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In the 47 years since the Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI) was first created, the program has seen a lot of different changes and developments. For the 2023 competition, the tournament has added skateboarding and oral interpretation to the expansive roster of events happening inside The Monument from Tuesday-Saturday, Dec. 12-16.
Oral interpretation is a speech event that involves performing literature aloud to an audience to communicate meaning. The four offered at LNI are poetry, Reader’s Theater, original oratory and storytelling. Each school may register up to two individuals in poetry, original oratory and storytelling. Schools may also have one contestant on standby during each event. Only one Reader’s Theater per school will be allowed.
The oral interpretation competition begins Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 8 a.m. in room 206.
The skateboarding competition begins at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, inside the Monument in Rushmore Room 3-4. Participants can sign up starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. This competition is open to all youth from participating schools, elementary through high school, with written parent permission and waivers. The competition is presented by Pine Ridge’s Ground Control, a group that aims to encourage youth art and hobbies including skateboarding. READ MORE. — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
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The 20 Best TV Episodes of 2023 were released and an episode of “Reservation Dogs” took the top spot.
TV Guide listed the “Deer Lady” episode as its No. 1.
The episode traces Deer Lady’s history back to a Native boarding school. The episode beat out popular shows like “The Last of Us,” “The Bear” and “Succession.”
“Reservation Dogs” wrapped up its third and final season this year. All episodes are on Hulu. — ICT
(Related: A ‘defining moment’ in Native storytelling)
Illinois public schools will no longer be silent on Native history. Graduates can now wear feathers on their graduation caps. And ancestral remains will be carefully returned to their families and tribes or provided a proper burial.
These policies are among the sweeping changes enacted in Illinois this year with three new laws that provide added protections – and representation – for Native people in the state.
The laws won approval after intense efforts from tribal leaders in Illinois and across the country to address Indigenous issues in schools and beyond.
For Megan Bang, Ojibwe, who helped pass the Native history and regalia laws, it was personal. Her son, Nimkii Curley, who is Ojibwe and Navajo, was not allowed to walk at his graduation because he was wearing symbols of his Native culture, including an eagle feather on his cap. READ MORE. — Dan Ninham, Special to ICT
A long-awaited Indigenous community center may be one step closer to coming to fruition. Next month, He Sapa Otipi organizers will present their plan for a new community center to the Rapid City Council for approval.
Nearly every major city has an Indigenous community center and plenty of smaller cities have a center, including Sioux Falls, S.D., and Lincoln, Nebraska. These community centers provide a place for the community to gather for funerals, ceremonies, artmaking, dancing, music and more.
Rapid City lacks a central locale for the Indigenous community to gather and hold events like this. Many smaller centers scattered throughout the city provide for specific needs. According to He Sapa Otipi, there are citizens from more than 60 different Native Nations living in the Rapid City area. The census notes that roughly 15 percent of Rapid City’s population is Native, including mixed-race individuals. READ MORE. — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
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On the Tuesday edition of the ICT Newscast, artists and rappers Mic Jordan and Jessa Calderon share their work protecting Native youth. Fashion is front and center in Southern California, and a stand-up comedian uses his community as inspiration.
Watch:
In the midst of their tour, Mato Wayuhi, Oglala Lakota, and Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez , Mexica, have put on a string of performances, while making connections with the fans along the way.
“The tour has been really fun. It’s my first time extensively on the road,” said Wayuhi. The duo played a show at the Rebel Lounge in Phoenix on Nov. 9 for the 2 The Moon & Back tour.
The tour comes on the heels of Wayuhi’s recent release of the “Reservation Dogs” season 3 soundtrack, while teaming with Xiuhtezcatl, to produce a single called “Veils.” The fans were treated to a live performance of their new single at the Phoenix Show, which brought the crowd together to sing in unison with Wayuhi and Xiuhtezcatl. READ MORE. — Christopher Lomahquahu, ICT
- Cherokee AG moves closer to Oklahoma federal judgeship: Sara Hill’s nomination has drawn opposition from some of Oklahoma’s highest-ranking GOP officials.
- Protests at UN climate talks see ‘shocking level of censorship’: Demonstrators at the COP28 summit were restricted in everything from the signs they could hold to mentioning the names of detainees they want to see released.
- US military to end live-fire training in Hawaii’s Makua Valley: The training at times sparked wildfires that destroyed native forest habitat and sacred cultural sites, Earthjustice said.
- Alaska Native, conservation groups support lawsuit over salmon: ‘Arctic, Yukon and Kuskokwim river salmon populations are in crisis, devastating food security and threatening food sovereignty, endangering ways of life central to who we are as Indigenous people.’
- How four nuns became first Native women nurses: About 125 years ago, four Lakota nuns enlisted as Army nurses, traveling from North Dakota to Florida, to Georgia and eventually Cuba to help wounded soldiers.
- Native American Women Warriors Retired the Colors at Tribal Nations Summit in D.C.
- Native voters in Arizona fight to keep ballot drop boxes.
- The first Pacific Islander to win a National Book Award talks colonialism, culture, and climate.
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.
