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PORTLAND, Oregon — Walking through the front doors of the Kridel Grand Ballroom at the Portland Art Museum on the last Friday of May, hundreds of youth arrived in a queer wonderland.
“Anyone a part of the queer spectrum is welcomed and not only welcomed, but celebrated,” said Silas Hoffer, Yakama and Grand Ronde, Two-Spirit programming advocate at the Native American Youth and Family Center, better known as NAYA. “And they’re the main focus of the whole event.”
This year’s queer prom marked the return of the event for the first time since 2019. It was held just days before the start of LGBTQ+ Pride Month. About 300 students crowded the dance floor, dressed in whatever made them feel most comfortable — elf ears, fairy wings, a rainbow wolf mask, ball gowns, suits.
“I think part of creating that confidence and building up that sense of security in yourself is having spaces like this for the kids starting young,” said Hoffer. “So that they know that they don’t have to look around the corner everywhere they go and be scared.” READ MORE — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore News + ICT
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Native artist Marlena Myles — who uses advanced virtual reality technology to tell traditional stories — has been awarded a $50,000 Arts+Tech Fellowship from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Myles, Spirit Lake Dakota, is one of five innovative artists who are working at the nexus of art and technology.
“The intersection of art and technology enables new possibilities for storytelling and collaboration,” Koven Smith, senior director/arts at the Knight Foundation, said in a statement. “Across disciplines, this year’s fellows invite us to examine lesser-told histories, forge new ways of relating to one another, and envision alternative futures.”
The other 2023 Fellows are Yale faculty member American Artist, co-director of the School for Poetic Computation; Kara Güt, a multidisciplinary artist; Leo Castañeda, a multimedia artist and video game designer; and The Institute of Queer Ecology. READ MORE — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT
More than a dozen bald eagles were spotted as Indigenous canoeists paddled from Orcas Island to the grounds of the Lummi Nation, where tribes from across Washington and beyond have met for the Gathering of the Eagles, a nine-day celebration and cultural exchange.
The canoe journey began May 21, when several canoe groups — including the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society from Maui, the Chief Leschi Schools from Puyallup and the Carver’s Camp canoe from Tacoma — paddled from Anacortes to Lopez Island, before continuing on to San Juan Island and Orcas Island, completing the journey across the “ancestral highways” of the Coast Salish people.
The paddlers landed at the Stommish Grounds in the Lummi Nation on Friday, where the chairman of the Lummi Nation, Tony Hillaire, welcomed them.
“I’m so thankful to those coming to share their stories, their culture with us,” Hillaire said Friday. “It’s good feelings and good heart.” READ MORE — Cascadia Daily News
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s House of Representatives voted overwhelming Wednesday for a referendum to be held this year on creating an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, an advocate aiming to give the nation’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority more say on government policy.
While the Voice would advocate for Indigenous interests, it would not have a vote on laws, and debate for and against the elected body has become increasingly heated and divisive.
The 121-to-25 House vote that approved the referendum being held does not reflect the level of lawmakers’ support for enshrining the Voice in the constitution. The opposition conservative Liberal Party voted in support of giving Australians a choice at a referendum but is also campaigning for the Voice to be rejected by the public.
The Senate will vote on the bill in June, and the bill needs majority support to ensure that Australia’s first referendum since 1999 takes place between October and December this year. A majority of senators have already flagged their support. READ MORE — Associated Press
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The North American Indian Tennis Association hosted its championship tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma over the holiday weekend. The event brings more than 100 Native American players to the courts. Jessica Redcorn is the tournament director.
Alyssa London wears many hats, including being the founder of “Culture Story,” a media company promoting cross-cultural awareness and showcases Indigenous culture. Last year, she became the first Native contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. Her most recent project is hosting an upcoming special on MSNBC called “The Culture Is: Indigenous Women.” ICT’s Paris Wise has this interview.
A peak in western Oregon’s Umpqua National Forest has a new name. On April 13, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the change to Mount Halo from its previous name Swastika Mountain. The new title pays tribute to a Yoncalla Kalapuya tribal leader. Brian Bull is a reporter with KLCC News in Eugene, Oregon.
WATCH HERE:
First Native summits Mount Everest
A South Dakota surgeon has become the first Native American to summit Mount Everest. The 36-year old Cheyenne River Sioux doctor Jacob Weasel conquered the mountain peak earlier this month in an effort to make history and raise funds for charity. The expedition aimed to raise over $175,000 to build a playground in his hometown of Rapid City and fund women’s health centers in rural Nepal. WATCH — ICT Newscast with Aliyah Chavez
- South Dakota Native leaders focus on educational reforms: Native students tend to trail other race groups in standardized exams, one program hopes to change that with curriculum built on tribal culture
- Guatemala-born designer links history and culture with current trends in fashion show: ‘I’m a woman thinking of the needs of her community and Guatemalan towns’
- Protecting children and healing families, one Native auntie at a time: The My Two Aunties program provides Native families with trained home visitors who help build family resilience, honor and respect for elders, reminding participants that children are ‘gifts of responsibility’
- Revised DACA program to be debated before Texas judge who previously ruled against it
- How the Red Lake Nation has used the New Markets Tax Credit
- Senate passes GOP bill overturning student loan cancellation, teeing it up for Biden veto
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