April 2012
152 posts
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On Territory and Terrorism →
We have been told that a fight against “terrorism” is the reason why the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed by Congress, and signed by President Obama on December 31, 2011. The legislation authorizes the U.S. military, at the direction and discretion of the U.S. President, to indefinitely detain United States citizens and lawful residents, without charge or trial.
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Photos From Gathering of Nations: Dancing, Stage... →
More photos are coming in from the Gathering. In this batch, we see the band Ethnic De Generation taking Stage 49, the White Lodge Singers on the drum, pow wow dancers from various categories, young girls preparing for Grand Entry, and a young dancer getting a little regalia help from a trusted source–mom.
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Indian Country Rallies Behind Vern Traversie →
On April 26, Indian Country Today Media Network shared a story about Vern Traversie, 69, a Lakota elder who was hospitalized for two weeks due to open-heart surgery only to be released with wounds on his stomach and back.
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Photos From Gathering of Nations: Miss Indian... →
The Gathering may be over, but the event lives on as the photos flow in from Albuquerque. In this set, our intrepid photographer Cliff Matias took these shots of the Miss Indian World Pageant where Jessa Rae Growing Thunder, Assiniboine/Sioux was awarded the crown.
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‘Horse Tribe’ Documents the Nez Perce, the... →
The theater was nearly packed at last month’s pre-completion premiere of the film Horse Tribe, in Moscow, Idaho on the homeland of the Nez Perce Tribe. Janet Kern, the writer/director, was present from her home in New York as was Rudy Shebala, a Navajo man who headed a horse breeding program for the Nez Perce Tribe and was prominently featured in the movie.
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Ayahuasca May Hold Key to Breaking Addiction, But... →
Do you see them? All over Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside there are junkies, addicts and alkies. On street corners, in alleys, lurking outside the ancient hotels. All over Downtown Eastside there’s also help available for junkies, addicts, alkies—detox programs, 12-step meetings, residential treatment centers, methadone clinics, safe-injection protocols. Some of the programs are sponsored by the...
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Marty Two Bulls, ‘Baseballus Mascotus’ →
Marty Two Bulls Cleveland Indian Cartoon
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Mexico’s Popocatépetl Seen From Space →
The Popocatépetl volcano (the word is Aztec for “smoking mountain”) has been spewing ash, rocks and other material for nearly two weeks now, so prominently that a NASA satellite caught the ash plume from space. The video below is compiled from a week of observation between April 14 through 22. The famous volcano is 40 miles from Mexico City, the nation’s capital, and the region is inhabited by at...
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Hoop Dancing Dynamo Lisa Odjig From Canada’s Got... →
Thanks in part to a routine shopping trip, Lisa Odjig was able to display her hoop dancing talents to a national audience. Odjig, an Odawa-Ojibwe who lives in Toronto, auditioned for and became a featured performer for Canada’s Got Talent.
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On Foreign Policy‘s Column Regarding Violence... →
On April 23, Foreign Policy published “Why Do They Hate Us? The Real War on Women is in the Middle East.” In this essay, which is also FP’s cover story in this special “Sex” issue, Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy describes cultures which are based upon misogyny. She argues that the revolution for systematic change, as embodied by the potential of Arab Spring, cannot only be about a...
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Moapa Paiute March 50 Miles in Anti-Coal Protest →
On Earth Day, Moapa Paiute Indians arrived in Las Vegas where they were joined by Sierra Club members and others protesting the Reid Gardner Power Plant. The Tribal members were completing a three-day, 50-mile “Cultural Healing Walk,” some of which had taken place in temperatures that topped 100 degrees.
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Navajo Chapter Plans Largest Utility-Scale Solar... →
The To’Hajiilee Navajo Chapter plans to establish a solar array farm on its trust lands, a flat stretch of prairie in central New Mexico where land preparation for the project is minimal, reported the Associated Press.
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Pine Ridge Reservation’s Scatter Their Own Take... →
The Oglala Lakota alternative rock band Scatter Their Ownknow how to rock a crowd. And that’s exactly what they’re going to be doing in a little under an hour at the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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Peru’s Achuar Find Common Ground With Canadian... →
They live thousands of miles from the oil sands of Canada’s north, but their refrain is familiar. The Achuar people, a tribe from the Peruvian Amazon, are contending with a Canadian oil company that they say has polluted their land, their way of life, and even relations with their own people in what is tantamount to attempted genocide.
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Identical Twins Dey & Nite Will Rock Gathering of... →
The Gathering of Nations, one of the world’s largest pow wows, is finally here. As Albuquerque, New Mexico is filled with more than 500 tribes and up to 100,000 attendees, we thought we’d highlight some of the incredible artists who will be performing on Stage 49.
