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All who had campaigned on Tokitae’s behalf — the Lummi Nation, numerous environmental organizations, animal rights advocates — had reason to hope that her return home was finally going to happen in 2024.
The new owners of the Miami Seaquarium — where the Pacific Northwest orca had lived since her capture in 1970 — announced on March 30 they would retire her from performing and allow her to be returned to her native waters in the Salish Sea.
Philanthropist Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts football team, said he’d cover the costs. The permitting process got underway with federal and state agencies. A site was selected in Tokitae’s native waters where she could be re-acclimated before rejoining her family in the open sea. READ MORE.Richard Arlin Walker, Special to ICT
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The Best of Show belongs to the dinosaurs. A small one at that.
Jennifer Tafoya’s etched black pot with dinosaur designs titled, “Caught by Surprise,” was named 2023 Best of Show at the Santa Fe Indian Market on Friday. The awards luncheon starts a busy art weekend in New Mexico’s capital with all eyes on the market Saturday and Sunday, plus all the other events and activities coinciding.
More than 60 judges spent most of Thursday reviewing and critiquing this year’s entries. The market has awarded top winners since it started in 1922. Tafoya’s black pot stood out amongst some of the best Native art in Indian Country. The pot won the best pottery category before being named Best of Show. .
Like her pot’s name, Tafoya said she was “caught by surprise” by being named Best of Show. “I’m just blown away right now,” she told ICT. READ MORE. — Dalton Walker, ICT
Shoni Schimmel, a basketball icon in Native communities across the country, pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor assault on Friday. She won’t serve time in prison, but will pay restitution and attend a domestic violence treatment program.
Although she initially pleaded not guilty, Schimmel admitted Friday to headbutting her ex-girlfriend in the face and pulling her hair on June 13, 2021, leaving her with a bloody lip. In exchange for her guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Pamela Paaso dropped a strangulation charge against Schimmel, along with a charge of assault resulting in substantial bodily injury – both felonies.
It’s unclear why federal prosecutors took the case, instead of prosecutors at Umatilla Tribal Court. The tribe has worked to expand its jurisdiction of domestic violence cases.
Schimmel, 31, sat quietly next to her own attorney while Paaso described the charges. READ MORE. — Nika Bartoo-Smith and Karina Brown, ICT and Underscore
What started as an idea from Dakota and Lakota elders has now entered its fifth year. The annual Mni Ki Wakan (MKW) Summit has grown to unite Indigenous water specialists from around the globe.
This year’s theme was Indigenous water justice and dismantling water colonialism.
“By the end of the 19th century, the U.S. had reallocated all Indigenous waters to non-Native settler-colonists. Every bit of the rights we have within the U.S. now had to be fought for through the U.S. justice system by grassroots Indigenous movements fighting injustice,” said Wakinyan LaPointe, Sicangu Lakota and the summit co-convener.
The summit also served as a safe space for Madeline McKeague, Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), who is grieving from the destruction of the Lahaina wildfires. READ MORE. — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
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Non-Natives claiming an Indigenous identity are taking center stage at a conference in Canada. APTN’s Chris Stewart attended the event and has this report.
Lobster harvesters from the Mi’kmaw Nation are going to court over what they say are violations of treaty rights. APTN’s Angel Moore has the outright theft, caught on video.
A Native Hawaiian physician has been named an Obama Leader by the former president’s Obama Foundation. Kekoa Taparra will join the first leadership class of values-driven changemakers. ICT’s Stewart Huntington caught up with Dr. Taparra.
“Visions ‘23” is an exhibition that features the work of local students from Arizona high schools to be showcased in the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Diné citizen and artist Iona Sherman is a student at Tempe High School and her artwork “Forgotten Nizhoni” is inspired by the political movement Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
WATCH
The latest episode of acclaimed TV show “Reservation Dogs” has drawn praise from viewers for its stark depiction of boarding school life with one Native nonprofit official calling it a milestone in the boarding school healing movement.
“I do think that it is a defining moment for how we engage in storytelling around boarding school impacts, not just historically but the continued impacts,” said Samuel Torres, deputy CEO of the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, an organization that seeks to understand and address the trauma created by federal boarding school policies.
The episode, “Deer Lady,” is told through the eyes of a young Kiowa girl who would become the Deer Lady, a modern-day spirit of vengeance who preys upon evil people. This article contains some spoilers for “Reservation Dogs” season three, episode three. READ MORE. — Kevin Abourezk, ICT
- Federal agencies often neglect US territories: New legislation aims to fix that. The bill would bolster expertise in territories as island communities face increasing threats from climate change.
- Indigenous communities embraced at Women’s World Cup: But some Indigenous groups question the event’s long-term commitment to inclusion.
- Slain woman’s family sues police in Colorado: Police who fatally shot a pregnant woman are sued by her family in Colorado.
- City empties as thousands flee Canadian city: Residents are fleeing wildfires that are threatening the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories, as well as several First Nation communities.
- ICT Notebook: Sights, sounds from Santa Fe Indian Market: One of the summer highlights for many Native creatives is the annual Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico. However, it’s not the only hot ticket around.
- Gabe Galanda named among best lawyers in America for seventeenth straight year.
- Violence against Indigenous people a product of culture that devalues Native women, expert says.
- Federal underfunding of Indigenous housing leads to years-long wait-lists, frustration.
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