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NEW YORK—Church Publishing, the publisher of official worship materials, books, music, and digital ministry resources for The Episcopal Church, has recently published Wakan Cekiye Odowan / The Dakota Hymnal. For the first time since it was authorized in 1893, congregations, families, and individuals around the world will have access to a comprehensive collection of hymns in the Dakota/Lakota language ensuring its deep spiritual traditions will endure for future generations. F...
NEW YORK—In May, the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History was awarded to Kathleen DuVal for her book Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, published by Random House in 2024. DuVal, a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is a historian specializing in early American and American Indian history; her work focuses on the interactions between Native Americans and people of European and African descent in early America. The book, which P...
The two most difficult emotions to work through in our lives are rejection and grief. Grief, which is an overwhelming emotion, isn't always accompanied with rejection, but grief is always the result of rejection. I have no doubt that every person reading this has had his or her share of rejection and grief; I wonder how you have learned to process such strong emotions. Obviously, healthy ways and a not-so healthy ways to deal with grief exist, but no way is easy. The...
Did you ever hit your head on a car door? I hope not. But if you have, you know it hurts. So, imagine my surprise when I saw a woodpecker clinging to the side of a metal lamppost, slamming his beak into that metal tree. OUCH! I thought, This is not the brightest bird in the flock. He's one feather short of a wing. How could he possibly pound his head into metal at lightning speed without one colossal headache? Without turning his brains to pudding? We humans can handle 5 Gs...
Someone had abandoned a beagle at the gate to our farm. People from the city frequently abandoned a cat or dog along our country road. Maybe they had pets they no longer wanted or couldn't take care of or maybe they were moving away and were hoping some farmer would adopt their pet. We had an "Old McDonald's Farm." We had horses and cows and sheep and goats and chickens and ducks and several stray dogs and a half-dozen abandoned cats. When someone abandoned a very pregnant...
I heard a thought this week on YouTube from Pastor John Burke. I have been working this over in my mind, so I will share it with you to see what you think. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . " (Matthew 6:19–20). We cannot send funds into heaven. We cannot take our treasures with us. I have been watching the wildfire evacuations happening i...
I got a letter in the mail after my 64th birthday saying I was eligible to apply for my Senior's Pension. It reminded me that there was a big change coming when I turned 65! We had a good chuckle when I told my friends that I was becoming an Elder! It got me thinking about the phases of life. I thought about my grandchildren, and how my youngest granddaughter was going from Grade 1 to Grade 2. And then my grandson, going from Grade 4 to Grade 5. Our oldest granddaughter will...
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 on page 18. The headline read, "Death stalks desperate reserve-suicide...
PHOENIX—Since she was three years old, Mariah Gladstone says, she has had a passion for food. After graduating from high school in northwest Montana, she studied environmental engineering at Columbia University in New York. During summers, she returned to her Blackfeet Nation home where she realized how disconnected Indigenous communities were from their traditional food systems. "After I graduated college, I would take vacation days from my real-world job to go to food s...
FAYETTESVILLE, Ark.—Claire Walker is a Cherokee college student who cares about her Native community so much that she is on her way to receiving well-earned awards. Accordingly, she was recently announced as the Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall Scholar for her commitment to tribal healthcare, as well as demonstrated leadership connected to this issue on campus and in her community. An honors student from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, she is majoring in biochemistry and biology at t...
PHOENIX, Ariz.—This year, CHIEF, Inc. marks its 50th anniversary of dedicated service to Native American and First Nations communities. Founded in 1975, at the request of reknowned evangelist Billy Graham, who had a burden for Native Americans, CHIEF was established by Mohawk leader Tom Claus as a ministry focused on discipling and training Native Christian leadership to impact their communities for God. "Reaching this milestone is a testament to God's grace, which has e...
I grew up in a little village in northern Manitoba called Thicket Portage. There are no year-round roads into the community, but there is passenger service with the Hudson Bay Railway going up to Churchill. As a young boy, I would sit at the lake and look across into the sky, and I would wonder about this "God" that the minister was talking about. When I was about 10 or 11 years old, I would go to church and the minister would get me to read the Scripture for him. There was a...
