First Nations Urban Survival

Native Youth Empowerment Project Video

2011-10-05T17:04:00.001-07:00

Untitled from clay.buddy@gmail.com on Vimeo.

Native Prisoners of War

2011-09-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

Nevada skinheads on the hunt for Native Americans

2011-09-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Resistance

2011-07-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

An indigenous woman holds her child while trying to resist the advance of Amazonas state policemen who were expelling the woman and some 200 other members of the Landless Movement from a privately-owned tract of land on the outskirts of Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon March 11, 2008. The landless people tried in vain to resist the eviction with bows and arrows against police using tear gas and trained dogs. REUTERS/Luiz Vasconcelos-A Critica

Environment

2011-07-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

Native Youth Empowerment Education

2011-05-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

Native Curriculum Program Guide from clay.buddy@gmail.com on Vimeo.

Clay Muwin River, Little Bear, 2011

Anarcha Feminists - Bolivia (subtitled in english)

2010-12-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

Native Art Statement

2010-10-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

Native Soil Graffiti

2010-10-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

Reconsider Columbus Day

2010-10-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

This is a fabulous PSA that was originally put together in 2009, entitled "Reconsider Columbus Day." The project is associated with ReconsiderColumbusDay.org, which is another fabulous resource.

NativeAppropriations.blogspot.com

Pamunkey - Federal Acknowledgment

2010-10-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Pamunkey Indian Tribe Files for Federal Acknowledgment

October 14, 2010

Contact: Chief Robert Gray, 804.339.1629; Tribe's legal counsels: Mark C. Tilden, Tilden McCoy, LLC at, 303.323.1922, or David Gover, Esq. and Kim Gottschalk, Esq. at Native American Rights Fund at 303.447.8760.

Boulder, CO - After years of preparing the necessary historical, legal, genealogical and anthropological evidence to fully document its petition for federal acknowledgment, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, located on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation, Virginia, filed its petition with the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on October 14, 2010. It is the only Indian Tribe located in the Commonwealth of Virginia to have filed a fully documented petition. Established no later than 1646, the Pamunkey Indian Reservation is located next to the Pamunkey River, and adjacent to King William County, Virginia. The Reservation comprises approximately 1,200 acres and is the oldest inhabited Indian reservation in America.

The history of the Pamunkey people is rich and well documented. In the course of collecting evidence for the federal acknowledgment petition, researchers compiled more than a thousand documents recording their existence from the period of first European contact through the present. These documents comprise official censuses, correspondence between the Pamunkeys and officials of the Commonwealth and U.S. governments, numerous newspaper stories, church and school records, books by prominent scholars, popular authors, and federal officials, memoirs and much more. Because of these rich resources, continuous, detailed genealogies have been created for the Pamunkey Tribal members, which trace their lineage back over two hundred years.

Notably, documents have been preserved both in the United States and England that show the continual existence of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe as an independent sovereign since the first visit of Capt. John Smith in 1607, when the English settled Jamestown. At this time, Powhatan, father of Pocahontas, ruled a vast empire which included the great and powerful Pamunkey Indians who were at the core of his empire. A Treaty relationship between the Pamunkeys and Great Britain in 1646, followed by the Treaty of Middle Plantation in 1677, is still honored between the Pamunkeys and the Commonwealth of Virginia. One expression of this continuing relationship is the annual tribute ceremony at Richmond, Virginia where deer and other wild game are presented to the Virginia Governor by the Pamunkey Chief and members of Tribal Council.

The Tribe has survived intact as an identifiable Indian tribe, although they are not yet federally acknowledged. Tribal existence does not depend on federal acknowledgment. It is, however, necessary to establish a government-to-government relationship between the Tribe and the Federal government, which allows the Tribe access to federal services and benefits. The Tribe’s petition documents their continued existence from 1789 to the present and their self-governance throughout this time, which meets the federal acknowledgment regulations.

The Pamunkey Chief and Tribal Council state that “Current Pamunkey Tribal members respect and appreciate what our ancestors have accomplished since first European contact, especially their sustained and successful efforts to maintain the lands, identity and sovereignty that have belonged to the Pamunkey Indians for thousands of years. We believe that federal acknowledgment is the natural means to continue those traditions and honor the ancestors who have given us our birthright. We look forward to the day our existence as an Indian Tribe is formally acknowledged by the United States.”

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has represented the Pamunkey Indian Tribe in this effort since 1988, joined by the law firm of Tilden McCoy, LLC this year. For any questions, please contact Robert Gray, Chief, Pamunkey Indian Tribe, 804.339.1629 or RGray58@hughes.net; Tribe's legal counsels: Mark C. Tilden, Tilden McCoy, LLC at mctilden@tildenmccoy.com, 303.323.1922 or 1942 Broadway, Suite 314, Boulder, Colorado 80302, or David Gover, NARF, dgover@narf.org, 303.447.8760 or 1506 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302.

The Shinnecock Indian Nation

2010-10-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

October 11, 2010

Contact: Mark C. Tilden, Tilden McCoy, LLC at 303.323.1922 or Kim Gottschalk, Native American Rights Fund at 303.447.8760.

Boulder, CO - The Shinnecock Indian Nation (Nation) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) are celebrating the October 1, 2010 decision by the U. S. Interior Board of Indian Appeals (the “IBIA”) dismissing two requests for reconsideration of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Final Determination for Federal Acknowledgment of the Nation (the “FD”), because the requesters failed to demonstrate that they were interested parties under the federal acknowledgment regulations. With the ruling, the FD is immediately effective, thereby rendering the Nation the 565th federally recognized Indian nation in the United States. NARF is proud and honored to have represented the Nation in its federal acknowledgment petition efforts during this time, along with Mark C. Tilden of the law firm Tilden McCoy, LLC.

The decision ends a 32-year saga initiated by the Nation and NARF when NARF filed the Nation’s initial petition and litigation request in 1978 with the U. S. Department of the Interior. The events in the following years finally culminated in the Department issuing a FD dated June 13, 2010 concluding that the Nation met the seven mandatory federal acknowledgment criteria under 25 C.F.R. § 83.7. (See 75 Fed. Reg. 34,760 (June 18, 2010)). The FD was challenged in the IBIA by the requesters who claimed to be interested parties. But, the IBIA rejected their challenges.

Chairman Randy King of the Nation's Board of Trustees eloquently stated, "After 32 years, the Shinnecock Indian Nation has finally obtained formal federal acknowledgment, thus closing a long chapter on the Nation's epic struggle. The Native American Rights Fund was part of this effort and the Nation is grateful that it crossed the finish line with NARF by its side.”

John Echohawk, NARF Executive Director, reflected on the long fight by his modern day warriors, the NARF attorneys, lamenting “It took forever to achieve federal acknowledgment for Shinnecock, but with the persistence of the Nation and the expertise of former NARF attorney Mark Tilden and NARF attorney Kim Gottschalk, we finally got it done.”

The Shinnecock Indian Nation is located on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, adjacent to Southampton, New York.

NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum

2010-10-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Native American Rights Fund Celebrates 40 Years of Defending Native Rights

On October 29, 2010, the Native American Rights Fund will hold its 40th Anniversary Celebration hosted by the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. This unique gathering will include NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum and NARF's 40th Anniversary Dinner. NARF is honored to celebrate four decades of standing firm for justice.

NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum will highlight four decades of Indian law and NARF's role. We will examine current concerns and challenges within each of NARF’s priority areas and their impact on Indian law. Utilizing the tribal leaders and attorneys attending, in each priority area we will craft a shared vision for the future direction for that issue of Indian law. Each session will end with strategic outlines for how NARF can address each issue for the next 40 years.

The NARF's 40th Anniversary Dinner -- "40 for 40" -- will highlight the 40 tribes, individuals and organizations that have helped shape the 40 years of NARF. We will spotlight Native clients, past board and staff members and funding partners. This will be a celebration honoring the impact that NARF has had in Indian Country.

Registration for the NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum and 40th Anniversary Dinner is $125.00. NARF is also offering a limited number of registration fee waivers. For more information, please go onto our website for a registration fee waiver form. Please visit our website, www.narf.org, to register for these events.

NARF would like to thank the following tribes, organizations and individuals for their sponsorships: Seminole Tribe of Florida, Wayne and Nancy Starling Ross, Seven Cedars Casino, Bridget K. Stroud, Barbara Bastle, Rev. William Wantland, Lyle A. Dethlefsen, the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, and Americans for Indian Opportunity.

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities or registration information, contact Jennifer Redbone at (303) 447-8760 or jennifer@narf.org.

NARF article: Supreme Court denies Alaskas Appeal

2010-10-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

October 5, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Natalie Landreth, Staff Attorney and Counsel for Kaltag, (907) 276-0680

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the State's appeal in the case of Hogan v. Kaltag Tribal Council, thus effectively ending the case and clearly reinforcing the rule that tribal courts have authority to initiate and fully adjudicate children's cases.

The Kaltag Tribal Council had taken emergency custody of one of its member children due to allegations of abuse and neglect and, after conducting hearings and finding a suitable home, it terminated the rights of the birth parents and issued an order of adoption to the adoptive parents in Huslia. Kaltag then notified the State of Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics about the adoption and requested a new birth certificate reflecting the names of the adoptive parents and the new last name of the child. The State refused, claiming that it did not owe full faith and credit to the decision of the Kaltag Tribal Court because Kaltag did not have jurisdiction to initiate the case at all.

In the fall of 2006, NARF filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Kaltag Tribal Council and the adoptive parents to enforce the full faith and credit provision of the Indian Child Welfare Act (IWCA). In February 2008, the United States District Court rejected the State's claims and held that Tribes have jurisdiction to adjudicate adoptions and child-in-need-of-aid (CINA) type cases over their member children, and that the Tribal Court's decisions are entitled to full faith and credit by the State. In a detailed and thoughtful opinion, the Court reaffirmed what the United States Supreme Court stated in the Holyfield case that the IWCA created "concurrent but presumptively tribal jurisdiction in the case of children not living on a reservation". The Court also noted that denying tribal jurisdiction in CINA-type cases would leave Tribes "powerless to help children in their own villages at the most critical time." The Court's decision was then summarily affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

This case reaffirms the rule that when Tribes adjudicate domestic matters of their own member children, whether it is a simple voluntary adoption or a CINA-type case, their decisions are entitled to full faith and credit.

