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RAPID CITY, S.D. – In the mid-90s, skateboarding was beginning to gain in popularity across the United States. In 1999, the first Tony Hawk video game hit shelves, and when it did skateboards began to hit the streets across America, including on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Kyle Mesteth, Oglala Lakota, was one of these teens, skating at the Pine Ridge High School with his cousin and other “rebel” skaters.
Now, in a “full circle” moment, Mesteth will serve as the first skateboarding coach of the new skateboard team in the very high school he used to skate around.
“It’s a great honor and a major compliment for them to pick me,” Mesteth said. “I didn’t even know they were going to have a program, and it was just mind-blowing for me. It was full circle for me.” READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal
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Over $500,000 has been allocated to various organizations nationwide to assist workers and learners within Native nations and communities.
The Workforce Grantmaking in Native Nations and Communities Initiative (WGNNC), launched by Workforce Matters, has revealed eight recipients who will each obtain up to $70,000 to develop initiatives focused on involving workers and learners in Native nations in the creation and execution of workforce policies and programs. These awardees, representing organizations tailored to address the unique workforce development challenges faced by Native nations, will benefit from adaptable resources and support to test, innovate, or enhance their strategies.
The recipients of the awards are as follows:
Purple Maiʻa Foundation from Hawai’i, Kenaitze Indian Tribe located in Kenai; Alaska, Little Big Horn College based in Crow Agency, Montana; Red Lake Nation- Oshkiimaajitahdah in Redby, Minnesota; Saad K’idilyé from Albuquerque, New Mexico; Northern California Indian Development Council, Inc in Eureka, California; Change Labs situated in Tuba City, Arizona; and MIGIZI Communications Inc. from Minneapolis, Minnesota. READ MORE — Shondiin Mayo, ICT
Red Lake School District 38 held a ribbon cutting event Friday, Sept. 27, to unveil two new electric school buses. The day began with a drum ceremony and dancers followed by speakers who made the buses two-year acquisitions possible.
Red Lake Tribal chair Darrell Seki Sr. lauded the benefits of electric vehicles.
“There’s less pollution, it will be more air quality for our children, but you know, green energy, I guess this a new way of life because there’s electric vehicles now,” he said. “I’m honored to be here.”
After the ribbon cutting event the schools’ superintendent Tim Lutz said he was pleased that Red Lake is one of the first educational institutions in the state to use electric school buses. READ MORE — MPR News
The Gila River Indian Community has been a leader in Colorado River conservation efforts in Arizona, and their efforts are growing as funding from the Inflation Reduction Act will help the tribe launch new water conservation projects in October.
“Each one of these projects will allow us to use our water more efficiently on our farms, with annual savings in water of over 7,400 acre-feet per year,” Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis said in a statement.
The Gila River Indian Community received funding from the Bureau of Reclamation for three separate critical water infrastructure projects totaling nearly $107 million.
Lewis said the Gila River Indian Community is excited about the funding for the three major infrastructure improvements because they will have significant benefits — not only for the tribe, but for the entire region. READ MORE — AZ Mirror
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KENDRICK, Idaho — An Idaho state senator angrily told a Native candidate to “go back where you came from” during a bipartisan candidate forum this week after an audience member raised questions about discrimination in the state.
Trish Carter-Goodheart, a Democratic candidate for Idaho’s House District 6 seat and a citizen of the Nez Perce Tribe, said Republican Dan Foreman yelled at her after she talked about discrimination and racism in Idaho.
She said the blowup left her shaken and thinking about security needs for future public events. Foreman left the event early after the outburst, and later denied making racist comments in a Facebook post. He did not respond to a voice message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Carter-Goodheart said it also forced some tough conversations with her two young children, who were in attendance. READ MORE — Associated Press
Organizer Cassie Holmes dished up this year’s pickle entries using a toothpick. Holmes, a citizen of the Lac Courte Oreilles Lake Superior Band of Ojibwe, is a co-founder of the annual Pickle-Off, a contest at the Four Sisters Farmers Market in south Minneapolis. The contest, which took place on Thursday, Sept. 26, started from the moment each jar popped open.
Holmes, alongside other organizers made trophies, award certificates and t-shirts praising the work of picklers as “kind of a big dill.”
The annual friendly competition encourages neighbors to preserve food for the winter months and to promote food sovereignty — the idea that Indigenous people can recreate local healthy food networks. The event was sponsored by the Native American Community Development Institute and the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis.
The contest started as a friendly competition between neighbors. The story goes that an urban farmer at Little Earth of United Tribes claimed to make the best pickles. The challenge was picked up by former Minneapolis Council member Lisa Goodman who claimed she had the best. READ MORE — MPR News
- Oglala Sioux Tribe takes steps to protect Black Hills: The recent blockage of a uranium mine in the Black Hills is just one of many initiatives the Oglala Sioux Tribe is taking to protect the hills
- Rez Dogs actors encourage Natives to vote: Zahn McClarnon: ‘Everybody, get out there and register and vote: don’t be a shitass’ #NativeVote24
- ICT REPORTS: Opioid crisis devastates Indigenous communities in Canada: An ICT investigation found that Canada’s health care system helped fund a sharp rise in opiate use among younger generations
- EDA announces $5M funding opportunity to boost economic development in Indigenous communities
- Georgia Supreme Court restores near-ban on abortions while state appeals
- NCAA’s $2.78 billion settlement with colleges to allow athlete payments gets preliminary approval
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