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Warning: Domestic violence, Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
For Kola Shippentower, Umatilla, the world of tackle football is pretty new. She grew up tossing the ball with her brothers and her oldest son is a lineman for his high school team. But until recently, she never imagined herself out on the field.
That all changed when she heard about the Oregon Ravens and filled out an application last season. As of Jan. 5, signing day, she is officially a player for Oregon’s very own tackle football team for women and nonbinary players. Shippentower, lucky number 29, is the first Native American player for the Ravens, a team since 2017.
“The diversity of this team is amazing,” Shippentower said. “It’s amazing to see so many different backgrounds and so many different colors and so many different mixes coming together as one as a team.” READ MORE — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore News + 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
A report detailing the framework for tribally run public schools will be sent to the legislators and the governor’s office. The intent is that it could become a bill that would create the first tribal compact public schools in the state.
The Department of Education and Early Development developed the framework for tribally operated public schools after the Legislature approved a bill in 2022 directing it to do so.
Joel Isaak led the project as director of tribal affairs for the state’s education department; he is now the agency’s deputy commissioner. He will continue to lead the effort.
Isaak said part of the significance of the effort is how tribally run public schools could be a turnaround from the state’s boarding-school-era history. READ MORE — Alaska Beacon
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A panel of Nevada Supreme Court justices won’t reconsider former “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse’s request to dismiss a sprawling indictment that accuses him of leading a cult, taking underage wives and sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls.
“Rehearing denied,” two of three justices who heard oral arguments last November said in a terse order dated Tuesday. Justice Douglas Herndon dissented. Chasing Horse still can seek a hearing before the full seven-member court.
The state high court decision means prosecutors in Las Vegas can proceed with their 18-count criminal case after months of Chasing Horse legal challenges. The 47-year-old has been in custody since his arrest in January 2023 near the North Las Vegas home he is said to have shared with five wives.
Chasing Horse has pleaded not guilty to charges including sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and child abuse. A hearing is scheduled next Wednesday in Clark County District Court.
His lawyers argued the case should be dismissed because, the former actor said, the sexual encounters were consensual. One of his accusers was younger than 16, the age of consent in Nevada, when the alleged abuse began, authorities said. READ MORE — Associated Press
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that tribal courts have jurisdiction over personal injury and property damage cases brought against Native American casinos, ending a long battle that saw pueblos and other tribes advocate for protecting sovereignty when such legal claims arise.
The decision stemmed from a 2016 lawsuit in which an employee of an electrical company claimed he was severely injured while making a delivery at Pojoaque Pueblo’s casino. The state Court of Appeals had reversed a lower court ruling that initially called for the case to be dismissed.
The tribe then asked the state Supreme Court to settle the question over jurisdiction.
In its ruling, the court pointed to previous decisions in two federal cases that effectively terminated a provision in tribal-state gambling compacts that waived sovereign immunity to allow jurisdiction to be moved from tribal court to state court for some damage claims.
One of those federal cases involved a personal injury claim involving the over-serving of alcohol at Santa Ana Pueblo’s casino. The other was a slip-and-fall lawsuit brought in state court by a visitor to the Navajo Nation’s casino in northwestern New Mexico. READ MORE — Associated Press
- Osage Nation grieves former Chief Red Eagle: John Red Eagle served as Osage chief from 2010 to 2014 and was the third of his family to serve as chief
- Disabled Native golfer works to bring others to the game: Jimmy Squire is winning tournaments and advocating for disabled Natives and veterans
- Film industry experts predict Lily Gladstone Oscar win: Two film industry experts, as well as dozens of other industry analysts, say Gladstone will beat Emma Stone for the Oscar’s best actress
- Wounded Knee descendants decide not to burn artifacts: Two tribes called on the group of descendants of Wounded Knee Massacre survivors to not burn repatriated artifacts as planned on the massacre’s 133rd anniversary
- ‘First We Bombed New Mexico’: New documentary exposes what ‘Oppenheimer’ left out about the impact of nuclear testing on Native, Hispanic people
- Minnesota Historical Society acquires historic goalie mask with Native American design.
- STEM academy for Native American students expanded nationwide
- Buffalo banh miand blue corn cookies: sharing a Native American feast in South Dakota
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