Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 137
PHOENIX-After winning the title of Miss Navajo Nation in September 2019, Shaandiin Parrish immediately got to work on the cultural preservation and advocacy efforts central to the role. At times, she attended five or more events in a single day, traveling across the 27,000-square-mile reservation to speak to elementary school students and attend conferences. "You really hit the ground running," Parrish recalled. "There's no event too small. There's no event too big." But in...
Blackfeet Nation-ESPN Films has produced a new documentary focusing on Native American women called "Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible." Directed by Kristen Lappas and Tom Rinaldi, "Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible" documents the story of the Blackfeet Nation Boxing Club, opened in 2003 by Frank Kipp, a third generation boxer of Blackfeet descent and a former welterweight. The saying is common on reservations across America: A Native American woman who disappears goes missing...
EDMONTON, AB-Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear honored his Indigenous heritage during the July 28 Battle of Alberta exhibition game by displaying his jersey name bar in Cree syllabics. The 23-year-old from Ochapowace Nation in southern Saskatchewan said he was donning the name bar proudly on behalf of all past, present and future Indigenous hockey players. It was an honor to wear the jersey, Bear said. "I feel like I will be wearing it for all those Indigenous players who came...
PHOENIX, Ariz.-The life of a college athlete can be stressful. Balancing academic and sports or taking the game-winning shot against a Top 10 team involves pressure. Former Arizona State basketball player Michelle Tom did both, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to down No. 7 Washington in 1999. Now she deals with more serious stress: treating coronavirus patients in an underfunded community hospital for Native Americans. Tom works for the Little Colorado Medical Center in...
TSIDI TO'II, Ariz.-In December, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez signed the master lease between the Navajo Nation and the Navajo Housing Authority for the Birdsprings Elderly Group Home, located adjacently east of the Tsidi To'ii Chapter in Birdsprings, Ariz. The facility was constructed in 2009 with the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act, which assists Native American tribes in improving housing and infrastructure. The facility has approximately ten...
Denver, Colo,-The American Indian College Fund has received a four-year, $300,000 grant from the Clare Boothe Luce Program at the Henry Luce Foundation, specifically to help Native American women get degrees and build their careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Native American women currently have the lowest representation in the STEM fields. The College Fund will award $75,000 to four outstanding American Indian and Alaska Native women...
Los Altos, Calif.-The Heising-Simons Foundation has announced that Rebecca Nagle is a recipient of the 2020 American Mosaic Journalism Prize. Rebecca Nagle is a writer and audio journalist, as well as an advocate, based in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, Teen Vogue, the Guardian, VICE News and the Boston Globe. She is the creator and host of the podcast "This Land" (Crooked Media), which explores Native American rights. A citizen...
NORMAN, Okla.-A Potawatomi tribal member, Creed Humphrey, was one of three finalists this year for the Rimington Trophy honoring the nation's top center. A redshirt sophomore and team captain from Shawnee, Okla., Humphrey has started 25 of his 27 career games for the University of Oklahoma Sooners at the center position. He is the anchor of a line that has paved the way for Oklahoma to lead the nation with 8.2 yards per play and 11.4 yards per pass attempt (min. 10 attempts...
MADISON, S.D.-Dakota State University student Carl Petersen has developed a computer game that he hopes will help people develop their ability to learn and speak the Lakota language. The senior computer game design and computer science major, who has a minor in mathematics, presented the game, "Tipi Kaga" at the imagineNATIVE film and Media Arts Festival in Toronto, Canada, in October. The imagineNATIVE Festival is the world's largest festival showcasing film, video, audio,...
Alisha Merrill never imagined that her class project would become a nationwide teaching tool. "I put together this board game, Journey Home, touching on the five major regions of Native Americans," said Merrill, who graduated in 2018 from Binghampton University, with a major in childhood and early childhood education. "I brought a little bit of my culture in and tried to connect it to standards and bring it to classrooms." The board game was a product of an elementary...
PABLO, Mont.-Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) Chairman Aimee Jorjani entered into an agreement with Salish Kootenai College (SKC) in Pablo, Montana, and the ACHP Foundation on September 23, 2019 to provide educational, personal development, and professional growth opportunities to students in the Tribal Historic Preservation and Tribal Governance and Administration degree programs. As one of her first official actions as chairman since being confirmed by the...
EAGLE BUTTE, S.D.-On Labor Day weekend, the Cheyenne River Youth Project officially graduated 11 Lakota teens from its summer arts internship program. This is a record-breaking number for the nonprofit youth organization, which began offering teen internships in 2013. "Normally, we see five or six kids complete the full arts internship track," said Jerica Widow, CRYP's youth programs director. "This time, we doubled that number. It's incredible." Not only did the teens...
PORTLAND, Ore.—The Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) in Multnomah County, Oregon, works with over 100 youth, ages 16 to 24, experiencing homelessness and housing instability. The program follows a housing-first, trauma-informed service model, providing stable supports around housing and other basic human needs like food, hygiene, childcare, and connection to culture. This model is especially culturally appropriate for Native youth, most of whom come to NAYA in crisis. Up to two-thirds of program participants a...
