News from Native American Netroots

The Government of Canada today formally endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a manner fully consistent with Canada’s Constitution and laws. Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. John McNee, met with the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Joseph Deiss, to advise him of Canada’s official endorsement of the United Nations Declaration.

“We understand and respect the importance of this United Nations Declaration to Indigenous peoples in Canada and worldwide,” said the Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-status Indians. “Canada has endorsed the Declaration to further reconcile and strengthen our relationship with Aboriginal peoples in Canada.”

“Canada is committed to promoting and protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples,” said the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs. “Canada’s active involvement abroad, coupled with its productive partnership with Aboriginal Canadians, is having a real impact in advancing indigenous rights at home and abroad.”

Native American tribal leaders and businessmen seeking trade ties with Turkish companies have offered them tax incentives to operate in their territories in the United States, the organizer of the trip said Thursday.

Native American businessmen are increasingly seeking global business partnerships to create jobs and new businesses in their territories. They have held talks with Chinese, Spanish and Australian companies, but their tribal leaders’ trip to Turkey was the first large-scale overseas exploration of new trade ties, they said.

More than 100 Native Americans, veterans and others gathered Saturday at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery to unveil a monument many say is long overdue.

The monument, developed and paid for through the efforts of the New Hampshire Intertribal Native American Council, an organization that meets once a month in Laconia, is in the shape of a drum surrounding by an arch.

Inscribed in glossy black stone are the words “Dedicated to all Native American Veterans/ American and Canadian / Who served to protect/ This land called/ Turtle Island. “

Past generations instill a sense of spirit in Cathy Bishop, who smiled during the 29th annual Intertribal Gathering and Elders Dinner on Saturday as she remembered the life of her grandmother.

“Your elders are your source of life,” said Bishop, who has roots in the Hoopa, Yurok, Maidu and Wintun tribes. “You learn a lot from them, so you have to show them great respect.” …..

…Thousands of people turned out for the annual event at Redwood Acres fairgrounds, which honored veterans and anyone 55 and older with a free turkey and salmon dinner. Organized by the Northern California Indian Development Council (NCIDC), the gathering drew Native Americans from dozens of different tribes across the state.  

This week has seen a variety of music award presentations. On Wednesday the world of Country Music honoured their best. Thursday night it was Latin Music’s turn to shine with the Latin Grammy Awards. On Friday the Native American community held the twelfth annual Native American Music Awards. The show was dedicated to the troops, veterans, and teen suicide awareness.

Honouring the best of Native Americans and their music the Native American Music Awards was hosted by actor Wes Studi – Magua in the 1992 “Last of the Mohicans” and Eytukan in “Avatar” – from the Seneca Niagara Events Center in Niagara Falls, New York. The NAMMYs honour traditional and contemporary artists in 30 catagories.

Established in 1998, the NAMMYs are the first official awards show dedicated solely to music created by Native Americans. Since its inception, the NAMMYs have presented over 300 awards.

American Indians have won some key victories on Capitol Hill this year and should capitalize on them to start solving some of the problems that have plagued tribal communities for decades, said the leader of the oldest and largest Indian organization in the nation.

Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said tribal leaders should keep the momentum going following success such as the Tribal Law and Order Act, recently signed into law by President Barack Obama, and the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, reauthorized as part of the larger health care reform passed by Congress.

Two men from Mukwonago have filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Public Instruction which ordered the school district to change its Indian nickname and logo.

Mukwonago – Two residents from Mukwonago have filed against the state Department of Public Instruction after it ordered the Mukwonago School District to change its Indian mascot and logo…..

….. Two men from Mukwonago have filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Public Instruction which ordered the school district to change its Indian nickname and logo.

Mukwonago – Two residents from Mukwonago have filed against the state Department of Public Instruction after it ordered the Mukwonago School District to change its Indian mascot and logo.

For the next year, the Meskwaki Nation  is going to be watching the wind. The hope is to join forces with this power, to produce renewable energy in a manner that is friendly to Grandmother Earth. A monitoring tower installed Aug. 25 will confirm whether a wind farm can be built on the nation’s land in Iowa.

