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After snagging the win for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the peer-driven Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, Lily Gladstone still manages to celebrate her Siksikaitsitapii and Nimíipuu culture in the midst of a hectic Hollywood awards season.

Gladstone’s in-grained values shine a light on storytelling, cultural language, sovereignty, balance, teamwork and empathy.

Holistic, thoughtful and inclusive, she champions education, namely her educator mother’s teachings, despite the intense glare of Hollywood. Betty Peace-Gladstone, a long-time Headstart and special education teacher, and Lily’s father, Howard Gladstone, cast a lasting influence on their successful daughter.

Since her daughter’s critically acclaimed performance as long-suffering Osage wife Mollie Burkhart in “Killers of the Flower Moon” – one 5th-grade lesson in particular has come full circle. READ MORE — Renata Birkenbuel, ICT

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An Osage songwriter and singing group will perform an Oscar-nominated song from the film “Killers of the Flower Moon” at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony on March 10.

Scott George, Osage, wrote the 6 ½-minute song “Wahzhazhe” (A Song For My People), which is featured in the closing credits of “Killers of the Flower Moon” by the Osage Tribal Singers. The group will perform the song live at the March 10 Oscars, alongside other musical artists whose songs are nominated for best original song, including Jon Batiste, Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell.

“Wahzazhe” is the first Indigenous nominee in the best original song category for the Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 96th Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 10, at the new time of 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT.

George’s best original song nod is among the 10 nominations “Killers of the Flower Moon” received for this year’s Academy Awards, including a nomination for best actress for “Killers” actress Lily Gladstone. The lyrics were written and performed in the Osage language. They encourage the tribal people to rise up, be strong and have faith through life’s ordeals. READ MORE — Kevin Abourezk, ICT

Around the world: A festival honors Pacific Island culture, a project unites newcomers and Indigenous people through shared narratives, health disparities among Māori persist, and police interrogate and beat Tibetans arrested in dam protest.

AUSTRALIA: Festival honors Pacific Island culture

The inaugural Aiga Festival, led by Samoan musician and co-director Taitu’uga Kitch and Tongan content creator Havea676 in partnership with Tatou Aiga, signifies a noteworthy achievement as the premier Pacific Island event to grace South Bank in Meanjin, the National Indigenous Times reported on Feb. 23.

The Aiga Festival, scheduled for March 2, is a free event eagerly anticipated by many.

Aiga (meaning “family” in Samoan) Festival promises a diverse array of performances representing various Pacific nations such as Samoa, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and Niue, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. READ MORE — Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT

It was the winter of 2021 when Philbert Shorty’s family found his abandoned car stuck in the mud outside the small community of Tsaile near the Arizona-New Mexico state line. “We knew something happened from the get-go,” said his uncle, Ben Shorty. “We couldn’t find any answers.”

Family members reported the 44-year-old man missing. And for the next two years, they searched — hiking through remote canyons on the Navajo Nation, placing advertisements on the radio and posting across social media in hopes of unearthing any clues.

The efforts produced nothing. They had no way of knowing he’d been killed more than a week before they reported him missing.

They remained unaware even as U.S. prosecutors finalized a plea deal last summer with Shiloh Aaron Oldrock, who was charged in connection with Shorty’s death as a result of a separate investigation into the killing and beheading of Oldrock’s uncle. The 30-year-old Fargo, North Dakota, man told authorities his uncle had threatened to kill him during an alcohol-fueled fight that came eight months after the pair conspired to cover up Shorty’s death by dismembering and burning his body on Jan. 29, 2021. READ MORE — Associated Press

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On this week’s IndigiPolitics, we talk about the nearly 40 percent of Republican voters who rejected former president Donald Trump in the South Carolina primary and opted for Nikki Haley. ICT political correspondent Pauly Denetclaw talks with regular contributor John Tahsuda.

A foundation that supports Indigenous artists is celebrating the tenure of its founding CEO. Lulani Arquette is retiring as the founding executive at the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. ICT senior producer Shirley Sneve has this interview.

In the Southwest, Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curly is working to hold scammers accountable for targeting the nation’s citizens. Last year, it was reported that a number of citizens were roped into sober living scams and taken to facilities in Phoenix. ICT producer Paris Wise has the story.

WATCH

The federal government will fund 17 projects across the U.S. to expand access to renewable energy on Native land and in other rural areas, the Biden administration announced on Tuesday.

The $366 million plan will fund solar, battery storage and hydropower projects in sparsely populated regions where electricity can be costly and unreliable. The money comes from a $1 trillion infrastructure lawPresident Joe Biden signed in 2021.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm called the announcement “historic” at a clean energy tribal summit in Southern California that began Tuesday.

“This is the largest amount that the Department of Energy has awarded to tribes for energy projects,” she said. READ MORE — Associated Press/Report for America

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