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Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you.
Okay, here’s what you need to know today:
When Heather Dawn Thompson joins the World Wildlife Fund in September as a vice president, she will be the top Native American executive at the renowned conservancy.
She will also become part of a small but growing cohort of Native leaders changing the complexion of conservation as Indigenous knowledge and values move ever frontward in organizations that long have favored Western approaches.
“If you want a job done correctly, you’re going to hire the people that have the most knowledge, the most experience in that area,” said Thompson, a Harvard-trained lawyer and citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who served as director of tribal relations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“That means Indigenous people with the knowledge that they’ve collected about the land, plants, the animals over millennia,” she said. READ MORE. — Stewart Huntington, ICT
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Kwoneesum Dam once had a purpose. It created a lake for girls attending a summer camp to swim, canoe and sail. But just two decades after the dam was built in the mid-1960s, the camp closed, and the land was sold to a timber company.
Ever since, it has obstructed this tributary of the Washougal River east of Vancouver, blocking 6.5 miles of habitat for coho salmon and summer steelhead — fish that have nourished citizens of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and other Native nations in the region for generations.
Kwoneesum is just one example of the dams that have outlived their usefulness. These aging structures, dubbed “deadbeat dams” by some working toward their removal, choke off habitat, and threaten human life in some instances. It’s a problem gaining more recognition across the country. READ MORE. — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore Native News + ICT, Isabella Breda, Seattle Times
Kekuhi Keali‘ikanaka‘ole had made a promise to Kānepō 20 years earlier: that she would return to bring him home. So when she greeted him Monday morning outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, she was overcome with joy and emotion, throwing herself onto the large volcanic stone.
“I felt like a little kid being reunited with my big ‘ole teddy bear, rock, person!” she exclaimed.
The restoration, or return ceremony, that took place after was led by master hula teacher Keali‘ikanaka‘ole, Kanaka ‘Ōiwi and of the fire clan. It served to ceremonially release Kānepō from his duties in preparation for his voyage back to the district of Ka‘ū in Hawai‘i. (Kānepō uses he/him pronouns, according to his Kanaka ‘Ōiwi relatives.)
Kānepō is a basalt lava stone from Ka‘ū, Hawai‘i, and is one of four stones that mark the cardinal directions around the national museum. The others include a cretaceous rock from Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina, quartz from Washington, D.C., acasta gneiss from Yellowknife, Canada. These four stones have guarded over the museum for the last 20 years, representing balance, the four directions as well as the scope of the museum. READ MORE. — Kadin Mills, ICT
The last days of my drinking before the turn of the millennium were joyless, empty times.
Opening my eyes in the morning after a night of using, my brain would slowly reorder itself. Was I animal, vegetable, or mineral? I had hit bottom and reached out to Alcoholics Anonymous.
Alcoholics in AA frequently talk about hitting bottom, the thing or event that made them see that they had to quit drinking or die. For me, it was seeing myself in my daughter Rosa’s eyes. I’d gotten black-out drunk during a family vacation when she was nearly 2 years old. I woke up with my face against the cool tile of the hotel’s bathroom floor where I’d passed out after vomiting. Looking in her eyes that morning reminded me of my little girl-self, the helplessness, fear, and the smell, that awful smell, associated with many of my relatives. I didn’t want her to have to live with those memories and trauma. READ MORE. — Mary Annette Pember, ICT
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Hundreds gathered at Bullard’s Beach in Bandon, Oregon, where the Coquille River runs into the Pacific Ocean on June 28th. People came from all over the country for the 35th annual First Salmon Ceremony as part of the Coquille Indian Tribe Restoration Celebration. The sun warmed the sand as citizens of the Coquille Indian Tribe gathered driftwood sticks for the salmon ceremony.
As Justin Futch and his 12-year-old son Zade prepared to offer the bones of the ceremonial salmon into the Coquille River, the crowd on the beach began to sing and bang their sticks together, creating a sound like the patter of raindrops hitting a wooden roof. The smell of smudge mingled with fading smoke from the embers of the beach fire used to cook the salmon.
“What we do today is give thanks to our cousins for what they do for our survival,” said Jason Younker, Chief of the Coquille Indian Nation, as he shared about the importance of the first salmon ceremony. READ MORE. — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore News + ICT
In one of the wildest weeks in National Hockey League history, Mohawk player Brandon Montour has signed a $50-million deal with the Seattle Kraken just days after winning the Stanley Cup in a dramatic game seven as a Florida Panther.
The seven-year contract makes Montour the highest-paid Indigenous player in NHL history, more than doubling his salary with the Panthers, the team that earned its first championship in franchise history with his help.
The Seattle Kraken breathlessly shared the news on social media and on its website.
“MONTY MANIA IS COMING TO SEATTLE,” the team posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“Big Splash! Kraken Land Elite D-man Montour,” read a headline on its website. READ MORE. — Miles Morrisseau, ICT
- It’s the longest bridge ever built in Peru, and so far, it goes nowhere: Indigenous leaders say the communities along the highway route have not been consulted.
- Winnebago Tribe celebrates land return along Missouri River: U.S. Senate passed a bill recently that returns 1,600 acres of land taken illegally in the 1970s.
- Report: Ocean conservation effort leaving out Indigenous peoples: U.S. Pacific territories bear the burden of marine protected areas while missing out on economic benefits.
- Governor’s Office on Tribal Relations renewed until 2032: The Office of Tribal Relations comprises a tribal affairs advisor, a project coordinator, an executive assistant, and a coordinator for missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.
- Tribes underscore how economic development, social programs are helping members: During the event tribes were invited to provide updates on projects and programs and to speak to accomplishments and challenges in their communities.
- Gathering data on Native people is tricky. New federal rules won’t help.
- Indian Affairs seeks input on updated Tribal Self-Governance regulations.
- Seven tribes seek to fend off attack by 12 states.
- Indian Health Service Awards $24.5 Million to Enhance Access to Essential Public Health Services.
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.
