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Ask a relative or a friend these questions just to see what they say. When you know the right answer, see if you can explain what the thing is or what it’s used for. 1. Can you name a game Indigenous peoples invented? video games puzzles the cup and ball game 2. What is “pemmican”? a witch’s mask a product made from dried meat, dried berries and fat prepared by the Métis a canned apple dessert 3. What is “bannock”? a little basket for provisions a big onion that makes you cry a traditional bread among Indigenous peoples 4. C...
I am a Sixties Scoop Survivor and someone who was adopted and then met my biological family later in life. Then there are a number of other pieces of the pie of my life-issues of addiction, rebellion, and the issues of having two sets of families. Then add issues related to health and the health of family members and all the other experiences good and bad that have happened in my life and in most of our lives. Then there are issues that may not happen to us directly, but...
My life changed that day. I had prepared a visual feast for my Sunday school class. I loaded books on mountains and waterfalls, colorful birds and fish, animals from every continent, galaxies and snowflakes into boxes in readiness for the next morning. Just as a funny thought, I asked the Lord if He had anything to add. I did not really expect an answer; I thought I had covered His creation well and I was just doing a lesson. But He did answer me. I heard, "All things were...
Have you ever bumped into someone and asked them, "What's new?" Maybe they replied, "Same old, same old." Maybe you have felt bored with life to the point where you were tired of waking up every morning, doing the same routine and looking at the same face in the mirror every day. If this is your experience, I would love to remind you of some amazing facts. You are living at this moment among seven billion people. Every day, 155000 people young and old die from various causes;...
Una was a beautiful Cherokee girl. Her name meant "Remember," and she did remember the smallest details of not only her own life, but the details of those who lived in the green valley that had been the home of the Cherokee since the beginning of time. Una remembered all the battles and births and deaths. She remembered the best and the worst of times. She remembered everything. Una was smaller than the other girls her age, and she had beautiful hair that hung to her waist....
I love the English language. But if you're trying to learn it, it will confuse the life out of you. A good twist of phrase. A play on words. Here are a few alternative definitions to common English words. See if these make you smile: Selfish: What the owner of a seafood store does. Rubberneck: What you do to relax your wife. Subdued: A dude who works on a submarine. Benign: What you be after you be eight. Primate: Removing your spouse from the front of the TV. Paralyze: Two...
Hailing from New Mexico, Jourdan Bennett-Begaye is a Diné (Navajo) citizen who identifies as the Towering House Clan, The Coyote Pass Clan of Jemez, The Mexican Clan and also The Hopi with Red Running Into the Water clan. Currently stationed in Nenahnezad of the Diné Nation, Jourdan Bennett-Begaye holds a master's degree in newspaper, magazine and online journalism. She is also a Newhouse Minorities fellow. She received her degree from The S.I. Newhouse School of Public C...
We all have hopes and dreams for our families and a vision for what we want our families to be like. We want our homes to be a place where everyone feels safe, loved and respected. We also want our homes to be a place where every family member can discover his or her purpose, gifts and abilities. It's not easy to accomplish these goals though, is it? We face all kinds of challenges that can keep our families from being all that they can be. Some challenges we face are...
BROOKINGS, S.D.-Tashina Red Hawk was just 7 years old when her parents bought her first horse. Her mentor, Kassandra Chauncey, a Todd County Junior Division 4-H member at the time, was training her how to ride when her own horse became injured the day before the Todd County 4-H Horse Show. "The day before the 4-H county horse show I received a phone call from Kassandra asking if she could use my horse, because her horse got hurt. She needed to show my horse in showmanship,...
PHOENIX-When Nicolle Gonzales gave birth to her three children in a hospital setting, the care felt routine and mechanical. Having worked as a nurse with the Indian Health Service, Gonzales also noticed the gaps in support and accessibility that left many Native American women with insufficient care during pregnancy and birthing. Her concerns drove her to become certified as a midwife and, in 2015, to launch the nonprofit Changing Woman Initiative to address maternal health...
PHOENIX-Just minutes before her high school graduation in Gallup, New Mexico, three years ago, Dakotah Harvey was told to remove the eagle feather from her mortarboard or she would be escorted out of the ceremony and her diploma would be withheld. Her grandfather had tied the feather to the cap's tassel earlier that day, Harvey told Cronkite News. He loaned it to her after performing a Navajo prayer in celebration of her achievement. "I didn't have the heart to tell him I...
