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Native Language: Pathway to Traditions, Self-Identity
Stacey Burns says a transformation has taken place within the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony from something as old as the Washoe, Paiute and Shoshone tribes themselves: their native languages...
Bureau delegates authority to Colville law enforcement
At the request of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Bureau of Reclamation is delegating authority to enforce federal laws on Reclamation lands within the exterior boundary of the Colville Reservation to certified Tribal police officers. The delegation of authority does not…
New Alaska Native Business Powerhouse Assembled In Alaska's Arctic
Representatives of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), NANA Regional Corporation (NANA) and Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) are announcing the establishment of the Iñuit Arctic Business Alliance (IABA).IABA's mission is to provide a unified voice, collective vision, guidelines and…
Catalyx and Ramona Tribe Start Work on 100% Off-Grid Renewable Energy Eco Tourism Resort
Catalyx, Inc. has been contracted to be the technology provider and will team with the Ramona Band of the Cahuilla Indian Tribe to develop the Tribe's Eco-Tourism resort near Anza, Calif. The first of its kind, the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Mission Native Americans' resort is designed as a 100% off-…
Idle No More: Decolonizing Water, Food and Natural Resources With TEK
Watersheds and Indigenous Peoples know no borders. Canada’s watershed management affects America’s watersheds, and vice versa. As Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper launches significant First Nations termination contrivance he negotiates legitimizing Canada’s settler colonialism under the guise…
Revitalizing a Traditional Seed to Revitalize Osage Culture
Vann Bighorse, director of the Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, is keenly aware that Osage traditions are getting closer to slipping away–permanently. A current project to preserve Osage culture and revive a millennia old tradition is now three years in the making. The Cultural…
Challenges and Solutions to Keeping the Lakota Language Alive
“There is more to an immersion school than simply bringing in elders and having them teach the children,” said Sunshine Carlow, education manager of Lakȟól'iyapi Wahóȟpi, the Lakota Nest Immersion School on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota...
Northern Cheyenne Tribe starts business arm
How can a dent be put into the 72% unemployment rate on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation? One solution is business development, particularly tribal enterprise. Not a new concept because the Northern Cheyenne Tribe has established, owned and operated several businesses over the years gaining a…
Tribes reach key milestone with jurisdiction provisions of VAWA
The tribal jurisdiction provisions of the the Violence Against Women Act became effective nationwide on Saturday, clearing the path for non-Indians to be held accountable for abusing their Indian partners. Congress enacted S.47 to recognize tribal authority to arrest, prosecute and punish non-…
Northwest Indian College builds Lummi workforce, values tradition
For thousands of years, along the shorelines of the Salish Sea, the Lummi people have dug deep into the earth to harvest clams, oysters and mussels. We have set our reef nets between our canoes to catch salmon from the Salish Sea. For many of us, our most important education has been alongside our…
Tribes Get $6 Million in Federal Funds for Energy Efficiency Project
Eleven tribal communities are receiving a total of $6 million toward renewable energy projects and technologies, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced. It is part of President Barack Obama’s ongoing initiative to help tribal nations and Alaska Native villages reduce fossil fuel use, save…
One Native's Enterprising Plan to Keep Tribal Resources Within the Community
There are nearly a quarter-million Native-owned businesses in the U.S. today, said Brian Cladoosby, president of the National Congress of American Indians, in his 2014 State of Indian Nations address. And if Thomas Carlson has his way, all those businesses would be listed on a new website he…
A Fearless Fight Against Historical Trauma, the Yup'ik Way
They were building the young man’s coffin in the front yard when we arrived. Portable construction lights harshly illuminated the scene as men worked in the shadowy dawn that lasts almost until noon out here on the tundra. The men worked steadily and quietly in a manner that suggested front-yard…
Hopes of preserving Cherokee language rest with children
Kevin Tafoya grew up hearing Cherokee all around him – his mother, a grandmother and grandfather, aunts and an uncle all spoke the language that now is teetering on the edge of extinction. Yet his mother purposely didn’t teach him. “She told us she had a hard time in school transitioning from…
Strengthening the role of Native CDFIs: A conversation with Gerald Sherman of the Native CDFI Network
Roughly 8 percent of the 917 community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in the U.S. are categorized as Native CDFIs (NCDFIs), which means they serve primarily American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian communities. Due to a mixture of historical, political, and geographical…
Cass Board, Leech Lake Tribal Council highlight cooperative efforts
The cooperation and partnerships between Cass County and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in recent years have not only been successful but apparently are highly unusual, both state- and nationwide. Time and again at the April 24 joint meeting of the county board and tribal council, at Northern Lights…
New Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Formed to Give Alaska Tribes a Say
Alaska reminds me of Washington state. Let me qualify that. Alaska reminds me of Washington state before the mid-1970s. Back then the region was deeply divided over treaty rights, salmon, and even the definition of what it meant to be an American Indian in modern times. The official state…
Indian Country must put more effort in public relations
While sipping my morning coffee I began reading a White House document titled “2014 Native Youth Report.” As with every other tribal member, I am aware of the long-standing socio-economic quagmire we have been enduring. The fact that we are still alive and well is short of miraculous and thought…
Political Autonomy and Sustainable Economy
A unique attribute of Indian political ways was noted early on by colonial observers. Indians, Indigenous Peoples more generally, were engaged in everyday political action as full participating community members. Every person had the right to be heard. Decisions were made through discussion and…
Northern California Tribe Harnesses Sun and Wind for Renewable Energy System
It’s sunny and windy on the northern coast of California. So why not put these elements to good use to help power a reservation, expand energy independence and reduce the carbon footprint? That’s the thinking behind the decision by the 577-member Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria to…