Category Archives: Native Americans

Women have long been the leaders in Navajo culture. Now they’re steering the fight against Covid

Posted on by

Ever since coronavirus arrived on the Navajo Nation, women in this matriarchal society have put themselves at risk, taking on more responsibilities, culturally and in everyday life

Sitting in the passenger seat of her husband’s pickup truck just before dusk, Eugenia Charles-Newton watched a young Navajo girl, her niece, at a traditional kinaaldá ceremony in Shiprock, New Mexico.

The coming-of-age ceremony was unlike any other kinaaldá she’d seen. Scores of family members were missing and there was only a small cake, just enough to feed the immediate family. That morning, the girl’s female relatives hadn’t gathered to sing and tell stories as they mixed the cake batter. When the girl ran toward the east before the sun rose, she didn’t have throngs of relatives running behind her to fill the dawn air with happy screams and shouts, celebrating her transition into womanhood. Only the young woman’s brothers ran after her.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump denies asking how to add face to Mount Rushmore

Posted on by

White House reportedly asked South Dakota official about expanding monument

Donald Trump has denied that his team ever approached South Dakota’s governor about adding his face to the iconic monument depicting four presidents at Mount Rushmore. However, he added that it sounded like a good idea.

The New York Times reported a Republican party official source on Saturday stating that a White House aide reached out to Kristi Noem’s office with the question: “What’s the process to add additional presidents to Mount Rushmore?”

Continue reading...

Thousands of bikers heading to South Dakota rally to be blocked at tribal land checkpoints

Posted on by

Clampdown comes as fears mount that mask-free bikers headed to large gathering could spread coronavirus to tribal groups

Thousands of bikers heading to South Dakota’s 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will not be allowed through Cheyenne River Sioux checkpoints, a spokesman for the Native American group said on Saturday.

The decision to prevent access across tribal lands to the annual rally, which could attract as many as 250,000 bikers amid fears it could lead to a massive, regional coronavirus outbreak, comes as part of larger Covid-19 prevention policy. The policy has pitted seven tribes that make up the Great Sioux Nation against federal and state authorities, which both claim the checkpoints are illegal.

Continue reading...

‘I gotta stay strong’: the Native American families with a legacy of violent deaths

Posted on by

An untracked number of Indigenous people have more than one relative missing or murdered in unexplained circumstances

When Pauline HighWolf’s son came to her home in Montana three months ago to tell her that her sister was dead, she was overwhelmed by a painful jolt of deja vu.

HighWolf, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, had been helping her 64-year-old sister Laverna Wallowing to transition out of homelessness in California to a senior living apartment in southern Montana. Wallowing had died of a head injury, but HighWolf still doesn’t know how or why.

Continue reading...

‘Fire is medicine’: The tribes burning California forests to save them

Posted on by

For millennia, native people have used flames to protect the land. The US government outlawed the process for a century before recognizing its value

When Rick O’Rourke walks with fire, the drip torch is an extension of his body. The mix of diesel and gasoline arcs up and out from the little wick at the end of the red metal can, landing on the ground as he takes bite after bite out of the dry vegetation in the shadow of the firs and oaks.

“Some people are like gunslingers and some people are like artists who paint with fire,” he says. “I’m a little bit of both.”

Continue reading...

Native American 2020 candidate aims to raise awareness of indigenous peoples

Posted on by

Mark Charles knows his bid is a long shot but hopes to shed light on the historic abuse of Native Americans and other ethnicities

In a video launching his presidential campaign, Mark Charles, hair tied in a tsiiyéeł, a Native American hair knot, introduces himself in the Navajo language.

“Yá’ át’ ééh. Mark Charles yinishyé,” Charles says.

Continue reading...

Dior perfume ad featuring Johnny Depp criticized over Native American tropes

Posted on by

Video for ‘Sauvage’ fragrance has been called ‘deeply offensive and racist’ and the fashion brand has removed it from social media

Dior is facing backlash for promoting its perfume line Sauvage with an advertisement featuring Native American imagery.

The fashion brand teased the ad, which stars actor Johnny Depp, on Twitter on Friday as “an authentic journey deep into the Native American soul in a sacred, founding and secular territory”. It has since deleted the tweet and all references to the campaign on social media.

Continue reading...

‘I am sorry for the harm I have caused’: Elizabeth Warren at Native American forum – video

Posted on by

The Democratic presidential candidate offered a public apology on Monday to Native Americans over her past claim to tribal heritage, directly tackling an area that has proved to be her biggest political liability. 'Like anyone who has been honest with themselves, I know I have made mistakes,' the Massachusetts senator said at the start of her appearance at the forum in this pivotal early voting state

Continue reading...

