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Blackfeet activist, banker, mother and trailblazer Elouise Cobell, who died in 2011, led a nearly 13-year-long fight for fairness and accountability from the federal government after it was discovered withholding funds from 300,000 account holders who had their monies held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Her efforts were responsible for almost $3.5 billion in repayments across Indian Country, the largest U.S settlement that nation has seen. Some funds from the settlement was reserved for the Cobell Scholarship, an organization created to help provide fundings for American Indian students seeking financial support in higher education.
Under the Obama administration, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and more recently, the National Women’s Hall of Fame has named the Indigenous pioneer in the 2023 and is set to induct her posthumously next year. READ MORE.— JoVonne Wagner, ICT
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James McNeely, the operations manager and spokesperson for the Blackfeet Tribe, was indicted for stealing at least $78,400 in federal Covid-19 stimulus dollars intended for the tribe, according to federal court documents filed last week.
McNeely, indicted for theft from tribal government and wire fraud, is accused of diverting American Rescue Plan Act dollars between October 2021 and October 2022, according to the lawsuit filed by the federal government in the Great Falls Division U.S. District Court.
McNeely did not return calls from the Daily Montanan, and the tribal council could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
The U.S. government alleges McNeely fraudulently submitted requests for repayment to the Blackfeet Tribe and received payments “after falsely claiming to purchase COVID-19 supplies on behalf of the Tribe from Amazon,” when he did not purchase said supplies, according to the filing. READ MORE. — Daily Montanan
On June 17, Ronalda Good Shield, a Crow Creek Citizen, was waiting to hear back from her daughter when she received a message that made her heart sink: “Did Micheliegh make it home?” When she heard rumblings of a woman found with a baby killed in a hit-and-run on the Rosebud Reservation, her anxiety grew worse.
“I just knew it was her, something in me told me it was her,” Good Shield said.
Around midnight, Good Shield’s daughter Micheliegh Iron Cloud was walking along Highway 63 near Parmalee, South Dakota. She was carrying her one-year-old son when an unknown vehicle struck her. The two weren’t found until the next day.
The baby was life-flighted to Sioux City and survived, but Iron Cloud died sometime after the crash. READ MORE. — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal, Shalom Baer Gee, Rapid City Journal
A program created to support Indigenous first year and transfer students at the University of Montana welcomed its first cohort of the semester.
The Indigenous First Year Experience program, IFYE, was created through the efforts of Aaron Thomas, Diné, a chemistry professor who was awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute last year. The funds from the grant were allocated into different programs that support BIPOC students on campus, one being the experience program.
Kayden Fleming, a freshman from the Fort Peck reservation in Montana, said she found the program before she even walked onto campus. She learned about the IFYE as a senior in high school while applying for scholarships, saying that this program sounded like something she wanted to be a part of.
Now, halfway through the fall semester, Fleming, Sioux, told ICT of her appreciation for the program, and explained how she didn’t expect college was going to be challenging, but the program gave her the tools and support to lean on as she started a new chapter in her education journey. READ MORE. — JoVonne Wagner, ICT
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On the Monday edition of the ICT Newscast, not invisible any more. A report from the departments of Justice and Interior. The Autry Museum of the American West honors the memory of tTribal leader Marshall McKay. What’s cooking in Oklahoma City? A new cookbook from a Pottawatomi chef.
Watch:
Panama’s President, Laurentino Cortizo, signed into law an indefinite moratorium on new mining concessions Friday. The law also prohibits renewing existing concessions.
Panama’s National Assembly approved the bill Thursday. An article was removed, however, that would have revoked a controversial mining contract that sparked nationwide protests over the past two weeks.
The new law will still allow Minera Panama to operate an open-pit copper mine in the state of Colon for 20 years, with a possible extension for another 20 years.
Environmentalists argue the mine threatens to destroy more of the dense jungle surrounding it and imperils local drinking water.
Minera Panama is a local subsidiary of Canadian mining company First Quantum.
Some lawyers welcomed the decision, warning that revoking that contract could have left the government open to multi-million-dollar legal liabilities. — Associated Press
- Judge gives Dawn Walker conditional sentence for abduction, forgery: She also faces charges in the US related to identity fraud for allegedly crossing the border with fake identification.
- Cherokee Nation citizen helps Texas to first World Series title: Jon Gray became the first Cherokee Nation citizen to pitch for the winning team in the baseball championship.
- ‘My heart was always just with the sheep’: One Navajo’s push to keep tradition vibrant.
- Navajo sheep herding at risk from climate change: Some young people push to maintain the tradition.
- Fort Belknap company’s officers sued over lending operations: Three of IMDG’s lending companies accused of violating Minnesota, federal laws.
- Defying the odds: Meet the attorney for 1,000 clients who beat two pipeline companies.
- ‘Unapologetically Indigenous’ mural preserved for future generations.
- Three of Fairbanks Four settle with city.
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.