Counsel for Kaltag, Natalie Landreth, said "The fact is that the Kaltag Tribal Court was doing what it, and the 561 other tribes in this country, has been doing since time immemorial: taking care of their own children. This case never should have been appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and the Plaintiffs are very glad that their victory stands." Moreover, the Native American Rights Fund and plaintiffs Kaltag Tribal Council and Hudson and Selina Sam call upon Governor Parnell and Attorney General Sullivan to rescind the Renkes Opinion issued in October 2004 and instead take this opportunity to work with tribes and tribal courts to ensure the protection of all children, no matter which court their case is in.

Pocahontas Radical Poetry

2010-10-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

Once Tongue Tied-Pocahontas Poetry mash up

Indian Country Wins

2010-08-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

Indian Country Wins Power to Fight Sexual Assault

President Obama signs the Tribal Law and Order Act at the White House on July 29. Photo: Creative Commons/National Congress of American Indians

Congress has just given Indian Country greater authority to police its own, and that may be good news for women. the Tribal Law and Order Act, which was signed by President Obama last week, expands the authority of tribal criminal justice agencies to prosecute crimes within their own territory, rather than relying on the notoriously spotty federal authorities. While the emphasis is on policing, advocates have hailed the bill as a step toward alleviating the often hidden epidemic of sexual and gender-based violence against Native women.

Native communities generally face higher risks of violent crime, but violence against women is especially devastating. Amnesty International reported in 2007 that the risk of rape and sexual assault was 2.5 times higher for indigenous women than for other women. Moreover, nearly 9 out of 10 perpetrators were non-native*--a damning reminder of how racism continues to expose women to abuse and exploitation.

After the passage of the bill, Amnesty stated that the measure would eventually "decrease the high levels of rape and finally provide Native women with effective recourse if they are sexually assaulted. In short, this legislation stands to curtail the impunity that allows rapists to prey on Native women like vultures."

Under the bill, tribal court systems are allowed to raise the maximum sentence from one year to three. Along with that authority comes a responsibility to provide court-appointed defense counsel.

The bill specifically addresses sexual assault by mandating that that tribal and federal officers receive special training for dealing with victims and investigating sexual assault.

Historically, the lack of protection from law enforcement has woven a cloak of silence around many native women. According to a 2004 report from the National Research Center on Domestic Violence:

Some problems with the criminal justice system are common to many victims, especially victims from other U.S. minority groups. These include: fear of stigma following public charges, fear of being accused of a crime themselves, and hesitation to accuse a fellow tribal member and make him confront a racist legal system in addition to his crime. The complicated relationships among tribal, state, and Federal laws create unique issues, however. For example, if the perpetrator is non-Indian and the assault was committed on reservation land, jurisdictional problems may arise because reservation authorities cannot prosecute a non-Indian and off-reservation authorities are often reluctant to get involved in all but the most severe reservation crimes (Snyder-Joy, 1995). Multiple legal jurisdictions complicate many offenses, including sexual assault and rape, that occur on reservation lands and can hamper the legal process even beyond what is usually seen in other jurisdictions (Millian, 2000).

From a human-rights perspective, Amnesty has highlighted the racial justice dimension to the issue: in addition to empowering tribal authorities to check sexual violence, it will provide more resources and training for victim services. Charon Asetoyer, chair of Amnesty International USA's Native Advisory Council and longtime advocate on women's issues in Indian Country, pointed out the ongoing need for sexual assault nurse examiners to help investigate sexual violence incidents: "Currently there are no standardized sexual assault protocols within the Indian Health Service, meaning that victims of sexually violent crimes may not be given rape kits that obtain critical evidence to prosecute perpetrators."

But ramping up the local police presence in Indian Country won't make a dent in the underlying crisis--a vacuum of adequate social supports for survivors. They're typically isolated by rural geography, poverty and chronic social and economic problems, on and off the reservation, according to a recent Urban Indian Health Institute Report. Meanwhile, Native women overall are disproportionately impacted by federal and state restrictions on abortion, since they tend to be more dependent on publicly funded health programs such as Indian Health Services and Medicaid.

There's often a subtle tension between enforcing the law and protecting survivors. Cangleska, an advocacy organization for native survivors of abuse and assault, has pioneered a holistic service model, profiled in the 2009 Colorlines Innovators issue, prioritizing collective healing for both victims and perpetrators within tribal communities.

The Department of Justice has offered grant money to tribes to strengthen resources for sexual assault survivors, emphasizing not policing but rehabilitation initiatives like "housing, childcare services, transportation, renovation of emergency shelters and hiring personnel to provide and support the direct services to victims."

More effective prosecutions can help alleviate the most regressive aspects of the tribal government system. Activists can now look to the other systemic changes needed to treat and prevent gender-based violence--a paradigm shift in Indian country that moves women out of the box of victimhood gives them a real voice in how they, and their violators, are treated.

*Note: change in terminology for crime statistics: For perpetrators, nine-in-ten refers to non-natives, and the victimization rate is also a comparison between native and non-native women, according to Amnesty.

Native Themed Banksy St. Art San Francisco

2010-07-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

NATIVE APPROPRIATIONS BLOG click here

I'm a huge fan of the street art movement, I love art that incorporates social commentary and appears in unexpected forms and places. UK artist Banksy is arguably the leader of the movement, with his pieces appearing all over the world, in galleries and sold-out shows, but also on everything from nondescript alleys to the wall between Gaza/the west bank and Jerusalem.

I love the image above, from the Mission district in San Francisco, playing with the whole immigration debate. I like when artist's juxtapose historic and modern, I think it calls into question some of the preconceived notions the public holds about Native peoples.

Similarly, though not exactly the same, I really like the work of Apache Skateboards' founder Douglas Miles, because (clearly) I love anything that subverts stereotypes and allows Natives to exist as contemporary beings, instead of being situated in the pepetual past. Miles' bio describes his art as:

"Graphic imagery of Apache warriors and contemporary “Rez” portraits brings a Native aesthetic and sensibility to the skateboard culture. The Apache skateboards break through a seemingly closed mainstream boundary, reasserting and affirming Indian youth’s presence in the mainstream culture of today."

Love it. "...reasserting and affirming Indian youth's presence in the mainstream culture of today." Miles is also active in engaging Native youth in art and the art making process, which is even better.

Here are some of his pieces:

All images can be found on the Apache Skateboards website.

For those of you interested in the Street Art Movement, I saw Banksy's awesome documentary last week called "Exit Through the Gift Shop" about street art and the emergence of controversial artist "Mr. Brainwash"--a would-be filmmaker and friend of Banksy/Shepard Fairey/etc turned artist. Really calls into question the art world and the strange boundaries we as a society draw around what is deemed "art." Definitely recommend it!

If anyone has any other cool Native street art, send it over!

Native Appropriations is a forum for discussing the use of Indigenous cultures, traditions, languages, and images in popular culture, advertising, and everyday life. For background on Cultural Appropriation, read:
Cultural appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It describes acculturation or assimilation, but can imply a negative view towards acculturation from a minority culture by a dominant culture.^[1]^[2] It can include the introduction of forms of dress or personal adornment, music and art, religion, language, or social behavior. These elements, once removed from their indigenous cultural contexts, can take on meanings that are significantly divergent from, or merely less nuanced than, those they originally held.

Land Jurisdiction

2010-07-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

Native American Tribes Say They Won't Enforce Immigration Law

Evan Wyloge, 2010

As the July 29 enforcement date for Arizona’s strict new immigration law nears, Native American tribes are charging that the law was written without considering their unique circumstance and that it will violate their sovereignty and their members’ civil rights.

Despite a request by Gov. Jan Brewer’s office to comply with the new law, Native American tribes will continue to oppose it and seek ways to avoid its implementation, said John Lewis, executive director of the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, which represents 20 tribes in the state.

“Tribes have jurisdiction within their land, and state law doesn’t apply,” Lewis said. “And the law just doesn’t work in the interests of the American Indian population.”

A resolution passed by the tribal council on June 4 states that the new law would lead to disproportionate stops and detentions for tribal members, violate their sovereignty and negatively impact the tribal economy.

In their resolution, the group says long-accepted standards of tribal life would suddenly be incongruous with the new law.

Enforcement of the law would force many law officers to reach the “reasonable suspicion” of illegal status for a large portion of Native Americans, whose legal presence within the U.S. has never been in question, the resolution states.

The resolution points out that English is a second language for many tribal members. And although each tribe has different laws, members of the tribes have not been required to carry their tribal membership documents, and some don’t possess a birth certificate or proper documents.

Navajo Nation Councilman Delegate Kee Allen Begay, Jr. said Arizona’s new law violates the civil rights of members of the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American tribe in the U.S. He said tribal members will be disproportionately targeted because some police might conclude that they are Hispanic.

“In a way, the immigration bill is an attempt to harass Native Americans,” Begay said. “When we are pulled over or stopped we are usually pulled over and asked for our IDs. Sometimes we do not carry those things, and perhaps at that time we will have difficulty proving we are Native American.”

Read the rest of the article in the Arizona Capitol Times.

Republished with permission

Friendship House Association of American Indians

2010-07-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

The Friendship House Association of American Indians brought together youth and leaders to discuss problems affecting their community and possible solutions March 29-30, 2010.

Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. of San Francisco is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community-based organization that provides residential substance abuse treatment for American Indians. Since its founding in 1963, Friendship House has maintained a strong track record of providing holistic prevention, treatment, and recovery services that are culturally-relevant to American Indians.

Friendship House operates two residential treatment facilities: an 80-bed four-story healing center for adults located in the Mission District of San Francisco, and the Friendship House American Indian Lodge located in Oakland for American Indian women with their children. Both residential treatment facilities are licensed and certified by the State of California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. Additionally, Friendship House is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. (CARF)

Our Mission: The mission of Friendship House is to promote healing and wellness in the American Indian community by providing a continuum of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services that integrate traditional American Indian healing practices and evidence-based substance abuse treatment methods.

racial politics in school sports

2010-07-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Look around an average college campus today and you might notice that Native Americans are surprisingly well represented. Sure, people of native descent make up just a tiny part of the college and university student population. But there are plenty of American Indian faces adorning jerseys, helmets, and other sports paraphernalia, with "noble" names like "the chiefs" and "the braves." After decades of campaigns by native communities, a new law in Wisconsin aims to force schools to finally scrub brown-skinned warriors off the astroturf and scrap the feather-clad mascot costumes.

