Sorted by date Results 726 - 750 of 1057
Art Whitehawk Begay, founder of Warriors for Christ, passed away peacefully on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2016 surrounded by his family. A Celebration of Life for Art was held on December 30, at Hope Church in Kalispell, Montana. Begay, 55, was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, on April 17, 1961. He spent his early years there and went to Central Indian Bible College where he received his Bachelor of the Arts degree in Practical Theology. There he also met the love of his...
NEW YORK, NY-A wealthy businessman with no experience in First Nations issues is slated to oversee the federal agency whose handling of the Dakota Access Pipeline has come under repeated criticism. Vincent Viola went from a humble immigrant background to the founder of a highly-successful financial firm in New York. "Whether it is his distinguished military service or highly impressive track record in the world of business, Vinnie has proved throughout his life that he knows h...
WASHINGTON, DC-At President Barack Obama's final White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, he announced that his administration will pay 17 Native American tribes a total of $492.8 million to settle long-standing disputes over mismanagement of tribal lands by the Department of the Interior. The settlement comes amid ongoing protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline. Federal authorities manage almost 100,000 leases on nearly 56 million acres of trust lands on behalf...
KELOWNA, BC-Daphne Odjig, an internationally acclaimed painter and printmaker, passed at the age of 97. She was a member of the prestigious group of artists known as the "Indian Group of Seven". Odjig was born on Septelber 11, 1919, in the Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island in northern Ontario. She studied art in Ottawa as well as in Sweden. She was known for fusing various cultures that influenced her life in her artwork. She often mixed Indigenous symbols and...
ADA, OK-Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby crowned three young ladies Chickasaw Royalty during the 2016-2017 Chickasaw Nation Princess Pageant. The annual pageant was conducted at the Ada High School Cougar Activity Center on September 26. Julie Underwood, 21, was crowned Chickasaw Princess; Keilyn "Keke" Factor, 13, was crowned Chickasaw Junior Princess, and Lakala Orphan, 11, claimed the Little Miss Chickasaw title. Each winner resides in Ada, Oklahoma and was congratulate...
My name is Storm Stoker, I am the daughter of Crying Wind, columnist for Indian Life, author and life long activist for indigenous people. I was invited to be a guest speaker at the ATALM Conference (Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums) near Phoenix, Arizona and luckily my mother was able to join me. The Conference was being held at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, which is owned by the Gila River Indian Community. It is a beautiful resort with murals...
SIKSIKA NATION, AB, Sept. 7, 2016 /CNW This year, as many as 1,970 students will be starting a new school year in one of the six new schools in First Nations communities. These new schools will provide First Nation students with improved learning environments which will lead to stronger communities and hope for a brighter future. Today, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, Carolyn Bennett, was in Siksika Nation to congratulate the community on the completion of its new school. The Minister had the opportunity to v...
Indian Life lost a good friend this year. Debra Fieguth passed away suddenly following a massive stroke. She was not only a wonderful person but an excellent writer. When I first met Debra, she was the Assistant Editor of Christian Week. During her time with that publication, she took on the assignment of writing some news features for Indian Life as well as writing the stories of five Indigenous women which we published in a book entitled Keepers of the Faith (see page 19)....
BUFFALO, NY-Winning the Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Best Pop Recording was probably the best birthday present Spencer Battiest could have wished for. "Winning the Best Pop Recording was really great because in a nutshell, that's who I am," Battiest stated. "I didn't have a speech prepared, so I just spoke from the heart. I love pop music, I love to write songs and work at it every day. It was a great validation from my peers, the general public and NAMA." Battiest...
OTTAWA, ON-The Canadian government, along with the government of the Province of Ontario, signed a historic agreement with the Algonquins of Ontario to give back large sections of eastern Ontario to the First Nations people along with as much as $300 million. The Honorable Carolyn Bennett, Indigenous Affairs Minister and her Ontario counterpart, David Zimmer signed the agreement which eventually will give back to the Algonquins about 36,000 square kilometers (almost 22,370...
GALLUP, NM—“Spotlight: A Public Discussion about Faith, Journalism, and Protecting Children from Sex Abuse” was held on September 24 at Gallup’s El Morro Theatre. The event was held in conjunction with two free screenings of “Spotlight,” the 2015 Best Picture Academy Award winner. At that panel discussion were panelists Terry McKiernan, of Boston, the founder of BishopAccountability.com and a consultant to “Spotlight”; Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor, who represented 18 clergy sex abuse claimants in the Diocese of Gall...
"We walk this road in trouble with an ache inside our souls We can't hide it with religion, we can't buy it off with gold And the pleasures we all reach for they're just masters of disguise While there is power in the glory of what lies right before our eyes." ~Emmylou Harris The man nicknamed Noodles was abandoned in the hospital at birth. His mother was never in the picture and his father, a Vietnam vet with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, struggled to stay a step ahead of t...
