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Sitting in a photography course at Black Hills State University, Eunice Straight Head was the only Indigenous person in the room.
Being the only Indigenous student was intimidating, but Black Hills State University photography professor Steve Babbitt sat the Cheyenne River Lakota woman and encouraged them to keep going.
“I was the only Indigenous person in the program for a long time,” Straight Head said. “He told me he saw a lot of potential in me and my viewpoint.”
Straight Head, who is non-binary and uses she and they pronouns, said Babbitt’s support was what kept them going. Having a mentor who encouraged them to sharpen their skills and showcase their culture was what they needed to continue. READ MORE. — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
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An orphaned killer whale stranded in a remote Vancouver Island lagoon is proving difficult for rescuers to catch, an official at the site said Friday.
Ehattesaht First Nation Chief Simon John said the capture operation is in the “demobilization stage” after an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the 2-year-old orca that began before dawn.
He said they plan to try again in a couple of days, and that rescuers were “standing down.”
The 2-year-old calf has been alone in Little Espinosa Inlet for about three weeks after its pregnant mother was beached at low tide and died on March 23.
The pair got into the lagoon by swimming through a narrow and fast-moving channel connecting it to the ocean.
The First Nation said earlier that the rescue was launched at 5 a.m. because of favorable weather conditions.
The rescue plan involves trying to corral the female calf into a shallow part of the 3-kilometer lagoon, using boats, divers and a net, before she would be placed in a large fabric sling and hoisted onto a transport vehicle. — Associated Press
Navajo Nation citizens have spent decades in need of new and improved housing across their reservation. In response, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren is working with ZenniHome in a public-private partnership to bring sustainable and affordable factory-made housing to its citizens.
The Navajo Nation awarded ZenniHome a $50 million grant from its Community Housing and Infrastructure Department and another $24 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to expand production of houses by building a second factory at the former Navajo Generating Station site.
The company’s 3-bedroom homes are priced at $200,000 and will include water, sewer, electricity and basic appliances. That includes off-grid options to provide water, internet, sewer and electricity for homes too far from utilities.
According to a press release, many homes with similar amenities being built on the Navajo Nation sell for between $400,000-$500,000. READ MORE. — Source New Mexico
Julie Kitka, the longtime president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, has been nominated by Alaska’s congressional delegation to be a new co-chair of the Denali Commission, which oversees a variety of federal programs in the state.
AFN is the largest Alaska Native organization. Kitka was elected as its president in 1990, but she joined the organization years earlier. AFN announced in February that Kitka would be stepping down in time for a new president to be selected before this year’s convention.
The Denali Commission, established through an act of Congress passed in 1998 and shepherded by the late Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is an international federal agency that provides infrastructure and interagency economic support in rural Alaska.
KItka would be the top federal leader on the commission if the nomination is approved. The commission also has a co-chair from the state government, Micaela Fowler. READ MORE. — Alaska Beacon
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On Monday’s ICT Newscast, the Assistant Secretary of the BIA talks about the climate and the government’s initiatives with tribes. A Sicangu artist who was recently made a fellow to a prestigious foundation. A visit with the artist in residence at the Great Plains Art Museum.
Watch:
The North Dakota State Water Commission approved $107 million across 26 cost-sharing projects on Thursday.
One of the recipients was the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, which received $1.35 million for preconstruction of a $30 million water treatment plant, intake and raw water line project, according to a Department of Water Resources news release.
The project is believed to be the largest cost-share project ever between the state and a tribal nation, the news release said.
In 2023, the Legislature passed House Bill 1385, which added federally recognized tribal nations as acceptable partners for North Dakota cost-sharing projects. Prior to the bill’s passage, only the federal government, state political subdivisions and Canadian provinces were considered acceptable cost-sharing partners.
In the news release, Robert White, council member for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, called the funding a “great win.” READ MORE. — North Dakota Monitor
A 35-year-old, Native-led nonprofit organization is taking steps toward reuniting youth with sacred sites.
On April 11, the Cheyenne River Youth Project announced that it had purchased 40 acres of land adjacent to Bear Butte State Park in Meade County, South Dakota.
The nonprofit will hold a private dedication ceremony with youth from the Cheyenne River Reservation on Friday, April 26.
This purchase brings the Cheyenne River Youth Project into the larger Land Back movement, a generations-long effort to reunite Indigenous people with their ancestral lands. READ MORE.— ICT
- Yanomami leader asks Pope to support reversing Amazon damage: Studies have shown that Indigenous-controlled forests are the best-preserved in the Brazilian Amazon.
- Water from arsenic-laced wells could protect tribal land from wildfires: ‘We’re looking to deal with extended drought and the increasing intensity of wildfires.’
- Civic responsibility at Juneau Traditional Games: Native Youth Olympics teams cut their teeth in the capital city before the Anchorage competition at the end of April.
- A sacred space: For Native communities, theater is more than just a pastime: It’s necessary for healing.
- Desperate young Guatemalans try to reach the US: Most come from tiny hamlets in the predominantly Indigenous Western Highlands.
- OSU partners with Native American tribes to explore making products and materials with hemp.
- UCLA study: ‘Despair’-related deaths of Blacks, Native Americans overtake those of whites.
- Alaska Native remains repatriated from Oregon asylum but many Lost Alaskans still buried.
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.