The law, SB25, raises the stakes in the game of racial politics in school sports. Wisconsin, which has a relatively progressive policy on integrating native culture into its education system, bans race-based team names at public schools. The law would essentially bar school districts from using Indian mascots and other imagery in team names and marketing products, and violators would be fined $1,000 for each day that they continue peddling stereotypes of native peoples.

The measure is a milestone in a long battle over Indian mascots in collegiate and professional sports. On one pole of the debate are activists who say the caricaturing of native groups perpetuates a painful legacy of dehumanizing indigenous people and exploiting their culture and images. On the other side are sports fans and others who see the backlash as political correctness on steroids, a humorless crackdown on any racial or cultural reference even when it's all part of the spirit of sportsmanship.

In 2005, the NCAA stirred controversy when it moved to bar American Indian iconography in post-season collegiate games (it stopped short of regulating individual schools' mascot and name choices beyond the post-season).

John Ridley responded in an NPR commentary to some of the anti-PC backlash, reflecting on the "right" to preserve America's proud heritage of ethnic mockery:

Look, as a black guy, I know I wish I could hang out outside Lambeau Field and have the Packers rub my head for good luck before every game but the PC crowd has told me that's offensive, so now I've just gotta go out and buy my tickets like everybody else. If only somebody had told me that it's not offensive, I could've had somebody else stand up and fight for my right to be a good-luck charm. And I know if the situation were flipped and teams were called, oh, the Alabama Crackers or the Vermont Maple Syrup Lickers or the Detroit B-Boys(ph), Jeb would be out there telling people, `That ain't offensive. That's just the way they are.' But Bush really threw a beat-down on the NCAA telling those lefty do-gooders, instead of worrying about what minority group is getting their little girly feelings hurt, they ought to be more worried about, quote, "the graduation rates of most college athletes," unquote. Of course, most college athletes actually graduate at a higher rate than average students, but this is an emotional issue. Who needs facts? So please, people of color, just get off your PC high horses. Go about your business, and leave the decision on what's offensive to somebody who's not you.

Critics may cry that Wisconsin's law upends proud school traditions just to avoid treading on the sensitivities of certain uptight folks. They may call it an unjust attack on free expression. But to the communities who have born witness to centuries of cultural genocide, and seen their heritage reduced to racialized buffoonery on a ball field, the new policy marks one hard-earned point toward settling the historical score.

Photo: Anti-mascot protest sign at Carpinteria High School (2009, LA Indymedia)) "

Sacred Sheep Revive Navajo Tradition

2010-06-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2010

For as long as anyone can remember, Churro sheep have been central to Navajo life and spirituality, yet the animal was nearly exterminated in modern times by outside forces who deemed it an inferior breed. Now, on a Navajo reservation of northern Arizona and New Mexico, the Churro is being shepherded back to health.

The Navajo Nation is the size of West Virginia, and at last count, 175,000 people live here. Most people are spread out in small clusters that you see off in the distance from the highway. Amongst modern prefab houses and hogans, the multisided traditional homes of the Navajo, are often corrals with small bands of sheep grazing nearby.

"Sometimes you find me, and I just want to sit in the corral with them," Navajo weaver Roy Kady says. "Just find a corner and I sit there. They motivate me, even just to see them; it's that strong to me."

Churro sheep are smaller than most breeds and have a long, wavy lustrous fleece that is valued by Navajo weavers like Kady. He lives near Teec Nos Pos, where he's chapter president — sort of like being the town's mayor. For him, this flock is part of something larger, something he calls "din'e bi iina," the Navajo lifeway. "Din'e" is the preferred name for the Navajo, and "bi iina" means "lifeway."

"Sheep is your backbone," Kady says. "It's your survival. It's your lifeline."

For centuries, the Churro was all these things, providing the Navajo with what they needed to survive in the stark desert: meat for sustenance, wool for weaving clothing and blankets, sinew for thread. It's no wonder the Navajo are grateful, even reverential when it comes to the Churro.

"Sheep is a very important part of this whole cosmology to us," Kady explains. "You know, there are songs to where it refers to 'the first thing I see is the white sheep to the East when I wake up to make my offering. It stands at my doorway.' And that's how we know that the sheep is something that's very sacred to us."

Where The Churro Went

The Churro were the first domesticated sheep in the New World, and, by most historical accounts, were brought to the Southwest by Spanish Conquistadors in the 1500s. Over the next three centuries, Churro sheep and the Navajo wove a life together in a balance of nature. However, by the 1860s, America's westward expansion collided with Navajo resistance. In a tragic move, Kit Carson and his troops were ordered to relocate the tribe and destroy their livestock.

Sheep is your backbone. It's your survival. It's your lifeline.

- Navajo weaver Roy Kady

"The eradication of this particular sheep breed — because we are connected to it with songs and prayers and ceremonies — when it was taken from us, that part of our life was also destroyed," Kady says.

Eventually the Navajo were allowed to return to their ancestral lands, where they built their herds back. That is, until government agents returned in the 1930s — with orders to eliminate the Churro.

"The U.S. government thought that they had too many sheep — and the wrong sheep," says Lyle McNeal, a professor of animal science at Utah State University. He says the reason the government gave was environmental.

The Churro "were causing premature siltation on a new dam being built on the Colorado called Hoover," McNeal says. "They felt that the runoff and the overgrazing would make that dam worthless in a few years." In 1934, the federal government started a stock reduction.

Killing off the Churro sent the Navajo economy into a tailspin. Realizing the tribe could not survive without their herds, the government introduced standard breeds, whose meat and wool were more uniform to market demand.

Rediscovering The Churro

For decades, most people thought the Churro had been decimated. But in 1972, when McNeal was teaching in California, he took his students on a field trip to the Salinas Valley where he noticed some strange-looking woolly creatures as they stopped to visit a rancher.

"At that stop is where I really first saw a living Churro. I'd read about them before then, but I had never seen one up close," he says. The discovery spurred what can best be described as a personal and professional calling — a 30-year mission to bring the Churro back from the brink of extinction.

McNeal and his supporters scoured hidden canyons on the reservation for surviving Churro, and eventually found enough animals to begin a breeding program. This led to the establishment of the Navajo Sheep Project, which is dedicated to bringing back the Churro.

"When I had sheep in the truck and we were making deliveries down there and I'd stop to get some gas, some of the elders would be attracted to the truck," McNeal says. "They would say, 'These are the real sheep. Where did you get them?'"

"That's when I started getting the signal that these are more than just a sheep, so it added a dimension to the Navajo Sheep Project effort that I hadn't expected."

A Blessing Of Sheep

The road between Gallop and Shiprock, N.M., leads toward a sheer sandstone cliff. In a corral with a few dozen Churro, weaver Tahnibah Natani gathers her ewes and rams as her husband prepares for a ceremony to bless and protect the sheep.

Anderson Hoske is a medicine man. He's lit up a mix of local plants, making sure all the sheep breathe in the thick aromatic smoke from the smoldering fire.

"The smoke is like a flu shot to them," he says. "It's all about chasing away the sickness spirits, different sicknesses."

Hoske begins to chant. He sings an ancient prayer, then Natani fills a sacred pipe and blows smoke into the face of each sheep.

This is a family that shows its gratitude for the gift of life that is given each time it takes an animal for food. This is a family that will shear these sheep, clean the wool, spin it into yarn — which then goes to the loom to be woven, not just as a work of art, but a visual representation of heaven on earth.

"So when you are weaving, actually you're doing a prayer because the warp is considered a representation of rain," Natani says. "The tension cord is lightening. The top of the beam of the loom, the very top, represents the sky, Father Sky. And the bottom bar represents Mother Earth. Everything on the loom has a special song for it."

"So it becomes a prayer."

A Tradition Endangered

Natani and Hoske are committed to keeping the traditions of their ancestors alive in a modern world. They're active in a region-wide community of herders, weavers and restaurateurs who are dedicated to the Churro. Even though the breed is a small minority of the sheep on the reservation — there are just over 4,000 of them — it's no longer considered endangered.

But while the Churro are thriving, it may be that this weaver and medicine man are becoming the rare breed, even within their tribe. Like most Americans, Navajo have become tied to a paycheck economy and a new generation is growing up mesmerized by what's beamed in on the satellite dish.

On a background of pink sand, golden brush and a pewter gray sky, Kady and his mother enter their remote hogan to escape the cold. They occasionally trade words in Navajo, but otherwise she sits expressionless in her long skirt and bright scarf as her son reveals a deep worry for the survival of his tribe's traditions.

"I think we are at the point where, yeah, it could die out — tomorrow," he says. "But coming from my heart is that ‘Wait a minute, hold on — you know, this is good and has to be continued.' You oftentimes hear the phrase, 'Oh, the youth are tomorrow, they are our future,' that sort of thing. But I always say, 'No. They're now. It has to happen now.' We as teachers need to stop and say, 'Let's get with it and teach them before it's forgotten.'"

This started out as a story about saving an endangered breed of sheep from extinction, but in the end, it's about more than that. It's about an endangered culture struggling for survival in a shrink-wrapped world.

American Indian Activism

2010-06-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

American Indian / Native American Activism

Books and Articles

Burnette, Robert, and John Koster, The Road to Wounded Knee. New York: Bantam Books, 1974. Influential contemporary account of Indian activism in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Crow Dog, Mary, as told to Richard Erdoes. Lakota Woman. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990. (Auto)Biography of one of the women at the center of the Wounded Knee occupation and other AIM actions.
Johnson, Troy. The Occupation of Alcatraz Island. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996. Most comprehensive treatment of this key event in the evolution of Indian resistance.
Johnson, Troy, Joane Nagel, and Duane Champagne, eds. American Indian Activism: Alcatraz to the Longest Walk. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1997. Collection of articles by many of the key scholars on Indian activism before, during, and after the Red Power era.
Josephy, Alvin, et al. eds. Red Power: The American Indians’ Fight for Freedom, 2nd ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. Reprint of key collection of essays by and about Indian activists in the Red Power era.
Kilpatrick, Jacquelyn. Celluloid Indians: Native Americans and Film. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. Fine general study of Indians in mainstream and anthropological films.
Matthiessen, Peter. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. New York: Viking Press, 1983. Documents the evolution of AIM and the FBI attacks on them.
Means, Russell, with Marvin J. Wolf. Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. Autobiography of the “actorvist” who played a key role in AIM during its heyday and then moved on to Hollywood, while continuing to be an activist.
Nagel, Joanne. American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. History that places the Red Power movement into the wider context of post–World War II Indian cultural transformations.
Peltier. Leonard. Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. AIM activist Peltier, still in prison for murder, has continued to be a voice for Indian resistance.
Singer, Beverly R. Wiping the War Paint Off the Lens: Native American Film and Video. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001. Traces the self-representation of Indians in film since the 1970s, and discusses how this differs from Hollywooden Indians.
Voices from Wounded Knee, 1973: In the Words of the Participants. Roosevelt, NY: Akwesasne Notes, 1974. Firsthand accounts by Indian activists at and around the Wounded Knee occupation.
Warrior, Robert, and Paul Chaat Smith. Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee. New York: New Press, 1996. Most comprehensive and balanced study of AIM.

