WILMA MANKILLER

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

MuwinRiver@gmail.com

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?

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

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

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

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

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.

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