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Seven generations of Métis, Dene and Cree children were taken from their communities and placed into a Catholic-run, government-funded residential school in Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan that is located in northern Canada. However, the survivors were left out of the country’s reckoning with residential schools known globally as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Métis elder, Antoinette LaFleur, 80, is haunted by the 10 years she spent at Île-à-la-Crosse. She was taken to the school at five-years-old and left as a teenager. During those years, LaFleaur didn’t leave the residential school to visit home. As her siblings started getting sent to the residential school she didn’t even recognize them.
“I never used to go home. Ten years I was in there, 10 years,” LaFleur said during a side event at the United Nations headquarters in April. READ MORE. — Pauly Denetclaw, ICT
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Just two days before his coronation as King of Great Britain, Charles III held a historic meeting at Buckingham Palace with the three leaders of Canada’s national Indigenous organizations.
The private meeting on May 4 – coordinated by Governor General Mary Simon, Inuk, who is the King’s representative in Canada – included Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald, Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed, all of whom also attended the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.
“Today was a historic day for Indigenous peoples, for Canada, and for our relationship with the Crown,” Simon said in a statement. READ MORE. — Miles Morrisseau, ICT
The final version of a bill that extends Montana’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples task force, which is currently sitting on the Governor’s desk, includes amendments that would both decrease its funding and extend its sunset date.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, Democrat, first brought forward the need for a state-wide task force to address the MMIP crisis in 2019, which the Legislature passed. Now four years and two legislative sessions later, the task force is extended for 10 additional years with funding to support the force’s employment.
The bill’s update comes after the White House released a proclamation declaring May 5, 2023 as the national Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Awareness day. READ MORE. — JoVonne Wagner, ICT and MTFP
An anthropology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, whose identity as Native American had been questioned for years apologized this week for falsely identifying as Indigenous, saying she is “a white person” who lived an identity based on family lore.
Elizabeth Hoover, associate professor of environmental science, policy and management, said in an apology posted on her website that she claimed an identity as a woman of Mohawk and Mi’kmaq descent but never confirmed that identity with those communities or researched her ancestry until recently.
“I caused harm,” Hoover wrote. “I hurt Native people who have been my friends, colleagues, students, and family, both directly through fractured trust and through activating historical harms. This hurt has also interrupted student and faculty life and careers. I acknowledge that I could have prevented all of this hurt by investigating and confirming my family stories sooner. For this, I am deeply sorry.” READ MORE. — Associated Press
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On the Tuesday edition of the ICT Newscast, Daybreak Star Radio unites the Seattle Indigenous community. Madison Hammond is the focus of a new mini documentary. Law professor Richard Monette talks about Indigenous core values in the law and government.
Watch:
Four years after being denied entry into her graduation ceremony because she wore an eagle plume on her graduation cap, Larissa Waln is finally getting a bit of justice as her family settled their lawsuit against the Dysart Unified School District in Arizona.
“My family filed this lawsuit to protect Native peoples’ right to honor our religious beliefs and academic achievement, just as so many other students are permitted to,” Waln said in a statement. “I hope going forward schools learn to appreciate and respect our tribal practices.”
Waln, a tribal citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and her father, Bryan Waln, a tribal citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, announced their agreement to settle their lawsuit against Dysart School District on April 18. Details about the settlement were not released. READ MORE. — AZ Mirror
- ‘Rutherford Falls’ star to update ‘Uncle Buck’: ‘It’s a really exciting time to be a Native person in Hollywood,’ Jana Schmieding said. ‘Especially as a storyteller and as a writer.’
- Jingle dress children’s book shows dance is prayer: Author found solace during pandemic by watching healing dances online.
- ‘Significant disruptions’ if US defaults: A dozen years ago the solution was the ‘sequester’ of already appropriated funds – an action that hit Indian Country hard.
- North Dakota governor signs law protecting tribal adoptions: Several other states — including Montana, Wyoming and Utah — have considered codifying the act this year.
- Envisioning Indigenous futures: Meagan Byrne wants to create a world where Indigenous gamers can envision a post-Colonial future.
- First Nations teen selected Ontario Hockey League’s humanitarian of the year.
- After recent killings on California reservation, tribes ask for help to stem violence.
- Lakota Hoop Dancer Starr Chief Eagle Tells her Story, and Inspires New Ones.
- Residential Schools Article Nominated for Prestigious National Magazine Award.
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.
