Credit: A. Gay Kingman | Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe - executive director, Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association

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RAPID CITY, S.D. – Arlouine Gay Kingman smiled bashfully, flanked by her granddaughter and son, as her name was announced during the Rapid City South Dakota Hall of Fame gathering on May 2. Dressed in a ribbon skirt with a beaded blazer, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe citizen represented her people as one of the few Indigenous people in the room.

Kingman, executive director of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Association, has made a massive impact on Indian Country over the span of her six-decade career and doesn’t plan on stopping soon.

“My life has always been to work for the people and do whatever I can do to protect our sovereignty, that’s the main thing,” Kingman said. “I’ll never be out of a job because protecting our sovereignty is ongoing.”

Of the 782 Hall of Fame inductees, about 45 are Native American, said South Dakota Hall of Fame CEO Laurie Becvar.

“We’re so happy about Gay’s (induction),” Becvar said. “Gay is known for her hard work and results-driven approach, she’s a trailblazer.” READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal

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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Two days before their May 16 graduation, five Oklahoma tribes celebrated the 24 Native graduates of the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, the nation’s first tribally affiliated medical school.

Each tribal representative took turns calling out his or her tribe’s graduates and giving each a stole, sash or beaded stethoscope.

“In the spirit of your ancestors, you have embraced the path of healing, not just for individuals but for communities and cultures,” said Choctaw Chief Gary Batton to the Choctaw graduates.

Batton, Chickasaw Gov. Bill Anoatubby, Cherokee Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., and representatives from the Seminole (former Chief Lewis Johnson) and Muscogee Nation (secretary of education Kaila Harjo) were in attendance. READ MORE — Felix Clary, ICT and Tulsa World

RAPID CITY, S.D. – When actress Lily Gladstone made their debut at the Met Gala on May 6, she chose to use her spotlight to honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, specifically fellow actor Cole Brings Plenty.

“It’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s week and I’m wearing braids in my hair for Cole Brings Plenty who passed away recently. He should have graduated from Haskell last week,” Gladstone said in a red carpet-interview. “Braids for Cole.”

When Gladstone graced the red carpet, the Siksikaitsitapii and Nimíipuu actress donned two long black braids in honor of Brings Plenty, whose hair was reportedly cut before he was found dead on April 5.

“Our pȟehíŋ, our hair, is so sacred,” said Candi Brings Plenty, Cole’s cousin. “It’s how we’re connected to our ancestors and to the Spirit. The fact that they cut his hair, essentially, is beyond what in colonial terms is a hate crime. It severed his connection to the ancestors.” READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal

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PARIS — Violence raged across New Caledonia for the third consecutive day Thursday, hours after France imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory, boosting security forces’ powers to quell unrest in the archipelago that has long sought independence.

French authorities in New Caledonia and the interior ministry in Paris said five people, including two police officers, were killed after protests earlier this week over voting reforms pushed by President Emmanuel Macron’s government turned deadly.

At least 60 members of the security forces were injured and 214 people were arrested over clashes with police, arson and looting Thursday, the territory’s top French official, High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, said.

“Everything is being done to restore order and calm that Caledonians deserve,” French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said after a meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris.

He said that in addition to 1,700 security forces troops that have already been deployed to help police, 1,000 more are on the way but the situation “remains very tense, with looting, riots, arson and attacks, which are unbearable and unspeakable.” READ MORE — Associated Press

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