Hayzil Yellow Fox was just a small child when she first began coming to Cheyenne River Youth Project's (CRYP) youth center. Back then, as for many children, it was all about the daily fun, from arts and crafts to playing with the short- and long-term volunteers. And, as with many children, Hayzil looked forward to being old enough to play basketball at Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life). As a teen, she could attend Midnight Basketball and enjoy open gym hours. But there was a far...
LEUPP, Ariz.-In July, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer joined proud parents, grandparents, and educators at a ceremony to celebrate the outstanding academic achievements of 151 Chief Manuelito Scholarship recipients. The prestigious Chief Manuelito Scholarship was established in 1980 to provide post-secondary school scholarships to high-achieving Navajo high school graduates. The scholarships are awarded based on ACT/SAT test scores and...
CHINLE, Ariz.-The Chinle High School basketball team, in Chinle, Arizona, is getting a lot of attention these days. On August 2, the small-town high school team on the Navajo Nation, made its debut Friday, Aug. 2, on Netflix. The series, called "Basketball or Nothing," is comprised of six episodes and follows the team's pursuit of the semifinals during their 2017-2018 season. "We fell in love with the story because a lot of these kids have some difficult situations at home,...
WINNIPEG, Man.-A group of 34 Indigenous youth left in mid-August for a four-month service trip in Peru that includes a cultural exchange with local Indigenous communities. The youth, between the ages of 18 and 26, are part of the International Aboriginal Youth Internships Initiative, which is run by Canada World Youth and funded by Global Affairs Canada. "They'll be working on the healthy kitchens initiative, which is building kitchens out of adobe clay and bricks," says Tina...
Senior Shandiin Herrera came to Duke understanding she wouldn't find many other Native American students on campus. The first year was harder than she expected. Four years later she leaves as Duke's first Native American Udall Scholar and as a campus leader who has advocated for more institutional support for Native students. Herrera has helped members of the Native American Duke community better connect and make their presence known on campus. "It's important to understand...
Recently a Native American youth from Warm Springs, Oregon was named the International Miniature Saddle Bronc World Champion. Isaiah Florenda, a sixth-grader from Warm Springs academy, enjoys several sports each year, but rodeo tops the list with his attending about 80 rodeos a year. This is not the first win for Isaiah. He's been winning buckles since he was eight years old and now has a collection of 14 champion buckles. However, the most recent rodeo at the International Mi...
Winnipeg, Man.-Timothy Lawrence Coughlan is no stranger to adventure. As UWinnipeg's Aboriginal recruiter, Coughlan, who is an Anishinaabe from Bloodvein First Nation, has clocked thousands of kilometres, travelling ice roads and flying in small planes, across the province of Manitoba and Canada's north, including Nunavut. He was recently recruited by The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) to go into the Canadian wilderness and use his land-based skills on a 25-day...
MESA-With kicks, blocks and twists of the wrist, 16-year-old Kylie Hunts-in-Winter is teaching Native American boys and girls to stay safe. Her defense classes have a mission: to keep more indigenous women and girls from disappearing and dying. An estimated 500 have been lost to violence over the past decades, but experts said the number is under-reported. "Native women are more likely to be a target of attacks and will need to defend themselves more," Hunts-in-Winter said as...
CHINLE, Ariz.-Even with modern technology, it's nearly impossible to find the homemade boxing gym identified by a tattered wooden sign that reads, "Damon-Bahe Boxing Gym." In and around this small town on the Navajo Reservation, house numbers rarely exist. And Google Maps can't quite explain that, off Indian Route 7, less than a quarter mile west of the Chevron gas station, there's a dirt road that, after three right turns, leads to the gym and another sign, this one warning...
CALGARY, Alberta-Imagine having a teepee room in your school with elder volunteers taking turns being available for students. This is a reality, thanks to the HEADSTRONG program. Across Canada, youth are coming together to lead HEADSTRONG anti-stigma events. Alberta is at the forefront, hosting nearly half of the 30 summits planned for the 2018-2019 academic year. The youth-led gatherings are particularly resonating with Indigenous communities. Since the launch of Canada's...
PORT ALBERNI, B.C.-Students across Canada took time in late September to learn about residential schools. In Port Alberni, B.C., on September 28, NEW (Nuu-chah-nulth Education Worker) Richard Samuel, organized activities for the third year to raise students' and staff awareness of the legacy of Canada's Indian residential schools. Each year he holds class discussions and students create a banner that is displayed in Port Alberni. An article in Ha-Shilth-Sa, Canada's oldest...
BELLINGHAM, Wash.-Northwest Indian College's (NWIC) Salish Sea Research Center (SSRC) on the Lummi campus was awarded a $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support community-driven research in marine sciences. The grant, "Restoring the Salish Sea: Food Sovereignty and Clean Water in the Pacific Northwest," partners with Lummi Natural Resources (LNR) and forms a network of collaborators, establishing a Tribal Enterprise Advancement (TEA) Center for Commun...
