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Indigenous artist Wovoka Trudell pays homage to his late father — storied political activist, poet and musician John Trudell — with a new exhibit.

After years of drawing sophisticated charcoal portraits of singers and animals, Trudell has finally put together a show of portraits he created from photos of his father as he worked, performed and raised awareness of Indigenous human rights, land and language issues.

The show, “Trudell Memory-ing the Dreams, A collection of portraits by Wovoka Trudell,” will be on display at the younger Trudell’s gallery, OneSixSix, at 166 Bridge St. in Las Vegas, New Mexico, from Jan. 13-28. Most of the pieces will be available for purchase.

Wovoka Trudell, Santee Dakota, named for the Paiute creator of the Ghost Dance movement, was born on Alcatraz in 1970 during the occupation. He told ICT he still communes in prayer with his father, who died in 2015 of cancer at age 69. READ MORE — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT

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Indigenous people are at higher risk of substance misuse and addiction than the general population. But they also have an added protective factor: their traditional cultures. The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is working to build on that to change the addiction and drug overdose situation.

A study in the National Library of Medicine reports addiction and drug overdose death rates are higher among Indigenous people than the national average, a continuing multi-year trend. Risk factors include the emotional and psychological trauma of cultural genocide.

Yet the same report states American Indian and Alaska Native people also have a unique protective factor: “their deep-rooted sense of family, tribal affiliation, and spirituality.” Together with tribal programs that limit access to addictive substances, “these factors can significantly increase the success rate of substance abuse prevention and treatment.” READ MORE — Joaqlin Estus, ICT

HONOLULU — Hawai’i’s new attorney general said Tuesday more than two dozen elders won’t be subject to another round of prosecutions for blocking a road three years ago to prevent the construction of a new telescope on a mountain summit many Native Hawaiians consider sacred.

Law enforcement arrested 38 elders, mostly Native Hawaiians, during a 2019 demonstration against the Thirty Meter Telescope planned for Mauna Kea. Of these, 30 had their cases dismissed after a 2021 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling clarified the process for filing criminal complaints and said authorities had been following the incorrect procedure.

Attorney General Anne Lopez had the option to refile charges but said it wasn’t in the best interest of Hawai’i’s people to continue to prosecute the kupuna, or elders. Gov. Josh Green appointed Lopez to be attorney general after he took office last month.

Green, in a news release from Lopez’s office, said he appreciated her decision. READ MORE — Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn.— A Minnesota man was sentenced Tuesday to 37 years in prison for the shooting death of a tribal police officer.

David Brian Donnell Jr., 30, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder in the killing of 37-year-old Officer Ryan Bialke.

On July 27, 2021, five officers with the Red Lake Tribal Police Department went to Donnell’s home in Redby to conduct a welfare check. When officers arrived, Donnell, who was on the porch, went inside the home.

Because Donnell had an active tribal warrant and was refusing to comply with orders, officers breached the door. Donnell opened fire and Bialke was struck by gunfire, prosecutors said.

Donnell continued firing and one officer returned fire as the four remaining officers fled into nearby woods. He fired at least 22 rounds from his rifle, prosecutors said.

Bialke died at the scene. Donnell fled but was arrested soon after at a nearby home.

The Red Lake Reservation is in northwest Minnesota, about 160 miles from the Canadian border. It covers about 1,260 square miles and is home to about half of the tribe’s 14,000 members. — Associated Press

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A group of Native American activists in South Dakota and their supporters have refined their demands for Pennington County officials following the death of a young woman who’d been arrested in Rapid City, and they plan to meet weekly all winter long to push for their demands to be met.

Tuesday marked four weeks of group meetings, and its leaders say the energy has held.

“We’re continuing to rack up the time, and we’re getting a lot of committed organizers who keep showing up,” said Natalie Stites Means, who helped found the group.

The group wants to see the dismissal of all nonviolent warrants, new protocols for the handling of medically vulnerable inmates and for notifying family members of hospital transfers, as well as implicit bias training for all law enforcement and correctional officers. READ MORE — South Dakota Searchlight

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Other top stories:

  • Bill filed to rename Columbus Day in New Hampshire Indigenous Peoples’ Day
  • Indigenous comedy is seeing sold-out crowds, surge of interest
  • Ute tribal leaders discuss education, water rights in historic first address to state lawmakers

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.