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I often hear myself saying, "That's just not right!" I want the situation to be fixed; I want justice for whomever and for whatever. Life offers an endless supply of things for me to be upset about. Do you ever feel like this? The Lord offers me different ways to think about life, and I appreciate His help. I often get around to thinking His way, but wanting life to be right is where I usually begin. Jesus said a lot about this subject in His teachings in Matthew 5–7. I c...
My mother tried to abort me twice and failed. The day she went into labor, she was found digging a grave for me in the hog shed. My grandfather dragged her to the hospital where I was born. She refused to feed me, and my grandmother made formula for me with maple syrup, coffee and canned evaporated milk. We lived in a tar-paper shack that had been a chicken coop. It didn't have electricity or water. We lived with a mattress on a dirt floor and had bed bugs. Our only light was...
Emmitt Mckenzie never thought he would live to see his 16th birthday. Growing up in the streets of Oklahoma and in a broken family, Emmitt found himself increasingly angry with God and others in his youth. At age 12, he started drinking alcohol. At age 13, he joined a gang. By age 15, he was hooked on hard drugs, including methamphetamine. Emmitt found himself stuck in a reckless life of crime, drugs and gangs. "I didn't understand the gospel and what God has done for me," he...
Intertribal Life Ministries is pleased to announce that one of our most popular books, Does the Owl Still Call Your Name? edited by Bruce Brand, is once again available to readers. This book talks about specific struggles Indigenous communities face, as well as giving testimonies and life stories of people who have overcome. We've given you an excerpt from one of the chapters here, and you can order this at https://intertriballife.org/store/. Arthur Holmes is an Ojibwe Indian...
PHOENIX, Ariz.—In a crowded auditorium, a group of Indigenous students stood shoulder to shoulder, eagerly waiting their turn to have their clothes screen printed by Homeland. The Native-led creative brand blends culture, music, fashion and community through hands-on workshops and cross-brand collaborations. On Saturday, during the Phoenix Union High School District Native American Education Program's career expo, Homeland hosted a live screen-printing workshop. Students l...
DURHAM, N.C.-Ava Grace Cummings, a member of the Lumbee and Coharie tribes in North Carolina, recently placed second in the national 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search. The 18-year-old high school senior's prize-winning project was researching Native American myopathy, also known as the muscle disorder stac3. Cummings told WTVD reporters in Raleigh, N.C. that the subject was near to her heart. She said her goal was, "Just bringing more resources and more advocacy and more...
ADA, OKla.-Aydenyden Elcyzyn, a standout high school football player from Newcastle, Oklahoma, recently participated in the Native American All-Star Game at the Dallas Cowboys practice stadium, The Star. The prestigious game showcased top First American athletes' talents from across the country. The event was hosted by the Native American Athletic Foundation (NAAF) in partnership with Nike and the National Football League (NFL). Although athletic ability played a strong role...
Dessert Night In mid-April, ILM hosted a Dessert Night in Alberta with the purpose of not only providing fellowship, but introducing Intertribal Life Ministries to others. "When we first joined the ministry back in 2021, one of our Board members, Len DeFehr stated that ILM was one of North America's best kept secrets," Todd and Krystal Wawrzyniak recall. "We were taken aback by this comment and felt a holy nudging to no longer allow that to be the case. We believe in this...
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Native American women, like their male counterparts, share a proud tradition of military service. During the Revolutionary War, Tyonajanegan, an Oneida, fought on the side of the United States with her husband during the Battle of Oriskany, Aug. 6, 1777, in New York. She died in 1824 at the age of 84. The first active duty Native American women were four Sioux nuns, serving as Army nurses during the Spanish-American War, in 1898. One of them died in Cuba f...
TORONTO, Ont.—A new fellowship opportunity for First Nations women in conservation and stewardship has been announced by the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI) and Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS Canada). This pilot year will shape a long-term initiative to support emerging women leaders by enhancing their professional growth, broadening their experiences, and strengthening their skills within the conservation movement. Called the First Nations Women T...
"For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." -Jeremiah 17:8 (NKJV) Near my house stand very tall spruce trees. These trees have many branches, and the sum of their weight must be incredibly heavy. One evening, as I observed the trees, I marveled. I thought, "To hold all those heavy...
Prayer is powerful. I know it is because prayer has helped me out of some hard situations, but I don't want to pray to God just to get out of trouble. I want a real relationship. And God wants a real relationship with you! That relationship began when you and I prayed to the only One who could save us from our sins, Jesus, the Christ, God's eternal gift to us. It was then that our prayer life to God as a new believer began, and it is only through His only Son and mediator, Jes...