TADOULE LAKE, MB-The Canadian government formally apologized to the Sayisi Dene on Tuesday, August 16, when Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett issued an apology to the survivors of this northern Manitoba community. "It is unbearable to consider what you lost in those years in Churchill," Bennett stated. "All we can do now is offer our apologies." Along with the apology, Canada offered a $33.6-million compensation fund that will be invested as a trust,...
When I was growing up in Pine Ridge we were shown only a few pathways to success. We were told to go out and get an education and then return home to help our people. For those of us who were lucky enough to be able to go out and earn degrees, we returned home to a place where jobs were limited and the top employers on the reservation were the tribe, BIA, IHS and the casino. The notion of taking on entrepreneurial ventures was somewhat foreign as we only had a few successful...
WILLIAMSTOWN, KY-On August 6, 2016, a team of eight people from Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba, set out very early in the morning to travel 2000 kilometers (almost 1243 miles) to Kentucky to visit the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum. They were absolutely amazed with the friendly staff at both tourist attractions and the extreme detail given to the creation exhibits and the Ark itself. The Ark is tagged as costing 100 million to build and as one walks through the...
BISMARCK, ND-In mid-August, the U.S. government gave final approval for the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which when completed will run for 1,172 miles to transport crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken oilfields to Patoka, Illinois. When it was learned that the pipeline was approved, hundreds of protesters, primarily Lakota and Dakota from surrounding reservations gathered at the edge of the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota to voice their anger and...
LEECH LAKE, MN-The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota will finally see a new high school in less than eight months after a long wait for federal funding. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will spend nearly $12 million to build a new Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig High School. Students have been attending classes in structures that were never meant to house people. "Students at the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School in northern Minnesota have faced horrendous conditions in their classrooms for years,...
WINNIPEG, MB (CNW)—Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Regional Chief for Manitoba Kevin Hart congratulated Flying Dust First Nation in Saskatchewan and Habitat for Humanity on the achievement of the First On-reserve Habitat for Humanity build. This 10-unit Elders lodge should open the way for other First Nations to consider working with Habitat for Humanity on similar projects. “On behalf of the AFN, I congratulate Flying Dust First Nation Chief Richard Gladue, the Council members, the citizens and Habitat for Humanity on thi...
WINNIPEG, MB-It's been a year since the Truth and Reconciliation Final Report was released and hundreds of people gathered in Winnipeg for a conference to explore a path to reconciliation. Called "Pathways to Reconciliation" the conference took place at the University of Winnipeg, June 15-18. Just over a year after the Truth and Reconciliation summary report was released, hundreds of people gathered in Winnipeg for a conference to explore a pathway to reconciliation. The...
Lipan Apache Tribe wins 10-year fight for eagle feathers McALLEN, TX-Ten years after a federal agent crashed the powwow of the Lipan Apache Nation in Texas and seized their eagle feathers, the tribe won a major victory that has major implications for not only all Native Americans but all people of religious faith. "The fight wasn't for the feathers," said Robert Soto, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church of McAllen, Texas, and vice chairman of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas....
OTTAWA, ON-On June 10, the leaders of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Métis National Council (MNC), Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), Indigenous Peoples' Assembly of Canada (IPAC) and Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) met with Canada's federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and confirmed a new approach in support of improving outcomes for Indigenous peoples and promoting reconciliation in Canada. The meeting was...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Crowds will gather in Washington DC this summer. The sound will hit high volume. But this event won't be a ball game, a superstar's performance, a political protest, or a presidential debate. Those who travel to the nation's capital won't be there for pleasure or rebellion or politics. They will come-people from different people groups, political and ethnic backgrounds-to join from all across North America and other parts of the globe to pray and worship...
Laura Grizzlypaws from Lillooet, British Columbia, performed at the 33rd annual Gathering of Nations, the world's largest gathering of Native American and Indigenous peoples. The only female Grizzly Bear dancer in the world is of St'át'imc descent. The Gathering of Nations powwow, considered the most prominent Native American event in North America, hosted hundreds of thousands of people and more than 700 tribes from throughout the United States, Canada, and around the world...
KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, INDIA-The National Park and Tiger Reserve that Britain's Prince William and Duchess Katherine visited in April, was the focus of a brutal "shoot to kill" policy that has seen 62 people shot dead by wildlife guards in just nine years. Kaziranga National Park in Assam state has become infamous across India for its extrajudicial executions. Armed guards summarily execute anyone they suspect of poaching, and local people are reportedly offered cash...
OTTAWA, ON-After a long 17-year fight for recognition, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down a major ruling on who bears responsibility for Indigenous Peoples of Canada. It declared on April 14 that the Government of Canada is responsible for all Indigenous peoples in Canada, including Métis and non-status Indians. When the ruling was announced, there was rejoicing and emotion from the Métis and non-status leaders who were crowded into the foyer of the Supreme Court. With t...
