By Vince Devlin, of the Missoulian:

POLSON – You can look at the potential questions and problems facing many Indian people across the nation when it comes to the Affordable Health Care Act, and quickly check off all the ones that don’t apply on the Flathead Reservation.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai people are a federally recognized tribe, so no problem there. Members can be enrolled in the tribe at birth, so children’s standing isn’t in question like it is for members of some tribes. There is no reservation residency requirement like ones that are posing problems for others.

When you’re done, Kevin Howlett says, just understand: The Affordable Health Care Act will still present issues locally, for many people of Indian descent.

Howlett, director of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Health Department, stresses that everyone currently eligible for tribal health care will continue to be eligible.

But those who aren’t enrolled members may be subject to tax liability if they don’t purchase insurance for coverage they already qualify for.

“I anticipate problems, not for tribal members who are being exempted, but I do think there will be issues for descendants who can and do receive health care from us,” Howlett says.

The law, as written, exempts enrolled tribal members from having to purchase health insurance.

“We have a lot of people who are not enrolled, for whatever reason,” Howlett says. “It’s really unclear” how the new law will affect them.

“We do know they’ll come to the tribes asking for answers,” Howlett says. “But we don’t have them.”

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ICTMN’s Jorge Martin Melchor was on assignment last weekend at the 2013 AIGSA Fashion Show at Arizona State.

The event showcased a host of looks by Native designers. Melchor’s video gives a good look at the fashion show.

Gerard Begay, the fashion show’s organizer, said he started the event to show off the talents of Native American designers. “There’s a lot of Native American designers out there who aren’t recognized,” he said. He added that he also wanted to show non-Native people how Native culture is evolving. “I wanted to showcase that we are changing, we are constantly changing with today’s society,” he said.

The show is part of a weeklong celebration of Native culture at ASU.

Jenna Cederberg

Almost 330 people around the country have become members of the emerging Una Tribe, “mixed-blood tribe” being formed by a family in Eugene, Ore.

As KEZI.com reports, the Lake family there has already created a website and declaration of creation to attempt to get around blood quantum laws.

The Lake family who lives in Eugene says each family member has a fraction of their blood that is Native American. But that fraction of blood is not large enough to be considered a member of their ancestral tribes, so they’re starting their own tribe for people like them.

“I have been told my whole life that I’m Native American, both my father and my mother are Native American, all together I’m one-eigth,” said Richard Lake III, Una Tribe Founder.

That one-eighth tribal blood doesn’t allow Richard Lake III to be considered part of an ancestral tribe.

. . .

But one Klamath Tribe member says it takes more than a bit of Native American blood to be a part of a tribe.

“The ancestral memories of that are generations and generations of a single people living together sharing memories and developing language,” said Gordon Bettles, Klamath Tribe Member.

. . .

Even though they’re not recognized by the government or other tribes, the Una mixed blood tribe thinks in 10 years you’ll be hearing a lot about them.

“Our end goal is set up a reservation for our members to be able to live on or visit,” said Richard Lake III.

Jenna Cederberg

A 10-year-old boy accused of several crimes, including theft, will get a new hearing after a judge initially set bail in the case at $500,000 after protests from his outraged family.

The Missoulian’s Vince Devlin reports that Isaiah Shane Nasewytewa, the 10-year-old St. Ignatius boy who lives on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana, is currently being held at the Reintegrating Youthful Offenders Correctional Facility.

His family has said they can’t pay that high of bail.

Court records indicate (Lake County Judge Kim) Christopher set bail at $500,000 last week specifically in hopes of ensuring the evaluation takes place.

The boy’s grandmother, Dorinda Buck of St. Ignatius, protested on social and in traditional media, saying such a high bail is usually reserved for adults charged with violent crimes. The family had come to court indicating they were prepared to post bond for the $50,000 bail sought by the Lake County Attorney’s Office.

Nasewytewa came before the court because of a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge for an alleged incident at his elementary school, but that triggered the re-filing of a felony theft and burglary charge from 2012 against the youngster.

Nasweytewa’s family has said the Wa He Lut Indian School in Olympia, Wash., is willing to take him.

“He’s losing steam (at the correctional facility),” said Buck, who indicated she had spoken to her grandson on the phone since he was transported to Galen after Thursday’s District Court hearing. “He said there’s nobody his own age in there. He feels lost – he’s just a little kid.”

