Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 587
PHOENIX-Diplomas in hand, 16 Navajo women became the latest graduating class of Project DreamCatcher, a free business training program that aims to create economic opportunities for female Native entrepreneurs. The program is the result of a partnership between the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation and the Thunderbird School of Global Management, which is part of Arizona State University. Debra Yazzie learned about Project DreamCatcher in September, when two project alumna...
DENNEHOTSO, Ariz.- The nearest water station for Darlene Yazzie is nine miles away from her home at the Dennehotso Chapter House-or community center-in the Four Corners region of Arizona. On a recent day, she counted her nickels and dimes to buy water. It costs $1.10, plus gas money, to fill up two 50-gallon barrels, and she's just learned the price is going up next month. Yazzie lugged a T-shaped key as tall as she is out to the well, where she dropped it into the hole and...
Thunder Bay, Ont.-In some schools, teachers are making a drastic change in literature curriculum to focus more on Indigenous works. One of these is the Thunder Bay Catholic School District where Grade 11 compulsary English classes now focus on Native authors., such as Rita Joe's poem, I Lost My Talk, about attending a residential school and having to relearn native language. Increasingly, school boards across Canada are revisiting their English curriculums to reflect a...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-In early December, in a 316-92 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Senate-amended version of the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act. On the same day, the Senate passed the FUTURE Act by a voice vote. "Tribal Colleges and Universities fulfill a fundamental role in supporting American Indian and Alaska Native higher education and maintaining, preserving, and revitalizing irreplaceable American Indian...
Lynette Stant, a 3rd grade teacher at Salt River Elementary in the Salt River Schools district is the Arizona Educational Foundation's 2020 Arizona Teacher of the Year. Stant, a fifteen-year veteran teacher, is the first teacher working in a Bureau of Indian Education school to be named an Arizona Teacher of the Year, and the first Native teacher to be chosen. "I became a teacher because I don't ever want Native American students to feel they are not prepared to meet the...
EDMONTON, Alb.-Recently, two neighbouring Alberta First Nations, O'Chiese and Sunchild, held an official signing ceremony to enact bylaws giving the First Nations power to evict drug dealers and drive out illicit drug use from the communities. Both nations received overwhelming support for the Residency and Trespass Bylaws bylaws after presenting them to their communities for public discussion. "We are battling an epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse in our communities, " said...
DOWAGIAC, Mich.-On Septembe 21, 2019, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Reaffirmation of its Sovereignty. Sovereignty as affirmed by the United States Government, enables the governments of federally recognized Native American Tribes to self-govern their people and lands as they did before European immigration. Similar to state governments, tribal governments build and maintain infrastructure and provide a variety of services and programs...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Twenty-six tribes will see the return of ancestral remains from Finland, where the items have been held in a museum after being taken from Colorado almost 130 years ago. Tribes include the Hopi, Navajo, Southern Ute Tribe, Mescalero Apache, tribes of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico, and others. The repatriation, announced Wednesday during Finnish President Sauli Niinistö's visit to the White House, follows years of cooperation between the tribes and the...
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Indian Health Service Office of Urban Indian Health Programs has awarded $1,050,000 to the National Council of Urban Indian Health for the Urban Indian Education and Research Program Cooperative Agreement. Through this agreement, NCUIH will act as an education and research partner for 41 urban Indian organizations in 22 states funded by IHS, offering assistance regarding public policy; research and data; training and technical assistance; education, public relations, and marketing; and payment system r...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Indian Health Service has awarded grants totaling nearly $1 million to nine tribes and tribal organizations as part of a competitive program to develop and improve tribal capacity to manage health programs under the authority of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. "At IHS, we recognize that tribal leaders and members are in the best position to understand the health care needs and priorities of their communities," said Rear Adm....
TAHLEQUAH, Okla.-Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. recently announced a $16 million investment in Cherokee language preservation-the largest language investment in the tribe's history. Chief Hoskin announced the "Durbin Feeling Cherokee Language Preservation Act" during a celebration of Cherokee language speakers. "Now is the time to be bold and act quickly so we do not fail the legacy of our ancestors or future of our Cherokee speakers," Chief Hoskin said. "We...
LOS ANGELES, Calif.-In early October, the Orange County Transit Authority halted a road-widening project on the I-405 Freeway when construction workers discovered human remains, including bones. Analyzation by the Orange County Coroner's office determined the site to possibly be a Native American burial site. Construction workers who were excavating as part of the I-405 Improvement Project spotted the remains, including bones, on Sept. 25 at an undisclosed location. According...
