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Radical New Way to 'Museum': A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center
Many people think of museums as dusty, static, boring places. They’re where you go if you want to see old bones, old artifacts, and the odd diorama. They’re not living, breathing spaces where cultures come alive. Enter the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center in Zuni, New Mexico, which has…
Cast-off State Parks Thrive Under Tribal Control, But Not Without Some Struggle
Rick Geisler, manager of Wah-Sha-She Park in Osage County, stands on the shore of Hula Lake. When budget cuts led the Oklahoma tourism department to find new homes for seven state parks in 2011, two of them went to Native American tribes. Both are open and doing well, but each has faced its own…
Washington joins Nisqually Tribe to develop new 1,300-acre state park in Mount Rainier foothills
Washington will develop a new 1,300-acre state park in the Mount Rainier foothills, about a 2.5-hour drive north of Portland/Vancouver. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and the Nisqually Indian Tribe on Tuesday signed a partnership agreement for the collaborative development of…
Chickasaw Nation: The Fight to Save a Dying Native American Language
A 50,000-year-old indigenous Native American tribe that has weathered the conquistadors, numerous wars with the Europeans, the American Revolution and the Civil War is now fighting to preserve its language and culture by embracing modern technology. There are 6,000 languages spoken in the world…
The Bay Mills Case: An Opportunity for Native Nations
On May 27th, the U.S. Supreme Court finally handed down its decision in the Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community case. The good news for Native nations is that the Court upheld the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity, opting not to carry out any of the doomsday scenarios many suggested could…
Red Lake 15 years later: Historic agreement the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and Minnesota DNR signed in April 1999 produced walleye recovery
As Al Pemberton recalls, it was about three years after the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources signed an agreement to restore walleye populations in Upper and Lower Red lakes that he saw the true potential for the big lakes’ recovery. The agreement, which…
Spirit of Enterprise: Apache Warrior Stokes his Entrepreneurial Fires With a Firefighting Business
At 18, Clyde Campbell worked on the engine crew for the U.S. Forest Service and later, the Hot Shot crew in Payson, Ariz., fighting fires. Though the work was dangerous, difficult and demanding at times, Campbell said he loved every minute of it. “It was fun building trails and working out in the…
Students Get Hands-On Learning with Gila River Close Up Program
A group of young Community members from various local high schools participated in the Close Up program and received an in-depth view into the world of tribal government. The Close Up program is a yearly endeavor that is designed to give students a thorough lesson on the inner mechanics and…
Collectively Managing Allotment Lands Is Better
Indian allotment holders are not making enough money from their allotments. One way for tribal allotment holders to gain more economic income from their allotments is to organize a corporation under tribal law and collectively manage allotted lands in order to gain more income for allotment holders…
How First Nations Guardians Defend British Columbia's Fragile Coast
B.C.'s Central Coast houses the Great Bear Rainforest, the largest intact temperate rainforest left in the world. Attracting environmentalists, tourists, big game hunters, and natural resource developers from all over the globe, this fragile and much-coveted ecosystem has been home to First Nations…
Authenticity: Ethnic Indians, non-Indians and Reservation Indians
Authenticity is a puzzling feature of contemporary Indian life. Growing up on an Indian reservation, I rarely encountered challenges to one’s identity as an Indian person. People within the reservation community knew most of the families. If they didn’t know the family connections of a specific…
Professor Breaks Down Sovereignty and Explains its Significance
Sovereignty is one of those terms we toss around without much thought. It is an important word within contemporary American Indian discussions. The term itself draws from legal, cultural, political, and historical traditions, and these traditions are connected to both European as well as Indigenous…
Cutting Edge Tech on the Rez
Bigger isn’t always better. Arizona’s Tohono O’odham Nation covers some 2.8 million acres, only a small portion of which is occupied by the successful San Xavier District’s Hi:kdan Business Park. The tribally chartered, Native-owned private business operates under the banner: “Moving Forward with…
Citizen Stewards: Chickasaw Nation Technicians Monitor Water Quality
Regulations and laws about environmental quality abound, yet the Chickasaw Nation has little use for them. Its citizens do not need legislation to inform them that they are stewards of the land. It is, of course, an immutable fact of existence. And Chickasaw Nation Environmental Services…
Back to Our Path is not a Trip Backward
Many of us are familiar with our expression Ohnkwe Ohnwe. It is what we use to describe ourselves as the original people of Turtle Island. The approximate translation is “real human being, forever.” There was never any question that we had a future. We were never tied to a spot on a timeline. We…
UW Names Colville Tribal Federal Corp. Minority Business of the Year
The tribal business for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in North Central Washington–the Colville Tribal Federal Corp., or CTFC–recently won the 2013 William D. Bradford Minority Business of the Year Award. It’s the granddaddy of seven awards given annually by the University of…
Cherokee seed project sows respect for the past, hope for the future
The Cherokee Indians are preserving the roots of their heritage with a program that allows officially recognized members of the tribe to access seeds that are unique to the Cherokee Nation. Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Bill John Baker explained the seeds' lineage to CNN. "This strain of…
Yakama Nation Fights For Restored Authority
January 17, 2014 was a big day for the Yakama Nation tribe. On that day, Washington governor Jay Inslee signed a proclamation returning almost all civil and criminal authorities over to tribal members on the eastern Washington reservation. The next step is federal approval before the proclamation…
Credit union has grand opening at Fortune Bay
Banking will be much more accessible for Bois Forte Band members with the opening of the Northern Eagle Federal Credit Union. The non-profit institution celebrated its grand opening Monday at its Vermilion branch, located at Fortune Bay Resort Casino near Tower. Northern Eagle’s main branch is at…
Federal Recognition Process: A Culture of Neglect
The Shinnecock Indian Nation was petitioner number 4 on the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ list of tribes seeking federal recognition in 1978 soon after the agency established the seven criteria for recognition. Thirty-two years and $33 million later in June 2010, the BIA acknowledged the Shinnecock…