I am a member of the Eastern band of Cherokee Indians; I was born and raised on the reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina when the reservation was extremely poor. I was the fourth child of a beautiful, full-blooded Cherokee woman. Unfortunately, she loved her alcohol, and she already had four children; all of us had different fathers. As a result of her drinking, after I was born, I became the responsibility, along with my other siblings, of my grandfather, who was a...
In October of last year, Intertribal Life was in Bismarck, N.D. to attend the annual STEER Conference. STEER Inc. is an organization that gives farmers and ranchers an opportunity to meet Christ-focused non-profit organizations and partner with them in ministry. Intertribal Life, since attending, has started relationships with three farmers and ranchers and, as a result, have had five steer assigned to them. We like to say we have five holy cows, because the ranchers raise...
"His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:21–23 ESV I'm a coffee drinker. Ever since I was 14 years old, I've revelled in the liquid satisfaction of the life-enhancing elixir that Heaven blessed this Earth with! From my truck-driving days of guzzling 16 cups a day to the much more balanced intake of only 4 to 5 daily indulgences now, I continue to relish that delicious cupful! BUT . . . if java isn't fresh, java...
If you're attending these events, come by and meet us! If you would like ILM to participate in your event, contact Todd at director@intertriballife.org. May 15–18 Native Youth Conference (NYC), Camp Nakamun, AB May 23–25 Annual Ladies Retreat, Camp Nakamun Alb. June 20–22 Camp Canaanlad, Silverbirch Resort, Kikino Metis Settlement July 10–13 NEFC Annual Conference, Regina Sask. Sept 12–14 Every Story Matters . . . Including Yours, testimony conference, Sudbury First Nations C...
On days when the weather permits, because our home is close to the Intertribal Life office, I choose to walk. For the past number of weeks, I have seen a father walking his two daughters to and from school, with his arm securely held in place by a sling. I've never been close enough in proximity to talk to him about his arm, but today, as I was walking towards the crosswalk, he was walking towards me as he finished crossing with his girls. It was the perfect opportunity to...
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The children's television show, "Molly of Denali," won for Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Series at the Third Annual Children's and Family Emmy Awards. The show, widely distributed on PBS, is an action-adventure comedy that follows the life of 10-year-old Molly Mabray, an Alaska Native girl. It teaches young viewers developmental skills while raising awareness of Alaska Native culture and lifeways. "Molly of Denali" is the first nationally d...
IRVINE, Calif.—Machine learning algorithms using electronic health records can effectively predict two-year dementia risk among American Indian/Alaska Native adults aged 65 years and older, according to a University of California, Irvine-led study. The findings provide a valuable framework for other healthcare systems, particularly those serving resource-limited populations. The computer modeling results also found several new predictors for dementia diagnosis that were i...
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.—A Broward County, Florida, jury has awarded more than $800 million to the Seminole Tribe of Florida after finding that Wachovia Bank and its new owner, Wells Fargo Bank, charged more than $7 million in unauthorized fees and mishandled a trust fund set up for the tribe's children. The Florida tribe first set up the Seminole Minors Per Capita Payment Trust in 2005 as it prepared to purchase Hard Rock International, the music-themed chain of restaurants, h...
WASWANIPI, Que.—Mandy Gull-Masty has been elected in Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou, as the first Cree woman to serve as a Member of Parliament for the region. Gull-Masty secured 41.2 per cent of the vote, unseating the two-term incumbant MP. Gull-Masty, from Waswanipi, Que., is the former grand chief of Eeyou Istchee. She enters Parliament representing one of the largest and most culturally diverse ridings in Canada. "This is going to be a new endeavour because I'm working...
Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ottawa—National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, along with compensation administrator Deloitte, announced today the opening of the first two claims processes for eligible applicants seeking compensation for experiencing discrimination in the First Nations Child and Family Services Program (FNCFS). In April, 2023, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Moushoom and Trout Class Action plaintiffs reached a final settlement agreement, totalling m...
SANTA FE, N.M.-According to the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH), suicide rates among the state's Native American population dropped by 43% during 2022 to 2023. According to the Centers for Disease Control, American Indians and Alaska Natives experience suicide rates that are 91% higher than the general population. In New Mexico, home to 23 federally recognized tribes, from 2009 to 2018, suicide rates among the Indigenous population climbed nearly 56 percent.. During...
SASKATOON, Sask.-The Mitchison Flight Centre is hosting a Dziret'ái Pilot Training Program designed specifically to train Saskatchewan Indigenous students and women to achieve their goals of becoming pilots. The program started in September 2024, when 9 of the 105 people who applied were chosen. It is funded by several organizations, including the Indigenous-owned RiseAir airline, mining companies, governments, and First Nations. Because of organizational funding, the...
OTTAWA, Ontario-The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, recently announced the establishment of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act) Action Plan Advisory Committee (APAC). The APAC is an Indigenous-led, independent body made up of 10 experts from diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis backgrounds and...