Multimedia

Alcatraz Is Not An Island. Directed by James M. Fortier. Independent Television Service (ITVS) and KQED, 2001. An award-winning one-hour public television documentary on the Indian occupation of Alcatraz in 1969.
Incident at Oglala. Directed by Michael Apted. Artisan Entertainment, 1992. Documentary on AIM and the events surrounding the murders that led to Leonard Peltier’s imprisonment.
Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee. Directed by Frank Pierson. Turner Films, 1994. Made for TV with video release. Based on Mary Crow Dog’s autobiography, this is the most substantial treatment of AIM in a fiction film.
Powwow Highway. Directed by Joanelle Nadine Romero and Jonathan Wacks. Handmade Films/Warner Bros., 1986. Set in the context of the AIM era, the film includes some scenes depicting the struggles within Indian communities for political control.
The Spirit of Crazy Horse. Directed by Milo Yellow Hair. PBS, 1990. One-hour documentary exploring the historical context of, and the mixed reactions to, AIM on the Pine Ridge reservation.
Thunderheart. Directed by Michael Apted. Tristar Pictures, 1992. Highly improbable story of a half-Indian FBI agent who investigates and then sides with activists modeled on AIM.
Warrior: Life of Leonard Peltier. Directed by Suzie Baer. Cinnamon Productions, 1992. Sympathetic portrait of Peltier as framed by the government to help stop AIM.

Native Artists

2010-06-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Native Artists

Activists Winona LaDuke
http://www.tnews.com/text/laduke.html

Lissa Mitten
http://www.library.pitt.edu/~lmitten/indians.html

http://www.library.pitt.edu/~lmitten/performers.html

Ableza - A Native American Arts & Film Institute

ATOLL - Native band from Colorado

Centre for Indigenous Theatre
North American's Leading Aboriginal Theatre Training Centre

Jack Gladstone - Blackfeet singer and songwriter

Cynthia Goodrich - Creek/Choctaw actress/model

Inuit Art Foundation

Kevin Locke - Lakota flute player and hoop dancer

Mayan Marimba Music Cassettes and CD's

The Russell Means Home Page

Native American Actors
a pretty comprehensive list
of Native actors, with filmographies

Native American Artists Home Page

Native American Women Playwrights Archive

David Neel - Kwagiutl photographer

Sonny Nevaquaya - Comanche flute player

Sean Michael Perry - - Salish actor and musician

Ronald Roybal's Homepage - Tewa flute player

Buffy Sainte Marie - Cree singer

Spirit Mountain Singers (from Fond du Lac)

John Trudell - Santee Sioux activist/poet/actor

Seventh Generation Radio

2010-05-24T22:59:00.001-07:00

^{Philadelphia's (Coaquannok's)}
^{Only Urban Indigenous} ^{American-Indian Radio Show}
^{Broadcasting Live every}^{Tuesday from} ^{7pm-9pm est.}^On
^{WPEB88.1FM

What does Seventh Generation Mean?}

Seven generation sustainability, the idea that decisions should be considered for their impact on the seventh generation to come, inspired by the laws of the Iroquois
Seventh Generation Amendment, a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution to put ecologically sensitive areas under government control
Seventh Generation is a term used by Native people to talk about who we are now as representations of seven generations of the past and who we are and what we do now will impact our history and will determine who and how our people will be in the future, seven generations from now.

International Queer Indigenous Issue of _Yellow Medicine Review_

2010-05-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

Yellow Medicine Review: A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art, and Thought_
International Queer Indigenous Issue
Edited by Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhrán

"The Ancestors We Were Looking for We Have Become:
International Queer Indigenous Voices"

As queer Indigenous writers, and queer artists of color more broadly, we have spent many years looking for our ancestors, looking for those Native and brown people who loved as we did, who moved in the world and created a space for us. Part of our queer genealogy involves not only finding those voices in our lineage, in our Nations, but also recognizing the way we are becoming those we have sought, and the importance of recording our stories for those coming after, and making the journey with, for we are not only descendents but ancestors.

Kin coming together at the meeting grounds to share sustenance: stories of survival, resistance, and affirmation. May we make good medicine for our peoples and Nations. May our words nurture and move us forward, our visions deeply rooted in the past and the continuance of our presence.

Same-gender-loving, multiple-gender-loving, and transgender Indigenous peoples from around the world are invited to submit their work, words. May they be blessed.

Deadline: June 25, 2010. Earlier submissions encouraged.

Publication: September 2010.

Genres: All styles and types of writing welcome, including Indigenous work that precedes, resists, hybridizes, and exists outside of Eurocentric genre conventions of poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and theatre. Song lyrics and musical excerpts, mixed-genre and experimental work, interviews, roundtables, and excerpts of longer works are all welcome. Multilingual work and work that represents tribal/National-specific artistic forms (genres, aesthetics, narrative structures) encouraged.

Themes: Completely open. There is an understanding all of our work is queer Indigenous work simply by our being who we are, and all aspects of our lives are worthy of writing, reflection, and being recorded.

Submission: Please send an email to editor@yellowmedicinerevie

w.com with a single Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) attachment that contains all of the following:
* your contact information
* 100-word bio
* all the pieces you are submitting.
Please put in the subject line of the email, "YMR: Queer Indigenous Issue," and name the attachment with your name (for example: AhimsaTimoteoBodhran.doc). This will help us keep track of things. Thank you.

Bio: Roughly 100 words. Feel free to weave from the following:
* your identities (Indigenous/genealogical/mixed-blood, queer/womanist, gender/sexuality, geographic, class, dis/ability, age, spirituality)
* your life experience (community work/activism/organizing, work/labor, teaching, education, passions/interests)
* your art (publications, awards, current projects/manuscripts, other artistic forms besides writing)
* your families (husbands/wives, life partners, boyfriends/girlfriends, [great][great][grand]children, being an aunt/uncle, chosen families, any other ties/relationships you want to name)
* your biomythography (story of who you are in relation to the world, creatively told).

Editor:

Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhrán is the author of _Antes y después del Bronx: Lenapehoking_, winner of the New American Press Chapbook Contest. He was conceived in Niagara Falls, born in 1974 on El Día de la Madre in the South Bronx to a multigenerational mixed-blood familia (Kanien´kehaka, Onodowaga, Puerto Rican, Irish, and German/Moroccan Jewish), and raised in Lenapehoking. His poetry and nonfiction appear in over a hundred periodicals and anthologies in Africa, the Américas, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific.

A Macondo Writer nominated multiple times for a Pushcart Prize and _Best New Poets_, Bodhrán is a winner of an Editors' Choice Award from _Bamboo Ridge_ and the In Our Own Write Poetry Contest of the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. He is also the recipient of scholarships from the Fine Arts Work Center and Lambda Literary Foundation.

Bodhrán received his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. An American Studies Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University, he is the recipient of Dean's Recruitment, Interdisciplinary Inquiry & Teaching, and Dissertation Completion Fellowships; an Excellence in Diversity Award; and a Somers Excellence in Teaching Award.

Author of a new chapbook, _South Bronx Breathing Lessons_, Bodhrán is completing _Yerbabuena/Mala yerba, All My Roots Need Rain: mixed-blood poetry & prose_ and _Heart of the Nation: Indigenous Womanisms, Queer People of Color, and Native Sovereignties_.

Litefoot and Concerned Natives

2010-05-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Another Bloggers View on The Gathering of Nations: Is Gathering of Nations becoming more of a market? Are the non-native participants exploiting native culture and people?......

Please read this article from the New Mexico Independent Newspaper:http://newmexicoindependent.com/52380/gathering-of-nations-pow-wow-draws-people-and-criticism

As Native People, we have endured various assaults on our culture and traditions. We have been through the fires of atrocity and have made it through, but not unscathed. The massacres, long walks, genocide, and forced assimilation through the boarding school system have wreaked havoc on American Indian Tribes in the United States and Canada. Today, we still see and feel the effects of the efforts of those bent on destroying our culture and way of life. As Native People we still experience racism and exploitation of Native Culture, i.e. Native mascots for sports teams, traders/merchants buying authentic crafts from Native artists at a fraction of the cost only to resale to the public at a thousand percent markup. Another major concern I would like to address is the recent attack on our Pow Wow culture by The Gathering of Nations Pow Wow.
As you are all aware, The Gathering of Nations is supported by various Tribes from the United States and Canada. My intentions are not to offend or demean anyone associated with the Pow Wow way of life, but there are many concerns with this event that need to be addressed. Here are a few:
1) Traders are housed in the main arena while the majority of Native vendors are located in a tent away from the Pow Wow.
2) Natives traveling from distant locations to participate in and hold on to their Native culture must pay ridiculous doorway fees as well as parking fees.
3) Any Brothers wanting to record must register their recorders and pay a fee to record.
4) Outdoor drinks and meals are not allowed - forcing participants and spectators to purchase expensive food and drinks indoors.
5) This one Powwow generates enough money to hold ten more powwows of that magnitude, and yet, Mr. Powwow Coordinator in an interview with the Navajo Times, states, "The remainder of the money is used to fund next year's powwow."
6) The Pow Wow coordinator (NON-INDIAN) demonstrates ignorance and/or blatant disrespect for Native culture (i.e. I have seen the coordinator rush through a crowd of dancers with no worry or concern for the Eagle feather used in their regalia; I have seen him roughly grab a fancy dancer on the arm, swinging him around and cussed him out for blowing a whistle; I have seen him stop a drum group in the middle of their drumming when a whistle was blown.)
How can you explain for a Non-Native have the power to stop a whistle at a Powwow and then proceed to stop the drum that responded to that whistle!? And yet we continue to support this individual every year, considering the taboos he violated. This individual was asked to MC a powwow in a New Mexico community a couple years ago. The powwow committee asked him for a donation, which he gladly donated $600 but asked for $800 at the end for MCing the powwow.
Pow Wows are an important part of our culture that gives us strength, rejuvenates the heart, and heals us. Although money is needed to fund pow wows, they should not be exploited for the benefit of one person. Each year, The Gathering of Nations Pow Wow raises hundreds of thousands of dollars of INDIAN MONEY in entrance fees, parking fees, vendor fees, recording fees, and countless other fees. Where does this money go???
There are many Tribal Nations across the U.S. and Canada who do not have enough resources to fund scholarships for their Tribal members to further their education and improve their communities. This Pow Wow has found a way to exploit our cultural traditions to make money...money that should be distributed back to less fortunate Tribal Nations to assist their children with scholarships.
Please do not take this as some sort of jealous attack, it is merely concern for maintaining our traditions and knowing that the day when NON-INDIANS dictate the terms of our culture and exploit us for their financial benefit WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

If you are planning or already have planned a trip to this event, please consider the larger issue at stake - OUR CULTURE, OUR FUTURE!

