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Posts tagged ‘native american’

Mar 7

NCAI to Host the 2014 Tribal Nations Legislative Summit & Excecutive Winter Council

Next week, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is hosting the 2014 Annual Tribal Nations Legislative Summit and 113th Congress Executive Council. Aimed at connecting Tribal leadership with governmental leadership the event is scheduled for March 11-13, 2014 with most events taking place in the Westin Washington City Center, Washington, DC.

In advance of this meeting, Jodi Gillette, the Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs in the White House Domestic Policy Council, released in a blog post both the Synopsis for the the 2013 Tribal Nations Conference and the 2013 White House Tribal nations Conference Progress Report.

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Feb 21

(NO)stalgia by Cannupa Hanska Luger

Cannupa Hanska Luger: Transcendant Acts of Native Resistance

At a recent art opening,  I saw something I hadn’t seen in a long time—truly different Native American art—work that didn’t build on anything I’d seen before, yet had all the historic and contemporary cultural references that make it Native American art with one important distinction, this work resists labels and categorization.

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Feb 13

February 2014 Tribal Policy Update

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) recently released the fiscal year 2015 Indian Country Budget Request.  This document is compiled in collaboration with tribal leaders, Native organizations, and Tribal budget consultation bodies and is intended to guide the Congress for use in the appropriations process for Indian Country.

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Feb 5

2014 State of Indian Nations | National Congress of American Indians

State of Indian Nations | National Congress of American Indians
1/30/14 | Delivered by President Brian Cladoosby

On Thrusday January 29th, 2014, the National Congress of American Indians hosted the 12th Annual State of Indian Nations event. It was the first SOIN presented by the new NCAI President Brian Cladoosby. As usual, the event followed the State of the Union by a few days.  Hosted at the Newseum in Washington D.C.; the event is streamed live and posted for viewing later (see the rebroadcast here).  Listen to an interview with President Clasoosby on NPR here.

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Jan 31

Proud to Be

Chances are, you’ll be watching the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII this weekend and chances are, you’re excited to see the big-time advertisements too.  As we know, companies go all out for this broadcast and there are often some memorable commercials.  Well, we think you’ll be moved by the ad that National Congress of American Indians has just released.  In fact, word on the street is that it isn’t just a piggyback ad, but that it will actually be aired during the Super Bowl.  It’s titled Proud to Be.

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Jan 24

Information on Attending or Watching the Stream of the 2014 State Of Indian Nations

Every year, just after the President of the United States gives the State of the Union address, the President of the National Congress of American Indians gives the State of Indian Nations address. This is where NCAI presents the goals of tribal leaders, opportunities to advance Indian country issues, and policy priorities for the year.
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Jan 9

Chickasaw Nation Tribal Language Dictionary.

One Chickasaw Citizen’s View on the Passing of the Last Monolingual Speaker of the Chickasaw Language

“…For her, she saw the world from a Chickasaw worldview, without the interference of English at all.”

—Josh Hinson, Director of the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program

(From the recent NPR article “What Happens When a Language’s Last Monolingual Speaker Dies”)

–She was the last person who knew the world only through Chickasaw.

I am not good at languages.  I tried as an undergraduate to learn Spanish. I took an entire year of daily Spanish language classes and worked with a tutor the entire time and I was unable to learn more than a few simple phrases, not even enough to get me by living in the border state of Arizona.  What I  did learn was that I didn’t even know English grammar well enough to think about another language and its use of grammar.

However, I have to say, I’ve been hit hard by the news of the recent death of Emily Johnson Dickerson, the last monolingual speaker of the Chickasaw language. I did not know her, but she is symbolic and represents the passing of an age. Last year, I spent some time at the Chickasaw Nation and I learned that there were only about 70 some speakers of Chickasaw. At the time this alarmed me.  But, late last week we learned that the last person who had only a Chickasaw worldview had died. Well, this –to me—is staggering.  According to Chickasaw elder Catherine Wilmond, if we lose our language, the world will end (see her talk about this here).

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Jan 7

Tribal Leader Spotlight | Governor Anoatubby, Chickasaw Nation

As part of our ongoing series of blog posts highlighting Tribal leaders, we’re starting with the Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, Bill Anoatubby.  The Governor was first elected in 1987, becoming the 30th Governor of the Chickasaw Nation.  He is currently serving his seventh term in office.  As the tribal leader, he manages nearly 13,000 employees, 50 governmental programs, and over 100 tribal businesses, having grown the Nation from 250 employees when he took office. Check out this video history of Governor Anoatubby created by the City of Ada, Oklahoma last year.

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Dec 4

Tribal Sovereignty Definition

Tribal Sovereignty | An Explanation and Some Resources

It is important to understand that tribes were not given sovereignty; rather sovereignty of tribes was and is inherent and is legally recognized initially through treaties and was later limited by laws and court rulings.

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Dec 3

Giving Tuesday image

#GivingTuesday | Supporting Native American Non-Profits

In keeping with the holiday spirit, we’re sharing our favorite Native American non-profits on this #GivingTuesday.  These are organizations that we know very well and not only work with, but fully support their mission of service to Indian Country.  The organizations include the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums; the Phoenix Indian Center; and, Native Public Media. We hope you’ll consider supporting them too.

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