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:
President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 campaign is extraordinary for so many reasons.
It’s hard to understate how hard it is to walk away from power. In my decades of reporting I have seen this story play out over and over.
Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater’s last term was unbelievably sad. And the toughest interview I have ever conducted was with Rep. Morris K. Udall when his Parkinson’s disease was so severe he could not talk. I could see his eyes, trying to communicate, but the words would not come out. I broke down crying. The only time that’s ever happened to me while covering a story. That interview is seared in memory.
And the most odd example was my last interview with Montana Sen. John Melcher. He had been defeated in a bid for re-election. I went to his private office on Capitol Hill and it was decorated exactly like his old Senate office. Even the office carpet used a giant Senate seal. I am not sure he was certain he was out of office when we talked – I remember shaking my head and wondering what I had just witnessed. READ MORE. — Mark Trahant, ICT
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Housing advocates across Indian Country say Native Americans and Alaska Natives likely will feel the full weight of a June 28 Supreme Court ruling that has cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on unsheltered people sleeping outside in public places.
Native Americans experience homelessness at a disparate rate. Advocates say the housing crisis is a reflection of our society’s unwillingness to address systemic issues.
“It’s criminalizing poverty,” said attorney Caroline LaPorte, who is an immediate descendant of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. “We are much more comfortable with putting, and paying, for people to be incarcerated.”
LaPorte is the director of the STTARS Indigenous Safe Housing Resource Center, a project of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and she is the board chairman for the StrongHearts Native Helpline. STTARS focuses on the intersection of housing insecurity and gender-based violence. A lawyer, she said the Supreme Court’s decision was enraging. READ MORE. — Kadin Mills, ICT
Oscar Arana, Chichimeca, has served as interim CEO for over a year at the Native American Youth and Family Center and has worked at the organization for 14 years. On Wednesday, he stepped into his new permanent role as CEO.
“It’s a huge honor,” Arana told Underscore/ICT. “This is an incredible organization that I’ve been a part of for a very long time. It’s an organization and a community I care about deeply. So I’m really humbled that so many folks encouraged me to apply and that the board selected me.”
When former CEO Paul Lumley, citizen of the Yakama Nation, announced his departure in June 2023, the board of directors began a nationwide search for a new leader. While they searched, the board selected Arana to serve as interim CEO. Now, Arana will fill that role permanently. READ MORE. — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore Native News + ICT
In a small blue shed, Jackson Ripley and his 12-year-old daughter Jagger weave around each other as an espresso machine starts brewing. They’re preparing a lavender mocha, a maple mocha and an americano.
An espresso machine is grinding, cars are lining up at the window and music by Ripley’s son, Xander, plays on a speaker.
On the south side of Big Lake Road stands MiigWitches Brew, the only coffee shop on the Fond du Lac reservation. The drive-thru kiosk opened on June 7 on the land in front of the family home.
It is one of only a handful of Native-owned coffee shops in Minnesota. Ripley’s hope is to continue building community through high quality coffee on the reservation. READ MORE. — MPR News
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Some Arizona tribes have lended a hand to the San Carlos Apache tribe hit by a destructive wildfire days ago.
The Watch Fire began the evening of July 11, destroying 13 homes and burning over 1,110 acres. Seventy five people were left homeless and more than 400 people have been evacuated, according to a tribe’s press release on July 14. The Watch Fire is the most serious structural fire in San Carlos in at least 30 years.
San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler shared on Facebook how the Tohono O’odham Nation, Gila River Indian Community, Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community and the Ak-Chin Indian Community offered their support to San Carlos people. READ MORE.— Kalle Benallie, ICT
Former President Donald Trump’s decision to tap U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate drew immediate concerns from Indigenous leaders over his views toward Indian Country.
Vance called Indigenous Peoples’ Day a “fake holiday” and praised Columbus just a few weeks after questioning the term “two-spirit” in separate postings in 2021 on social media. He also has fought name-changes requested by tribal leaders for historical sites.
The social media comments were made before Vance, a native of Middletown, Ohio, was sworn in as one of Ohio’s U.S. senators in 2023.
“‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day” is a fake holiday created to sow division,” Vance wrote on Oct. 11, 2021, on the social media site now known as X. “Of course, Joe Biden is the first president to pay it any attention.” READ MORE. — Mary Annette Pember, ICT
- Taxpayers on the hook for profits on public lands: Why does the public put up with corporate welfare, wildlife slaughter and other government policies it so clearly opposes?
- Listeria outbreak leads to CDC warnings about sliced deli meats: The CDC is investigating a listeria outbreak across the U.S. that has killed at least two people and caused more than 25 others to be hospitalized.
- Celebrating a decade: Indian Education Summit in North Dakota hosts 36 workshops to empower Native educators.
- Lakota emergencies highlight the importance of a presidential decree: ‘The federal government doesn’t really know how to best engage tribes – how to make their programs accessible.’
- Cherokee Nation citizen selected in first round of MLB draft: Carson Benge will begin his minor league career and will look to add his name to a long list of Cherokee Nation citizens who have left their mark on Major League Baseball.
- Lakota teen who set world record with hair says he is proud to represent tribe.
- Netflix Movie ‘Rez Ball’: TIFF 2024 World Premiere & September 2024 Netflix Release Date Set.
- Canadian wrestler Justina Di Stasio proud to represent Indigenous roots at Paris Olympics.
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.
