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SACRAMENTO, Calif.-A new California education law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom will allow Native American students to be excused from school so they can participate in cultural ceremonies. Before Assembly Bill 516 was passed, when Native children missed school days to participate in cultural events, the days were not considered excused absence. As a result, at times students were not allowed to make up work or tests they missed. "It's certainly gratifying to see that the work...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act recently passed by Congress will deliver $550 billion in new federal investments across the country in the span of five years for bridges, roads, broadband connections, water, and new energy systems, a step the Navajo and other nations are applauding. "Indian Country will get over $11 billion in new infrastructure projects to begin construction on broadband internet lines, roadways, bridges, and water...
Miniconjou and Sicangu Lakota actor, writer and comedian Jana Schmieding is known primarily for her work in the Rutherford Falls sitcom where she plays Reagan, the lead character. She shares little about her family or early life, but states that she was born and grew up in a small Oregon town with her older sister, Kristen, and raised "fairly traditionally in the Lakota ways." Jana studied theater arts at the University of Oregon and earned her master's degree from Mercy...
I've been thinking a lot about my home lately. Home should be a place of safety, comfort, rest, and acceptance. Sadly, many homes do not reflect these endearing qualities. Home life can be messy, painful, lonely and loud. Sometimes people don't get along at home, and there is no rest in our homes. Even if we were to stay in the solitude of our bedroom, we know what exists outside our four walls isn't always pleasant. Home life is extra difficult when addictions and abuse are...
Imagine how you would feel if you and your loved one had a harsh disagreement; painful words flew back and forth until you separated into different parts of the house or maybe even different parts of town. The next day you received a beautiful bouquet of flowers; you hurried to open the card, hoping to see words of comfort and unending love. As you tore open the card, unfamiliar handwriting assaulted your hopes; a friendly neighbor just thought you might need some cheer for yo...
OK, Scrooge didn't save the world but it is hard to think of Christmas without thinking about Scrooge. In 1843, Charles Dickens didn't realize when he wrote "A Christmas Carol" that 175 years later people would still love the story. We can sympathize with Scrooge, he had a horrible childhood, he was orphaned, his sister died, he lost the woman he loved . . . we can understand why he turned into a bitter, miser who only loved money. Then comes redemption. He changes, he has a...
When my aging parents lived in our granny suite, they bought a new stereo because they could no longer hear the old one. The old one was an attractive little unit, complete with record player and 8-track. I think Noah used it on the Ark for weather reports. I was showing Mom and Dad how to set the digital clock on their new unit when my son Jeffrey, who had been admiring the 100-watt speakers said, "Um, Grandpa, you should put this thing in your will. I'd like it." My father...
It is difficult for Christians to follow Christ because we are in a spiritual warfare daily with the devil, who is the ruler of this world. We live in a permissive society today and the Christian life is difficult for many because it is a life of self-denial. The world says to do your own thing. As a result, we have many worldly Christians. James 4:4 (ESV) says, "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever...
I wanted to have a better relationship with God. So, I started using my imagination because scripture tells us to think of those things which are above. I imagined myself going before the gates of Heaven and knocking. The gates opened and I went through them with thanksgiving, as Psalm 100 says, and through His courts with praise. Then, after that, I would run into the throne room and go and sit on the Father's lap. The first time I sat and stroked his beard and then I kissed...
GREAT FALLS, Mont.-In Great Falls, Montana, the public school administrators have set up 12 teepees to represent the 12 tribes of Montana. The structures will remain in place, overlooking the city, thoughout the month of November. During different weeks, the tepees will be lit in different colored lights-multicolored, representing diversity; red lights to recognize the missing and murdered indigenous people crisis; and orange lights, representing Every Child Matters. Most of...
NORMAN, Okla.-Resilient. That's the word used to describe Kim Holmes by the people who know her best. Holmes, a property manager for the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma, has lost 20 blood relatives and many more friends during the COVID-19 pandemic, but continued to push through and show up for those who needed her most. "She's been through a lot," said her supervisor, Greg Shim. "The word that comes to mind is resilient. She's very dedicated to serving the people at...
LISTUGUJ, Que.-Mi'kmaw Students in one Canadian school are learning about life-sustaining elements of their Indigenous culture in very practical ways. Recently, eight students at the Alaqsite'w Gitpu School school in Listuguj, Que., were taken hunting as part of their outdoor education program. The school started an outdoor education program two years ago, encouraging and teaching fifth- to eighth-grade students to spend two hours a week doing land-based activities. They...
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.-Vanguard University student body president Matthew J. Holgate is a visionary leader. While many students are just trying to navigate their way through classes, Holgate is taking a lead in fighting against human trafficking in Navajo Nation, working to make lasting change. While a senior in high school, Holgate attended a Native American youth leadership conference workshop about human trafficking among Native American tribes. Holgate, a Navajo from Flagstaff,...
