Greetings, relatives.

A lot of news out there. Thanks for stopping by ICT’s digital platform.

Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you. Remember to scroll to the bottom to see what’s popping out to us on social media and what we’re reading.

Also, if you like our daily digest, sign up for The Weekly, our newsletter emailed to you on Thursdays. If you like what we do and want us to keep going, support and donate here.

Okay, here’s what you need to know today:

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Comments made by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem during a March 13 bill signing in Mitchell and later at a town hall in Winner led four tribes to call for her to apologize.

During the two town hall meetings, Noem accused tribal council members of “standing in her way,” failing youth and benefiting from drug cartel operations. Now, tribal leaders from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Crow Creek Sioux Tribe are responding to those allegations.

“Her remarks were made from ignorance and with the intention to fuel a racially based and discriminatory narrative towards the Native people of South Dakota,” said Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Scott Herman in a March 15 press release. “We demand an apology from the governor.”

During a question-and-answer session after signing two new education bills, Noem commented on low graduation rates and low attendance rates due to a “lack of parental involvement.” READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal

SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. CONTRIBUTE TODAY

NEW YORK CITY – Museums are scrambling.

New federal rules governing Native American remains and materials now guarantee in many cases that Indigenous communities can decide what gets shown to the public in display cases across the United States.

The approach is a jolt to a tradition-bound industry that “completely eliminates an institution’s unilateral power over the collections,” said Shannon O’Loughlin, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and chief executive of the Association on American Indian Affairs.

Many institutions, like the Peabody Museum at Harvard University and the Field Museum in Chicago, have removed items or closed exhibits rather than fall afoul of the new requirement that they obtain “free, prior and informed consent” for their collections. READ MORE — Steward Huntington, ICT

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by award-winning writer Wendell Berry and his wife to stop the University of Kentucky from removing a mural that has been the object of protests for its depictions of Black people and Native Americans. But the ruling also protects the artwork.

The lawsuit was filed in 2020 after Eli Capilouto, the university president, announced that the mural would be coming down.

Painted in the 1930s by Ann Rice O’Hanlon, the fresco mural shows the history of Lexington in a series of scenes, including Black men and women planting tobacco and a Native American man holding a tomahawk. There have been efforts to remove the mural since at least 2006.

The order filed Monday says the Berrys don’t have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, but it also notes the historical significance of the artwork and said removing it would be an “insult” to Kentucky residents. READ MORE— Associated Press

In 2009, the predominantly Han Athabascan Native Village of Eagle “looked as if a giant hand scooped up the village, shook it like dice and flung it out, then cast a storm of ice on it,” the Anchorage Daily News reported. The village in Eastern Alaska along the Canadian border was destroyed when the Yukon River flooded the Village and the nearby predominantly non-Native Eagle City.

The villagers had already started to relocate the community seven miles away to higher ground. But at least 30 villagers were left homeless. They scattered to take shelter in Fairbanks, Anchorage and other larger communities. Some to this day are still hoping to return home to Eagle Village.

Chief Karma Ulvi, who is Han Athabascan, said that’s why a $2 million Indian Community Development Block grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) is so important. She said it’s costly and difficult to build housing in rural Alaska where transportation costs are high.

“We only have a road that’s open from April to October. So our building season is fairly short. And then materials, and with inflation, are extremely high. And then you have to truck everything here to rural Alaska. Then building is very expensive for, I mean, if you have a work crew that’s great, but contractors and stuff. So there’s so many different extra fees and extra freight and extra things that we have to pay for…. energy, electricity, and utilities is more expensive. So this is a really great, great award for the village…. so we’re excited,” Ulvi said. READ MORE— Joaqlin Estus, ICT

Sign up here to get ICT’s newsletter 

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed in 1990. It was created to speed up the return of Native American ancestral remains that were exhumed and placed in museums. Over three decades later, Indigenous leaders say too many are still being held in public institutions. ICT national correspondent Mary Annette Pember reports.

On IndigiPolitics, Michael Stopp, weighs in on the presidential election, changes in Senate leadership, and a debrief on the Reservation Economic Summit. ICT political correspondent Pauly Denetclaw has this interview.

Politics is a family affair in the South Dakota state legislature. ICT senior producer Shirley Sneve has this interview with Rep. Tyler Tordsen, whose mother, Tamara St. John, is also in the South Dakota House.

WATCH

Around the world: Royalties to Australian Indigenous peoples questioned, Amazonian states in Brazil advocate for judicial system reforms, and Vietnamese authorities pursue refugees in Thailand.

AUSTRALIA: Indigenous mining royalties questioned

The confidence of one of Western Australia’s largest Indigenous charitable trusts, the IBN Charitable Foundation, remains steadfast amidst discussions with Australian mining and metals company BHP regarding potential reimbursement of royalties. IBN receives royalties from BHP’s Mining Area C operation in the Pilbara, on behalf of three traditional owner groups: the Yinhawangka, Banjima, and Nyiyaparli people, the National Indigenous Times reported on March 15.

Jeff Parnell, IBN co-chair, expressed assurance to the National Indigenous Times, stating ongoing discussions with BHP over the past three years hadn’t raised concerns about reimbursing funds. The issue emerged after BHP commenced production at the South Flank mine, adjacent to Mining Area C, which falls outside the IBN agreement but within the broader Banjima native title determination.

Parnell emphasized that reimbursement requirements might not materialize. If they did, they could be gradually paid over the decades-long agreement between BHP and IBN, with minimal impact on its members. Last year, IBN received $47 million in mining royalties, but BHP confirmed in its annual report last October that payments were deemed excessive over an extended period due to the expansion of the South Flank mine. READ MORE — Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT

FOLLOW ICT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK

We want your tips, but we also want your feedback. What should we be covering that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know. dalton@ictnews.org.

ICT is a nonprofit news organization. Will you support our work? All of our content is free. There are no subscriptions or costs. And we have hired more Native journalists in the past year than any news organization ─ and with your help we will continue to grow and create career paths for our people. Support ICT for as little as $10. Sign up for ICT’s free newsletter.