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Greetings, relatives.
A lot of news out there. Thanks for stopping by ICT’s digital platform.
Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you.
Okay, here’s what you need to know today:
Ashley “Joe” Iteska hiked through the cold, dry prairie, his boots crunching crisp grass and twigs. He looked out over the looming limestone buttes for any sign of the boy, stopping occasionally to listen. He tried to imagine what the 3-year-old had endured the night before. The cold fall winds on the grassland could be unforgiving and there were mountain lions and coyotes lurking in the backcountry. Iteska tried not to think the worst.
His nephew, Karson Pourier, had wandered off the afternoon before while playing outside his home on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Nearly 14 hours had passed since anyone had seen the autistic boy, and more than 200 people had joined the search the night before. Some of them used drones and dogs. The searchers walked along the beds of White Clay Creek north of Red Cloud Indian School in an area largely inaccessible by vehicle or even ATV. A horse could make it but going on foot was easiest.
They called out for Karson all night long as temperatures dipped below freezing. Karson had walked away wearing no winter clothing. Iteska searched late into the night, but eventually decided to pack it in and head home. As he lay in bed, he thought about Karson and wondered what it might be like if one of his own children disappeared. READ MORE. — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
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In 2018, leaders of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma repealed the landmark Free Press Act. Overnight, Mvskoke Media, the news source for the fourth-largest tribal nation in the U.S., had to fight to avoid becoming government propaganda.
The documentary “Bad Press” brings viewers on a suspense-filled adventure, following a handful of dedicated Indigenous journalists over a nearly four-year sparring match with the tribal council over their demand that freedom of the press be written into tribal law. The film dives into government corruption and highlights how an independent press informs and educates tribal citizens, thus strengthening tribal sovereignty as a whole.
As a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and executive director of the Indigenous Journalists Association, Co-Director Rebecca Landsberry-Baker was personally invested in the story. READ MORE. — Underscore News + Report for America
For many, the Thanksgiving “holiday” is complicated. On one hand, it’s a day to be with family and eat a good meal. But it is also a dark reminder of a history of genocide and settler colonialism — and their lasting impacts today.
“I hope that people feel and understand, get a sense of understanding, why we need to shift in another direction,” said Mick Rose, program coordinator, co-curator and development associate at Prismid Sanctuary. “It feels uncomfortable that people celebrate a day of genocide and mourning.”
Three years ago, Rose, Pawnee, Omaha and Diné, helped start the first annual “UnThanksgiving” day event at the Native American Youth and Family Center, or NAYA, community garden. Some of the inspiration for the event came from time Rose spent living in Australia and supporting organizing work of Indigenous groups there. READ MORE. — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore News + ICT
The latest: A reservation artist leaves a parting gift, a major museum opens in a hot spring locale, and a new album draws from Indigenous collaborators
A biweekly column from ICT with the latest news from the arts and entertainment world. READ MORE. — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT
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On the Monday edition of the ICT Newscast, an exclusive interview with Mark Macarro, the new president of the National Congress of American Indians.
Watch:
Jessica Intermill knew it was time to take action.
And so the Minneapolis attorney signed up for a 2021 webinar hosted by the Native Governance Center, a nonprofit that seeks to strengthen tribal sovereignty. During the presentation, titled “Beyond Land Acknowledgement,” Lower Sioux Indian Community President Robert Larsen talked about his tribe’s efforts to regain ancestral homelands in Minnesota.
A few days later, Intermill – who has spent 15 years practicing federal Indian law – contacted Larsen to pitch an idea: a voluntary tax that would benefit his tribe.
Two years later, the Mni Sota Makoce Honor Tax was launched.
The honor tax is meant to collect payments from people who today live in, work on or visit land that once belonged to Dakota tribes in Minnesota. It is a fund established to accept voluntary payments made to the Lower Sioux Indian Community. READ MORE. — Kevin Abourezk, ICT
- Can ACs cool the world without warming it?: New HVAC companies are working on more climate-friendly designs to tackle the “doom loop” of air-conditioning.
- The roots of Hawaiian Hindu temple: How a massive all-granite, hand-carved Hindu temple ended up on Hawai’i’s lush Kauai Island.
- Vanishing salmon changing life on the Yukon River: As waters warm, Alaska Native families confront a world without the fish that fed them for generations.
- Climate report shows drought impacts in Southwest: The Fifth National Climate Assessment highlights drought as a major hazard in the Southwest and says its impacts are most likely to harm tribal communities.
- Pastoralists have raised livestock in harsh climates for millennia: What can they teach us today?
- Levi Walker Jr. Dies: Atlanta Braves Mascot ‘Chief Noc-A-Homa’ Was 80.
- Housing vouchers free up space in Bethel’s domestic violence shelter.
- Native Voters, Sometimes Overlooked by Campaigns, Could Decide Major Contests in 2024.
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.
