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A long-time visual artist and curator who works closely with tribal preservationists has been awarded the 2023 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities for his decades of work in art, film and writing.

Artist G. Peter Jemison, Heron Clan, Seneca Nation, was named the recipient of the fellowship by Americans for the Arts, which recognizes artists or culture bearers who work in and with rural communities to advance cultural equity.

“At Americans for the Arts, we believe that artists are the catalysts for the transformation of society and America’s communities — and Peter is doing exactly that,” Nolen Bivens, president and chief executive of Americans for the Arts, said in a statement.

“As a culture bearer and thought-provoking contemporary visual artist, Peter’s impacts on his own Seneca people and community in rural western New York are matched by leadership and action around issues of cultural preservation, cultural rights, and policies, benefitting Native nations across a wide geography,” Bivens said. “I look forward to hearing Peter share his knowledge, perspective, and experience over the course of this year.” READ MORE — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT

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The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday ruled the historic Kickapoo Reservation in the central part of the state was disestablished more than a century ago and no longer exists.

The court’s decision involves a case in which a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma challenged his state conviction on four counts of lewd acts with a child.

Attorneys for Aaron Charles Buck, 52, argued that because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 McGirt ruling on tribal land in Oklahoma, the state lacked criminal jurisdiction because the crimes occurred within the historic boundaries of the Kickapoo Nation.

The reservation was located about 30 miles southeast of Oklahoma City near the town of McLoud in Pottawatomie County. READ MORE — Associated Press

The Navajo Nation has rescinded a mask mandate that’s been in effect since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Friday, fulfilling a pledge that new tribal President Buu Nygren made while campaigning for the office.

The mandate was one of the longest-standing anywhere in the U.S. and applied broadly to businesses, government offices and tourist destinations on the vast reservation, which extends into New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. The tribe at one point had one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the country and among the strictest measures to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Nygren and Navajo Nation Council Delegate Otto Tso, who temporarily is overseeing the tribe’s legislative branch, jointly announced the lifting of the mask mandate on social media Friday evening.

They cited figures from tribal health officials that show there’s a low risk of transmission, based on the seven-day incidence rate of 51 cases per 100,000 people. READ MORE — Associated Press

One of the world’s most prestigious and storied surfing contests — dubbed the “Super Bowl of Surfing” — went forward Sunday in Hawai’i for the first time in seven years with towering wave faces and a gigantic swell that was expected to grow throughout the day.

And this year female surfers competed alongside the men for the first time in the 39-year history of The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.

The event — alternatively known simply as The Eddie — is a one-day contest held in Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore only when the surf is consistently large enough during the winter big-wave surfing season from mid-December through mid-March. The wind, the tides and the direction of the swell also have to be just right.

“Large enough” means 20 feet by Hawai’i measurements. That’s equivalent to about 40 feet when measured by methods used in the rest of the U.S. Before this year, conditions have only aligned for it to be held nine times since the initial competition in 1984. READ MORE — Associated Press

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Reproductive justice is the mission of the Alaska Native Birthworkers Community. The grassroots group is reclaiming Indigenous birth practices to support families throughout their birthing journey. Margaret David and Abra Patkotak talk about its work.

ICT is one of a growing number of news outlets that have become nonprofit organizations to deliver the news. Joining us to talk about this new model is Mark Trahant. He’s an award-winning journalist and was on the ground floor of rebuilding Indian Country Today and rebranding ICT.

WATCH HERE

U.S. House Republicans included in the new rules for the chamber they passed this month a provision meant to make it easier for Congress to give away public lands.

The provision is a fairly technical piece of the 55-page rules package. It affects internal House accounting and requires that anytime Congress were to give any federal lands to a state, municipality or tribe, it would not be counted as a loss to the federal budget. House Republicans had an identical rule when they controlled the chamber from 2017 to 2019.

Advocates and critics agree the measure would be helpful to any effort by the House to transfer federal lands to states.

But they disagree about the wisdom of such giveaways.

Republicans and conservative groups see states as preferable stewards of most public lands. Those closest to the land are in a better position to make decisions on how to manage them than those in Washington bureaucracies, they say. READ MORE — Alaska Beacon

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