Greetings, relatives.
A lot of news out there. Thanks for stopping by ICT’s digital platform.
Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you.
Okay, here’s what you need to know today:
The latest budget deal will make few people happy. Republicans don’t like that federal spending will continue to grow. Democrats aren’t keen on a two-year cap for some domestic programs, as well as new work requirements.
But for the most part, this deal represents business as usual. The president’s Inflation Reduction Act — a significant climate initiative — continues as planned, including the $32 billion that’s directed toward Indigenous communities.
What didn’t happen was the severe budget cuts that the House Republican caucus demanded. Or the wholesale rewrite of the National Environmental Policy Act that West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin favored. Instead the idea is to keep spending flat for fiscal year 2024 and increase it by a single percentage the year after, rescind unspent COVID-19 relief funds from previous years, and take dollars away from the Internal Revenue Service. READ MORE. — Mark Trahant, ICT
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Ethan Bear, Ochapowace Cree Nation, is golden. Bear helped bring home a gold medal for Team Canada in the Men’s World Hockey Championship on Sunday, May 28, in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s annual competition.
The IIHF competition, co-hosted this year by Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia, brought teams together from around the world May 12-28 to compete for the crown of men’s international ice hockey supremacy.
Most teams were populated with players, like Bear, from National Hockey League teams that didn’t make it into the Stanley Cup playoffs, and even some who got bounced in the first round. READ MORE. — Miles Morrisseau, ICT
From near-extinction and loss of their Native lands, the plucky Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians has rebounded with several successful businesses and plans for more.
The tribe was about to be annexed in the early 1980s by another tribe that was going to take over their desert lands in the far eastern end of the Coachella Valley.
“The tribe was largely non-existent, down to just a few members,” Jef Bauer, general manager of Augustine Casino, told ICT. “They did not live on the reservation. Mary Ann Martin, who was the matriarch of the resurgence of the tribe, came back to the reservation in the latter part of the ‘80s after her grandmother died, who was the last remaining full-blooded member.” READ MORE. — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT
Some Indigenous farmers are trying to bring traditional food back to their communities.
Michael Kotutwa Johnson, a farmer from the Hopi Tribe, is focusing on bringing Hopi corn back to the dining table – not only for the health benefits but also to connect his people to their culture.
Johnson, who also is a faculty member at the University of Arizona’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment, refers to corn as “our mother.” READ MORE. — Cronkite News
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Actor and community activist Loren Anthony shares his latest projects. Land back for a small Alaska Native community. And an Indigenous comic expo in the works for Denver.
Watch:
Greetings, relatives:
As we head to June and summer, we must look back at what happened in a busy May in Indigenous news.
Catch up on the stories that made headlines this last month. READ MORE.
What’s trending on social media:
- Biden administration pauses copper mining project on Oak Flat: The Arizona mine project won’t move forward until more discussions with Indigenous communities.
- Shoni Schimmel to plead guilty in domestic violence case: The former WNBA star will plead guilty at a sentencing hearing in August. Her sentence is unclear, but a similar case shows one potential outcome.
- INDIGENOUS A&E: LAND art, First Nation music and traditional baskets: A biweekly column from ICT with the latest news from the arts and entertainment world.
- Alaska state representative is planning to leave the Alaska Capitol: Rep. Josiah Patkotak says he’s running to be the next mayor of the North Slope Borough in an Oct. 3 local election.
- Yellowstone baby bison put to death after visitor picks it up: The calf became separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River in northeastern Yellowstone.
- Oakland University becomes 1st US campus to return land use to Native American community.
- Ojibwe chef opens restaurant on Madeline Island.
- San Diego Native American Tribe is Second in Nation to Own Part of Professional Sports Franchise.
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.
