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ROSEBUD, South Dakota — A one-year memorial service was held Thursday for the nine children reinterred on tribal lands after being buried at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School cemetery in Pennsylvania for nearly 142 years.

These nine Sicangu ancestors, along with thousands of others, were taken from their Lakota families in the 19th century. “Back in 1879, only three years after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, our children began leaving us for boarding school and they were gone all that time,” said Russell Eagle Bear, Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council representative.

The Rosebud children were among 10 students whose remains were disinterred at the school in 2021; the remains of an Alaskan Aleut child were also returned home. Since the return, the Interior Department established its Federal Indian Boarding School initiative, released volume one of an investigative report and launched a yearlong, nationwide healing tour for boarding school survivors and descendants to share their experiences.

“These teepees represent each one of these children,” Eagle Bear continued. “There are nine teepees each with a memorial chair displaying the name of the child being honored.” READ MORE — Vi Waln, Special to ICT

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Perhaps the greatest Olympian, Jim Thorpe, is back on top.

The International Olympic Committee has corrected the record books to reflect Thorpe’s Olympic victories for the decathlon and pentathlon events in Stockholm’s 1912 Olympic Games. The Olympics website shows that Thorpe, Sac and Fox and Potawatomi, is the sole gold medal winner for the decathlon and pentathlon for the 1912 games Thursday afternoon.

ICT learned earlier this week that the committee had planned to announce the change Friday, the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon medal. Thorpe won the pentathlon on July 7, 1912.

In Friday’s official announcement, Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, said this solution was reached “thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong.”

“This is a most exceptional and unique situation, which has been addressed by an extraordinary gesture of fair play from the National Olympic Committees concerned,” Bach said. READ MORE — Jourdan Bennett-Begaye and Kolby KickingWoman, ICT

They crossed the stage one by one to collect a diploma like no other – the nation’s first-ever doctoral degree in First Nations Education.

After studying Indigenous issues, conducting oral histories with tribal leaders, elders and youth, and helping devise ways to improve the educational system for Indigenous students, four Native educators became the nation’s first graduates of a new program at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

They also took the first steps at providing a new base of knowledge for Indigenous education.

“Community members told us they wanted students working on projects that addressed real-life needs while collaborating with elders and working with youth and the next generations,” said Dr. Lisa Poupart, a citizen of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa and an associate professor who heads the First Nations Studies Department at UWGB.

“It is a scholarly project that impacts the tribal world,” she told ICT. READ MORE — Dan Ninham, Special to ICT

ICT’s collaborative reporting project focusing on the impact of COVID-19 in Indigenous communities will receive the 2022 Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Journalism.

The collective is a project of the Native American Journalists Association in which ICT, High Country News, National Native News and Searchlight New Mexico collaborated to investigate and report the impact of COVID-19 in Indigenous communities.

“This award is an example of how journalism is headed in a new direction: newsroom collaboration,” said ICT Editor Jourdan Bennett-Begaye. “We all have the same goal of watching out for Indigenous nations and peoples.”

The 2021 investigative report documented the difficulties of finding accurate COVID-19 data in Indian Country such as tracking cases, vaccinations and deaths through the Indian Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state-operated systems. READ MORE — ICT

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Tribal colleges and universities are valuable institutions on Indigenous lands. There are 32 TCUs around the country – the first one started in 1968 as the Navajo Community College. Hollie Mackey is the executive director for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities.

The University of Minnesota’s first senior director of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations is retiring. From the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Tadd Johnson is an attorney. He served in the tribal court system for more than 30 years. He was instrumental in the creation of a master’s program of Tribal Administration and Government. Earlier this week, he reflected on his career as a tribal attorney.

The problem for some 25 tribal nations is how to unwind coal dollars – and the jobs that it provides. Just as important is the question: Are there resources available to make that transition work? ICT’s Mark Trahant has this report.

ICT’s Miles Morrisseau has this video from Ontario, Canada on the shores of Lake Huron. It’s the 50th anniversary of the Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation Powwow. Let’s dance!

WATCH HERE:

Alaska is trying out a new voting system.

While it’s relatively untested, early indications are that it can be difficult to use ranked choice voting to its greatest effect.

The system is used in only one other state, Maine, but has been used in municipal elections in San Francisco and New York.

The situation in Alaska is further complicated by the fact that two elections are overlapping.

A special election is underway to fill the last two months of the late Don Young’s term. Alaska’s sole Congress member died unexpectedly in March. Another election will be held for the position’s next two-year term, which starts in January.

The primaries in the special and general election are open. That is, voters can cast one vote for the candidate of any party. The top four candidates’ names are placed on the general election ballot. READ MORE — Joaqlin Estus, ICT

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