INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY

This week has been chock-full of celebrations. Here at ICTMN, we can’t think of a better way to end this holiday week than to enjoy a wonderful, weekend powwow!

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The Tonto Files is an occasional series of ruminations and riffs on Tonto, a fictional sidekick from the radio days who is suddenly the world’s most talked about Indian. That’ll happen to a guy when Johnny Depp plays him in a $250 million summer blockbuster (coming June 2013). In this installment, Marc Yaffee of the Pow Wow Comedy Jam lays it down in plain and simple Indianglish:

The movie version of The Lone Ranger, in which Johnny Depp is slated to play Tonto, has become a hot topic in Indian country, with Native pundits and movie lovers debating whether Depp is right for the part. For awhile last year, the movie was shelved over budgetary concerns; to get it going again, Depp, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer reportedly had to trim the $250 million price tag to $215 million to please the film’s studio, Disney. Now, though, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the projected cost may have crept back up to $250 million.

Multi-talented Arigon Starr has been a creative force in Indian country for years, primarily as a musician. She has released four albums; her first, Meet the Diva, won a Nammy Award for Best Independent Recording, and her most recent, The Red Road, was named the Best Contemporary CD at the 15th Annual First Americans in the Arts Awards.

The wearing of American Indian regalia by non-Indians, particularly the feather headdress or “war bonnet,” is a vexing issue in Indian country. It’s stirred up a lot of controversy in recent years as a hipster fashion trend, but it’s been with us for decades. Still, many people of all races wonder, what’s the big deal?

On May 13, at the RiverRock Casino Resort in Richmond BC, the Miss World Canada competition took place. Despite a strong performance, Ashley Callingbull of the Enoch Cree Nation was eliminated in the semifinal round. It was a tough loss, and not for the usual reasons, but Callingbull is already gearing up for the next challenges in her career, which may include another season on the acclaimed drama Blackstone, television hosting, and a run at Miss Universe Canada 2013.

“First off say peace to Pine Ridge…”

So begins the new single by Lupe Fiasco, “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free),” a journey through the tragedies and injustice of the modern world. Fiasco takes the United States and the media to task, calling the former “a big motherfuckin’ garbageman” and the latter “a bunch of nonsense on my TV.” He brings up issues in the Middle East and Africa, the Civil Rights movement, and the carnage that followed Hurricane Katrina, but he keeps returning to Pine Ridge and the Lakota. Those first lines, again, are:

Actor Johnny Depp, who will play Tonto in the upcoming film version of The Lone Ranger, has been adopted by the Comanche Nation.

Here we are at part two of our exclusive sneak peek of Andrea Grant’s graphic nove, Minx: Dream War. We debuted a snippet of Grant’s work on March 14, and now we’re showcasing the entire 136-page graphic novel in a 17-part serialization. In this installment, we’re covering pages 9-17.