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On Friday, October 4, Indian Life hosted a banquet at Calvary Temple in Winnipeg to celebrate 40 years of ministry. We thank all those who contributed to organizing the banquet and those who joined us in this milestone celebration to praise our Lord for all He has done for and through this ministry. We enjoyed a fabulous meal catered by the Calvary Temple catering team and were blessed in song by Christopher Creasy and members of the band, Northern Fire. Our guest speaker, Dr....
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...
I grew up in Wyoming so I treasured my panoramic view of the stars as seen through the dry mountain air. But, apparently, I had always viewed them with some sort of anchor in the scene such as a house or a tree. One night I decided to position myself with no earthly objects to clutter the view; I saw only stars. In one terrifying second I experienced my body plummeting into space. I grabbed the grass to keep from falling and steadied myself by looking at our house. I felt...
There's not much to do in Chinle, Arizona besides play basketball or do drugs. Everyone in town knows where to find the purveyors of both activities; in an early scene in Basketball or Nothing, Chinle High School Athletic Director Shaun Martin shows us the overpass under which the meth heads like to hang out, and the stakes are crystal clear. The Chinle boys' basketball team doesn't just provide an outlet for this small group of high schoolers, it's an alternative to despair...
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...
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,...
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...
EVERETT, Wash.-The Snoqualmie tribe from Washington recently paid $125 million to purchase one of the state's most popular attractions: Snoqualmie Falls The 268-foot waterfall attracts more than 1.5 million visitors a year. Besides the falls, the tribe has purchased , along with Salish Lodge and 45 acres of land. "This purchase represents the Snoqualmie Tribe's ongoing work to reclaim its traditional lands and will allow the Snoqualmie people to appropriately care for our...
For Waneek Horn-Miller is one of the athletes recently inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. She was the first Mohawk woman to compete in an Olympic Games, and the first water polo player to be inducted to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. The Kahnawake, Quebec native who now resides in Ottawa says the induction is a huge honor, but she also feels it is a reminder of the work needed to improve opportunities for Indigenous youth in sport. Only 11 of the 665 members of...
ROSEBUD RESERVATION-The Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) presented the Rosebud Sioux Tribe with a $388,306 dividend payment at a special tribal council meeting held recently. "REDCO has grown from 1 employee to 57 employees in 7 years," stated Wizipan Little Elk, REDCO CEO. "We want to find ways to help our people improve their quality of life." REDCO's top accomplishments during the past year include bringing in revenue totaling $16,042,066. This amount...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-On December 9, in a voice cote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Esther Martinez Native Languages Program Reauthorization Act. "The protection and preservation of our Native languages is crucial to the cultural identities and life ways of tribal citizens and the overall sustainability of tribal nations," said Kevin J. Allis, Chief Executive Officer of the National Congress of American Indians. "We are thrilled to see the House pass the Esther...
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. -Psalm 37:4-6 In the first ten years of my life, I had many happy yet lonely times. I was not sure as a kid who I wanted to be-as if I had a choice or I could pick. I saw no value in being Indian. I was afraid of that side of me. So many...
We pass milestones every 12 months when January 1 rolls around again, and again, and again . . . all of a sudden we look at a few more years gone! Indian Life passed a significant milestone this year. We turned 40 years old! In a time when magazines and newspapers are dropping like flies in acquiescence to internet, social media, and the like, Indian Life has survived. I say that's a GOD thing!! What do your milestones indicate to you? As 2019 gives its last few flickers of...
When it comes to trios, they're one of history's most well known ones. Nope, we're not talking about the Three Stooges or the Three Musketeers or even the Three Blind Mice. Look in almost any manger scene you see this season and you'll find them: The wisemen. Although technically, scholars tell us there may have been more than three of them, they were still among the first to worship Jesus after He was born. And we can take some pointers to apply in our own lives from the way...
Q: I am a 42-year-old mother and my daughter told me she "loves to get high." What can I possibly say to her to make her realize I love her and desire what is best for her? How do I pray for her? I have a son who has been battling with addictions since he was a teenager. I've heard him say that a couple of times. "I love drugs and alcohol." We love our son very much and totally at a loss to say or do anything. If we tried, he would sarcastically say, "I know! You don't have...
OTTAWA, Ont.-The federal government will adopt changes to its criminal justice legislation, Bill C-75, which will require judges to consider harsher sentences in cases of violence against Indigenous women, according to a motion from Justice Minister David Lametti. Lametti said the changes to the bill are "in the spirit of the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls," and will recommend harsher penalties for those who commit crimes against Indigenous...
WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C.-In October, the Tŝilhqot'in Nation celebrated the Grand Opening of its solar farm, located 80 km west of Williams Lake. The 1.25-MW solar farm is the largest of its kind in British Columbia and is a hundred percent developed, built, owned and operated by the Tŝilhqot'in Nation. The Tŝilhqot'in Solar Farm consists of 3,456 solar modules that will convert the sun's rays into electricity which will then be sent into the BC Hydro grid and generate ec...
OLYMPIA, Wash-Raquel Montoya-Lewis was recently named as the first Native American to serve on the Washington Supreme Court, and only the second Native American to serve on any state supreme court in the nation. Montoya-Lewis's experience includes serving as the chief judge for the Nooksack and Skagit tribes and the Northwest intertribal courts. She has been an associate professor at Western Washington University, and is in her fifth year on the Whatcom County Superior Court,...
TORONTO, Ont.-In late October, the Ontario government announced that Wataynianeyap Power would receive a $1.34 billion loan to bring electricity to 17 First Nations in northwestern Ontario. "I think it's an amazing milestone we've accomplished and we look forward to building the line," said Margaret Kenequanash, CEO, Wataynikaneyap Power LP. Wataynikaneyap means 'lines that brings light." Wataynikaneyap Power, also known as Watay. is a partnership with 51 per cent ownership...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-President Donald Trump authorized creation of an eight-member panel of federal officials Tuesday to coordinate the federal response to the problem of murdered and missing indigenous women. Trump told tribal leaders gathered at the White House for the signing that the "Operation Lady Justice" task force is long overdue, calling statistics related to missing and murdered indigenous women "sobering and heartbreaking." The executive order signed Tuesday creates a...
WASHINGTON, D.C.- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced nearly $200 million in grant awards to 52 Native American Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs) across the Nation for new housing construction, housing rehabilitation, and critical infrastructure projects. HUD announced the grants during the 2019 National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) Legal Symposium in Las Vegas. "HUD is excited for this new opportunity to...
AKWESASNE, Mohawk Nation-The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council signed Tribal Council Resolution 2019-58 in early December in response to public health concerns associated with vaping and e-cigarette products and their appeal to youth and young adults. Customers must now be 21 years old to purchase all products associated with vape, e-cigarettes, electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), or similar devices. The resolution also prohibits the retail sale and distribution of...
