Since 1995, Stanford University has honored distinguished alumni through its Multicultural Hall of Fame.” This year, Navajo citizen Aaron Yazzie was selected for the award. The NASA engineer graduated from the university in 2008 and has since gone on, to not only send objects to other planets but to inspire leagues of young people.

The MacArthur Foundation has announced its new class of fellows. Sicangu Lakota artist Dyani White Hawk spoke recently with ICT’s Shirley Sneve and JoVonne Wagner. Her work aims to illuminate the enduring strength, presence, and influence of Indigenous artistic practices within modern and contemporary art.

The 2023 Elders and Youth conference featured presentations and workshops on the theme Woosht Guganéix, which means “Let it be that we heal each other” in Tlingit. ICT’s Joaqlin Estus was there. Stewart Huntington has this interview.

A slice of our Indigenous world

  • Navajo Nation leaders are working to change tribal law in order to recognize gay marriage. The Washington Post reported this week about a debate within the tribal nation that would repeal a ban on same sex marriages enacted in 2005. The change would allow couples to have more rights involving property or visiting rights at hospitals.
  • The University of Alaska, the University of Hawai’i and Lac Court Oreilles Ojibwe University have been awarded $6 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education. The consortium will work together to implement the project called Connecting Generations to build a new language resource center.
  • A pair of moccasins is symbolically walking the road of truth and reconciliation. An unknown Native boy wore them more than 100 years ago when he was shipped off to boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Along with the remains of two boys who died at the school, the shoes were returned to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate.
  • The International Olympic Committee voted last week to include lacrosse in the 2028 Summer Olympics. The event will be the sixth time lacrosse has been included in the Olympics, but the first time as a medal sport since 1908. In Haudenosaunee culture, lacrosse is the medicine game and highly valued for its celebration of health, strength and courage.
  • Indigenous-led protests continue over the outcome of an election in Guatemala. The resignation of cabinet minister Napoléon Barrientos is just the latest fallout after a shooting at a protest last week killed one person. It comes as Guatemala’s current president Alejandro Giammatei is attempting to overturn the victory of president-elect Bernardo Arevalo.
  • What’s a farmer look like? For the Ho-Chunk people of Nebraska there is a new answer. Ho-Chunk Farms is a tribal farming company that is changing the face of agriculture. Over the past five years three Nebraska tribes have been buying farm land and adding to its portfolio of crops.

Today’s newscast was created with work from:

Shirley Sneve, Ponca/Sicangu Lakota, is vice president of broadcasting for the ICT Newscast. Follow her on Twitter @rosebudshirley. She is based in Nebraska and Minnesota.

Aliyah Chavez, Kewa Pueblo, is the anchor of the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @aliyahjchavez.

McKenzie Allen-Charmley, Dena’ina Athabascan, is a producer for the ICT Newscast. Instagram: @mallencharmley.

Paris Wise, Zia and Laguna Pueblos, is a producer for the ICT Newscast. Email: paris@ictnews.org.

Stewart Huntington is a producer for the ICT Newscast.

Quindrea Yazzie, Diné, is a video production editor for the ICT Newscast. Email: qyazzie@ictnews.org . Yazzie is based in Phoenix.

Daniel Herrera Carbajal is a video editor for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @daniulherrrera

Pauly Denetclaw, Diné, is a political correspondent for ICT. Email her at pauly@ictnews.org

Pacey Smith-Garcia, Ute, is a production assistant for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter: @paceyjournalist.

Nick Parks is a Production Assistant for the ICT Newscast.On Twitter: @NickParks2002

Jack Orleans is an Intern for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter @JackOrleans5

Demi Dupavillon is an Intern for the ICT Newscast. On Twitter @DemiDupavillon

Mark Trahant, Shoshone-Bannock, is ICT editor-at-large and Executive Producer of the ICT Newscast Email: marktrahant@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.