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Suzan Shown Harjo’s Statement for UN Special... →
The following is a statement given by Suzan Shown Harjo, president of the Morning Star Institute, on the Significance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the areas of language, culture and sacred sites, for the conference and consultation with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, at the University of Arizona...
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Powwow Weekend Planner →
In need of a little powwow action this weekend? You’ve come to the right place because we’ve put together a great list pow wows happening all over the nation!
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What Are the Challenges of Walking in Two Worlds? →
It is the realization that, at one time, this was only one world, and that it belonged to our people. That having been said, today we find ourselves in a complicated position. The full cost of mainstream assimilation for the American Indian has yet to be determined. Today, five hundred years later, we are still in the process of assessing what has been lost.
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More Conservatives Criticize Tribal Courts; White... →
WASHINGTON – More foes of tribal courts are making themselves known in the battle to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), legislation currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate that would in part expand the power of tribal courts to have jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit crimes against Indians.
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VAWA Passes Senate With Major Tribal Court... →
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate voted 68 – 31 on April 26 to approve the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization. It included major tribal court jurisdiction and protection order provisions for tribes in the lower 48 states to help curb the violence epidemic that exists on many reservations.
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Teehee to Exit White House; Gillette to Return →
WASHINGTON – In a major Indian shake-up in the D.C. political world, tribal leaders have learned that Kimberly Teehee is set to leave her position at the White House as the first-ever Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs, while Jodi Gillette will be returning to the White House
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The 29th Annual Gathering of Nations →
The 29th annual Gathering of Nations (GON) has almost arrived. On April 27 and 28, this grandest of grand assemblages will take place at the University of New Mexico’s Arena, the Pit, in downtown Albuquerque.
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Was Lakota Man Victim of a Hate Crime in South... →
In a somewhat grainy, homemade YouTube video, Lakota elder Vernon Traversie sits in his Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation home and quietly tells his story. It’s a deeply troubling one, alleging that he left the care of a South Dakota regional hospital last summer with more than just the routine scars of open-heart surgery.
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UFO Sightings in Indian Country →
Ancient Indigenous Peoples around the globe have reported unidentified lights in the sky, and even contact with star beings, for millennia. Corroborations of these interactions are found in petroglyphs and related through myths and legends preserved by their descendants who live today.
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SERVING THE NATIONS CELEBRATING THE PEOPLE →
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is concerned about efforts in the U.S. Senate to exclude Alaska tribes from tribal jurisdiction and protection provisions of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
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Inuit Urge Cooperation Between Science and Ancient... →
A new study released at this week’s International Polar Year Conference finds the energy dynamics of the Arctic Ocean changing drastically, and in ways not foreseen by previous climate change predictions.
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Johnny Depp’s Explanation of Tonto Costume Both... →
When producer Jerry Bruckheimer first revealed Johnny Depp’s Tonto look for the upcoming film version of The Lone Ranger, in early March, many people were puzzled. The bird on the head, the white face paint, the black vertical lines, the bandanas, the bird on the head—Indian and non-Indian movie followers wondered whether they were looking at a colossal misfire of a costume or something incredibly...
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Red Lake Artist Paints Mural for Suicide... →
THRIVE, the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s suicide prevention project, recently launched an American Indian- and Alaska Native-specific suicide prevention media campaign with the support of the Indian Health Service
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Tonya Gonnella Frichner Among Honorary Degree... →
Tonya Gonnella Frichner, a citizen of the Onondaga Nation, Snipe Clan, will receive an honorary degree from Colby College during its 191st Commencement on May 20.
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Provocative, Misleading Play About Ishi Opens... →
In 1911, when Ishi emerged from his Northern California tribe’s ancestral homeland, he was alone, around 50 years old and his hair was cut, possibly because he was mourning his family and relatives who had been murdered by European-American settlers.
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Getting Creative: Uni-Watch Readers Remake... →
The gang over at Uni-Watch.com take their uniforms seriously. What they take just as seriously is offering creative, actual ideas to changing the names of professional sports teams who won’t change their Indian mascots themselves. Indian Country Today Media Network reported on Uni-Watch’s efforts at renaming the Washington Redskins and they’re at it again, this time with the Cleveland Indians.
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The Doctrine of Discovery: Another Condemnation →
Whether they are looking ahead a couple of weeks to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues or recalling the past of 500 years ago, a panel of Native scholars on April 20 insisted the Doctrine of Christian Discovery’s destructive fallout continues today in law and in policy and they plan to continue saying so.
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Senate Women Safety Legislation to Exclude 40... →
WASHINGTON – Approximately 230 out of the 566 federally recognized tribes would not be covered under tribal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization, currently being considered in the U.S. Senate.
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Navajo President Shelly’s Comments Create a Stir →
Opponents of the Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River Water Rights Settlement Act of 2012 on the Navajo Nation have been riding a wave of false hope this week, following a flawed translation of statements by Navajo President Ben Shelly.
