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SANTA FE, N.M — Award-winning actress Crystle Lightning dazzled. As did her husband Henry Andrade and the rest of the all-Indigenous cast of “Bear Grease.”

In short, the Indigenous twist of the 1950’s musical “Grease” delivered. So much so that extra shows were added by the Santa Fe Playhouse to meet the demand. The roughly 75-minute show ran from Wednesday, Aug. 16, through Sunday evening with nine performances over the five days.

The playhouse brought “Bear Grease” to town during the week that coincided with one of the busiest weeks of the year in New Mexico’s capital. The nearby Santa Fe Indian Market was taking place, and it routinely draws thousands of visitors to downtown.

On Thursday night, the cast celebrated its 100th performance of the show since it launched. READ MORE — Dalton Walker, ICT

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PHOENIX — Autumn Nelson said she was seeking help for alcohol addiction last spring when fellow members of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana suggested a rehabilitation center in Phoenix, far to the south.

The 38-year-old said the center even bought her a one-way airline ticket to make the 1,300-mile journey. But Nelson said after a month, she was kicked out after questioning why there was one therapist for 30 people and no Native American staff despite a focus on Native clients.

“All of a sudden I was out in the 108-degree heat in Phoenix, Arizona,” said Nelson. “I was scared, and didn’t know where to go.”

Now back on the Blackfeet reservation, Nelson is among hundreds of Native Americans who have been targeted by Phoenix-area scammers. The billing schemes often left clients homeless and in some cases financed lavish lifestyles for the fraudulent providers, authorities have said. Arizona has been defrauded in recent years out of hundreds of millions of dollars through such scams, state officials estimated. READ MORE — Associated Press

Around the world: Women farmers rejoice after court victory against a zinc mine, the United Nations committee is asked to safeguard Aboriginal cultural heritage, Montreal unveils a new health center for Indigenous communities, and a notable Uyghur advocate discovers his father died in Xinjiang

INDONESIA: Women farmers cheer victory over zinc mine

An Indonesian court has ruled in favor of Indigenous women farmers, saying the government should retract an environmental permit for a proposed zinc mine in the Dairi district in North Sumatra, Mongabay reported on Aug. 16.

The women had opposed the proposed mine project backed by China as a threat to their water source and their livelihoods.

“We came here to get across that our sources of water and our lives in Dairi will be threatened,” farmer Dormaida Sihotang said in late June outside Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, according to Mongabay.com. READ MORE — Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT

New Mexico’s fake electors have not (yet) been charged with any crimes related to their interference in the 2020 election–but they’ve become central to an unprecedented criminal case against former president Donald Trump.

Now, Source NM can reveal, one of them donated thousands last year to former Republican Congress member and current congressional candidate Yvette Herrell, Cherokee.

Deborah Maestas, a fake elector who was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee last year, is a former chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico. She has a long history of campaign donations in New Mexico, giving a combined tens of thousands of dollars to Republican politicians over the past two decades, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

In August 2022, more than a year and a half after Maestas submitted a fraudulent electoral vote in support of Trump, Herrell accepted $2,900 dollars from Maestas, the maximum contribution allowed for that election cycle. READ MORE — Source New Mexico

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Indigenous arts festivals celebrate success

On the Wednesday edition of the ICT Newscast, the Santa Fe Indian Market’s leadership looks ahead. Pojoaque Pueblo wraps up the Pathways Indigenous Arts Festival. A battle is brewing in Congress over government spending. How does this impact Indigenous nations?

Watch:

SANTA FE, New Mexico — A roughly hourlong discussion on the actors and writers strike in Hollywood reached an engaged audience during the Santa Fe Indian Market weekend.

ICT, a division of IndiJ Public Media, hosted a Newsmaker event on Saturday that examined the strike in Hollywood and how it affects Native representation.

In mid-July, the Screen Actors Guild went on strike, joining the two-months-long strike by the Writers Guild of America and marking the first joint strike in more than 60 years. A higher wage rate, revenue sharing and artificial intelligence protections are key to any potential agreement to end the strike.

ICT Editor Jourdan Bennett-Begaye, Diné, interviewed author and historian Liza Black and actor and writer DeLanna Studi. Both Black and Studi are Cherokee creatives. READ MORE— Dalton Walker, ICT

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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.

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