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A New Year is always a wonderful time to consider where we’ve been. How did we journey to 2023?

A century ago, in 1923, many American Indians and Alaska Natives were still not citizens of the United States. And the process to gain citizenship was awful.

One route to citizenship was a “certificate of competency.” This document allowed an individual Indian to claim title to land and effect as their own person. The report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1923 described the process this way: “Ordinarily, if the Indian has attained the competency of the average white man his application for certificate or a patent in fee has been granted.”

Not that every tribal leader wanted citizenship in either the United States or Canada.

The Sole Deputy and Speaker of the Six Nations Council Deskaheh, also known as Levi General, traveled to Geneva and the League of Nations to make the case for the Haudenosaunee. The Six Nations not only sought membership in the League, but also demanded full recognition under international law for sovereignty, or what he called, the “independent right of home-rule.” READ MORE — Mark Trahant, ICT

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President Joe Biden signed 65 bills into law Tuesday including several that will have serious impacts on tribal nations.

Though he still has not signed an important one. The omnibus spending bill is expected to be signed by Friday, the deadline for the extension he signed last week to keep the government running.

Within the omnibus bill package is an advanced appropriation for the Indian Health Service that administrators are celebrating as historic. Instead of relying on federal budget approval at various intervals through the year, the health service will have secured funding through 2024, safeguarding healthcare funding even through potential government shutdowns, which has not been the case previously.

Sonya Tetnowski, National Council of Urban Indian Health president, said the package “is a historic moment for Indian Country over a decade in the making.” IHS has been chronically underfunded, despite treaty obligations that mandate the federal government provide adequate health care. READ MORE — Pauly Denetclaw, ICT

A legislative aide with aspirations of representing House District 80 in the 2023 Legislature questioned in public remarks Tuesday whether members of tribes living on reservations in Montana should be able to vote in state elections.

“If the reservations want to say they are independent countries … but they want a lot of handouts, why are we counting their ballots?” said Drew Zinecker, who will this session serve as a staffer for Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, during a meeting of the Lewis and Clark County Republican Central Committee.

Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment.

The committee was gathered to advance potential appointees to HD 80, a district including parts of Lewis and Clark and Powell counties that was recently vacated by Rep. Becky Beard, R-Elliston, who herself was appointed this month to represent Senate District 40, a seat made vacant by the retirement of Sen. Terry Gauthier, R-Helena. READ MORE — Montana Free Press

“Murder in Big Horn,” a three-part documentary set on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations, will premiere at the internationally acclaimed Sundance Film Festival.

Through interviews with law enforcement, state medical examiners, tribal leaders and victims’ families, the documentary tells the story of several missing or murdered Indigenous women in Montana.

Specifically, “Murder in Big Horn” follows the cases of Selena Not Afraid, 16, who was found dead in Big Horn County, Kaysera Stops Pretty Places, 18, who was found dead in Hardin, Henny Scott, 14, who was found dead near Lame Deer, and Shacaiah Harding, 19, who was last seen in Billings in 2018.

Ivan and Ivy MacDonald, sibling Blackfeet filmmakers, helped produce the series. The MacDonalds’ cousin, Ashley Loring HeavyRunner, is one of thousands of missing or murdered Indigenous women, a crisis so prevalent it has its own acronym, MMIW. HeavyRunner, 20, was last seen on the Blackfeet reservation in 2017. READ MORE — Missoulian

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A new book called “The Seven Circles: Indigenous Teachings for Living Well” hit the shelves late last year. One of the co-authors, Chelsey Luger, shares more about what readers can learn in the book.

Gabbe Nakai is a 16-year-old Indigenous advocate. She breaks down a trip to Washington, D.C. this winter where she met with high-level federal officials to share what matters to her.

Valentina Clitso is Miss Navajo Nation 2022-2023. She swept the awards competition and tells us how she prepared.

Kathryn Treder is Inupiaq and Aleut. She recently represented Team USA at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

WATCH HERE

While Richard Wagamese isn’t here to write any more novels, another of his books, Ragged Company, is being made into a movie.

The First Nations journalist, author, and television personality died in March 2017 – before his first book Indian Horse hit the big screen.

Now, Ragged Company is being adapted into a film by British Columbia-based Sea to Sky Entertainment and Grinding Halt Films.

The movie will be directed and shot by Stephen Campanelli and written by Jules Koostachin, who is working with screenwriter and novelist Dennis Foon. Cameras are to begin rolling in 2023.

Wagamese’s story is about a group of homeless people who, seeking to escape Arctic-like temperatures, seek refuge in a movie theatre and form a community.

Homelessness is something Wagamese was familiar with. READ MORE — APTN National News

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