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The Stanley Cup is headed back to First Nations lands for the second year in a row after Brandon Montour and the Florida Panthers edged past the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, June 24, in game seven of the National Hockey League finals.

The Panthers’ 2-1 win over the Oilers marks the first championship for the franchise in the team’s 30-year history and means Montour, Mohawk, will be able to take the trophy home to his Six Nations of the Grand River.

“All season just came down to this game,” Montour told Sportsnet soon after lifting the cup. “The boys showed up and there was no question that we were going to win this one.”

The series sparked mixed emotions among some First Nations. READ MORE — Miles Morrisseau, ICT

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After gay marriage was legalized by the Cherokee Nation less than a decade ago, the tribe is making efforts this year to ensure LGBTQ-supporting tribal policies.

At a ceremonial signing to proclaim June as Pride Month for the Cherokee Nation, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. told Chief of Staff Corey Bunch and Secretary of State Shella Bowlin to spend the rest of the fiscal year examining tribal departments. They will identify and mitigate potential barriers to access for people in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as explore opportunities to expand access for LGBTQ+ people to medical care or whatever services are needed.

As Hoskin signed the proclamation, he expressed his concern for young LGBTQ+ people who feel alone and unsupported.

“I want them to know, more than anyone else, that the Cherokee Nation and the Cherokee people love you, and that we see you, and that you’re a part of our community. … If there is an effort to condemn you or marginalize against you, then we’re gonna push against that effort. We’re going to do it every single day in this administration,” Hoskin said at the event earlier this month. READ MORE — Felix Clary, ICT + Tulsa World

WASHINGTON — On Friday, ICT was named one of the best digital publications serving Indigenous nations and peoples by the Indigenous Journalists Association.

In IJA’s announcement of the 2024 Indigenous Media Awards, the organization names over 200 award recipients for “outstanding coverage of Indigenous communities.” The awards recognizes seven divisions including one for student journalists and three for professional and associate journalists, respectively.

This year, there were nearly 850 entries into the media competition.

ICT received third place in the Professional Division III – Print / Online for Best Digital Publication. A number of its reporters and freelancers were also honored, including shared reporters Amelia Schafer, Wampanoag and Montauk-Brothertown Indian Nation descent, and Nika Bartoo-Smith, Osage and Oneida Nations descendant. READ MORE — Kadin Mills, ICT

RAPID CITY, S.D. — A federal civil rights investigation of Rapid City Area Schools found significant differences in the way Native and non-Native students are treated, citing discrepancies in the way they are disciplined and in their access to advanced placement courses.

The report, by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, was released on May 29 outlining the findings of an investigation launched in response to a 2010 complaint from parents and community members about the handling of Native students.

“OCR’s review found evidence indicating that (1) Native American students were being disciplined more frequently and more harshly than similarly situated white students, and (2) that Native American students were discriminated against with respect to access, referral, identification, and selection for the district’s advanced learning programs and courses including honors courses and Advanced Placement courses,” according to a statement released by the Office of Civil Rights. READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal

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“Fancy Dance” is a new film, that follows an aunt trying to care for her niece whose mother has gone missing–all while trying to make it to an annual powwow. Oscar-nominated actress Lily Gladstone gives another powerful performance alongside breakout star Isabel Deroy-Olsen. Co-writer and director Erica Tremblay is from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. The story and characters are set in her homelands. ICT’s Paris Wise spoke with her to learn more about the movie. “Fancy Dance” is in select theaters and streams on Apple TV starting June 28.

A bill to establish a federal Indian boarding school truth and healing commission has passed committees in Congress for the first time. The progress was hailed by backers of the bill. ICT’s Stewart Huntington has more on this landmark legislation.

The newly announced class of Bush Fellows features six Indigenous people. These grants are awarded to outstanding individuals living in the Dakotas and Minnesota. One of them is Moira Villiard, an Ojibwe artist from Duluth, Minnesota. She says she intends to use the funds to go to graduate school, and promote a public art project. Our friends at PBS North have this Minnesota program on her work. It was produced by Mike Scholtz, with photography by Steve Ash, Heidi Eidenschink is the host.

WATCH

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa elected a new chairperson earlier this week as voters from across the six member nations of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe went to the polls.

Fond du Lac voters chose Bruce Savage to lead the tribal nation over incumbent Kevin DuPuis Sr. DuPuis led the Fond du Lac Band for the past eight years.

Savage, who will take office in July, will lead during a moment when the band is expanding its economic footprint on its lands.

In late May, the Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation approved a $2.5 million loan to the Fond du Lac Band for a start-up cannabis business on the reservation located southwest of Duluth. The band is also undertaking a restoration project at Wisconsin Point in the Duluth-Superior harbor after a decades-long fight to have the land returned. READ MORE — MPR News

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