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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Indigenous peoples’ land and territory acknowledgement was unveiled on May 5 and placed at the heart of the University of New Mexico campus.
The mural is on the main level of the Student Union Building that acknowledges the university and their branches campus being on the traditional homelands of the Pueblo of Sandia and the pueblo, Navajo and Apache people have deep connections to the land and have made significant contributions across the state.
“By respectfully honoring our history through an Indigenous land and territory acknowledgment, we are formally, and gratefully, recognizing Indigenous Peoples as a vital part of our Lobo DNA,” UNM president Garnett S. Stokes said. “Our land acknowledgment has become a foundational part of our identity as Lobos, and I am proud that today it is becoming—quite literally—a permanent part of our very infrastructure.”
Other universities have issued land acknowledgments across the country. One is Arizona State University, which also has a high Native student population and Native population in the state. READ MORE — Kalle Benallie, ICT
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A biweekly column from ICT with the latest news from the arts and entertainment world. READ MORE — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT
Commencement speeches can be approached in different ways, especially this year. This class of graduates endured through the pandemic, and is preparing to enter a world still sore from that global health crisis.
It’s a lot to fit into a short amount of time.
Mandy Smoker Broaddus, Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux, said her outline has shifted throughout the week but she knows some of the things she wants to talk about.
“I want to talk about Montana and community,” said Smoker Broaddus, who will be one of the commencement speakers at the University of Montana 2023 graduation. “I want to talk about collaboration and relationships and bring in some of my own personal experience into that. Then also my own family history and heritage as a 50th generation Montanan.”
Smoker Broaddus will also receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the university. READ MORE — Kolby KickingWoman, ICT
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A small group of land defenders have continuously blocked the public road leading to the construction site at Thacker Pass in northern Nevada starting on Thursday, saying they do not want their land to be destroyed.
They are protesting the construction of an open-pit lithium mine being built by the company Lithium Americas. Some say the development at Thacker Pass is critical to creating batteries for electric cars. Native groups in Nevada say the area, called Peehee Mu’huh, is sacred to them.
The demonstration is the latest in a series of fights against the mine by tribal citizens and environmental groups, including a years-long legal battle in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
On Thursday morning, a small group of elders, Native people and supporters put up a teepee and started a prayer circle. The developments were broadcasted on social media by the group Protect Thacker Pass, who live-streamed videos of the group interacting with company officials and police officers.
The same group already blocked construction for the day at Thacker Pass on April 25. READ MORE — Aliyah Chavez, ICT
- How Mexico City’s mural movement transformed: Many of the wall paintings criticize political leaders, inequality or the Catholic Church
- Traditional canoes return to the waters of the Pacific Northwest: ’Intertribal Canoe Journey’ and ‘Gathering of the Eagles’ are back this year
- Havasupai Tribe marks a spiritual homecoming: ‘We are still the Grand Canyon’
- Bill expanding gambling threatens Kickapoo tribe: The prospect of competing with Las Vegas Sands, Caesars and other titans of the casino industry has long loomed over the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas
- Indigenous producers face trademark battle over company names causing ‘public confusion’ (EXCLUSIVE)
- “Bear Grease”: an Indigenous take on the popular 1978 film “Grease” wows audiences
- Brewster: Is it cultural appreciation or appropriation? Wing Island tour raises question
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