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Chikasha Bak Bak (Chickasaw Woodpecker) is one of seven teams currently playing in the Choctaw Nation's Stickball League. With a similar culture and intertwined histories, the Choctaw Nation invited Chickasaws to participate in their league in 2014. Numerous Southeastern First American tribes of North America are working to preserve the heritage of this traditional game. "Stickball is shared amongst Southeastern tribes. It brings different First Nation communities together,"...
WASHINGTON—The first skateboard Di'Orr Greenwood ever rode was a cheap plastic one her grandpa had given to her younger brother. "He had so much fun on it that I wanted a little bit of that fun, too," she said. When she was 22, an arson fire left the family home in ashes. They lost almost everything. But Greenwood found some old skateboards unscathed by the fire, and a tool for wood burning that her late uncle had taught her to use. She began carving Navajo designs on s...
DENVER—A cancer survivor is preparing to compete in the 2024 Miss Colorado pageant in July and aims to bring a bit of hope for the future to others touched by the disease. Abby Dennis, 24, will compete for the state title July 13-14 in Lakewood, Colorado, as Miss Vail. One of her goals is to bring awareness to non-Hodgkin lymphoma and offer hope to survivors through her community service initiative, "Hope Child." "My aim with this initiative is to make the conversation a...
EAGLE BUTTE, S.D-In late March, Lakota youth aged 12-18 gathered at the Cheyenne River Youth Project's Čhokáta Wičhóni (Center of Life) teen center for the nonprofit organization's 24th annual Passion for Fashion event. Called Wačhípí kta Iglúwiŋyeyapi (Youth Get Ready for the Dance) in Lakota, Passion for Fashion helps young women prepare for their high school prom in a positive and safe space. As they search for formalwear and accessories, they also have opportun...
ADA, Okla.-In many ways, 16-year-old Tony Carter is just like his Ardmore, Okla. High School classmates. He loves to attend sporting events and rodeos with his family and sit under a shade tree with his grandpa when the weather is nice. In some ways, Tony is exceptional. Diagnosed with autism at age two, Tony is nonverbal. Large crowds occasionally overwhelm him, and he sometimes is made to feel unwelcome by peers and adults unfamiliar with autism. Because Tony cannot speak, U...
PHOENIX—The fourth annual American Indian Youth Disability Summit, held on April 13, awarded a Youth Tribal Leadership Award to a college student whose interest in learning disabilities and her own speech disorder led her to study speech and hearing sciences at Arizona State University. The youth summit explored topics ranging from mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder to voting accommodations made for those with disabilities in Arizona. The youth s...
Mississauga, Ont.-Move over, snacks and sodas, there's a new vending machine in town! And it's serving up Indigenous specials for First Nations kids and others! Some schools and children's activity centers across Canada have been experimenting with a new vending machine that distributes food for the brain-books. Start2Finish Indigenous Collaborations is behind many of the orange machines proclaiming "Every Child Matters" that you're seeing pop up in various areas across the...
Saskatoon, Sask.-One Cote First Nations young woman in Saskatoon has soared to new heights-literally. Twenty-year-old Natasha Moar is not only a pilot, but a flight instructor for Millenium Aviation. Yes, before most students are even out of college, Natasha has already put in the training hours and launched on her career. Moar fell in love with flying sometime around her first flight. The adventurous twelve year old was supposed to be in a glider with her air cadet crew, but...
WHITEHORSE, Yukon-Indigenous students in Whitehorse are enjoying a new program that they, themselves, drive-instead of adults. A new music program that lets students guide their lessons is offering a pressure-free way for Indigenous youth to engage with music classes. The New Music Education North runs four nights a week out of the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse. The after-school classes are free with transportation and meals provided. The instructors, some of the...
ADA, Okla.-While she was a student, Paige Orr received an award that inspired a change in her choice of a dream career. "My dream was to be on camera and make videos or be an ESPN sideline reporter, but I've realized I have a knack for being the one behind the camera," said Orr, who received a Heartland Emmy Award this year for her public service announcement for the Stillwater Public Library. Orr of Frederick, Oklahoma, grew up with an adoration for the spotlight, singing in...
KELLYVILLE, Okla.-Brianna Lytle is a rare breed. The 18-year-old Chickasaw is the type of person who discovers their passion early in life and forges a path to pursue it, despite any obstacles. She is living the Mark Twain quote: "Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life." An equestrian at heart, Miss Lytle took up barrel racing when she was 9 years old. Almost every weekend, she and her dad, Travis, loaded her horse, Cimm, and the trio...
Hockey sticks reflect Indigenous skills At the end of each of the 31 games played in the 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship held in Halifax and Moncton in January 2023, one person from each team was named Player of the Game and given a special hockey stick. Hockey Canada partnered with Mawi'Art: Wabanaki Artist Collective, an organization that focuses on developing and promoting Indigenous artists to produce the special sticks, which feat...