Houston, Tex.-When the Romance Writers of America announced their 2021 awards, the book At Love's Command by Karen Witemeyer, was presented as the best romance with religious or spiritual elements of 2021, as part of the inaugural Vivan Awards. However, the judges determining the award were soon criticized for insensitivities to Native Americans. The book opens with a scene depicting the Wounded Knee Massacre, and critics feel it romanticized the killing of Native Americans....
Addison, Texas-Partnership With Native Americans (PWNA), a nonprofit serving Native Americans in impoverished reservation communities, has teamed with the Bank of America to provide fresh produce on reservation food deserts in Arizona and South Dakota. "Thanks to a generous donation from Bank of America, we will be able to provide bulk produce deliveries to Native American Elders and families on four reservations that are so devoid of healthy food options," said Joshua Arce,...
COVID–19 and so many other losses seem to touch almost every home right now. One of Indian Life's respected elders, Dr. Joseph Jolly, has written a book entitled, Going and Growing Through Grief. We hope this article, excerpted from his book, will help you as you walk your own grief journey and weep with those who weep. In seeking to help others with their losses, we often feel helpless because we don't know the best way to go about it. And even if we have gone through our o...
Everyone makes decisions that they wish they could change. There are things that you've done in the past that make you mad that you ever did them. Yet there's freedom from the hate that you have for yourself, there's freedom from the hate you have for that other person and it's a peace that would surprise you. The freedom that I found began the night that my Mom and I prayed for the Creator to come into my life. I was only six years old and I know that I didn't understand...
We don't know about you, but we feel like 2021 has been a tad of a whirlwind. We accepted our roles with Indian Life Ministries just over a year ago! And COVID-19 has certainly kept us on our toes almost every day. But, we have been so blessed and are so thankful. Now that we have been with Indian Life for a full year, it doesn't feel like our learning curve is so very straight up. Instead of straight up, perhaps the angle of the line is more at a 45 degree, not 90. We've...
I sometimes think about the first time I ever flew in a plane, where we were totally dependent on instruments. We were coming into Anchorage Alaska in a Navajo Chieftain and the airport was all "socked in" with fog. The pilot kept checking with the tower as to how much visibility we had & finally got the okay to land when we were about 10 miles out. I remember the helpless feeling I had as we descended into that last fog bank and everything disappeared! I was watching the...
Toronto, Ont.—When the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement was created in 2006, students who attended federally-run schools were allowed $10,000 for the first year of living at a residential school and $3000 for each year succeeding year. However, those who only attended residential schools during the day, but were able to go home at night, were left out of the settlement. In October 2021, the Federal Court has approved a day scholar settlement that includes individual compensation of $10,000 and a $50 m...
Winnipeg, Man.-In early January, the federal government revealed details of a historic $40-billion agreement-in-principle that aims to compensate First Nations citizens who were children on-reserve and in the Yukon who were removed from their homes between April 1, 1991 and March 31, 2022. According to Assembly of First Nations Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse, Manitoba has one of the highest percentage of children in care in the country. Statistics from the Manitoba...
Cambridge, Mass.-National Public Radio (NPR), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recently released findings from a survey conducted this fall analyzing effects of COVID-19 and it's variants on social groups. The study examined the most serious problems facing households across America in regards to COVID–19 and finances, healthcare, racial/ethnic discrimination, education, caregiving, work, and well-being. Among the findings: ...
Ottawa, Ont.-In late November, The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) elected its first Indigenous president. Members selected Dr. Alika Lafontaine, an anesthesiologist in Grande Prairie, Alberta, as CMA president for 2022-23. He will serve as president-elect until August 2022, when he will become the official CMA president, says a news release from the CMA. Lafontaine is from Treaty 4 Territory in southern Saskatchewan, and is of Cree, Anishinaabe, Metis and Pacific Islander...
RESTON, Va.-In December, the US Board on Geographic Names voted to re-name Colorado's Squaw Mountain that sits between Evergreen and Idaho Springs off Highway 103, also known as Squaw Pass Road. The federal government has already made changes online and is preparing to change maps and road signs to Mestaa'ėhehe Mountain. (Pronounced Mes-ta-heh.) The change comes after filings from the Northern Cheyenne Tribe's objections and hearings in the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory...
Chestermere, Alb.-"Let's Talk About Reconciliation" This was the theme of Indian Life Ministries' first conference in our 42-year history. We wanted to consider reconciliation on a personal level. If reconciliation is vertical (both personal, and between people) and horizontal (between us and God), what is our role? At Indian Life, we believe that reconciliation is not merely a big picture idea. We believe it is a verb. It requires action. Personal action. We sought to answer...