I THANK YOU - MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS ON TURTLE ISLAND FOR THIS TIME. MAY THE CREATOR TAKE CARE OF YOUR HOME FIRES AND GUIDE YOU ON YOUR JOURNEYS.

PLEASE FORWARD TO OTHER BROTHERS & SISTERS IF YOU FEEL OUR CULTURE AND VALUES ARE AT STAKE!

AHO, Wa-Do, Hiy-hiy! (thank you!)
Petition Ban Gathering of Nations

"It is sad for me to see a time when the few things we have left to hold onto such as community building though pow wows comes to a stage such as this. A stage that generationally has shown us that we cannot have anything as native people without non-native people trying to take it from us or change the way we do things, because of this history it is hard to imagine peace because I do not know what peace looks like." ~ clay river

Native American ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

2010-05-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

Join the Native American Rights Fund and Stand Firm for Environmental Justice!
"We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees." - Qwatsinas, Nuxalk Nation The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) strives to protect the earth. We accomplish this through our case work in the courts, our partnerships with other national organizations and through our internal greening practices.

NARF's Legal Environmental Case Work Protection of Tribal Natural Resources
	The culture and way of life of many indigenous peoples are inextricably tied to their aboriginal habitat. For those tribes that still maintain traditional ties to the natural world, suitable habitat is required in order to exercise their treaty-protected hunting, fishing, gathering, and trapping rights and to sustain their relationships with the animals, plants, and fish that comprise their aboriginal habitats. As Native Communities simultaneously face attacks on their fundamental human rights to self-determination, to feed both family and spirit through subsistence hunting and fishing activities and to be free of discrimination, NARF has long been instrumental in assisting tribes to assert hunting and fishing rights, which are guaranteed by treaty or other federal law. NARF also works to secure allocations of water for present and future needs for Indian tribes. Read more...

NARF's Commitment to Environmental Sustainability
	It is clear that our natural world is undergoing severe, unsustainable and catastrophic climate change that adversely impacts the lives of people and ecosystems worldwide. Native Americans are especially vulnerable and are experiencing disproportionate negative impacts on their cultures, health and food systems. In response, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is committed to environmental sustainability through its mission, work and organizational values. Native Americans and other indigenous peoples have a long tradition of living sustainably with the natural world by understanding the importance of preserving natural resources and respecting the interdependence of all living things. Read more...

Former NARF Board Member Publishes Article on Climate Change and Indigenous Environmental Self-Determination
	Rebecca Tsosie, former NARF Board and Executive Director of the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, recently published an article, "Climate Change, Sustainability, and Globalization: Charting the Future of Indigenous Environmental Self-Determination," in a symposium issue of the Houston Environmental & Energy Law & Policy Journal. Read more...

Join the Native American Rights Fund and stand firm for environmental justice by making a donation today!
DONATE TO NARF'S GREEN FUND The Green Fund is dedicated to protecting and supporting Mother Earth. Donations to the NARF Green Fund will be used to support case work addressing global warming and climate change issues (90%) and to support NARF's internal commitment to environmental sustainability (10%).

NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND (NARF)

2010-05-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

NARF

The Indian Wars Never Ended

Popular culture and media would have us believe that the Indian Wars Ended in the 1890's with tragic battles such as that at Wounded Knee. However, the wars against Native peoples, their traditional cultural and spiritual lifeways and their simple right to exist have never stopped. The Indian Wars Never Ended-they merely shifted and changed to new battlegrounds, with new tactics and weapons being utilized.

In the 1960's the Indian Wars erupted and gained attention within the context of the larger civil rights movement. From Alcatraz, to the Fish Wars in the Northwest, Wounded Knee and the Longest Walk-Native people from coast to coast took a stand for tribal sovereignty and their treaty and civil rights. NARF was borne out this remarkable era of direct action and social and political change. NARF joined the many other Modern Day Warriors defending Native rights by taking these battles to the courts. As a result, NARF helped to win some of the most significant legal battles for the rights of Native peoples in modern history since its founding in 1970.

NARF-Modern Day Legal Warriors

In the spirit of great warriors such as Sitting Bull, Geronimo and Chief Joesph to all those men, women, Elders, youth and children who have taken a stand to defend Native peoples, NARF continues its legal work in the 21st Century. As Moder Day Warriors, NARF is committed to honor and carry on this tireless struggle to attain justice for Native Americans and ensure a brighter, stronger future for the generations yet to come. Today, NARF remains as busy and vigiliant as ever. NARF currently has a range of cases, projects and issues that it is working on to defend Native rights. From addressing to the devastating impact of global warming on Native Alaskans to voting rights, water rights, Indian Child Welfare, to ensuring government accountability on Indian Trust Fund misamanagement to assisting tribes with major issues in the higher Courts, NARF continues to work tirelessly to ensure justice in Indian Country. The coming year will certainly prove to be yet another busy and important year for major battles and issues impacting Native peoples across Indian Country.

NARF Needs Your Support-Be a Modern Warrior

Despite the victories and gains made over the last four decades, much work remains. Without the generosity and support of thousands of people, tribes, foundations and corporations, NARF's non-profit work to defend the rights of Native peoples could not continue on. Please consider making a 100% tax deductible contribution to support our ongoing work to be Modern Day Warriors for Native peoples. Please join NARF and Help Us Continue to Stand Firm for Justice.

WILMA MANKILLER

2010-04-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

THE MEMORY OF Wilma Pearl Mankiller (November 18, 1945 – April 6, 2010) was the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She served as the Principal Chief for ten years from 1985 to 1995.

"A TRUE LEADER LEAVES AN INCREDIBLE LEGACY"

TWO SPIRIT VIDEO

2010-01-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

MuwinRiver@gmail.com

FIRST NATIONS ACTIVIST

2010-01-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

2010's people to watch in the GTA: Jessica Yee, activist

Who will be the movers, shakers and shapers of the new year?

Jessica Yee is a young woman on a mission. And at 23, she is wowing social justice activists twice her age with her passion and persistence.

The eldest daughter of a Mohawk mother and a Chinese father, Yee was volunteering for a local women's shelter when she was 12.

At 15, she was spearheading a letter-writing campaign in support of a gay student who was barred from bringing his boyfriend to the prom.

When she was 19, she was in South Dakota fighting against the recriminalization of abortion and meeting with the powerful Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center.

By age 20, Yee pulled those experiences together to form the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, the first agency of its kind run by and for youth that isn't focused solely on disease prevention.

Today the network is a North American force for healthy sexuality and reproductive rights, among other things. And as its founder and executive director, Yee has become a respected international youth leader who organizes UN conference forums on indigenous youth and writes, edits and produces books, videos and theatre about youth sexuality.

"We try to incorporate everything, from environmental justice to violence prevention, that you wouldn't typically see within a sexual reproductive health mandate," says Yee. One of Yee's strengths is her ability to connect the dots, says Judy Rebick, who nominated Yee for the Toronto YWCA's 2009 Young Woman of Distinction Award (she won).

"She's got everything: She's a great organizer, a great speaker. She's very courageous and determined."

Yee says her activism is rooted in her parents' history as sex trade workers. Although they were also caught up in substance abuse and minor brushes with the law, they raised Yee and her younger sister, Jennifer, in a safe, loving environment, teaching them to be open-minded, pro-choice and socially responsible.

"My past is empowering," Yee says. "It's not belittling in any way. It shaped who I am."

Yee has home offices in Toronto's Kensington Market and on the Oneida Indian Reserve in Wisconsin, where her partner, "a self-identified male feminist," is a teacher and consultant. But she spends most of her time speaking at conferences and overseeing the network's 14 projects across the continent.

Last year Yee edited a book on the sexual education experiences of young aboriginals and racial minorities. In 2010 she is working on a second book on young women and feminism.

And she is the subject of an upcoming National Film Board documentary on the future of feminism, due next year. Filmmaker Karen Cho sums up the international buzz on Yee. "When I said I was doing this documentary, everyone said I had to interview Jessica."

TheStar.com

"Indian Heads" for Team Logos

2009-12-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

IT'S TIME TO RETIRE THE INDIAN MASCOTS AND TEAM LOGOS
(They falsely represent the native people and are disrespectful)
These People/Nations will not be forgotten if the "false faces" are retired, They will be respectfully and accurately represented by their own people, by the native people. Not by white history.

BRANDING

2009-12-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

WHAT DO CORN MEAL, CANDY, MULTI-COLORED CORN STOCKS AND BUTTER HAVE TO DO WITH NATIVE AMERICANS? IF THE COMPANIES ARE NOT NATIVE OWNED, THEN WHY THE CULTURALLY APPROPRIATED NATIVE CHARACTER?

Nike's racist N7 sneaker

2009-12-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

Nike's Air Native N7 Brand Naming for Native Americans

Nike's new Air Native N7 is the new sneaker brand name designed especially for Native Americans. This is the first time Nike has designed a shoe for a specific race or ethnicity. With a "culturally specific look" and a wider, higher design, it is meant to cater to the specific foot needs of Native Americans. The design sounds pretty cool: there are feathers inside and stars on the sole to represent the night sky. These are referred to as "heritage callouts," and are accompanied by "sunrise to sunset to sunrise patterns on the tongue and heel of the shoe."