PHOENIX-Not long after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in 2020, Zoel Zohnnie was laid off from his pipe welding job. But the Tuba City, Arizona native knew other members of the Navajo Nation were faring far worse. To mitigate the effects of the pandemic, Zohnnie, 43, launched Water Warriors United, a project to deliver water across the reservation, where an estimated 30 percent of 174,000 residents lack running water and often must travel long distances to haul it back to the...
DULUTH, Minn.-During Native American Heritage Month, the government in Minnesota has acknowledged the 12 tribes of the state in a new way. In Northeastern Minnesota, state transportation officials are posting 12 highway signs to mark the boundaries of a treaty signed in 1854 by the U.S. government and three Ojibwe bands: the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The Minnesota Department of...
CALGARY, Alb.-Traumas experienced by Indigenous Peoples due to residential schools and colonization can be passed down through generations, even among those now living in a "non-trauma environment," says Métis/Cree traditional knowledge keeper and ceremonialist Kerrie Moore. Moore is an integrative healing therapist and wellness Elder in the Faculty of Social Work and Writing Symbols Lodge at the University of Calgary. This, she says, is called intergenerational trauma. In...
Question: My husband and I became Christians two years ago. We are glad that we know the Savior, but we struggle with some things. Our families follow the traditional ways, and they are angry because we don't participate in feasts and ceremonies anymore. My cousin told me that if I really loved my grandparents, I would live the way they taught me to live. That really hurts me. How can I show my family I love them without turning my back on the Lord? Answers: You have not told...
Do not worry. Do not keep saying, 'What will we eat?' or, 'What will we drink?' or, 'What will we wear? The people who do not know God are looking for all these things. Your Father in heaven knows you need all these things. Matthew 6:31, 32 (NLV) One night in my isolated prison cell, I was facing many problems. It was a time and place very much like now. Facing many troubling problems and at the end of my rope, it seemed as if there was no hope. I was a heroin addict and even...
I've been thinking about transitions. We don't think much about the more mundane ones-like halftime in football, lunch time at work, period break at a hockey game (I used to ref hockey 'cuz I got more ice time that way . . . ), or even a simple thing like a semi-colon; we pay more attention to the more significant transitions like graduations, weddings, birthdays and the like. Transitions all have two things in common; they mark an end to one thing and start another. The old...
At Indian Life Ministries, we wholly believe in the power of relationship. This is why, now that travel restrictions have opened up, Indian Life has been travelling! We are getting around to meet people and connect, let people know about the ministry, and build relationships. We have travelled to the BC Native Christian Conference in Kamloops, British Columbia, all the way east to Thunder Bay, Ontario for the Native Gospel Jamboree! And this past weekend, we travelled north to...
I've been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately. The kind of forgiveness that feels like, if I extend it, and choose to consider actually forgiving, that I am the one who is losing. You know the kind of forgiveness I'm talking about, right? The kind where you've been hurt so deeply, on such a core level, that you can't possibly consider forgiving the other person? The kind that causes a physical ache in your heart and is accompanied by anger when the ache subsides. The kind...
TORONTO, Ont.-In the summer of 2021, Ontario forest fires burned a record area of land. Nearly 800,000 hectacres of land burned in northwestern Ontario, which surpassed the record set 26 years ago. Besides the destroyed forestry, more than 3,000 people were evacuated, according to Ontario's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES). The 793,000 hectares of land that were burned cover a span larger than the Greater Toronto Area and surpassed the 1995 record by...
Washington, D.C.-Christian Native Americans are leading an effort of reconciliation and forgiveness over the U.S. Government's 230-year treatment of native peoples. "The Apology," as the movement is called, doesn't ask for the destruction of monuments or history to be rewritten. They only seek what the name implies . . . an apology. And they're willing to forgive and move on. The Christian movement has gained big allies including former United States Ambassador-at-Large for...
WINNIPEG, Man.-Indian Life Ministries is holding their first "Let's Talk About Reconciliation" conference. "At Indian Life Ministries, we want to take reconciliation from a big picture idea to a personal one," explain the directors, Todd and Krystal Wawryniak. "We want to help people answer the questions: 'What part do I play in reconciliation?' and 'What can I do?'" The event will be held at Camp Chestermere, west of Calgary, Alberta, on December 10–11, 2021. The c...
BRENTWOOD BAY, B.C.—The Department of Canadian Heritage has recently invested $6.86 million in First Nations language programs through the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC). That brings the total investment from the federal government to $14.6 million this year. The funding from the federal government makes up for provincial funding that was not renewed. Starting in 2018, the B.C. government set aside $50 million to spend on language revitalizaiton projects. However, when funding was reviewed in 2021, the line item was...
