April 16, 2024
A new study published by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry highlights a troubling trend among middle-aged American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN): they are experiencing higher rates of "deaths of despair" compared to their white counterparts.
Currents
Leona Carlyle-Kakar, a prominent member of the Ak-Chin Indian Community, has passed on to the spirit world. She was instrumental in securing one of the most substantial water settlements for Indian Country and spurring the economic development of her tribe.
From Our Partners
California Indian Nations College (CINC), in collaboration with Kumeyaay Community College (KCC) and the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities (White House Initiative), hosted its inaugural Native American/Indigenous Education Summit on March 22-23, 2024. The event took place inside the Santos Manuel Student Union Building at California State University of San Bernardino (CSUSB).
Growing up Native can be hard. Because my skin was dark, in second grade kids told me, “You look dirty.” I felt different, like I didn’t belong.
Opinion
Opinion. In recent weeks, the national media has highlighted the fact Americans seem to have amnesia about the Trump presidency.
Guest Opinion. Cherokee Nation is on the leading edge of health care for Native peoples. Thanks to our investments in world class care, we operate the largest tribal health system in the United States. Cherokees and other Native Americans come from across the country to get medical care at our facilities.
Sovereignty
The remains of 11 Native American children who died more than a century ago at a government-run Indian boarding school in Pennsylvania will be going home to their closest living relatives this September, the U.S. Office of Army Cemeteries announced in a federal notice on April 9.
Fourteen tribal nations, tribal schools and colleges, and state organizations will initiate community projects to capture, preserve, and educate about the impact of the Federal Indian Boarding School era, thanks to $411,000 in funding announced by the National Endowment for the Humanities on April 10.
Education
On April 12, 2024, DePaul University in Chicago was designated an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) for the fiscal year 2024 by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation continues to welcome grant applications for its Technology in Schools Program, aimed at supporting Santa Barbara County schools in enhancing classroom technology for students.
Arts & Entertainment
Indigenous filmmakers will come together on April 29 in Sante Fe, New Mexico, for the 2024 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab, a week-long program designed to empower and elevate their voices in the world of cinema.
On April 12, Moses Brings Plenty (Oglala Lakota), best known for his role as “Mo” on the popular television series “Yellowstone,” received the first New Horizon Award at the 63rd annual Western Heritage Award Ceremonies for his lifetime achievements.
Health
Environment
A federal judge yesterday ruled against The Tohono O’odham Nation, the San Carlos Apache Tribe and environmentalists in a lawsuit to halt work on a $10 billion transmission line being built through an area of cultural significance to the tribes.
The United States Department of Justice filed an Amicus Brief on April 10 siding with Wisconsin’s Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians in their belief that Line 5— a huge underground pipeline carrying fuel from Wisconsin to Canada— trespasses on Native land.