WOW, just when we thought sneakers couldn't get any worse. Thank you Nike for culturally appropriating sacred symbols. Also thanks for assuming that those symbols mean the same thing for all tribes. Also thanks for having these "Native Sneakers" accessible in cost to your target consumer. You call it "Heritage Callouts" I call it stealing, assimilation and appropriation!!

Indian Child Welfare Act

2009-12-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

NARF Testimony Strengthens the Indian Child Welfare Act
in the State of Wisconsin

In September, NARF Staff Attorney Mark Tilden represented the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and provided testimony for the Wisconsin Legislature on a LRB 0150/3, which would enact a state Indian Child Welfare Act into law.

To begin, Tilden testified that the bill is designed to remedy the continuing problem of Native American children being disproportionately over-represented in the substitute care system. Tilden discussed the history of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), stating that Congress intended to give the ICWA a broad scope because of the massive problem it meant to remedy.

CALLING ALL Native or Indigenous writers and artists

2009-11-29T15:43:00.000-08:00

For Summer 2010, The Florida Review will publish a special issue focusing on new American Indian writing. The Florida Review welcomes submissions of poetry, flash fiction, short fiction, creative nonfiction, graphic narrative, and art from Native or Indigenous writers and artists. Deadline: December 5, 2009.

http://floridareview.cah.ucf.edu

NATIVE AMERICAN DAY (Last Fri. of Nov.)

2009-11-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER IS NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH:
PRIDE IN OUR HERITAGE, HONOR TO OUR ANCESTORS:

Real Culture

2009-11-24T14:50:00.000-08:00

Some do's and don'ts in representing Native American culture

AR Sakaeda, who wrote one of my favorite essays for Exploring Race last year, sent me an email recently about issues to consider in representing Native Americans. Because Thanksgiving is a popular time for teaching students about Native Americans, here’s a list of guidelines that come from Oyate, a Native organization that wants to make sure the history of Native Americans is portrayed with honesty and accuracy.

Over the years, more schools have been eliminating the practice of kids dressing up as Indians, but apparently there is still much resistance. The Tribune covered a Skokie school in 2003 that decided to discontinue the costumes. That same year, the YMCA also decided to end its "Indian Guides and Princesses" program.

Tell me what you think about the list:

• Do present Native peoples as appropriate role models with whom a Native child can identify. Don't single out Native children, ask them to describe their families' traditions, or their people's cultures. Don't assume that you have no Native children in your class. Don't do or say anything that would embarrass a Native child.

• Do look for books and materials written and illustrated by Native people. Don't use ABC books that have "I is for Indian"' or "E is for Eskimo." Don't use counting books that count "Indians." Don't use story books that show non-Native children "playing Indian." Don't use picture books by non-Native authors that show animals dressed as "Indians." Don't use story books with characters like "Indian Two Feet" or "Little Chief."

• Do avoid arts and crafts and activities that trivialize Native dress, dance, or ceremony. Don't use books that show Native people as savages, primitive craftspeople, or simple tribal people, now extinct.

• Don't have children dress up as "Indians," with paperbag "costumes" or paper-feather "headdresses." Don't sing "Ten Little Indians." Don't let children do "war whoops." Don't let children play with artifacts borrowed from a library or museum. Don't have them make "Indian crafts" unless you know authentic methods and have authentic materials.

• Do make sure you know the history of Native peoples, past and present, before you attempt to teach it. Do present Native peoples as separate from each other, with unique cultures, languages, spiritual beliefs, and dress. Don't teach "Indians" only at Thanksgiving. Do teach Native history as a regular part of American history.

• Do use materials which put history in perspective. Don't use materials which manipulate words like "victory," "conquest," or "massacre" to distort history. Don't use materials which present as heroes only those Native people who aided Europeans. Do use materials which present Native heroes who fought to defend their own people.

• Do discuss the relationship between Native peoples and the colonists and what went wrong with it. Don't speak as though "the Indians" were here only for the benefit of the colonists. Don't make charts about "gifts the Indians gave us."

• Don't use materials that stress the superiority of European ways, and the inevitability of European conquest. Do use materials which show respect for, and understanding of, the sophistication and complexities of Native societies.

• Do use materials which show the continuity of Native societies, with traditional values and spiritual beliefs connected to the present. Don't refer to Native spirituality as "superstition." Don't make up Indian "legends" or "ceremonies." Don't encourage children to do "Indian" dances.

• Do use respectful language in teaching about Native peoples. Don't use insulting terms such as "brave," "squaw," "papoose," "Indian givers," "wild Indians," "blanket Indians," or "wagon burners."

• Do portray Native societies as coexisting with nature in a delicate balance. Don't portray Native peoples as "the first ecologists."

• Do use primary source material--speeches, songs, poems, writing--that show the linguistic skill of peoples who come from an oral tradition. Don't use books in which "Indian" characters speak in either "early jawbreaker" or in the oratorical style of the "noble savage."

• Do use materials which show Native women, Elders, and children as integral and important to Native societies. Don't use books which portray Native women and Elders as subservient to warriors.

• Do talk about lives of Native peoples in the present. Do read and discuss good poetry, suitable for young people, by contemporary Native writers. Do invite Native community members to the classroom. Do offer them an honorarium. Treat them as teachers, not as entertainers. Don't assume that every Native person knows everything there is to know about every Native Nation.

Tribune Article

TWO-SPIRIT

2009-11-24T14:47:00.001-08:00

The Navajo used the word “nádleehí” to describe people who embodied both masculine and feminine traits. They were among the hundreds of Native communities that celebrated and revered tribe members who lived outside binary male/female restrictions. As today’s Native communities fight to revitalize the culture that was beaten out of them, gay and transgender Natives are reclaiming this aspect of their ancestry by identifying as two-spirit –- a unifying term that serves as a catch-all for the many variations of sexuality and gender identity.

Two-spirit people were seen as a gift in Native American culture, viewed as a third gender with a heightened spiritual connectedness and a significant role to play. However, the forced Western colonization injected tribal communities with strong anti-gay attitudes that, for the most part, continue to reign supreme today. As two-spirits try to reclaim their historical culture, it is vital for the LGBT community to start paying attention to history as well.

I had the honor of speaking with seasoned two-spirit activist Richard LaFortune, whose wisdom made it painfully clear how shortsighted the LGBT civil rights movement has become. While much of the current focus is on the state-by-state status of legal relationship recognition, LaFortune reveals that many Native cultures enjoyed marriage equality for same-sex couples well before European settlers arrived. It isn’t surprising that anti-gay activists didn’t bother to consult Native American history before constantly regurgitating “marriage has always been between one man and one woman” talking points.

A rich history of equality does not equal an immediate connection to today’s gay movement for equality. LaFortune says most mainstream gay agenda items are illegible to him. Much of his organizing and activism is built on community building issues like environmental justice, women’s rights, elderly rights, and culture revitalization. “I’m not interested in marriage equality, I’m more concerned if we are going to have air to breathe in 20 years,” LaFortune asserts.

LaFortune is featured in a new documentary entitled “Two Spirits,” which premiered last weekend at the Starz Denver Film Festival. The film details the horrific 2001 murder of two-spirit Colorado teen Fred Martinez. Never heard of him? You’re not alone. While other hate crimes have garnered massive amounts of national media attention, the story of this transgender Native from rural Colorado has received little play from either mainstream media or the gay press.

This moving film focuses attention on a two-spirit community plagued by invisibility. LaFortune details the importance of this exposure, “[W]ithout visibility there is no attention, without attention there is no sympathy, and without sympathy there is no action.”

(Photo Courtesy of TwoSpirits.org)

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE DAY

2009-11-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

This Friday, November 27, we celebrate the second ever national Native American Heritage Day, to honor the original native residents of this great land.

Amid the" Thanksgiving", football, and life this week, lets take some time to recognize Native American Heritage Day.

Haiku (Anti-Thanksgiving)

2009-11-24T00:53:00.000-08:00

Truth Of Thanksgiving, I Am Not Saying Thank You, You Are Not Welcome.

Leticia Miranda

2009-11-12T10:20:00.001-08:00

Leticia Miranda

Check Out the 2010 Miss Indian Transgender Arizona Pageant

Here is some good news to get through the rest of your hump day.

This December 13, Arizona’s Native community will be choosing this year’s Miss Indian Transgender Arizona.

Trudie Jackson, the director of the pageant, says the point of the pageant is to bring visibility to transgender people in the Native community and the issues they face. She said to NativeOut in an interview:

There are numerous issues that affect transgender people in their everyday life. One of the most challenging of these issues is gender identity. Some girls don’t know how to come out to their families, who reside on the reservations, about their lifestyles. When girls come to the city they are able to be themselves, instead of living in the closet. Another issue is employment. Since most girls are unable to be themselves in the work place, they have to find an alternate way of surviving in the city. Stigma is another issue affecting transgender women since the majority of the general population is not educated about transgenderism; they automatically assume they are “men in a dress.”

Check out the video below from 2007’s Miss Indian Transgender crowning.

Inupiaq woman wins major writing award

2009-11-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

Inupiaq woman wins major writing award

Poet Joan Kane, an Inupiaq Eskimo woman, received the prestigious Whiting Writers' Award. (It comes with $50,000!)

"My husband jokes that he's probably the only start-up lawyer whose practice is being kept afloat by his poet wife," she said.
Some of the money will buy health insurance, she said.

She'd also like to take her children and her mother to King Island, an expensive and difficult proposition.

The remote settlement in the Bering Sea was abandoned under pressure from the government in the 1950s. Memories of the deserted village contribute to overtones of loss and change that haunt Kane's poems. King Islanders retain a strong sense of identity with the place, though members of the younger generation -- including Kane herself -- have never been there.

Kane hopes to visit small communities in the future, to talk about writing and "bring books to others."

"As a writer, you have to be concerned when you see all of these towns without bookstores," she said.
Feministing.com
Pure/Pour/A Priori

full moon’s rays spill

a skeleton path on water

tell me the spell

you held me under

simpler to undo

than the first split steps

I took towards you.

