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At age four, I was taken from my home by the Children's Aid Society. They placed me in about seven different foster homes in the space of two years because I kept running away, trying to make my way back home. All the places were very abusive. They used to beat me for speaking my language. I was just a little kid, but full-grown men would punch and kick me. That's when I would cry out for my mom. I was sexually abused by the older boys and men in the foster homes. I was forced...
Browning, Mont.-May 18, 2021 was a great day for hundreds of Alberta citizens as they crossed the border for a free COVID-19 vaccination. The mobile clinic was set up on the U.S. side of the border and was sponsored by the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana. The idea for the endeavor started because the The Aamskapi'Piikuni Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Montana, had an abundance of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines left after inoculating most of its members. vaccine. Rather than letting...
Dear Friends, I have been writing for Indian Life for around 16 years, so I often feel like I am writing to friends, even though I have not met many of you. For the March/April issue, as I could not pull enough creative thoughts together to write anything. My father died of COVID-19 in January, my last living aunt died a week later, and that same week a friend here collapsed unexpectedly and died. She had recently been to my house sharing some Christmas baking. She had looked...
When you go to West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, there are many attractions. When I was a teenager, I went on the roller coaster that goes upside down and twists, while rushing forward at high speeds. When I reflect on this teenage experience, I remember it as fun but a little tense. Then about six years ago I went on the roller coaster again because my daughters, who were teenagers at the time, went on some rides and somehow, I went on the roller coaster with my wife. When I...
Silver Horns was a strong and mighty Elk. There was not another Elk in the high mountains that was even half his size. His antlers were huge. They were four feet high and had twelve points and were as thick as a young sapling. He was proud of his antlers and polished them on the trunks of trees until they shined like silver in the sunlight. Silver Horns had over a hundred cows in his herd, and with luck, they would all have calves just before summer and his herd would double i...
Depression, anxiety and the Bible don't really seem to go together do they? I mean, the Bible is supposed to be a book of hope and depression/anxiety are very dark places, which we often don't like to admit we suffer. God's Word is full of stories of people who actually underwent much anxiety and depression. Since these struggles are part of the human experience, shouldn't they be documented in God's Word, the ultimate history book of human experience? What makes the Bible so...
I asked my 4-year-old grandson for the highlight of his day. He said, "Growing tobacco." Where he heard this, I'll never know. Here are other unfiltered thoughts from children: Jeanie said, "People are composed of girls and boys, also men and women. Boys are an awful bother. They want everything they see except soap." Reminds me of the thief who stole 30 bars of soap. Forgive me, but he made a clean getaway. A five-year-old was peeking into a baby carriage and saw twins. He...
• Olympian, Synchronized Swimmer • Silver Medalist, Pan American Games • 2001 Synchro Athlete of the Year* Although born in Ada, Oklahoma and reared in Texas, swimming champion Mary Killman is also a citizen of the Oklahoma Citizen Potawatomi Nation. At age 11 as a member of the Santa Clara Aquamaids, Killman competed as a race swimmer in youth competitions. "I took to the water like a fish," she would later state in an interview for Indian Country Today. At age 15, howev...
I don't like doing it, but I have to. In the end, the mess is more trouble than I like. But the fact remains that if I don't pretend to be a bird, I'll be way too stinky. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Ad Seg (the Hole) gives us the opportunity to shower. The high-pressure cold water really does help, along with the soap and shampoo that lather under the steady stream of H2O. But it's what we do the other four days that is more important. We call them "birdbaths." I...
GLENDALE, ARIZ.-It might have been the optics, but whenever professional bull riders Keyshawn Whitehorse and Cody Jesus entered the ring, the crowd seemed louder, more engaged. In fact, Gila River Arena appeared to shake at the sound of their names as they competed in the Professional Bull Riding competition. Whitehorse and Jesus are both a part of the Navajo tribe, which has deep roots in Arizona. Whitehorse, 23, grew up in McCracken Spring, Utah, and is currently ranked No....
My wife Sheila and I were a mismatched couple when we first started going out together. She was shy, quiet and hardly spoke, while I was just the opposite. She did not drink or smoke, and she didn't like anyone to get drunk. She didn't want to see me if I was drinking so I quit, which surprised my friends. Her lifestyle was opposite to the kind of life I lived. She was like a lamb in her sweet innocence-and I was the big bad wolf. She was brought up in the church and was...
