, you know, turquoise, one of our sacred colors.”
Denetso got to watch his jerseys in action on set.
As a resident of Shiprock, he felt emotional watching the filming in and around the community.
“I was able to be on set when they shot at Shiprock High, I went over and and I think my coming to reality moment was they were unloading stuff to go on set, and they had a cart, and that cart, you know said Black Streak Apparel. It had, like, the stuff I had done, that, the jerseys I made, and they were pushing that in.”
Roddell Denetso says he hopes to inspire young people to show pride in their culture. And he hopes to reach more customers for his custom-made garments because of his work being shown to a large audience via Netflix.
Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner views the Treaty of 1828 on display at NMAI. (Courtesy NMAI / Cherokee Nation)
The Cherokee Nation’s Treaty of 1828 was unveiled this week at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C.
The treaty with the federal government established the initial boundaries of the modern-day Cherokee Nation Reservation.
The Treaty was signed as part of a series of agreements that relocated the Cherokee people to lands in Indian Territory, modern-day Oklahoma.
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