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River-Running Done Right at Grand Canyon →
The Colorado River winds through the breathtaking Grand Canyon.
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Mariah Watchman: Native Supermodel in the Making →
Since her appearance on Tyra Banks’ show America’s Next Top Model, Mariah Watchman has become a household name and inspiration for Native women throughout Indian country. Watchman grew up in a variety of locations, but counts the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation as her home. ICTMN caught up with the ravishing 20-year-old during a break as she tutored other aspiring local Native...
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American Indian College Fund Honors 33 Students →
The American Indian College Fund (AICF) recently honored 33 Native American students at its 2011-12 Student of the Year reception, one for each tribal college and university.
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Lyrid Fireball Explodes Above Indian Country;... →
The Lyrids lit up the night sky on Saturday-Sunday, and then delivered a parting shot over Nevada and northern California—a fireball that streaked across the sky on Sunday at around 8 a.m., then exploded with a huge boom as it burnt up in the atmosphere.
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Gary Farmer to Play NARF Benefit Tuesday Night in... →
Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers, currently on the road on their “Rezified Spring Tour,” will perform a benefit for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) April 24 at Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids & Solids in Longmont, Colorado, with half the concert’s net proceeds going to NARF’s legal programs, concert sponsors announced.
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When Genocide Lost a Debate →
Resolutions condemning the genocide of Jewish, Armenian, and Sudanese peoples sailed through the Colorado legislature with overwhelming support, but lawmakers on April 20 didn’t accord the near-annihilation of American Indians quite the same status.
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‘Why Do You Indians Always Live in the Past?' →
So, I recently took down my Facebook page. About a third of my many friends were Indians from various reservations around me; most of these had never gotten past their GED. The rest were white Mormons and white non-Mormons from Utah. This was an educated group and also a rather vocal one, constantly expressing their opinions on my Facebook wall and debating/arguing with other posters like...
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Notes From a Single Mom: The Beat Goes On →
I have a troubled heart. Me and about 5 percent of the population. A mitral valve prolapse, they call it. It’s pretty harmless most of the time. But occasionally, my heart will race, forcing me to do the unthinkable and slow down. Recently, I almost blacked out in back-to-back episodes, launching three days of emergency-room visits that had me using my health insurance card like an ATM debit....
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Amidst the Haze: University of Colorado-Boulder... →
At least one Native from the Denver area thinks the University of Colorado-Boulder’s (CU) stench-based approach to curtailing a marijuana celebration April 20 is a tempest in a teapot—or pot, perhaps more appropriately.
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San Diego’s Museum of Man to Open Ramp It Up:... →
The San Diego Museum of Man (SDMoM) is the first location for the fantastic exhibit Ramp it Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America’s 12-city national tour. The SDMoM is hosting the exhibit on its first trip outside of the Smithsonian Institution. On Saturday, April 28, the public is invited to this inspiring event.
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Video Spotlight: Pow Wow Dancing at the 37th... →
Every year the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Montana State University’s campus is turned into the beating heart of one of the state’s great annual pow wows. That was once again the case this year, when on April 6-7, dancers, drummers, artists and spectators filled the fieldhouse.
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Lyrid Meteor Shower Under Dark New-Moon Skies,... →
It’s a veritable sky party on the night of April 21, as 15–20 or even more Lyrid meteors shower down hourly upon the skies of Mother Earth. A new moon means dark skies, which will make the brightest shooting-star show in a while, according to the experts. Elsewhere in the sky, Mars and Saturn will make an appearance as well.
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Romney Would Build Keystone XL Pipeline if Named... →
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has rehashed his latest speech on a few occasions this week, most recently on April 20 while in Arizona speaking to party officials, according to Yahoo News. It wasn’t Romney’s normal attacks at President Barack Obama that stood out but his adamant support for the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline,...
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Indian Meme Spotted on Tumblr →
The image above and those below were found on Tumblr; to our knowledge the meme doesn’t have a name yet. See more on the creator’s page at yadilah.tumblr.com
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Ted Nugent Meets With Secret Service →
Rocker and celebrity gun rights advocate Ted Nugent met with the Secret Service yesterday to discuss remarks he recently made that were interpreted by some as a threat of violence against President Barack Obama. His comments, made at an National Rifle Association convention, included the statement that “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either be dead or in jail...
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‘Can’t Ban History’ Mural Protests Arizona’s... →
Street artist Jaque Fragua, Jemez Pueblo, whom we last saw creating a mural in Miami with his American Indian Mural Krew, recently beautified a plywood wall in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Fragua, like many people, is concerned about the choices Arizona’s lawmakers are making that seem increasingly hostile to minorities, whether they be Latino or Native. The artist shared his thoughts on the work,...