Wrath and swell

of the silt-black sea

heavy and mute

with the weight

of so much ice melting

returns agency

to me, and ease.

Eyes travel,

trace along the shape

of pure coincidence;

sere white falls hued

through night air,

valuable, and silvers

on the waves.

Shafts of light

unravel, reeling

towards shore: shine

relearns its shadow image

and I relearn more.

I can scarcely scrape

and scratch my eyes

across the moon’s rough

surface. To conjure

this drag and chase down

the fixed spines of time

and the firm arrival

at some great vein

of truth appears

difficult. My own

divinations, though, draw

me down the coast

and raise my eyes high

despite the bone-bright

glance of the naked

skeleton path on the water.

— By Joan Kane

Aboriginal Trafficking in Canada

2009-10-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

Flesh trade targets natives

Young Aboriginal women used as a sex commodity in cities across Canada

By TAMARA CHERRY, SUN MEDIA

: "The average age of Aboriginal girls who are human trafficked is between seven and 12 years old," says Jo-Ann Daniels, interim executive director for the Metis Settlements General Council in Edmonton. (ROBERT TAYLOR/Sun Media)

On the street corners of Canada's largest cities, thousands of women are bought and sold every night.

Most of them, experts say, are aboriginal and an alarming number are trafficked.

"There's a total myth that Aboriginal women either consent to or are born into the sex trade," says Jo-Ann Daniels, interim executive director for the Metis Settlements General Council in Edmonton. "The average age of Aboriginal girls who are human trafficked is between seven and 12 years old."

In a four-part series running across the country this week, Sun Media looks at Canada's hidden trade in people; at the failure of this country to live up to its international obligations on human trafficking, to prosecute human traffickers and meaningfully help victims.

"It is Aboriginal girls and women who are specifically targeted in this country to be trafficked, in such huge numbers that it does not compare to any other population," Daniels says. "We believe that it is the root source of Aboriginal women ever being involved in the sex trade. We believe that Aboriginal women and Aboriginal girls have been domestically trafficked now for, I would say probably since the '50s when there began to be Aboriginal movement into urban areas or there were more contacts between Aboriginal communities and towns."

Aboriginal trafficking has been identified as a unique problem in government reports, non-governmental newsletters and at human trafficking conferences.

Poverty, abuse, racism and troubled historical relations have all been cited as reasons for the Aboriginal population falling victim to Canada's flesh trade at a far higher rate than non-Aboriginals.

FEW ARE LISTENING

But those in the know suggest few are listening and little or nothing is being done to deal with the indiscriminate exploitation of this population.

Members of the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women (IAAW) in Edmonton began to hear stories from Aboriginal women about how they got involved in sex work after publishing their 2006 Crime Against Aboriginal Women report, says Daniels, a former policy analyst for IAAW.

"There was so few of them who had consented. There were so few of them who got any support to even recognize that they had been domestically trafficked," Daniels recalls.

Given the total lack of statistics gathered on domestic trafficking in this country, it is no wonder there is nothing to accurately illustrate exactly how many Aboriginal people are being trafficked. But this is what is known:

- More than 500 Aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the last few decades.

- According to research conducted by gang expert Michael Chettleburgh, 90% of the teenaged, urban prostitutes in Canada are Aboriginal.

- About 75% of Aboriginal girls under 18 have been sexually abused, says Anupriya Sethi, who has researched the issue. Of those, half are under 14 and nearly a quarter are younger than seven.

"According to the Department of Justice and other witnesses, Aboriginal girls and women are at greater risk of becoming victims of trafficking within and outside Canada," notes the February 2007 report on human trafficking from the Standing Committee on Status of Women.

The report noted accounts from several experts about poverty, abuse and poor living conditions driving Aboriginal women into trafficking.

"Basically their handlers start them in Vancouver," Chantal Tie, a lawyer with the National Association of Women and The Law, told the committee.

"They work for them there for awhile, then they're sold to someone in Winnipeg and then to someone in Toronto, and so on down the line as they get moved around the country."

The RCMP's National Aboriginal Policing Service wanted to examine the issue further, the report noted, but lacked the funding and human resources to do so.

Later that year, the First Peoples Child and Family Review published a report by Sethi after she spent five months interviewing 18 "key informants," who ranged from trafficking victims to front-line service providers for sexually exploited women.

Sethi identified trafficking triangles through which Aboriginal victims are moved: Saskatoon-Edmonton-Calgary-Saskatoon; Saskatoon-Regina-Winnipeg-Saskatoon.

"These triangles are linked and they're spread all across Canada," Sethi says in an interview from Ottawa. "One of the trafficked women who I spoke with said that you sleep in the night and you're in Montreal and in the morning you wake up and you're in Vancouver."

"I don't know if there are international linkages," she says. "Once you're in Vancouver, are you taken? Once you're in Toronto, are you taken to New York or do you go to Los Angeles? I don't know. It hasn't been explored."

In big cities like Montreal, Aboriginal girls from northern communities are plucked right from the airport, Sethi says.

"Traffickers often know someone in the community who informs them about the plans of the girls moving to the city. Upon their arrival at the airport, traffickers lure the girls under the pretext of providing a place to stay or access to resources," she notes in her report.

'YOUNG, NAIVE'

Sethi quotes an Aboriginal outreach worker as such: "Girls tend to believe in the promises of the traffickers as they are young, naive and vulnerable in a new and big city. They are unsuspecting of the motives of the traffickers, since they belong to communities that have a culture of welcoming strangers."

Experts cite various reasons these girls are leaving their communities.

"Aboriginal communities are facing huge issues, whether it's poverty or homelessness, sexual exploitation," Sethi says. "If you escape all that and there is this person who is targeting you... (who) offers you a shelter, offers you a job or better prosperous life, it's very easy to buy in."

"I haven't seen the image that I think people have in their head about people being scooped off reserves and taken other places," says Anette Sikka, who is researching the issue at the University of Ottawa.

"Chronic runaways are a real issue with trafficking in the Prairie Provinces," she says. "It tends to be if a young girl has run away a number of times, people stop looking." Experts interviewed by the Sun agree common factors that contribute to non-Aboriginal victims being forced into the sex trade -- such as poverty, drugs and abuse -- are much more prevalent in Aboriginal communities.

"There's a lot that unites us as Canadians, whether we're African Canadian, white or Aboriginal. But there are some distinctions with the Aboriginal community that I don't think most policy makers truly understand," says Chettleburgh. "The generation of young at-risk Aboriginals we have right now, many of them are the product of parents that went through the residential school experience and they've lost that touch with what makes them Indian."

"THIS IS ALL THEIR FAULT'

"I think there is a conception in people's minds that Aboriginal people aren't doing anything, this is all their fault, without making a connection to the whole issue of colonization and what colonization has done to harm the healthy development of Aboriginal people," says Marlyn Bennett, director of research for the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada in Winnipeg. "You have parents who don't know how to be parents."

Like international trafficking cases, in some Aboriginal communities, the exploitation is familial -- fathers and uncles exchanging incest for food and shelter, Sethi says.

"It's the whole bigger picture and if you miss it, then you'll miss the point," Sethi says. "How many Aboriginal men healing centres have you heard about?"

While experts have cited instances of Aboriginal victims being recruited by Asian and Somali gangs, says Chettleburgh: "There's no shortage of Aboriginal on Aboriginal victimization in the country." He points to Winnipeg where large gangs such as Indian Posse, Native Syndicate and Red Alert "are definitely running the girls on the street."

"I could take you to north Winnipeg, show you a street corner in the middle of a Monday afternoon, you'll have three girls, 12, 14, working the corners. Obviously they're being pimped out by gang members, but their customers are white guys driving middle class sedans that have come from the 'burbs, who are paying for their $20 (sex acts) in back alleys and they disappear back to where they came from."

In Hobbema, a notoriously crime-laden reserve south of Edmonton, young women who have identified themselves as Indian Posse Girls claim to run the prostitution rings, Chettleburgh says.

"And largely their customers aren't the domestic demand," he adds. "It's these guys that are driving through the community looking for a score."

"Things like this don't happen without racism being the core cause," Daniels says with emphatic frustration. "The number one killer in this country for Aboriginal women isn't diabetes or cancer. It's rape-slash-murder. It can grow to such horrific heights and still, what's happening? Where's the human outcry? If it happened to soccer moms, it would be a completely different story all together."

"Just simply being an Aboriginal woman puts you at risk. I can go and stand on the corner of 108th St. and Jasper Ave. (in Edmonton) waiting for a ride to come along and I will get solicited," she says. "Aboriginal women who smoke, they'll go out on the side there, away from the entrance of their business buildings, of their offices, and they'll get solicited. It's a real problem. That's how racialized the sex industry is in this country.

'TARGETS ABORIGINALS'

"It just so targets Aboriginal women."

Asked for an estimate of the number of Aboriginal women and girls being trafficked in Canada, Daniels pauses.

"At this point, I would say hundreds," she says. "If we say thousands, I don't know if that's 99,000 or 3,000. So just hundreds at this point."

"The women out there now, tragically are --" her voice trails off. "I don't know how to say this. There's just a lot of Aboriginal women and girls out there."

Those who care have made several recommendations to the government: Look closer. Come up with a plan. Save our children. But where is the response?

Even the U.S. State department acknowledges the problem, noting it in their 2008 Trafficking in Persons report: "Canadian girls and women, many of whom are Aboriginal, are trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation," the report says.

The Aboriginal issue hasn't been ignored, Winnipeg MP Joy Smith, who co-chaired last year's Status of Women report, says just days before the federal election is announced. The only reason Smith, who has passionately taken on the issue of human trafficking for several years, can give for her government not addressing Aboriginal trafficking is that they can't get anything done with a minority government.

Human trafficking can't be ruled out when considering all the missing Aboriginal women in this country, Bennett says.

"Where are all these women? Where are they? Are they dead?" she says.

"Whether these women are being moved around, we don't know that and we need to look at that and we need to find out."

"It's very rare with regards to the Aboriginal population that somebody goes in for money into voluntary sex work," Sethi says. "Unless we take a step back and see why it's happening, we'll never be able to get through this problem. We'll always see it as voluntary prostitution and their problem."

"Either it's ignorance or it's stereotype or it's total indifference or it's racism or it's a mix of all these factors," she says. "Before we go any further into prevention and targeted initiatives, let's just start acknowledging that this issue is human trafficking and not just sex work."

