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More than 50 Indigenous athletes will compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, which begins July 26 and ends August 11.

Some of the competitions for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, officially branded as Paris 2024, start on July 24. Paris is the main host city with events held at 16 other cities spread across Metropolitan France, plus a site in Tahiti for the surfing competition.

As the Olympics approaches, it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the amazing success of 53 Indigenous athletes.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Paris Paralympics is just around the corner on August 28 to September 8, 2024. READ MORE — Dan Ninham, Special to ICT

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WASHINGTON — Native issues are on the ballot in the November election in more ways than one.

Although the nomination of former President Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance dominated the mainstream media coverage of the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin, tribal officials and Native congressional leaders also gathered to discuss domestic issues including economic development, land management, energy, and missing and murdered Indigenous people. Even the make-up of the presidential cabinet surfaced at the convention.

Underlying most of those issues discussed at the convention is tribal sovereignty, and the ability of tribes to control their own projects and decisions, according to Michael Stopp, Cherokee, president and chief executive of SevenStar Holdings in Oklahoma.

“Tribes are supposed to have the ability, the right and the power to direct their own affairs without necessarily the strict oversight that we see from the federal government,” Stopp said. “So sovereignty is essentially the tribe’s ownership of its own power and ability to act as it sees fit.” READ MORE — Kadin Mills, ICT

Ten migrants drowned trying to cross a rushing river in Panama’s Darien Gap that borders Colombia, Panamanian authorities said Wednesday.

The National Border Service said in a statement that the victims were swept away by the strong current and their bodies were later seen near the Indigenous community of Carreto.

An agency official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case said on condition of anonymity that the drownings were believed to have occurred on July 16, but the area was so remote that they were only now able to release the information.

The prosecutor’s office was investigating details, including the victims’ nationalities, the official said. More than half of the migrants crossing the Darien come from Venezuela.

More than 500,000 migrants made the treacherous crossing through the jungle-clad border in a record-setting 2023. So far this year, more than 212,000 have entered Panama through the Darien. READ MORE — Associated Press

Around the world: Innu grandmothers teach after completing teacher assistant program in Canada, council calls for greater Indigenous representation in the Arctic Council, and Kaupapa Māori study confirms oral health inequities for Māori in New Zealand.

CANADA: Program educates Indigenous grandmothers

Elders in Sheshatshiu and Natuashish are among 11 Innu women set to enter the classroom this fall, having recently graduated from Nipissing University Indigenous Teacher Assistant Diploma Program, CBC News reported on July 20.

Julianna Rich started the program in North Bay, Ontario, as a great-grandmother at age 60. She always wanted to continue her education but faced challenges growing up in foster care, losing her language, and leaving school in Grade 10. “I lost a lot of my own language,” Rich said. “But I’m still willing to go for it because I’m here for the Innu here in school.”

In 2023, Rich lost her 26-year-old daughter to an overdose. Although tempted to give up, she found inspiration in her fellow program participants and her daughter’s memory. “Here I am. I can’t believe I’m done. I’m doing this for my daughter,” Rich said. READ MORE— Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT

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An Arizona congressional delegation introduced bipartisan legislation to ratify and fund the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s Water Rights Settlement Agreement. The agreement would resolve the tribe’s water rights claims and bring additional water supplies to the Verde Valley and the tribe.

“Securing water rights and providing reliable water supplies are essential for the future of Arizona,” Democratic U.S. Senator from Arizona, Mark Kelly said in a statement.

“This settlement is a significant step toward ensuring the Yavapai-Apache Nation and surrounding communities have the resources they need to thrive while also protecting the vital flow of the Verde River,” he added.

The Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act authorizes a little over $1 billion in funding for the tribe to build and maintain essential water infrastructure, including the Cragin-Verde Pipeline and a Surface Water Drinking Plant. READ MORE— AZ Mirror

BOGOTA, Colombia — Deforestation in Colombia fell 36 percent in 2023 versus the previous year, the government said Monday, marking the lowest level since records began.

The decline was driven by a drop in environmental destruction in the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, including about one-third of it in Colombia, the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro said.

Deforestation fell nationwide to about 792 square kilometers (about 305 square miles) in 2023, down from about 1,235 square kilometers (about 477 square miles) a year earlier. A little over half of the deforestation came in the Amazon.

The decrease “means that 44,262 hectares of forest stopped being cut down,” Environment Minister Susana Muhamad told journalists. “It is very good news, but we definitely cannot say that the battle is won. We continue to confront illicit economies.” READ MORE — Associated Press

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