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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.
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Laughs, conversations and the signature sound of Native jewelry filled the space during the 2024 Reservation Economic Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. Attendees wore ribbon skirts, long braids, bolo ties or their most intricate beadwork. It’s an economic conference but one that is unique to Indigenous people.
Nicole Johnny’s tsiiyééł and Navajo jewelry fit right in. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Johnny works in the world of venture capital. An industry that is overwhelmingly White, and male.
This only becomes more prevalent the higher up in management one goes. Althea Wishloff, Gitxsan Nation, is the first Indigenous woman to be a general partner at a venture fund. Shocking but not surprising, considering that White employees hold 75 percent of investment partner positions. READ MORE. — Pauly Denetclaw, ICT
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From the steps of the Quinault Indian Nation Tribal Court, you can feel the warmth of the sun on your skin and hear the Pacific ocean waves reach out to touch the shoreline just a short walk away.
Each person that walks into tribal court is greeted with genuine smiles. Case managers joke amongst each other and catch up with their clients. Quinault Tribal Court Chief Judge Leona Colegrove sits at a desk in plain clothes, her back to the raised bench where judges typically sit.
“I hate the way that the courtroom is set up where the bench is in the front and up higher than everybody else,” Colegrove said. “I think it’s intimidating for people who come to the court. I have people who hate coming to court, they’re scared out of their mind to come to court because they associate it with bad things, and I don’t think it has to be like that.” READ MORE. — Luna Reyna, Underscore News + ICT
With a wooden ceremonial staff in hand, Haudenosaunee matriarch Louise McDonald, known as Wa’kerakátste, walked across the surface of cracked marble and crumbling slate in downtown Philadelphia on an overcast February day in 2020.
She had the look of a traveler who had returned home to discover the familiar had changed.
The Mohawk Bear Clan Mother had led a group of six women from the Iroquois Confederacy from upstate New York in search of the Wampum Lot, a plot of land given to the Haudenosaunee in January 1755 by John Penn, William Penn’s grandson.
What they found instead was Welcome Park, a park completed in 1982 for the 300th anniversary of the founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn. They had validated the land their ancestors had told them about, but it was not the bucolic setting they had imagined. READ MORE. — Charles Fox, Special to ICT
Climate change is literally on the ballot in Washington state.
Two years ago legislators in the state of Washington passed the Climate Commitment Act, a cap-and-invest system that charges oil refiners and utilities a fee for every metric ton of pollution. The investment part of the law is a $1.3 billion fund for community climate projects, including 10 percent directed toward tribal nations.
Some called the program innovative. Others dismissed it as a sneaky tax on consumers for gas and other fossil fuels.
This November voters will have their say. Ballot Measure 2117 would repeal the climate law.
Since its enactment in 2021, the Climate Commitment Act has raised a lot of revenue, some $1.3 billion directly from companies who pay at a quarterly auction based on meeting, or exceeding, air pollution targets. READ MORE. — Mark Trahant and Stewart Huntington, ICT
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On Tuesday’s ICT Newscast, a Sicangu Lakota woman is bringing the healing power of plants to New Orleans and back home in South Dakota. An Arikara artist tells the stories of strong women through painting. Meet the owner of post pilgrim gallery and discover the latest exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.
Watch:
The “Red, White and You!” comedy troupe, four of which are Indigenous, have known each other for years and are embarking on a sketch and stand-up comedy show for the first time across Canada and the U.S. So far it’s been a hit.
On their first tech run for their show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the tech guy said he’s seen a lot of shows at the theater where the audience will tune out after an hour, but for “Red, White & You!” the audience and staff were engaged through the entire hour and a half show.
“That’s something the audiences can look forward to, is a show they can’t peel their eyes away from,” Ryan Moccasin, one of the Indigenous comedians on tour, said.
Moccasin, Saulteaux of Saulteaux First Nation, describes the show as having absurdist themes rather than heavy themes. He said every single person in the show brings a unique perspective on comedy from the communities they grew up in. READ MORE. — Kalle Benallie, ICT
- Javelina: bringing Indigenous cuisine to Portland: The only Native pop-up restaurant in Portland brings Indigenous comfort foods and traditional first foods to the city’s fine dining scene.
- Democrats’ quest to keep Senate majority centers on these states: The struggle for control is also fluid and will likely remain that way until all the ballots are counted.
- Krenak get literary esteem and an apology: The Indigenous group received a formal apology for human rights abuses they suffered during the military dictatorship — a first in Brazil.
- Sault Tribe files appeal, says treaty rights were violated: The 2023 Great Lakes Fishing Decree took effect in March, after it was approved by the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan in August.
- Lumbee college coach wins AP coach of the year: Houston coach Kelvin Sampson edges UConn’s Dan Hurley.
- When the American Indian Movement protested the Mormon Church over racism.
- The value of land acknowledgments through Indigenous voices.
- Alaskan tribes came to Denver to reclaim their cultural heritage. They left empty-handed.
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.