WHITEHORSE, Yukon-Yukon has received the first of two $8.25 million annual installments of the federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF), along with a top-up of $16.5 million, made available through Budget 2019. This top-up doubles the amount of money for municipalities, unincorporated communities and First Nations in Yukon, enabling them to carry out infrastructure projects that support the well-being of their residents. The federal GTF is a long-term, indexed source of funding that...
VANCOUVER, B.C.-The Government of Canada and Nisga'a Lisims Government are pleased to announce an agreement to support the Nisga'a Nation's efforts to revitalize its language. The Government of Canada will invest up to $6 million over six years to fund Nisga'a Lisims Government's language revitalization plan. The plan was established based on Nisga'a Nation priorities, and includes gathering and collecting information on Nisga'a language, culture and traditional practices,...
KUUJJUAQ, Quebec-In Setpember, a 10-year funding contribution agreement was signed between Indigenous Services Canada and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services (NRBHSS). This 10-year contribution agreement (2019-2029) of over $70 million ensures stable, long-term funding of health and social services for Inuit of Nunavik and provides greater autonomy in the management of federal funds. The added financial flexibility will allow the NRBHSS to better plan and...
TAHLEQUAH, Okla.-The Cherokee Nation's new four-story, 469,000 square foot outpatient health center opened its optometry, audiology, physical rehabilitation, behavioral health, radiology, lab and pharmacy services Oct. 7. The new facility is the largest tribal outpatient health center in the country and is opening in phases in October. "The Cherokee Nation is excited to open this beautiful new facility that allows us to serve more of our citizens, and offer more services than...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The number of people who showed up at Indian Health Service facilities with health insurance rose from 64% of patients in 2013 to 78% in 2018, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The report said growth in coverage was highest in states, like Arizona, that expanded their Medicaid programs as part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Despite the gains, however, the share of people without insurance at the 73 IHS facilities...
EDMONTON, Alberta-In 2018, the Canadian federal government bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline for $4.5 billion from Kinder Morgan. And now several First Nations groups want to buy it. The Westline Indigenous Pipeline Group is a coalition of First Nations people determined to purchase from the government the 1,150 km pipeline that runs from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C. Mike LeBourdais, chief of the Whispering Pines/Clinton Indian Band, and representative for the Western...
BAY OF QUINTE, Ont.-The Government of Canada and First Nations communities are working in partnership to improve water infrastructure and expand access to safe, reliable drinking water. This summer, the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte and Chief R. Donald Maracle celebrated ongoing improvements to their water infrastructure that will improve residents' access to safe drinking water and safeguard the community from the effects of drought. The First Nation, Infrastructure Canada and...
REGINA, Sask.-Indigenous leaders are celebrating a court ruling that says First Nations hunters from outside Saskatchewan have a constitutional right to hunt in the province without a license. The ruling was made after a group of hunters from the Six Nations reserve in Ontario was charged with unlawful hunting offenses in October 2018. Some of the group's members were hunting for food in Moose Mountain Provincial Park, located about two hours from Regina near the Manitoba...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-A federal appeals court said environmental groups cannot sue to block expansion of a coal mine owned by the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. (NTEC), because it is an arm of the Navajo government and thus immune from civil suits. The Monday ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's dismissal of the suit by several environmental groups, on and off the Navajo Nation. The courts said NTEC has to be part of any...
Calgary, Alb.-The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) recently released a data-driven report calling on the federal government to increase the dollar value of its procurement spending with Aboriginal businesses to five percent of total procurement spending by 2024. According to the Treasury Board of Canada, federal government procurement spending totaled $14.6 billion in 2017. Federal procurement spending through the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business...
CHEROKEE NATION-Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker is sending out a message that might be a wise reminder for all Native Americans. "Native people have been historically underrepresented in the Census. The Census Bureau estimates that in the last Census of 2010, American Indians were undercounted by about 5%, which is more than double the undercount rate of the next closest population group. There are areas in Adair, Cherokee, Delaware and Sequoyah counties that...
Ottawa, Ont.-While premiers and territorial leaders meet in Saskatchewan recently to discuss the well-being of Indigenous children, youth and families, a new report released co-authored by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) says First Nations children experience the highest levels of poverty in Canada. "Canada is not tracking First Nations poverty on-reserve so we did," said AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde. "The findings of this report are shameful and underscore the...
On a January day in 1988, I received a call from a George McPeek in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He called inviting me to come check out Intertribal Christian Communications, of which he was the founder and director. A week or so later, I travelled to Winnipeg, and spent five days in the home of George and his family, getting to know them and the Indian Life staff. Seven months later my family and I moved to Manitoba where I began my work as Assistant Editor to George. This adv...
