The Wrap: #NativeVote24
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:
Nine Indigenous political candidates are running for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2024 election cycle.
All candidates will be on the ballot in the Nov. 5 general election, including four incumbents — Josh Brecheen, Tom Cole, Sharice Davids and Mary Peltola. Former Navajo Nation President Johnathan Nez is also running in a tight race to be the first Native American person to represent Arizona in Congress.
Candidates from Oklahoma to Alaska share their platforms, hopes, and challenges for this 2024 general election. READ MORE. — Kadin Mills, ICT
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The ICT Newscast features politics, ballots in tribal languages. A Seattle organization serves culture with housing and a new definition of the Rez Car.
Lisa Carlow has been counting the weeks since she lost her father Patrick Carlow Sr. – 73 weeks spent hoping for answers. With a new reward for information, the family may be closer to answers.
On Oct. 3, the Federal Bureau of Investigations announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for Carlow’s death.
Carlow, 73, was found dead on the morning of May 19, 2023, at his home in rural Oglala, S.D., off of Highway 18.
Over a year later, the family has received little to no answers about what happened to the Oglala Lakota elder. READ MORE. — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
Alaska Federation of Natives President Julie Kitka, who is Chugach Eskimo, received a long, loving farewell at the AFN annual convention in Anchorage this week. She announced her departure last February after 33 years with the organization.
In a keynote address Thursday, Kitka named more than two dozen people who were mentors and colleagues along the way. She credited the teamwork with them and her staff for a long list of achievements during her tenure. Afterwards, two or three representatives of each of the 12 regions of the state expressed their appreciation and gave her gifts.
Her talk took the form of a letter to her two grandchildren. She said she often told herself her job “was to expand the imagination of our people, to create opportunities for our people to grow and soar, and (to) have a future full of possibilities.” She said her professional goal was “ensuring that the Alaska Native community is at the table when decisions are made which affect their lives, and working to change government policy to reflect Native goals and aspirations for their future.” READ MORE. — Joaqlin Estus, ICT
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Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers in southern Mexico, was killed on Sunday.
The prosecutors' office in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, in the state of Chiapas, said the religious leader was shot dead by two gunmen when he was in his van.
Pérez was a member of the Tzotzil Indigenous people and had just finished serving a Mass when he was attacked. He served the community for two decades and was known as a negotiator in conflicts in a mountainous region of Chiapas where crime, violence and land disputes are rife.
Pérez also led several marches against violence, which has brought him several death threats.
Chipas Gov. Rutilio Escandón posted on X that he condemned "the cowardly assassination of father Marcelo Pérez. — Associated Press
Adam Becenti had big dreams for his first Indigenous Peoples Day as Portland’s Tribal Relations Program manager. His plans to host a panel discussion with Native journalists in a city building felt like an opportunity to demonstrate the city’s commitment to listening to Indigenous communities.
But those plans never came to fruition.
Less than two weeks before the day intended to recognize and honor the contributions of Native American people, Becenti was abruptly fired with little explanation.
Becenti is a member of the Diné Nation, and had led the city’s Tribal Relations Program for five months. His firing has drawn a swift outcry from several of the city’s prominent Native-led organizations, who say the decision calls for a serious overhaul to a program they believe city leaders have long overlooked and underfunded. READ MORE. — OPB
Eighty-five religious organizations stepped up to support Apache Stronghold in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision over the Oak Flat copper mine, saying it discriminates against Native religious beliefs.
The organizations filed an amicus brief, known as a “friend of the court” brief, on Monday, Oct. 14, supporting Apache Stronghold's challenge of a federal land transfer that gave away land in the Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper in exchange for other lands.
In the process, the mine would destroy parts of Chí’chil Biłdagoteel, the sacred Oak Flat site important to several tribes including the Apache. READ MORE. — Kadin Mills, ICT
- A rare water collaboration is overcoming regulatory obstacles: Water users in Washington and Oregon are working together to keep streams flowing in the Walla Walla River Basin.
- Statue of Kansa warrior ends decades-long effort: Kansas governor: Kansa tribe members cap 22-year project by dedicating Capitol plaza.
- Washingtonians will cast major climate vote: Ballot Initiative 2117 would repeal the state’s groundbreaking climate law — and cut off funds for public land and water restoration.
- Steeped in Indigenous foodways, community and corn are key ingredients: For chef Gustavo Romero the goal of the work is to revitalize nixtamalization as a cultural practice.
- The Mississippi River is eroding sacred Indigenous mounds: It's a product both of climate change, which is causing wetter conditions across the upper Midwest, and engineered alterations to the river's flow.
- 'Good Morning Indian Country' receives $100,000 grant from Press Forward.
- New toolkit outlines strategies to improve mental health and addiction services for Indigenous people.
- Biden-Harris Administration Takes Groundbreaking Action to Expand Health Care Access by Covering Traditional Health Care Practices.
- Native women fought for years to expand Plan B access. But some tribal clinics remain resistant.
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.
