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In a sweeping two-part, four-hour film, master documentary filmmaker Ken Burns tells the story of the near-extinction and Indigenous-fueled return of the American buffalo, an animal that transcends mere existence and rises to spiritual being for Native communities.
Premiering on PBS on Oct. 16-17, the series, “The American Buffalo,” takes viewers on a journey through more than 12,000 years of North American history and across the continent’s vast landscapes, tracing the mammal’s evolution, its significance to the Great Plains and its relationship to the Indigenous people of North America.
Be warned, however: This is not an easy film to watch, particularly the first two hours, which initially are filled with the communal relationship Native people had with the buffalo but then devolve into a mass-slaughter horror show.
Burns told ICT he still gets emotional when he watches it, but he knew he couldn’t tell one story without the other. READ MORE.— Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT
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Since the near extinction of the buffalo mostly by White settlers, the animal has become a symbol of both Indigenous resilience and food sovereignty. Now, buffalo are central to a new pilot program to improve food distribution on Native land.
Millions of buffalo were killed for the expansion of the transcontinental U.S. railroad and to reduce a key food source of plains tribes. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it is beginning to reconcile the government’s role in the near extinction by supporting buffalo ranchers, specifically Indigenous-operated small businesses.
“The conservation efforts by the tribes and others to restore the bison population since then have been very successful,” said Heather Dawn Thompson, USDA director of the Office of Tribal Relations and a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. “The federal government has a role in ensuring that perhaps wrongheaded policy in the past is reversed. And so USDA is happy to be a part of the federal partnership and support the restoration of bison.” READ MORE. — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
Colorado’s state historical society has released a report examining Indian boarding schools that highlights poor student living conditions and more than 60 people, including at least 31 students, who died at two off-reservation boarding schools in the state.
At least 31 children from tribal nations died and were buried at Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School, according to the 139-page report, “Federal Indian Schools in Colorado, 1880-1920,” by History Colorado. At least 37 “individuals,” including one teacher, the daughter of a carpenter and one former student, were identified at the Grand Junction Indian Boarding School.
On May 24, 2022, the Colorado State Legislature passed the Native American Boarding School Research Program Act, HB 22-1327, requiring that History Colorado study the boarding schools in Colorado, including the former federal Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School in Hesperus, Colorado – and to investigate the deaths and identify potential burial places of students who died there. READ MORE.— Renata Birkenbuel ICT
A 155-year-old treaty is central to defining what law enforcement services the United States is obligated to provide to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. But questions still remain about what that entails and what it means for the rest of Indian Country.
The “Bad Men Clause” within the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the Oceti Sakowin (Lakota, Dakota and Nakota) states the United States is responsible for the protection of tribal citizens. This clause is now central to the 2022 lawsuit launched by the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
In July 2022, the tribe launched a lawsuit against the United States arguing that the United States has failed to uphold its treaty obligation of protecting the signatories of the 1868 treaty from “bad men.” The police department only has 30 employees and has struggled to keep up with an influx in emergency calls.
Currently, both parties, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the United States, are in discussion and looking to negotiate a settlement per the judge’s order in the coming weeks. READ MORE.— Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
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On the Monday edition of the ICT Newscast, tribal nations with ancestral homelands in Colorado are reclaiming the name of a significant mountain, in hopes of healing. A Kansas State University professor honored for his work on behalf of Native students. Plus, an interview with author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve.
Watch:
A Rosebud Lakota couple has settled a two-year federal civil rights lawsuit regarding a school employee in the Cody-Kilgore Unified Schools District in north-central Nebraska who allegedly cut the hair of their two daughters without parental permission and against their religious beliefs.
The district and the couple agreed to a consent decree that will last for five years. The terms include: prohibiting school employees from cutting students’ hair without written consent from parents or guardians, requiring the district to provide cultural competency training for staff, and recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Native American Heritage Month.
Alice Johnson said while she and Norma LeRoy were aware that there was state-regulated competency training, they wanted a little more protection for the children. READ MORE. — Kalle Benallie, ICT
- Policy ignites barnburner debate between enviros, hunters, tribes: The policy outlines the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission’s increasingly difficult job of conserving fish and wildlife due to climate change, a growing human population and development.
- Why Indigenous youth are gathering to fight a green energy project: Two years after a wind farm was ruled illegal in Norway, Sámi activists are still fighting for its closure.
- Humpback whales increasingly seen in Arctic Alaska waters: A study points to climate change as a possible factor pushing humpbacks north into waters that are better known as bowhead territory.
- Native activist, organizations call for hate crime prosecution: U.S. Attorney’s Office declines to comment on whether they will charge 2023 Oñate statue shooter with a hate crime.
- The man behind the Native Hall of Fame: James Parker Shield has gone from rough and tumble street survivor to founder of the National Native American Hall of Fame.
- Marvel Contest of Champions Introduces a New First Nations Hero: Meet Chee’ilth.
- From Wild West Shows to ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ Revisit the History of Native Americans on the Silver Screen.
- ᓄᑖᖅ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑐᔪᕐᒥᕕᒃᓴᖅ ᒪᑐᐃᖅᐳᖅ ᐅᐃᓂᐱᐊᒡᒥ.
We want your tips, but we also want your feedback. What should we be covering that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know. dalton@ictnews.org.
