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NORMAN, Okla. — A sign sits in a lighted display case at the Sam Noble museum in central Oklahoma, surrounded by ancient Indigenous pottery and scattered display stands sitting empty.
“These objects have been repatriated in keeping with NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act),” the sign reads.
The sign may be an indication that the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History – and other museums in Oklahoma – could be feeling the effects of new changes in the federal NAGPRA law that went into force earlier this year.
Pottery is one of the items often ceremoniously buried with the deceased and can be considered a funerary item – one of the items now requiring extra scrutiny by museums, universities and other institutions that accept federal funds. READ MORE — Felix Clary, ICT + Tulsa World
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The Spirit Lake Nation of North Dakota has begun to lift lockdown measures following the apprehension of Kolby McKay.
On April 9, the tribe took to Facebook to notify community members that the lockdown initiated on April 4 was called off. On April 8, McKay turned himself in to authorities following a weekend-long manhunt to locate him.
During the lockdown, tribal schools, businesses and administrative offices were closed.
It’s unclear why McKay was wanted, but the tribe identified him as “potentially armed and dangerous” in an April 4 press release. READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
Around the World: Brazil issues apology to Indigenous communities, a six decades-long promise in Manitoba First Nation is fulfilled, Australian University offers cultural allowance, and mushrooms in New Zealand are tested for addiction treatment potential.
BRAZIL: Indigenous people get apology
Brazil has issued its first-ever apology for the torture and persecution of Indigenous people during the military dictatorship, including the incarceration of victims in an infamous detention center known as an “Indigenous concentration camp,” the Guardian reported on April 3.
The apology was issued Tuesday by an amnesty commission affiliated with the Ministry of Human Rights that was tasked with investigating the atrocities committed during the regime of 1964-85.
The commission’s president, law professor Eneá de Stutz e Almeida, knelt before Indigenous leader Djanira Krenak as she expressed regret for the violence inflicted upon the Krenak people. READ MORE — Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT
SPEARFISH, S.D. – Tristine Cross Dog has participated in the annual Lakota Omniciye Wacipi for years. When the Oglala Lakota woman was 11 years old, she rejoined the powwow circle here as a women’s traditional dancer. Now, the Applied Science Major is participating on a different side, as co-president of Lakota Omniciye – the Black Hills State University Native Student Union.
Entering its 39th year, the annual powwow is dedicated to educating the surrounding community about Indigenous culture and celebrating the community. This year’s theme is “Contemporary Native Art Guided by Traditional Hands.”
“A powwow is like a display because it’s bringing surrounding dancers and all kinds of beadwork, regalia, quillwork and feathers,” Cross Dog said. “A lot of people have teachings behind their art whether it’s photography or beadwork, there’s different stories that bring light to it. They spend countless hours creating their art.”
The competition powwow will run from noon until 9 p.m. on April 13 in the Donald E. Young Sports and Fitness Center. Dancers are welcome to come earlier, as doors open at 11 a.m. Admission is $8 for the general public but free for Black Hills State University students, staff, children under five, and those over 55. Attendees are asked to bring their own lawn chairs. READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
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On IndigiPolitics, our weekly political segment, John Tahsuda talks about the latest news for tribal gaming. Previously, Tahsuda was general counsel and legislative director of the Indian Gaming Association. ICT political correspondent Pauly Denetclaw has the interview.
Claudia Kauffman is a citizen of the Nez Perce Tribe and a Washington state senator. She talked to ICT’s Mark Trahant about her work in the legislature.
Indigenous communities are taking bold steps to bring power to their people through financial literacy. The hope is that money management becomes a skill that is passed down through generations. Reporter Lily Meskers delves into what All Nations Health Center in Missoula, Montana is doing to change Indigenous financial statistics.
WATCH
When Alex Soto began working at the Labriola National American Indian Data Center at Arizona State University Library in 2021, he was the center’s only full-time employee.
Two years later, he reimagined the center into the first Indigenous-led and staffed library spaces at a research university in the United States. The newly created space for the Labriola Center officially opened on the second floor of the Hayden Library on the university’s Tempe campus on April 3.
Soto, who is Tohono O’odham, said this is the first time Indigenous people have led the center since its establishment in 1993 to be a space that supports Indigenous students and academia.
Now, the Labriola Center has six full-time Indigenous staff members and 12 student workers. It is 6,000 square feet and reflects Arizona State as an institution and the land on which it was built. READ MORE — AZ Mirror
- Barbie’s Village officially in hands of Native organization: Future Generations Collaborative officially owns the former Presbyterian Church of Laurelhurst, and can begin creating a tiny home village and early childhood center
- Sunrise service offers healing for family, friends of fallen soldier: Each year people gather in Phoenix near Piestewa Peak to remember the Mountain’s namesake, US soldier Lori Piestewa
- Tribal college students rack up trophies at higher-ed convention: IAIA film students dominate, popular poetry slam draws enthusiastic crowd
- Cole secures Appropriations gavel ahead of fraught budget cycle
- Judge in Trump’s classified files case agrees to redact witness names, granting prosecution request
- UN climate chief presses for faster action, says humans have 2 years left ‘to save the world’
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