Diné College wasn't Harley Interpreter's first choice for higher education. During summers in high school, at the urging of her elders, she would travel off the Navajo Nation reservation to see what colleges elsewhere had to offer. But the convenience of Diné College-the first accredited college to be tribally controlled-and its proximity to Interpreter's home near Tsaile was too good to pass up. And the longer she attends, her choice makes more sense. As a young Navajo w...
DODSON, Mont.—People don't grow into mature Christians until they serve others. So says American Indian pastor and ministry leader Bruce Plummer, of Sioux, Assiniboine, and Cree heritage. In his multifaceted ministry, Plummer invites mission teams to come to Montana to serve with Montana Indian Ministries: picking up trash and handing out water and coffee in four weeks of powwow ministry, five weeks of Indian camp ministry for children and youth, and constr...
Over the last few months, we have been working hard on creating apparel for ILM. Because we are coming into the summer months, where warm weather abounds, we're excited to announce that T-shirts sporting the Creator's Path logo will be available! The Creator's Path logo was designed by Don Monkman and tells the powerful story of the Creator-how He created the world, and everything in it. It tells of how the Creator sent His Son to the earth to take on the form of a baby. This...
OTTAWA, Ont.-Recently the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH) and Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) released a report Breaking Barriers: A Decade of Indigenous Women's Entrepreneurship in Canada, which shows that Indigenous women-owned businesses in Canada are growing in terms of revenue and number of employees but continue to face existing and amplified barriers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "Historically, there has been a lack of data on Indigenous...
SULPHUR, Okla.-A Chickasaw family's project to share day-to-day rural life is inspiring people across the globe to strengthen family ties. The project has also blossomed into a full-time career. Launched in 2011, by Chickasaw citizen Daniel Arms, the Arms Family Homestead YouTube channel recently marked a milestone with 400,000 subscribers. The social media channel follows Daniel and his wife DeJay, their children Weston, 18, EmmaLee, 12, Houston, 8, and friends and family,...
OTTAWA, Ont.-Help is on the way for those who are homeless in one of the Mi'kmaw communities in Nova Scotia. The federal government is sponsoring a 24-unit project in the Sipekne'katik First Nation, which will be constructed through the federal rapid housing initiative, with half of the units targeted to women and children. The federal rapid housing initiative was first announced last fall with the goal to initially create up to 3,000 permanent, affordable housing units across...
Treaty #3 Territory, Ont.-Grand Council Treaty #3, Canada and Ontario successfully negotiated a tripartite education Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU will foster mutual understanding and respect, and will help preserve, support and revitalize the language, culture and identity of Treaty #3 First Nations by supporting First Nations' control of education to improve student success for First Nations youth in Northwestern Ontario. Signed by Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh, G...
One of the things that we work with here in NEFC (Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada) is Radio Broadcasting. We operate Native gospel radio stations across Canada. It's exciting to see God at work through our FM broadcast! The radio towers we use are an interesting concept. The freestanding (no wires) 96-foot tower stands tall and has no problem handling storms and gale-force winds! Sure, it's built pretty solid, but the key reason for its staying power is the tower...
Q: What does Creator God say about the way I should treat my spouse? A: The wording of the question could tell us a lot. If a person refers to God as Creator only, without realizing that it was the Son of God who was the Creator: "All things were made by him and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not" (v. 10). "Matthew 1:2 tells us, "You shall call his name Jesus [Savor]."...
PHOENIX-It started with chain saws and a will to serve. When COVID-19 first struck the United States, the Navajo Nation was hit hard. Within months, infection rates across the reservation were the highest in the country, and death rates skyrocketed. Among those affected: about 5,000 United States veterans who live on the reservation, which covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. In March 2020, when Tom Eisiminger and Bob Dalpe heard of the struggles facing Navajo...
Ottawa, Ont.-If you're an Indigenous person in Canada, you may be 30 percent more likely to die after surgery than a non-Indigenous person. That's one of the findings of a new study that has been published: "Postoperative outcomes for Indigenous Peoples in Canada: a systemic review" Recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, this is the first study to analyze all available surgical outcome data for the Indigenous populations. The study looked at 28...
IQALUIT, Nunavut-To better understand the needs and priorities of Northernors in the Arctic Regions of Canada, the Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard are launching a departmental Arctic Youth Council. Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard want to hear directly from young people and are recruiting passionate Inuit, First Nations, and Métis leaders aged 18-30 to become leaders on their team. The Arctic Youth Council will help young...