Court documents indicate Nasewytewa was to be held until he could be seen for the evaluation at a Shodair Children’s Hospital, but his grandmother said there were no openings available before June 6. His caseworker has since found an opening at a Bozeman facility, but that’s not for another three weeks.

“They’re trying to get it expedited, find something sooner, but so far the earliest is May 22,” Buck said.

Jenna Cederberg

The term and the industry of “tribal tourism” is catching on around the state of Alaska.

One Native corporation at the forefront of offering adventures steeped in their cultural traditions has launched a service to help others do the same, according to Associated Press reporter Rachel D’Oro.

Huna Totem Corp. opened Alaska Native Voices on Wednesday. Huna Totem is the village Native corporation for Hoonah — a largely Tlingit community of 775 in southeast Alaska — and one of the front-runners of tribal tourism, a growing trend in Alaska and nationally.

Huna has turned the closure of the cannery there in the 1950s into a positive economic driver focused on sharing its heritage.

The corporation is entering the 10th year of operating its Icy Strait Point, a long-closed salmon cannery near Hoonah that was converted to a tourism complex with offerings that include Tlingit heritage performances and nearby attractions such as nature tram rides, whale watching tours and a mile-long zipline with a 1,300-foot vertical drop. Huna Totem also is entering its 13th year of providing cultural heritage guides to visitors of Alaska’s Glacier Bay.

The corporation’s new consulting business is available to Native groups as well as communities worldwide wanting to establish tourism around their own cultures, Alaska Native Voices director Mark McKernan said. The cost will vary, depending on the extent of services sought, he said.

. . .

Since opening in 2004, Icy Strait has drawn more than 1 million visitors. Another 135,000 cruise ship travelers are expected to stop there this year. For Hoonah, the enterprise has been lucrative, bringing an enormous boost in sales taxes and creating scores of jobs for locals, officials have said.

Alaska’s off-road villages lack the luxuries seen along the cruise ship routes, however, and most don’t have a designated visitor coordinator. But an increasing number of small communities are exploring ways to set up their own brands of Alaska Native tourism.

Jenna Cederberg

You’re going to want to take a look at this collection of ledger art created by Crow warriors in the late 1800s.

Billings Gazette reporter Mary Pickett brings us the “remarkable story about . . creation and preservation” of how the art was saved by a curious Montana college professor.

BILLINGS, MONT. – Adrian Heidenreich stumbled onto the first clue of an extraordinary collection of Native American ledger art in a Billings Heights art gallery in 1968.

When he spotted a copy of a battle scene done in 1884 by a Crow artist, he was stunned.

“Oh my gosh, I have to have that,” he thought.

He learned that the original the copy had been made from was part of a collection of Indian art housed at the library at Eastern Montana College, now Montana State University Billings.

Although the original had been attributed to the last traditional Crow Chief Plenty Coups, the chief later said he did not draw it, but that the work was an accurate depiction of his experiences at a battle between Crow and Sioux warriors.

Full of action, the work simultaneously shows several events that happened minutes or hours apart.

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The beauty of Native art is just one way to help boost Phoenix’s economy, the Navajo Post reported this week.

The Post cites a story by the examiner that details a recent study showing Native arts and culture generate $361.05 million for the local economic activity.

They can also purchase property and once it’s bought, through the US Department of Interior, they can request the Secretary’s Office of that purchased land and essentially turning into Tribal Trust Land, reported the examiner.

This is detailed out in 25 CFR under Land Acquisitions. In Phoenix, vacancies in the Camelback Corridor are interested in making use of Native American Culture in attracting more visitors to the Camelback Colonnade.

“The economic impact of arts and culture organizations on Arizona’s economy is comparable to that of major sporting events. Businesses need to understand how they will benefit from providing greater financial and other support.” said, Robert L. Lynch President and CEO of Americans for the Arts.

Lynch also explained the impact it could have, “Understanding and acknowledging the incredible economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture, we must always remember their fundamental value. They foster beauty, creativity, originality, and vitality. The arts inspire us, sooth us, provoke us, involve us, and connect us. But they also create jobs and contribute to the economy.”

Money generated by tourism is another way to help boost the economy.

Arizona’s tribal lands produced direct spending of $310.5 million, plus indirect and induced impacts of $80.5 million, for a total economic impact of $391 million. Based on a study.

