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The Cherokee Nation has taken a multifaceted approach to revitalizing its language, everything from video games, to TikTok videos, social media posts and immersion schools for Cherokee language learning.
After nearly losing its language during the Oklahoma Boarding School Era, the tribe has relied on federal funding and its own efforts to bring the language back.
In a recent ICT and Tulsa Word interview, Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said “part of this effort will be to send a message to the United States that we are committing ourselves to putting our own resources in, but we are not going to let the United States off the hook. … The destruction of our language took place over a couple of centuries, and it was well funded by the United States, and we need to recognize that as a country.
When Cherokee children were placed in boarding schools from the late 1800s into the 1900s, they were not allowed to speak their Native language and were forced to learn English. Hoskin said the language was “beaten out of them.” READ MORE. — Felix Clary, ICT + Tulsa World
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This semester, Whitman College has a visiting professor on staff teaching a unique class on ethnogeology. Professor Roger Amerman is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation who grew up primarily in the Pacific Northwest and attended Whitman himself. Recently Amerman was contracted as the lead beadwork consultant for Marvel’s new show, “Echo.” Now, a geologist and an artist, Amerman will share his knowledge with the next generation of young minds interested in geology — and how Indigenous knowledge is a key piece of the puzzle.
Beading for a major television series came to fruition for Amerman through a lifetime of beading and decades of honing his craft. Amerman’s passion for fancy dancing took hold in middle school in the early 1970s. This led him to become the beader he is now.
“The reason I got up in the morning was to dance at the powwows,” Amerman said. READ MORE. — Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore News + ICT
As light from the morning sun began to fill the city of Portland, a group of over 100 community members gathered together on the steps of the Lovejoy Fountain Park in downtown Portland. Traditional Palestinian Keffiyehs, now a symbol for Palestinian freedom, shielded the faces of some attendees and kept them warm in the dreary weather.
The smell of sage wafted through the air leading community members to the Indigenous-led sunrise ceremony in solidarity with Palestine, as Lummi Nation citizen, Nic Niggemeyer, shared a hand drum song with the crowd.
As the clock ticked closer to 9:30 am, attendees lined up inside a City of Portland Building for the Jan. 24 Portland City Council meeting. Dozens streamed into the meeting room. Four people who signed up ahead of time, delivered remarks to city commissioners and asked them to pass a resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Mayor Ted Wheeler was not in attendance, as he had a “conflict for the early part of the meeting,” according to commissioner Mingus Mapps, who presided over the meeting. READ MORE. — Underscore News + ICT
It isn’t just fashion designers who get called out for using Native names and imagery to sell products and that doesn’t sit well with media professor Gary Rhodes.
He’s been campaigning against the practice for years most recently, in an essay in The Washington Post.
ICT caught up with him and asked him about a particular car name, the Jeep Cherokee. READ MORE. — ICT
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A popular series on PBS, “Finding Your Roots,” has been unraveling the past for over a decade. Last week, an award-winning Cherokee actor discovered some surprising facts about his ancestry on the show.
ICT’s Shirley Sneve has this interview with Wes Studi. READ MORE. — ICT
- Native suicide prevention strategies scarce: Experts point to the lack of culturally relevant programs that are sensitive to Native community values.
- ‘You don’t want to be part of this club’: In Fort Peck, death has become part of life.
- Indigenous players part of women’s hockey league: Toronto players Victoria Bach, Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, and Jocelyne Larocque, Métis, have played hockey at its highest levels.
- Gila River governor prioritizes land, water, infrastructure and partnerships: Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis was recently sworn in for his fourth term.
- Mandan-Hidatsa musician receives scholarship to pursue dreams: Hobawea Nahish Demara is heading to Berklee College of Music in Boston.
- The Native Americans who back Israel against Hamas.
- Museums close Native American displays after new regulations take effect.
- Native sound production company dubs Lakota language for Disney+ Marvel Studios film.
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