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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. 

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ICT’s Mary Annette Pember has been reporting for months on Indigenous boarding schools in the United States.

This story and a two-part podcast are the result of a collaboration between ICT and Reveal to examine Indigenous boarding schools in the United States. The podcast, “Buried Secrets: America’s Indian Boarding Schools,” starts with part 1 on Saturday, and concludes with part 2 on Saturday, Oct. 22. The article and part 1 will be posted Saturday on ICT’s website.

Mary Annette explains more on ICT with Aliyah Chavez.

Watch:

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Bricia Lopez has welcomed people of all walks to dine at her family’s popular restaurant on the Indigenous-influenced food of her native Mexican state of Oaxaca — among them Nury Martinez, the first Latina elected president of the Los Angeles City Council.

The restaurant, Guelaguetza, has become an institution known for introducing Oaxaca’s unique cuisine and culture to Angelenos, attracting everyone from immigrant families to Mexican stars to powerful city officials such as Martinez.

But now after a scandal exploded over a recording of Martinez making racist remarks about Oaxacans such as Lopez, the 37-year-old restaurateur and cookbook author said she feels a tremendous sense of betrayal.

Martinez resigned from her council seat Wednesday and offered her apologies. But the disparaging remarks still deeply hurt the city’s immigrants from Oaxaca, which has one of Mexico’s large Indigenous populations. Sadly, many said, they are not surprised. Both growing up in their homeland and after reaching the U.S., they say they’ve become accustomed to hearing such stinging comments — not only from non-Latinos but from lighter skinned Mexican immigrants and their descendants. READ MORE— Associated Press

From big-budget Oscar winners to indie films, actor Michael Spears has been lighting up the screen with his performances since he was in “Dances with Wolves” at age 13.

Spears, Kul Wicasa Oyate Lakota Lower Brulé, can currently be seen in a pivotal episode of “Reservations Dogs,” playing the father of a teenage boy who died by suicide, and in the western drama “1883” as a Comanche trader.

A forthcoming role in the indie film, “Year of the Dog,” found him turning a real-life conversation that came up in a script reading into a deeply affecting scene in the film.

ICT caught up with Spears on Indigenous Peoples Day as he returned from celebrations in his hometown of Bozeman, Montana.

“We had a celebration and gathering-round dance and meal with all the Indigenous students and the whole campus and community came out,” he said. “We sang some songs and shared some music.”

“Year of the Dog” is set to premiere at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York City on Saturday, Oct. 15. The film is produced and directed by Rob Grabow, who also stars in the film as an alcoholic trying to get his life together with the help of Spears and a stray Husky dog. READ MORE— Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT

Alaskans adopted a new election system in 2021. Let’s compare it with the system still being used in most of the country.

Generally in the primary election, political parties — like Republicans, Democrats or Independents — pick the candidates that will go on to the general election. Parties act as gatekeepers for who gets to run.

That gate’s wide open in Alaska.

Michelle Sparck, Yup’ik, the director of Alaska’s Get Out The Native Vote, explains.

“Everyone with a dream and a hundred dollars could apply and fill out the paperwork (to run in the primary). If they were eligible, they became a candidate.” The top four vote-getters in the primary went on to run in the general election (however, after Alaska’s August primary, one of the four dropped out). READ MORE— Joaqlin Estus, ICT

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On the weekend edition of the ICT Newscast, a Native woman astronaut makes history. Traditional ecological knowledge gains traction in college curriculum. An Osage man takes on the Indian Reorganization Act, and energy sovereignty for native nations.

Watch:

The latest Indigenous A&E column from ICT. READ MORE — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT

Douglas “Chief” Stankewitz, a Monache man from Big Sandy Rancheria who has lived on San Quentin’s Death Row for 44 years, will get a resentencing hearing Jan. 20 that his legal team hopes will result in his freedom.

Alexandra Cock, a member of Stankewitz’s legal team, said they hope to present mitigating information that was not presented during his 1978 trial and 1982 retrial – information they say would have warranted a lesser sentence than death or life in prison without parole.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge Arlan Harrell scheduled the resentencing hearing and gave the state until Oct. 29 to respond to Stankewitz’s petition for an evidentiary hearing. If there are disputes on the facts presented in the petition, then Harrell must order an evidentiary hearing with witnesses to determine the correct facts. READ MORE— Richard Arlin Walker, Special to ICT

The Yakama Nation recently found that it will have more than $1.6 million more than it did before to help fight crime on its eastern Washington reservation.

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced that it had awarded two grants to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation late last month to help improve public safety amid increasing crime and recent calls from tribal and local government leaders for the federal government to do more to help address crime concerns in the region.

A $1 million grant will be used to address violence against Indigenous women by developing or improving strategies to keep Native women safe from violence. The tribe is one of 30 to receive money this year through the Indian Tribal Governments Program, according to a news release.

The tribe will use a nearly $610,000 second grant to help support victims after experiencing crime and as they recover and rebuild their lives, the DOJ said.

The announcement comes about a month after tribal leaders and local officials in a letter to the area’s congressional delegation called on the federal government to do more to help address public safety concerns on the Yakama Nation’s and in Yakima County.

In their joint letter last month, tribal and Yakima County officials said the two lack the resources to adequately patrol the tribe’s 1.4 million acres and the neighboring 2.75 million acre Yakima County as the county and tribe experiences an increase in violent, drug and property crimes.

Specifically, the letter highlighted the need for federal funding to help build a regional crime lab to lessen evidence processing backlogs that have affected prosecutions and investigations in the area, and money to help hire and retain more tribal police officers. — Chris Aadland, ICT and Underscore News

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