TorontoSun.com

Brian Jungen: Crafting Everyday Objects Into Art

2009-10-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

Artist Brian Jungen says that one of the best ways to get people to look at artwork is to create it out of materials that they recognize. Visitors to Jungen's exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., will recognize plenty of the materials that compose Jungen's work — everything from basketball sneakers to plastic chairs to baseball gloves.

Jungen's exhibit is the first solo show of a living Native American artist at the Museum of the American Indian. He says that much of his work is a response to the hostility and stereotypes that he faced as a person of First Nations ancestry.

NPR VIDEO LINK

Brian Jungen Works Cont.

Freedom

2009-10-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

TWO-SPIRIT (Transgendered) PRIDE

2009-10-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Transgender Navajo murdered in Albuquerque

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Written by NativeOUT

Wednesday, 08 July 2009 05:57

A transgender Navajo, Teri Benally, 42, was found beaten to death in the 500 block of Maple SE in Albuquerque, New Mexico at 1am this morning. Teri is the third transgender Navajo murdered in this area since 2005. Fredrick Watson, 32, was killed June 9 this year and Ryan Shey Hoskie, 23, was found beaten to death in January 2005. Visit KRQE.com to read more about these murders.

Native Out Website

FRED MARTINEZ PROJECT

TwoSpirit.org

TWO SPIRIT GATHERING 2009:

"SNAG":Seventh Native American Generation Magazine

2009-10-18T21:15:00.001-07:00

SNAG MAGAZINE video:

CULTURE SHOCK CAMP

2009-10-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

CULTURE SHOCK CAMP:

WE WERE ALL WOUNDED AT WOUNDED KNEE:

4 REAL

2009-10-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT BEING NATIVE? The answers....

N VISION

2009-10-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

CULTURAL AWARENESS, NATIVE EMPOWERMENT!!!

Native Skateboard Culture

2009-10-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Skateboard Culture: An Extreme Sport Helps Native Americans Soar

Athletes say sport promotes courage, resilience, strong work ethic

Members of the 4-Wheel Warpony skateboard team pose in traditional 19th-century Apache scout dress.

By Lauren Monsen
Staff Writer

Washington — A skateboard, symbolic of youthful risk-taking and fearlessness, might seem an unlikely route to responsible adulthood. But because it promotes self-discipline and perseverance, skateboarding — among the most popular sports on Indian reservations across the United States — is a transformative experience for many indigenous athletes, according to a new exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).

Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America (on display through September 13, 2009) showcases the vibrancy and creativity of American Indian skate culture, while also tracing the sport’s evolution and highlighting the achievements of tribe-affiliated skaters. In a recent interview with America.gov, Betsy Gordon — NMAI’s project manager for the Ramp It Up exhibition — explained that skateboarding affirms the importance of “courage, strength and resilience,” facilitating “the passing of Native values in a modern medium.” It also has spawned its own genre of popular music, graphic art and design, photography and filmmaking, and entrepreneurship that revolves around the competitive skateboard circuit frequented by young athletes on and off the reservations.

BASIC FORM SKATEBOARD TEAM

11.12.08Native American Skateboard team

Brendan Moore's photos of "the all Apache Skateboarding Team" popped up in my email inbox yesterday. Usually I delete all the promotional crap that passes by my spam filter but the Native American Skateboarders headline grabbed my attention. Brendan's photos turned out to be very clean, commercial looking, and do a great job of subtly capturing the subjects essence.

ASSIMILATION

2009-10-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

the absolutely true diary of a part-time indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Illustrated by Ellen Forney
Hardcover published by Little, Brown
Publication date: September 2007
In his first book for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. This heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written tale, coupled with poignant drawings that reflect the character’s art, is based on the author’s own experiences and chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he seems destined to live.

Link To Native/First Nations Assimilation Education

ASSIMILATION!!!! BLLAAAHHHH

Native American AIDS Project

2009-10-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

SHOUT OUT TO NAAP: "NATIVE AMERICAN AIDS PROJECT" YYEEAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Founded in 1994, the Native American AIDS Project is the only organization providing culturally specific HIV prevention and CARE services to Native Americans in the state of California.

Staff and volunteers come from diverse communities with an indigenous understanding of cultural issues. The Native American AIDS Project embraces the entire community; youth, elders, men and women, gay, straight, two-spirited, sober and actively using.

All services draw upon Native cultural, spiritual, behavioral and medical traditions to communicate HIV prevention messages.

NAAP WEBSITE

Government Apologies Are A Joke

2009-10-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

Making Amends with Native America: The Meaning of Resolution

Continuing a string of high-profile gestures of contrition, Congress has issued an official apology for the treatment of the country’s indigenous peoples. To be more exact, they resolved:

"To acknowledge a long history of official depredations and ill-conceived policies by the Federal Government regarding Indian tribes and offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States."
FULL ARTICLE@RACE WIRE:The Color Lines Blog

UM GEE THANKS, BUT NO THANKS, YEAH THAT TOTALLY FIXES EVERYTHING, WOW REALLY....the government sucks at apologies it would have meant more if that apology came with land, NO REALLY WHEN CAN WE HAVE OUR LAND BACK???????

Bunky Echo Hawk - Native Artist

2009-10-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

BLUE KING BROWN

2009-10-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

BLUE KING BROWN -ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN MUSICIANS: SINGING FOR FREEDOM AND PEACE FOR ALL FIRST PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD!!

Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards

2009-10-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

ABORIGINAL PEOPLES CHOICE MUSIC AWARDS WEBSITE....you heard.

Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards

2009-10-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.aboriginalpeopleschoice.com

Anti-Columbus Day Tribute

2009-10-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

The Land We Walk On Is Ours To Own

2009-10-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

In Latin America, most indigenous communities are struggling on a local and regional level, fighting in courts as well as in streets to maintain land against a slew of multinationals and hired thugs. Communities often do not hold legal titles to their ancestral lands, though are legally entitled to them in some Latin American countries such as Argentina, where constitutionally communities are said to have “pre-existed” the modern state. Article Continued

rebuilding the lost

2009-10-11T12:58:00.001-07:00

Edward R. Basset, Jr.

Canoe Builder
Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Indian Reservation

"Soon after I graduated from high school I moved to the reservation. I soon realized that there were no more living traditional birch bark canoe builders alive. By traditional I mean using NO MODERN MATERIALS such as nails or screws. This artform had died out sometime in the early 1800's. However, there was still one or two elders around who had experience building the more modern style of bark canoes (using nails etc). The modern bark canoe builders stopped using spruce root lashings and replaced them with nails and screws probably sometime in the late 1800's. And eventually spruce gum (used to make canoes watertight) was replaced with roofing tar. In the late 1970's I found no traditional bark canoe builders anywhere in Maine nor in the Canadian maritime provinces. My goal was to also bring back the traditional skill to the Passamaquoddy community".
Read More about Passamaquoddy Birch Bark Canoes.

humor in colonization.....

2009-10-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Passamaquoddy elder Joseph Nicholas over-rode almost all other events when he summed up the activities from the Native American point of view with his charm and humor. Nicholas is a lively 78 year old Passamaquoddy born in Indian Township, the Native Reservation located outside of Calais, Maine. Nicholas also represented the Native Americans in the Main State Legislature for several years.

When asked by a Canadian reporter covering the celebrations what Nicholas would have said to his people and to the French if he had been the first Passamaquoddy to greet the Europeans in 1604, his classic response was quick and witty. “I’d say, ‘Well, there goes the neighborhood!’”

View Continued Article Here

First Nations Urban Survival

Native Youth Empowerment Project Video

Native Prisoners of War

Nevada skinheads on the hunt for Native Americans

Resistance

Environment

Native Youth Empowerment Education

Anarcha Feminists - Bolivia (subtitled in english)

Native Art Statement

Native Soil Graffiti

Reconsider Columbus Day

Pamunkey - Federal Acknowledgment

Pamunkey Indian Tribe Files for Federal Acknowledgment

The Shinnecock Indian Nation

NARF's 40 Years of Indian Law Forum

Native American Rights Fund Celebrates 40 Years of Defending Native Rights

NARF article: Supreme Court denies Alaskas Appeal

Pocahontas Radical Poetry

Indian Country Wins

Indian Country Wins Power to Fight Sexual Assault

Native Themed Banksy St. Art San Francisco

Native Appropriations

Land Jurisdiction

Native American Tribes Say They Won't Enforce Immigration Law

Evan Wyloge, 2010

Friendship House Association of American Indians

racial politics in school sports

Sacred Sheep Revive Navajo Tradition

American Indian Activism

American Indian / Native American Activism

Books and Articles

Multimedia

Native Artists

Seventh Generation Radio

International Queer Indigenous Issue of _Yellow Medicine Review_

Litefoot and Concerned Natives

Native American ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Join the Native American Rights Fund and Stand Firm for Environmental Justice!

NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND (NARF)

WILMA MANKILLER

TWO SPIRIT VIDEO

FIRST NATIONS ACTIVIST

2010's people to watch in the GTA: Jessica Yee, activist

Who will be the movers, shakers and shapers of the new year?

"Indian Heads" for Team Logos

BRANDING

Nike's racist N7 sneaker

Nike's Air Native N7 Brand Naming for Native Americans

Indian Child Welfare Act

CALLING ALL Native or Indigenous writers and artists

NATIVE AMERICAN DAY (Last Fri. of Nov.)

Real Culture

Some do's and don'ts in representing Native American culture

TWO-SPIRIT

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE DAY

Haiku (Anti-Thanksgiving)

Leticia Miranda

Leticia Miranda

Check Out the 2010 Miss Indian Transgender Arizona Pageant

Inupiaq woman wins major writing award

Aboriginal Trafficking in Canada

News Canada

Flesh trade targets natives

Brian Jungen: Crafting Everyday Objects Into Art

Freedom

TWO-SPIRIT (Transgendered) PRIDE

"SNAG":Seventh Native American Generation Magazine

CULTURE SHOCK CAMP

4 REAL

N VISION

Native Skateboard Culture

Skateboard Culture: An Extreme Sport Helps Native Americans Soar

11.12.08Native American Skateboard team

ASSIMILATION

Native American AIDS Project

Government Apologies Are A Joke

Making Amends with Native America: The Meaning of Resolution

Bunky Echo Hawk - Native Artist

BLUE KING BROWN

Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards