Credit: Dawn Wormington, Osage Nation director of natural resources and food sovereignty, walks through a greenhouse to pick peppers at Osage Harvest Land farm on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Pawhuska, Okla. (Mike Simons, Tulsa World)

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TULSA, Okla. – The Osage Nation has gained food sovereignty through the pandemic by scoring 250 bison and working to bring back cultural buffalo dances and traditional meals, says Osage Chief Jefferey Standing Bear.

“The last time we had a buffalo hunt was in the 1860s. … That whole culture we had involved with the buffalo is pretty well past. We still have buffalo clans, but we don’t have buffalo dances, and we lost so much. … So what we’ve been trying to do is bring those activities and try to rebuild our culture.”

After having no bison for 150 years, the Osage Nation has enough buffalo now to serve the community. The 250 buffalo roam the 43,000-acre Butcher House Meats Ranch in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

Buffalo dances are ceremonial dances performed at festivals, believed to assure the return of the buffalo and food provisions for the season. When there were no buffalo left in Oklahoma, this dance was unable to continue.

On April 6, Standing Bear attended a food sovereignty panel and traditional meal served in Harvest Land Farms’ greenhouse, during the Sovereign Futures four-day gathering.

The panel consisted of Chief Standing Bear, artist Tahila Mintz, Native Farm Solution’s creator Travis Andrews, and Dr. Rodney Clark, owner of Clark-Asbury Ranch in North Tulsa.

Standing Bear told panel-listeners that for the Osage Nation, food sovereignty lies in providing healthy, culturally significant food for its people. Bison is a staple in Osage diet and culture.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Osage Nation struggled to access fresh produce, which was already difficult since they were located in a food desert, with few grocery stores nearby.

On March 20, 2020, Standing Bear’s staff told him the only food left was in everyone’s refrigerators, because the slaughter houses and grocery stores were shutting down due to the pandemic. They had no more food supply for the food distribution programs the Osage Nation offers. READ MORE. —Felix Clary, ICT

ART: Weaving webs with wool

Fourth-generation Diné weaver Melissa Cody has her first major solo exhibition at MOMA PS1 in New York now through September 9, 2024. “Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies” spans the last decade of her intricate practice, showcasing over 30 weavings that include a major new work made for the exhibition. Her unbelievably complex work using traditional weaving techniques incorporates new digital technologies. Cody will also have a solo show at New York’s Garth Greenan Gallery, Melissa Cody: Power Up, from April 25-June 15, 2024.

Cody combines traditional Navajo symbols and patterns with Arizona references of landscapes and even video games. The title of the exhibition, “Webbed Skies,” refers to the sky as a unifying element, connecting various narratives and methods of land and sky coexistence that goes beyond borders.

While adept at myriad styles of weaving, Cody primarily engages with the Germantown Revival movement that emerged after the tragic period known as the Long Walk (1863–68) that aimed to expel the Navajo people from their land.

MUSIC: Stellar new music from Canada

PaulStar, aka Paul Napash, the multi-talented Cree musician, artist and producer hailing from Chisasibi, Quebec, has released his first full-length album, “Bring It All Together.”

Blending his Indigenous roots and his love of alternative rock, pop and hip-hop, the record shows his musical evolution. When creating “Bring It All Together,” PaulStar underwent an introspective journey to elevate the voices of Indigenous people while taking inspiration from bands he admired.

“I always wanted to be a rock star and I loved the 80s music growing up in Chisasibi,” PaulStar said in a statement. “I learned quickly through private instruction and self-teaching, even though I didn’t attend music school. My goal is to leave my mark in the music industry and ‘Bring It All

Together’ encouraged me to demonstrate my guitar skills and vocal range.”

The musical journey takes listeners through a wide range of themes, from love to self-discovery. Highlights of the album’s versatility include the raw, intimate “Rain” and the genre-spanning prowess of “Home with You” and “Perfect Love.”

DESIGN: Antler art tells stories

Telling tales with the shed antlers of deer and elk is the heart of Mohawk Maiden Creations, created by Cynthia Graves, Mohawk, and her husband David in South Florida.

“Our pieces are handcrafted from naturally shed antlers that we find throughout America,” Graves told ICT. “We slice, hand drill, inlay, resin and buff them to glow, then we add adornments of sterling, gold or semi-precious stones. We can also create a special piece with our special amulet. It’s an amazing way to honor the incredible science of antlers, which are grown and shed yearly.”

Graves uses cord, ribbon, beads and chains to hang the antler pieces. The art is more than just decorative.

“David and I repurpose antlers. Antlers are dropped every season by males, and they grow back the following rut season in which to fight off other males from females. What better way to honor a beautiful buck than to create amazing pieces to wear from them. READ MORE. — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT

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Next week, Grist begins its pooled coverage of the 2024 United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, which runs from April 15 to April 26 in New York. For the third year, Grist is working with a consortium of media outlets on collaborative, pooled coverage.

The collaborative includes ICT, High Country News, Mongabay, Native News Online, and APTN. Grist editor Tristan Ahtone coordinates coverage among the newsrooms in a shared Slack channel, and editors from each newsroom participate in the editorial process. Every story produced by participants is available to republish by the other members, as well as other outlets. Last year, the group covered a variety of topics including disaster relief, PFAS contamination, and Indigeneity as a determinant of health. READ MORE. — Grist

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.

Mato Paha, or Bear Butte, is one of the most sacred sites for the Lakota people. Access to Bear Butte was severed in the 19th Century with the seizure of the Black Hills and dissolution of the Great Sioux Reservation into the modern-day Cheyenne River, Rosebud, Pine Ridge, Lower Brule, Crow Creek and Standing Rock reservations.

“In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the United States had illegally taken the Black Hills,” said Julie Garreau, Cheyenne River Youth Project’s chief executive officer, in an April 11 press release. “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun wrote, ‘A more ripe and rank case of dishonest dealings may never be found in our history.’”

Garreau said many tribal citizens have to make a five-hour round trip to visit Bear Butte and often can’t afford lodging prices. Garreau and her team thought it was important to make the purchase now as land values continue to skyrocket.

“Now, with this land, we have a foundation,” Garreau said. “We will be able (to) bring our children here for culture camps, internship activities, workshops and physical activities, and we can take them on field trips to other important sites like Wind Cave, Black Elk Peak and Mato Tipila (Devil’s Tower).” READ MORE. — ICT

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The founder and CEO of the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center said abortion rights and reproductive just issues are a bipartisan issue. It’s an issue that she’s been working on for decades.

“It’s important for people to realize that this is about choice, personal choices and do you really want the government to be making your personal choices?,” Charon Asetoyer, Comanche, said.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, April 9, that abortion will be illegal in Arizona, home to 22-federally recognized tribes. It upholds the 1864 ban that bars all abortions except in cases when “it is necessary to save” a pregnant person’s life.

The 4-2 ruling on the Planned Parenthood of Arizona vs. Mayes/Hazelrigg case could go into effect later this month unless legal action is taken. The ruling overturns the March 2022 law that gave a 15-week ban on abortion which a lower court ruled that superseded the 1864 law when Arizona was a territory and not yet a state.

The court said the 15-week ban law is predicated “entirely on the existence of a federal constitutional right to an abortion since disclaimed.” They added the 2022 law “does not independently authorize abortion, there is no provision in federal or state law prohibiting” the 1864 ban.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade in June 2022. Since then 16 states have made abortion illegal, including those with the highest Native populations: Oklahoma, Arizona and Texas.

In addition to not allowing abortion the 1864 ban does not make exceptions for rape or incest and makes those who perform an abortion a felony and punishable up to five years in prison.

Indian Health Service already follows a similar ban under the Hyde amendment that doesn’t allow federal funding for abortions unless the pregnancy is a result of rape, incest, or if the pregnancy endangers your life.

However, IHS does not have the capabilities of providing an abortion. Even though there are 24 IHS facilities in Arizona, only one clinic is in the greater Phoenix area. Comparably there are five Planned Parenthood health clinics in the greater Phoenix area. Tucson and Flagstaff also have one. READ MORE. — Kalle Benallie, ICT

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