DURANT, Okla.-Choctaw tribal member, Savannah Toon, won the Junior World Finals for Barrel Racing in Las Vegas in December 2022. Over 800 contestants from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia competed for $1 million in prizes, cash and scholarships Dec. 1-10 at the Wrangler Rodeo Arena inside the Las Vegas Convention Center. Savannah, a Smithville, Oklahoma, native, competed in one of the qualifying tournaments held all over the country for the 12 and under girls. Onl...
CHICKASAW NATION, Okla.-Like pioneer aviator "Pearl" Carter Scott or retired Navy test pilot and astronaut Cmdr. John Herrington, Austin Wallace is making his mark on Oklahoma aviation. Recently, Wallace took a leap of faith by following his dreams of opening Adventure Air, a premier flight school in Goldsby, Oklahoma. "Pearl shows us that people crave freedom," Wallace said. "People are going to do what they love. Nothing will stop them. Flying is uniquely challenging. Each d...
CARLSBAD, Calif.-To help shine a light on the Indigenous community and honor iconic Indigenous players, Upper Deck created a limited-edition set featuring Indigenous hockey players who have not been featured on a NHL® licensed trading card before. The goal was to create a set that was for the community, by the community. So it was important that from the start, Upper Deck worked with the Indigenous community to ensure that the set properly celebrated the players and the...
CHESTERMERE, Alb.-Stephane Friday, a young Cree man from Kashechewan First Nation in northeastern Ontario is one of seven people who was presented with the Herbert Carnegie Trailblazer Award at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto as part of The Carnegie Initiative's CI Summit, Jan. 20–22, 2023. Friday can't remember a time when hockey was not part of his life. He grew up watching hockey on TV and playing street hockey in his Indigenous community. This led to Friday becoming i...
WINNIPEG, Man.-Meet Simon Monteith. He's a nine-year-old Opaskwayak Cree Nation boy from Manitoba who is passionate about science. "I like being curious and finding out new things," said Simon has told reporters. Simon's curiousity has led him to create more than 60 You Tube videos doing just that-finding out about new things and sharing what he learns with others, under the YouTube moniker "Simon the Scientist." Simon's experiments with videos started during the pandemic. He...
ADA, Okla.-Sara Ellis is one of the few girls enrolled in Ada High School's aviation program. "I never thought I would want to be in the aviation field," Ellis said. "I was not good at math or science. The aviation program has taught me that if you have something that you really want to do, like flying, it makes things like calculus easier when you see how they are applied." Now, the 17-year-old is learning the ins and outs of the lucrative and male dominated aviation...
LONG BEACH, Calif.-Two years ago, Deontay Begay was overjoyed when he and his twin brother, Deondre, were recruited to play basketball for Northwest Indian College. It was a way to explore the world beyond Sheep Springs, a rural community of 250 on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. But the pandemic ultimately meant his first basketball season was canceled, as was his move to Bellingham, Wash., where the tribal college is located on the Lummi Nation. Begay, who is Navajo, spent...
ADA, Okla.-The Chickasaw Nation proudly announces that Chickasaw citizen Sania Richardson of Ada High School has made the top 25 on ESPN's 2025 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings. As a freshman, Sania ranks 13 on ESPN's list and currently has multiple offers to play college basketball. Richardson was already considered one of the top girls basketball players in the state-media attention is nothing new to this athlete-and some talent evaluators have put her in the top spot-before...
WINONA, Minn.-In June 24-year-old, Rachel Evangelisto became the first woman to be crowned Miss Minnesota at the Miss Minnesota Scholarship Org. Pageant and will move on to compete in the Miss America pageant. Evangelisto graduated from the University of Minnesota–Morris with a degree in political science and an emphasis on law. She currently works as a guardian ad litem for the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWN) Division of Minnesota. She is a court-appointed advocate looking o...
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...
Window Rock, Ariz.-Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, First Lady Phefelia Nez, and Second Lady Dottie Lizer recently signed a proclamation recognizing March 2022 as "Read Across Navajo Nation Month," in coordination with "Read Across America" to celebrate the joys of reading and to promote literacy to enhance the lives of Navajo students and families. The signing ceremony was held at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Ariz., with Miss Navajo Nation Niagara Rockbridge...
Fort Worth, Texas-Caroline Rowland is proud of her Choctaw heritage and knows the history of her tribe. She's also a criminal justice major and history and writing double minor at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas. During a recent U.S. history class, when the Trail of Tears was only briefly discussed, she was confused and even a little upset. Rowland says she was trying not to get angry, and that's when she realized that maybe it was a resource issue....
TULSA, Okla.-The Cherokee Nation Film Office and Oklahoma Film & Television Academy are partnering to help educate Native American students to be set-ready as industry continues to grow in Oklahoma. The tribe's film office recently sponsored and hosted OFTA's Set Ready course at Cherokee Nation's COVID Response Virtual Soundstage. Through CNFO scholarships, Native American students attended the course at no charge. "Oklahoma's television and film industry continues to grow at... Full story
