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Being Indigenous and living in the homelands of her ancestors is the most important part of Erin Bernando’s identity.
It’s a history she can trace back to Ta-hon-nah Tumulth, a chief of a Chinook band of Cascade Indians who signed the Willamette Valley treaty in 1855 and lived near present-day Cascade Locks in the Columbia River Gorge. The treaty that Ta-hon-nah Tumulth signed led to the formation of a reservation for what would become the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Yet, that connection to Chief Tumulth would be used against Bernando and dozens of her relatives during one of the most divisive periods of the tribe’s modern history. That painful period exposed broad disagreement over how the tribe determines its formal requirements for belonging that persist today.
Despite being part of negotiations for the 1855 treaty, the U.S. government executed Tumulth before he was able to move to the reservation. Residency there would eventually become an enrollment requirement — and the basis the tribe used in 2014 to revoke citizenship for Bernando and 85 of Tumulth’s other descendants. READ MORE. — Chris Aadland, Underscore News and Indian Country Today
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President Biden’s commitment to tribal sovereignty, self-government and self-determination for tribal communities may face some challenges with Republicans winning 220 seats for a U.S. House majority. Democrats lost nine seats and now have 213 seats.
Democrats keep control of the U.S. Senate after key wins in Nevada and Arizona. The majority could increase by one if Sen. Raphael Warnock, Democrat, beats Republican candidate Herschel Walker in a runoff election on Tuesday in Georgia.
The Democratic political landscape continues to see change with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing her resignation from her leadership position on Nov. 17, which she has held for nearly 20 years. She said she will remain a representative from San Francisco, another longtime position that she has had for 35 years.
“I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” she said. “For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect.” READ MORE. — Kalle Benallie, ICT
Kids in the hallway smile more than they have in the past. Laughs are a little louder than they once were, teachers say. Student pride – and the graduation rate – are on the upswing at Santee’s public school. School leaders trace that success to a new effort to teach the tribe’s culture – the very thing that the education system, generations ago, banned Santee Dakota students from learning.
Now, a new cultural program immerses students in the tribe’s language, history and customs for as long as an hour each school day. The program, embraced by most teachers and students, has boosted student attendance and helped the iSanti Community School in Niobrara, Nebraska hit a perfect, 100 percent graduation rate two years running, school leaders say.
This move to embrace the Santee culture at the main school on the Santee Dakota Reservation hasn’t always gone smoothly. A recent teacher dust-up related to teaching Santee culture led to three suspensions and one teacher being banned from the reservation. READ MORE.— Flatwater Free Press
Corn goes back to their very creation story. As the Hopi people emerged into this world, the Creator gave them three things: a gourd of water, a planting stick and a short ear of blue corn.
“And he told us one specific thing,” says Clark Tenakhongva, a 65-year-old Hopi farmer and former vice chairman of the tribe, recounting the story that’s been passed down through generations to him. “This is my land, but I’m allowing you to benefit off the land. Life is going to be difficult, but if you should be the good people, if you are going to be the stewards of the land, it will take care of you.”
Tenakhongva grows heirloom Hopi blue, gray, red and white corn in the valley between First Mesa and Second Mesa in the middle of the 2,532-square-mile Hopi Reservation in northern Arizona. The seeds that he plants have been cultivated over countless generations to grow in this dry climate of the high desert. He, like most Hopi farmers, uses traditional dryland farming methods in which, rather than irrigating crops, he relies solely on snowmelt and the rain that falls directly on his fields. READ MORE. — Inside Climate News
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The Cherokee Nation is pressuring the House of Representatives to uphold its treaty obligation to seat a Cherokee citizen. Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., gives us the latest information on when Kim Teehee could take her seat. The American Indian Academy of Denver is struggling to stay open. And Judith Scott becomes the first Native to be inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame.
Watch:
Two Mi’kmaw artists in Halifax, Canada say they’re painting a mural of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash to ensure that their stories and culture aren’t forgotten.
Artist Rebecca Cope got permission from Aquash’s family to develop the project.
“There’s not many women depicted in public art or monuments here in the city, so I also thought it was really important, (to) just have a mural of an Indigenous woman and telling her story and everything here,” she said. READ MORE. — APTN National News
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- South Dakota hires missing Indigenous, trafficking positions: The hirings come almost two years after the Legislature created the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons coordinator in the attorney general’s office.
- For many Native Hawaiians, lava flows are a time to honor, reflect:The eruption of a volcano like Mauna Loa has a deep, personal cultural significance for some.
- Native jerseys: Slam dunk for Phoenix Suns:Sales are brisk as the Phoenix Suns debut the Nike City Edition uniform that honors the 22 tribes in Arizona.
- Future leaders learn and grow at national summit: A group of 20 youth leaders got to attend the White House Tribal Nations Summit this year.
- The country’s Indigenous leadership in one room:Behind-the-scenes of the 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit in the nation’s capital.
- Among many Native American communities, their languages are in danger.
- EPA edges closer to banning Pebble Mine in Alaska. A veto is now just one step away.
- ‘A whole village:’ Ancient remains discovered during housing project in Phoenix.
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.
