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One Indigenous woman will represent not only their home states but also her tribal community at the Miss America pageant this week.
Rachel Evangelisto – the first Indigenous woman ever named as Miss Minnesota – will compete in the Miss America pageant on Dec. 15 at the Mohegan Sun, which is owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut.
“My two biggest goals for Miss America is to … have a blast and … make Turtle Island proud,” Evangelisto, Standing Rock Sioux, told ICT in an email earlier this year. “It’s with immense gratitude that I get to shine a light on Indian Country as a whole and I really just want to make my people proud.”
Miss North Dakota USA SaNoah LaRocque, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, also competed at the Miss USA pageant on Oct. 3, at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada.
She did not win, but was the third runner-up in 2021 and first runner-up in 2020.
“As Native people, we are not just individuals but members of a larger community by which we must do well,” she said. READ MORE — Dan Ninham, Special to ICT
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Scientists are known for speaking with dry precision rather than for dramatic effect. Still, “immediate,” “extreme,” “unprecedented,” and “consequential” are some of the words scientists are using to describe climate change in the Arctic.
The sense of urgency stems from the fact that northern regions are warming at twice the rate as other parts of the planet, if not even more quickly.
The changes in the Arctic show what’s coming to the rest of the planet. And Alaska can serve as a model for improving interactions among traditional knowledge bearers, scientists, and policy makers.
Those are some of the conclusions of the 2022 Report Card on the Arctic issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Arctic Program Tuesday at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in Chicago.
The report card includes articles by more than 120 authors from 11 countries. READ MORE – Joaqlin Estus, ICT
This week brings news of a new regional chief in Canada, Indigenous oversight of child protection reforms in Australia and deforestation in Peru — READ MORE — Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT
Since 2016, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe has paid millions to a Portland consulting firm and its owners to protect its highly successful ilani Casino Resort from unwanted competition — namely other tribes looking to expand their gaming operations in Oregon.
Ilani became the nearest casino to Portland when it opened in 2017 outside La Center, Washington, and it now boasts annual revenue of at least $300 million a year, according to one estimate.
Gaming is vital to Northwest tribal economies and, in this case, access to the highly lucrative gambling market in Oregon’s population center was at stake.
Cowlitz leaders turned to consultants Matthew Rossman and Bruce Studer and their company — best known for a nearly two-decade quest to build the state’s first private, non-tribal casino over the objections of tribes in Oregon. At the urging of an influential tribal leader, the late David Barnett, the tribe entered into a contract paying from $30,000 to $50,000 a month to R&S Strategy Group or its owners, Rossman and Studer. READ MORE — The Oregonian/OregonLive
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LAS VEGAS — Living with less water in the U.S. Southwest is the focus this week for state and federal water administrators, tribal officials, farmers, academics and business representatives meeting about the drought-stricken and overpromised Colorado River.
The Colorado River Water Users Association conference, normally a largely academic three-day affair, comes at a time of growing concern about the river’s future after more than two decades of record drought attributed to climate change.
“The Colorado River system is in a very dire condition,” Dan Bunk, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation water manager, declared during internet presentations streamed Nov. 29 and Dec. 2 that invited public comment about possible actions.
“Flows during the past 23-year period … are the lowest in the past 120 years and (among) the lowest in more than 1,200 years,” Bunk told the webinar audience. The deadline for public submissions is Dec. 20 for a process expected to yield a final report by summer.
Bunk said the two largest reservoirs on the river — Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona state line and Lake Powell formed by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Arizona-Utah line — are at unprecedented low levels. Lake Mead was at 100 percent capacity in mid-1999. Today it is 28 percent full. Lake Powell, last full in June 1980, is at 25 percent. READ MORE — Associated Press
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- Lakota Nation Invitational brings unique energy: The South Dakota event includes esports, Lakota language competitions, traditional competition
- Tribes reach new Great Lakes fishing deal: ‘We believe this agreement has clear benefits for all the parties’
- Want to spread holiday cheer? Send a letter to an elder: The request is very simple. Get a holiday card and write a nice note to someone
- Elimination of Native American names and mascots won’t include district names
- Pass the Honoring Promises to Native Nations Act
- Feds urge appellate court to restore Florida’s sports betting deal with Seminole Tribe
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.