May 19, 2022
This Friday, the Chicago Field Museum is opening its new Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories exhibition to the public, revealing its first renovation of the museum’s Native North America Hall since its initial installation during the 1950s. The exhibition is centered around five core content permanent sections called “Native Truths” that present essential information about Native experience and culture, along with six rotating story galleries.
Currents
The United States Senate on Wednesday confirmed Judge Sunshine Sykes to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She is a citizen of the Navajo Nation.
Opinion
Opinion. The long-awaited Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report was released by the U.S. Department of the Interior at noon on Wednesday, May 11, 2022.
GUEST OPINION. Raised deep within the evangelical, far-right movement, I knew overturning Roe v. Wade was a top priority.
Sovereignty
Indian boarding school survivors and their descendants are invited to submit written testimony to the House Natural Resource Subcommittee for Indigenous People in support of legislation that would create a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding Schools in the United States.
Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska former chief justice Michelle Jaagal Aat Demmert has been appointed to the Not Invisible Act Commission.
Education
When Berkeley Law Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Kristin Theis-Alvarez heard about the University of California system’s plan to cover tuition and student service fees (opens in a new tab) for in-state students enrolled in federally recognized Native American, American Indian, and Alaska Native tribes, she was elated: Creating a pathway to law school for Native American students has been a passion-driven project of hers (opens in a new tab) for years.
Nolan Altvater grew up in two worlds in northern Maine. A citizen of the Passamaquoddy Nation, one of the four tribes in Maine that form the Wabanaki Confederation, Altvater’s early years were spent on the Passamaquoddy reservation in Sipayik, Maine. Altvater left the reservation with their mother after their parents divorced but visited it every other week to see their father, and every summer to rake blueberries and do other seasonal work.
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The Summer of Bitter and Sweet is a complex and emotionally resonant novel about a Métis girl living on the Canadian prairies. In her debut novel, author Jen Ferguson serves up a powerful story about rage, secrets, and all the spectrums that make...
Arts & Entertainment
This weekend and next week, Indian Country is all about fashion, fine art infused with fun, and fantastic photography.
This Friday, the Chicago Field Museum is opening its new Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories exhibition to the public, revealing its first renovation of the museum’s Native North America Hall since its initial installation during the 1950s. The exhibition is centered around five core content permanent sections called “Native Truths” that present essential information about Native experience and culture, along with six rotating story galleries.
Health
Environment
The Department of the Interior today announced a $29 million investment in dam safety programs for tribal communities.
As two combined wildfires flare across New Mexico, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Deputy Administrator Erik Hooks met with the state’s emergency management and tribal leaders to discuss wildfire response and ongoing recovery efforts.