The tribe, also commonly known as the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, recently contracted with WPCS International, design-build engineering specialists for communications infrastructure.

“We put up a meteorological tower to measure the wind for the next year. We will analyze the data and after a year we will do a final report,” said James J. Heinz, executive vice president, with WPCS International Inc.’s St. Louis operations. The company is headquartered in Exton, Pa.

At a Nov. 9 discussion at Cornell University on Native American rights, Arizona’s SB 1070 came up as panelists explained the profound impact the legislation has on Native Americans living near the border:

More importantly, he added, since the bill became law, racism has become legitimized, and violence against Native peoples “is more blatant than ever.” Recently, “tribal members out in the desert chopping wood have been handcuffed and beaten because they didn’t have any identification on them,” he said. Although the people were on their tribal land, he noted, “somehow the border patrol saw this as a legitimate way to detain people and abuse people violently.”

Federal Communications Commissioner

…This is not about regulating the Internet.

This is about ensuring that consumers – rather than gatekeeper corporations – maintain control over their online experience.

…I am reminded as I head to the National Congress of American Indians this week in Albuquerque that less than 10 percent of Indian Country has broadband access and 30 percent of Native American households don’t even have access to basic telephone service.

That’s not just unacceptable, it’s a national disgrace. America cannot afford to have a digital divide between haves and have-nots or between those living in big cities and rural areas or tribal lands.

The conversation about bringing broadband to every corner of the country and protecting consumers and their access to the open Internet is an important one – one that should not occur just in Washington, D.C.

The revival of the Lakota language opens a new chapter in 2011, as two institutions of higher learning in the Great Plains initiate undergraduate degree majors for teachers of Lakota as a second language-making Lakota the first Native American language to achieve this kind of professional recognition.

Beginning in January 2011, the University of South Dakota (USD) School of Education (Vermillion, SD) and the Sitting Bull College (SBC) Education Department (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Fort Yates, ND) will each offer a two-year Lakota Language Teaching and Learning curriculum, as a degree major for a Bachelor of Arts in Education at USD or Bachelor of Science in Education at SBC.

This two-year curriculum will be taught, administered, and evaluated over the four-year grant period by LLEAP, the Lakota Language Education Action Program. The program was conceived by the Lakota Language Consortium in partnership with USD and SBC. This coordinated program systematically addresses the problem of how to generate high-quality teachers of an important Native American language – teachers who have deepened their own fluency in the language through college-level study, and who understand how a second language is taught and learned.

President Barack Obama will play host to Native American leaders at a White House conference on Dec. 16.

The president has invited the leaders of each of the 565 federally recognized tribes to the event, the White House announced Monday. It would be Obama’s second conference with American Indians. Obama first met with tribal leaders last November.

Mike McCune spoke with Luke Willard, chairman of the commission and a member of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe in Orleans County.

Willard explained that federal arts and crafts law prohibits non-federally recognized and non-state recognized tribal members from selling their crafts as native-made or Abenaki-made

^{photo credit: Aaron Huey}

KQED proudly celebrates the richness and diversity of the greater San Francisco Bay Area by commemorating November, American Indian Heritage Month. During the month of November, KQED Public TV 9 schedules a special lineup of programs focused on American Indian themes and issues. These programs are highlighted in a guide along with listings of community resources and local events.

2010 American Indian Heritage Guide (PDF)

Michael Samuel Duran

Nathan Costello

Marvin Paddock

Aurora Mamea

Follow link to read full biographies

American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month also provides an opportunity for Native people to reflect on their own lifestyles and contributions to their families and communities. The National Indian Health Board believes that a culture of health fortifies quality healthcare thus creating healthy lifestyles and environments.

Over 300 people attended the celebration of their Native American heritage. Tule River Tribal Chairman, Ryan Garfield, gave a welcoming speech to start the evening festivities. The Eagle Rock singers and dancers performed on stage, with Johnny Nieto dancing in the colors of Porterville High School, before the Tule River Native Veterans Post 1987 ceremonially posted the Colors.