Extra-mural studies: why students should not look away from uncomfortable art

Posted on by

The case of George Washington high school in San Francisco is mirrored by the covering of harsh images in Harlem. But such images must be seen

Even urging a “truer history”, Paloma Flores, a member of California’s Pitt River tribe, questions the validity of showing an image of a murdered Native American. She’s disturbed by the message of a mural at George Washington high school in San Francisco, where she works, that has been in place for 84 years.

Related: A school's mural removal: should kids be shielded from brutal US history?

Continue reading...

Women are dying in Indian Country. We must act | Debra Anne Haaland

Posted on by

The epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women has long been overlooked. That’s why I’m fighting for them in Congress

What would you do if your sister, your daughter or your mother went missing without explanation? There would be search parties. Law enforcement would issue amber alerts. Investigations would begin. Suspects would be brought in for questioning.

In Indian country, that’s not the case. In Indian country, it is often days before law enforcement shows up for a missing person call or homicide. In the case of Ashlyn Mike, a seven-year-old-girl in New Mexico, an amber alert wasn’t issued for more than 10 hours, when typically for cases of missing children those alerts are posted almost immediately. Ashlyn Mike lost her life at the age of seven.

Continue reading...

Student in standoff with Native American defends his actions – video report

Posted on by

The Kentucky high school student filmed in an apparent standoff with a Native American activist in Washington DC says he was 'not disrespectful' during the interaction, as a spokesman for Donald Trump said students from Covington high school may be invited to the White House

Continue reading...

How conservative media transformed the Covington Catholic students from pariahs to heroes

Posted on by

Conservatives have realized they can construct a parallel reality and have it accepted

In just four days, teenager Nick Sandmann and his fellow students at Covington Catholic high school have gone from social media pariahs to conservative heroes.

On Tuesday night, Fox News hosts continued to feast on the controversy, which was sparked by a standoff between Covington Catholic high school students and a Native American veteran called Nathan Phillips. Footage show students wearing pro-Trump Maga hats taunting the Omaha tribe elder. The relentlessly repeated talking point — that there was a collective “rush to judgment” on the boys because they were Trump supporters – was used by conservative anchors Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham to attack mainstream media and left leaning social media users.

Continue reading...

Controversy over students mocking Native American strikes national chord

Posted on by

Debate around the incident reverberated culturally and politically amplified by an aggressive entry into the argument by Trump

The spectacle of a crowd of white teens in pro-Trump caps mocking a Native American activist on the National Mall just days before Martin Luther King Jr day was perhaps not needed to demonstrate that America’s social fabric is stretched thin.

The explosion of a media controversy around the incident was probably not necessary to drive participants in the ensuing debate into their usual partisan crouches.

Continue reading...

New video sheds more light on students’ confrontation with Native American

Posted on by

Initial footage appeared to show students, some wearing pro-Trump Maga hats, from a Kentucky high school taunting Nathan Phillips, an Omaha tribe elder

Longer video footage of a confrontation between a Native American activist and Kentucky high school students at a protest has surfaced, providing fresh insight into the controversial encounter and offering a broader view of deepening divisions in America.

Related: Kentucky teenager denies mocking Native American veteran

Continue reading...

Kentucky teenager denies mocking Native American veteran

Posted on by

Student Nick Sandmann says video of him next to Nathan Phillips has been misrepresented, leading to ‘outright lies’

A high school student seen with classmates appearing to confront a Native American veteran has issued a statement saying that video footage of the incident gave the false impression that the teens were instigators in the confrontation.

Nick Sandmann, a student from the private, all-male Covington Catholic High School in northern Kentucky, was seen in the video standing face to face with the Indian activist, Nathan Phillips, staring at him with a smile, while Phillips sang and played a drum.

Continue reading...

Native American mocked by students in Maga hats – video report

Posted on by

A group of Kentucky students in Washington DC for an anti-abortion rally have been filmed harassing a Native American who was singing and drumming. The group were filmed surrounding Nathan Phillips, and one teenager wearing a Maga hat can be seen standing in front of Phillips and staring into his face while smiling

Continue reading...

Outcry after Kentucky students in Maga hats mock Native American veteran

Posted on by

Teenagers from Covington Catholic High School filmed jeering at Nathan Phillips and chanting ‘build that wall’

A Catholic school in Kentucky has condemned a group of its students after they were recorded harassing a Native American Vietnam veteran in a video that went viral on Saturday.

The students, many of whom were wearing “Make America Great Again” caps, from private, all-male Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills were in Washington for an anti-abortion rally on Friday when they were filmed surrounding Nathan Phillips and mocking the Native American’s singing and drumming.

Continue reading...