This created a total of 4,973 jobs on Arizona’s tribal lands.

According to the Terry School of Business, University of Georgia the buying power of Native American peoples will hit $30.4 billion dollars by the year 2016 and tribal businesses are tapping into that readily available financial source said, Terrance H. Booth.

Jenna Cederberg

By Christina Rose, Native Sun News associate editor

RAPID CITY — No matter what she decides, whether it’s to be a dancer, poet, or psychologist, Mariah Brewer, a junior at Stevens High School, has a solid future ahead of her. Having danced for 10 of her 16 years, a visit to Prima Ballet on West Main St, Rapid City, proved that years spent in training have proved fruitful.

Teacher Alyssa Record described Mariah as a beautiful dancer, and she is often cast as a feature dancer with dance troupes, such as the Russian Ballet, that come to Rapid City through the Black Hills Theatre.

Right now Mariah is researching colleges that fit her future.

“I used to want to audition for Julliard, but then I was exposed to a broader spectrum of dance,” she said.

As of right now, Mariah is hoping to attend the University of Wyoming where she took part in the Snowy Ridge Summer Dance Festival. However, she is keeping her options open and also considering the University of Minnesota and University of Montana.

While Mariah is aware of the opportunities that living in New York City or Los Angeles might afford, she said, “I like the big cities, but I don’t want to live in them.”

Even though Mariah has focused on Modern Dance, she remembers her Lakota traditions. She currently dances almost three hours a day and said she doesn’t have time for pow wow dancing anymore.

“I used to jingle dance when I was younger. I still like learning about my culture and I am proud of being Lakota. I spoke Lakota when I was young. I learned it while I was Dakota Head Start, and when we went to Pine Ridge.I don’t forget it.”

Planning ahead for her career, Mariah is looking at splitting her goals between dance and psychology.

“My sister is getting a degree in psychology,” she said, “and I have always enjoyed helping people and learning how people deal with things,” Brewer said.

Jennifer Glen, Mariah’s mother, said Mariah has so many gifts there are a multitude of things she could do.

Apparently her mother is not her only fan.

“I entered a poem in a contest, and I got back a letter about having my poem published,” Mariah said. “After that I was accepted into new contests, so I have two published right now.”

Mariah said her poems are often about what she is feeling at the time.

“I wrote about my very first break-up. The second one was about how I feel that society is turning away from what is really important. Nowadays people are focusing less on God and what God gives them each day, like their talents,” Mariah said.

Mariah’s 4.0 grade point average shows that she takes her studies seriously.

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When officials from the highly populated country of Monogolia went looking for ways to build better roads, the scheduled a trip to northwestern Montana.

There, they met with wildlife and transportation officials to learn more about the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ wildlife crossing and underpasses.

As Char-Koosta News reporter Lailani Upham wrote, the visit to the U.S. arose from the changes to the landscape such as more roads and railways have fragmented wildlife habitat and disrupted the migrations of iconic Mongolian species such as saiga antelope, gazelles and khulan.

The “safe passages” like the one built by CSKT not only conserve critical wildlife migration corridors but protect motorists, Upham wrote.

The crossings of underground passages for wildlife began installment in 2007 along US Highway 93 under a project called The Peoples Way. The project was collaboration with the Montana Department of Transportation, the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, and the Federal Highway Administration as equal partners negotiating on an agreed approach that met needs of safety, capacity, culture, wildlife, and landscape.

The crossings allow from large to small animals to cross such as: moose, elk, deer, bears, mountain lions, bobcats, muskrats skunks, raccoons, badgers, mice rabbits wood rats, weasels, pheasants, and eve partridges.

Today, there are ten wildlife underground crossing structures with one wildlife over-crossing that span across the Flathead Reservation along the 56.3-mile corridor on Highway 93 from Evaro to Polson.

One Mongolian official on the trip said “urgent measures” are needed to help restore habitat connectivity there.

“There is significant development happening in the Gobi Desert and Eastern Steppe of Mongolia, and there will be impacts from that development,” said tour leader and WCS Mongolia Program Manager, Kina Murphy. “Our goal is to equip the relevant ministries and private sector of Mongolia with the capacity to make informed decisions about measures that can mitigate impacts of linear infrastructure caused by mining and other industries.”

Jenna Cederberg