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PORTLAND, Ore. — Staff greeted visitors to the Center for Native Arts and Cultures on the evening of Sept. 19, handing out posters, magazines and bandanas emblazoned with the words “Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory.”
Mixed media art covered the gallery at the Center, a collection of work from 10 artists from the past 15 years of Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) fellowship programs. A twisted metal sculpture hung from the ceiling, paintings of Alaska Native women adorned one corner and a wood carving stood near the center of the room.
“Throughout my career, I’ve watched NACF use their capacity to empower others in the Native arts and creative community,” Andrea Hanley, citizen of the Navajo Nation, vice president of programs at NACF and the exhibit curator, said to a crowd gathered for the opening reception of ‘Citizen Fellow.’ “This exhibition features artists who have centralized cultural consciousness and the influence of NACF in their work.”
Spanning mediums such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, video and installation, the exhibition runs through Nov. 23 at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures. READ MORE — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore Native News + ICT
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Around the world: Hydropower expansion disrupts Indigenous communities in Philippines, Canadian Medical Association apologizes for harm caused to Indigenous Peoples, Japanese-Uyghur lawmaker urges Tokyo to strengthen stance on China.
PHILIPPINES: Hydropower expansion disrupts Indigenous communities
In the mountains of Kalinga province, northern Philippines, once-close village communities have grown distant. Friendly greetings between neighbors tending farmlands have faded, replaced by avoidant glances or hostile stares. Mongabay reported on Sept. 18.
“We don’t talk much like before,” says Gohn Dangoy, a 59-year-old farmer of the Naneng tribe in Kalinga’s Tabuk city, according to Mongabay. “If we do, we argue. Families and friends alike are at odds.” He says the “deep division” started because of the proposed dam on the Chico River.
In the municipality of Balbalan, west of Tabuk, locals live in constant fear as military operations coincide with the arrival of hydropower projects. Eufemia Bog-as, a resident, recalls waking up to bombings in March 2023. READ MORE— Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT
WETUMPKA, Ala. — At the height of Muscogee power, thousands of people filled the tribe’s sprawling territory on the lush banks of the Coosa River in present-day Alabama.
Oce Vpofv, or Hickory Ground, was a town, a ceremonial site, burial ground, and the last tribal capital before the Muscogee people were forcibly removed from the Southeast to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.
Today in its place, the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel rises 20 stories above the winding river. The development is at the center of a long-simmering dispute between two tribal nations. The Muscogee Nation are descendants of people who called the land home and Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians is a separate tribal nation that shares ancestry with the Muscogee and built the casino after gaining ownership of the site.
The Muscogee Nation contends that Alabama’s Poarch Creeks do not have historic ties to Hickory Ground and illegally excavated the remains of Muscogee ancestors to build the $246 million casino. The Poarch Band maintains that it too has ancestral ties to Hickory Ground and has worked to preserve much of the historic site. The excavation of the graves and development at the historic site has fueled a dispute that has devastated the relationship between two tribal nations. Their historic link has only exacerbated the deep sense of betrayal that Muscogee in Oklahoma feel over the development of what was their tribal capital. READ MORE — Associated Press
RENO, Nev. — U.S. land managers said Thursday they’ve completed a final environmental review of a proposed Nevada lithium mine that would supply minerals critical to electric vehicles and a clean energy future while still protecting an endangered wildflower.
“This environmental analysis is the product of the hard work of experts from multiple agencies to ensure that we protect species as we provide critical minerals to the nation,” Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a statement Thursday.
The agency’s final environmental impact statement is subject to a 30-day comment period. It’s likely to face legal challenges from environmentalists who say it clearly violates the Endangered Species Act and will cause the desert flower Tiehm’s buckwheat to go extinct at the only place it exists in the world near the California line halfway between Reno and Las Vegas.
The Australian mining company pushing the project said completion of the review is a “significant milestone” in a six-year-long effort to build the Rhyolite Ridge mine. It anticipates production to begin as early as 2028 of the element key to manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles. READ MORE — Associated Press
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On Saturday, supporters will gather for a groundbreaking ceremony on the Red Lake Nation for a memorial dedicated to those affected by the mass shooting in 2005.
The incident began at the perpetrator’s grandfather’s home and ended at the high school. Ten people were killed that day including the shooter by a self-inflicted gunshot.
Memorial efforts are being led by the 3.21.05 Memorial Fund which gets its name from the date of the shootings. A small group of survivors formed the nonprofit in the fall of 2022. The group’s chair, Starr Jourdain, said she wants her fallen classmates to be remembered.
“I was there on that day in school. I’m going to leave it at that,” she said. “But my friends, they died that day. And for me and our group here to just keep their memory alive and keep moving forward for them to get something real nice done.” READ MORE — MPR News
PHOENIX – Carletta Tilousi was a young girl when she first heard about possible uranium mining near her home of Supai. Deep within the canyons near the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, this is where the Havasupai people reside.
From the day they were contacted about it, the Havasupai were resistant to uranium mining near their homelands.
“Our tribal leaders were approached and told that if you support this effort, we will provide education and support your tribe, since this is near your sacred mountain and aboriginal territory, and the tribe said no, the council at the time said no,” Tilousi said.
That was nearly 40 years ago, and now that same mine is finally operational. But Tilousi and the Havasupai are continuing the fight against the Pinyon Plain Mine near the Havasupai’s ancestral homelands. Tilousi serves on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council after previously serving 20 years on the Havasupai Tribal Council. READ MORE— Cronkite News
- Hotel files bankruptcy, delaying civil rights lawsuit: The Retsel Corporation, which owns the Grand Gateway Hotel, filed for bankruptcy two days before a trial related to the hotel’s former owner allegedly denying Native customers
- Sacred Texas park site of conflict over birds: Native Americans and allies say contractors are disrupting ceremonies, firing bird-deterrent blanks in close proximity to people at San Antonio park
- The long fight for Oklahoma tribal sovereignty: Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagle launches her new book that focuses on efforts to achieve tribal sovereignty in Oklahoma
- First Ever Indigenous Marine Sanctuary in U.S. One Step Closer to Reality
- The northern lights might again be visible in the US as solar activity increases
- A huge Hurricane Helene is expected to hit Florida as a major storm and strike far inland
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