My friend, I lived years of my life without hope. I grew up being bullied and made fun of to the point that I hated my life. I would often wish I were never born. I felt alienation, rejection, and ostracism. Yes, I know what it is to live without hope. Suicide has impacted my family in more ways than one. I confess that I attempted suicide; it was after my own daughter took her life at the young age of just 14 years old. Fourteen years old! I remember sitting there wondering...
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. July 10–13: NEFC ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE Regina, Sask., www.nefc.ca. Stop by and meet ILM staff! July 27–31: INDIAN FALLS CREEK, Davis, Okla. www.indianfallscreek.org Aug. 1–3: Lake Itasca Family Music Festival, Itasca, Minn., www.familybluegrass.com Sept. 26–28: THUNDER BAY GOSPEL JAMBOREE, Thunder Bay, Ont., www.nef...
Council Fire, the 366-day devotional written entirely by Indigenous and Native American followers of Jesus continues to be a hit. As of July 1, all three volumes have required a reprint! That means over 18,000 copies have been distributed! We rejoice and praise the Lord, as only He could do such a thing. Choosing the Creator's Path, currently in poster format and tract, is in the process of becoming a hands-on Bible study. One of ILM's Board members, Becky Kew, who is also a...
Back in 1991, country singer Garth Brooks cowrote and recorded the song, "Unanswered Prayers." The lyrics center around a situation in which a man encounters his sweetheart from back in high school and introduces her to his wife (awkward!). The man thinks back to when he had prayed so fervently for God to let him marry her-but it never happened! And now he thanks God for unanswered prayers as he looks at his wife and appreciates the lady God gave him, rather than the object...
Just a few days ago, we were catching a plane to travel to beautiful British Columbia to attend a pastors' and leaders' conference in Aldergrove. We got up early, loaded our luggage into the vehicle, and made the 45-minute drive to the airport. After going through security, we patiently waited, coffee in hand at 6:45 am to board the plane. Finally, after much waiting, it was time to board. We got in line, pulled up our boarding passes, and grabbed our driver's licenses. Upon...
OTTAWA, Ont.—In June, Canada Post unveiled three new stamps to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21, with each one paying tribute to Indigenous leaders. The first stamp, released June 13 at a celebration in Ulukhaktok on Victoria Island in the Northwest Territories honored Indigenous leader Julia Haogak Ogina, who Canada Post says "worked hard to protect and promote her culture and language" including creating a regional language framework and programs promoting o...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) announced that its accredited Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) membership received the prestigious, merit-based Carnegie Opportunity Colleges and Universities classification, which recognizes exceptional commitment to expanding student access and fostering strong post-graduation earnings outcomes. "Tribal Colleges and Universities are cornerstones of their communities as economic drivers and local s...
TORONTO, Ont.—In a landmark move advancing Indigenous economic reconciliation in Canada, Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance Limited Partnership-representing 36 First Nations across British Columbia-has announced a major equity investment in Enbridge Inc.'s Westcoast natural gas pipeline system. Through a wholly owned subsidiary, Stonlasec8 will invest approximately $715 million to acquire a 12.5% stake in the Westcoast pipeline, which has operated across Indigenous traditional t...
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In June, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. appointed Mark Cruz, as senior advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Cruz is a 35th generation Oregonian, born in Salem, and is a citizen of the Klamath Tribes. After earning his bachelor's degree in political science from Pepperdine University and a master's degree in urban education policy from Brown University, Cruz began his career in education through Teach f...
BUSBY, Alb.—On May 15–18, 2025, Intertribal Life Ministries celebrated the blessing of being a partner for the Native Youth Conference (NYC) for another year. For the event, 256 youth and their chaperones converged upon a single location, Camp Nakamun, Alberta, from 11 different communities across Alberta and Saskatchewan. This year, youth from Loon River, Loon Lake, Gift Lake, Goodfish, Sunchild, Buffalo Lake, Trout Lake, Big River, Kikino Metis Settlement, Calgary and Sam...
UNCEDED ALGONQUIN TERRITORY, Ottawa-During the May visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla to Canada, the Assemblies of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak was honored to welcome them upon their arrival at the Ottawa International Airport. During Woodhouse Nepinak's time with the king, she noted, "I was also honored to explain the significance of the Treaty 2 Medallion gifted to my great-great-grandfather Chief Richard Woodhouse in 1871 to...
