Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Anchor: Antonia Gonzales
The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians are hosting the Michigan stop of Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s Road to Healing Tour.
The tour is part of the Interior Department’s investigation into federal Indian boarding schools, which was launched last year.
Thirty-five tribal Nations from Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa are expected to participate in the August 13 event in Pellston.
This will be Sec. Haaland’s second stop on the tour to gather testimony from boarding school survivors and descendants. The first stop was last month in Oklahoma where former students recounting traumatic memories at boarding school including physical, mental and sexual abuse.
Sec. Haaland has expressed the need to gather testimony acknowledging it will not be easy, but saying it’s a necessary part of the investigation.
Trauma-informed support will be on-site. The year-long tour will include stops in Hawaii, Arizona, and South Dakota.
Unofficial results from the Navajo Nation’s primary election on Tuesday show the top two candidates for Navajo Nation president are current president Jonathan Nez and Buu Nygren.
There were 15 candidates on the ballot for president of the tribe.
The Navajo Times reports, as of early Wednesday morning, Nez had more than 17,000 votes and Nygren more than 12,000.
More than 47,000 voters reportedly took part in the primary election.
Voters now head to the polls in November’s general election to decide who will be president.
In Kansas, unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election show voters decided to protect abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
Kansas is the first state to vote on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Native women in the state were among those speaking out ahead of the election concerned about abortion bans and access to birth control.
Members of the Native community were also instrumental in holding voter registration drives and helping with voter education.
A Native radio station on the Pine Ridge Reservation is kicking off a capital campaign for a new facility.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger has more.
KILI Radio, or KILI, has been on the air for nearly four decades.
The station is located on Porcupine Butte in Porcupine, SD. KILI was the first American Indian-owned radio station in the United States.
The original building was built by volunteers. It was constructed as a temporary facility.
Bill Means is the board president for KILI Radio.
“Our radio station outgrew its usefulness in the sense of modern-day equipment. in the sense of space for offices. We needed a new home. So this is the beginning of that adventure.”
KILI Radio is looking to build a $2.5 million dollar facility.
The station airs tribal council meetings, Lakota Nation Invitational basketball games, and a wide range of music—from traditional powwow music to country, rock ‘n roll, and hip hop.
KILI Radio is mostly powered by renewable energy—both wind and solar.
Tom Casey is the station’s general manager. He says the goal for the station is to generate 100% of its power from renewable energy.
“Obviously, as a radio station—100,000 watts—we use quite a bit of electricity. Our commitment was not only to use to be working to bring in as much renewable energy as possible, but to also show the community and show the region that it’s possible. It’s doable. Find the resources and let’s commit to using as much renewable energy as possible.”
Station officials have a goal of raising the money in two years.
Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our newsletter today.
