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. Remember to scroll to the bottom to see what’s popping out to us on social media and what we’re reading.
Also, if you like our daily digest, sign up for The Weekly, our newsletter emailed to you on Thursdays. If you like what we do and want us to keep going, support and donate here.
Okay, here’s what you need to know today:
For more than two decades, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has held public office. From vice-president of Shonto Chapter to a Navajo county supervisor and finally as president of what he called the largest Indigenous nation in the country.
Although he was voted out of his latter position in November, Nez continues to move forward, finishing the final weeks of his presidential term with focus.
“I’m still the president and I’m going to finish out some of the priorities that we have, that we didn’t get to, until January 10,” Nez told ICT. “Then, I think we’ll look at other opportunities that come our way.”
Nez didn’t win his reelection to serve a second term as president, by a small margin, he noted. His opponent Buu Van Nygren won by 3,551 votes.
The Cherokee Nation and Navajo Nation go back and forth having the highest population of citizens, according to both tribes’ enrollment numbers.
In his last few months as president, Nez was a panelist at the White House Tribal Nations Summit, an invited guest to the State Dinner, a plus one for his wife Phefelia Nez for the 43rd Kennedy Center Honorees dinner, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s been a busy time for the career politician. READ MORE — Pauly Denetclaw, ICT
SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. CONTRIBUTE TODAY.
Personal letters can come few and far between for the residents living at the Dr. Guy Gorman Senior Care Home in Chinle, Arizona.
Diné elders living at the home on the Navajo Nation could see their holiday loneliness eased by a card sent from your home.
Liz McKenzie, Diné, is directing their Christmas spirit to deliver cards to all the elders at the facility and they want your help.
“It’s really important that everyone just stay connected,” McKenzie said. “It’s really easy to feel displaced and lost and lonely, but I think maybe just checking up on each other is a good way to be more connected and just reaching out to someone who hasn’t been reached out to, like an elder, can really change someone’s day.”
The request is very simple.
Get a holiday card and write a nice note to someone. READ MORE — Source New Mexico
A county commissioner in South Dakota will resign and be replaced by a Native American as the result of a voting rights lawsuit.
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe filed the lawsuit against Lyman County in May. Much of the tribe’s reservation is within the county, on the western bank of the Missouri River in central South Dakota.
“The tribe is elated,” said one of the tribe’s attorneys, Samantha Kelty, of the Native American Rights Fund. “It is an incredible outcome.”
After several twists and turns in the litigation, the two sides went into mediation with a judge. That resulted in a consent decree filed on Tuesday.
Both sides agreed that Lyman County Commissioner Brian Kraus will resign, and the remaining four members of the five-member county commission will appoint a Lower Brule tribal citizen as his replacement. The tribe is invited to submit a list of nominees for the position. READ MORE — South Dakota Searchlight
Sign up here to get ICT’s newsletter
HORNBROOK, Calif. — Tribal, state and federal officials on Thursday cheered a plan for the largest dam removal in U.S. history along the Klamath River near the California-Oregon line as a major step toward restoring a once-thriving watershed that tribal communities have long relied on.
“Clean water, healthy forests and fertile land made the Klamath River Basin and its surrounding watershed a home to tribal communities, productive agriculture, and a place where abundant populations of migratory birds, suckers, salmon and other fish could thrive,” U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said. “We must take urgent and necessary action to protect this special place.”
Haaland joined leaders of the Karuk and Yurok tribes as well as U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman and Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Kate Brown of Oregon along the river to celebrate the significance of the November decision to remove four dams along the river. Haaland also announced $5.8 million in new federal money to help restore aquatic ecosystems and habitats amid the West’s ongoing drought. READ MORE — Associated Press
FOLLOW ICT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK.
- Last Hawaiian princess dies at 96: ‘Abigail will be remembered for her love of Hawai‘i and its people’
- Crow artist boots hit Nordstrom shelves: Elias Jade NotAfraid designed five pairs of shoes, one of them was picked up by the luxury store chain
- Métis Nation officially adopts a constitution: Voters within the Métis Nation of Alberta supported to adopt the constitution with nearly 100 percent of the votes
- Gaming representation is ‘simple math’: Tribal enterprise gaming captures nearly half of the industry, yet commercial interests ignore the Indigenous talent pool
What we’re reading:
- Washington state’s Missing Indigenous Person Alert system produces results
- Indigenous founders of a museum cafe put repatriation on the menu
- Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe chairman charged with Plimoth Patuxet Museums theft. What we know
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.
