“Frustrated and tired” Iroquois Nationals head home
This Montreal Gazette story describes the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team as “very frustrated and tired” as they head home after losing a high-profile battle to travel to the World Lacrosse Championships in England on their Haudenosaunee Confederacy passports. Jessica Shenandoah, Iroquois Confederacy secretary, says that “it hasn’t killed our effort. We’re still going to continue it. This is not the end.” Watch a video, here.

More to Whiteclay than beer
The Nebraska town of Whiteclay is notorious for the 4 million cans of beer it sells every year, mostly to residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, just across the border in South Dakota. But as Mary Garrigan of the Rapid City, S.D., Journal writes here, a lot of people also depend upon the hamlet for groceries.

Upgrade for Seattle shelter for homeless Native American youth

Labateyah House in Seattle, a refuge and a place of healing for homeless Native American youth, is about to get an upgrade. It was founded in 1992 by Native American activist Bernie Whitebear and today is an open house where homeless youth ages 18 to 22 can find a place to stay, schooling and life skills, according to Tonya Mosely of KING 5 News, here.

Alaska village youth attempt boating rescue; also involved in fending off 2007 griz attack
These two young men appear to be the ones you want around if you’re in trouble, according to The Village, here, the rural blog of the Anchorage Daily News. Michael Rock and A.J. Nakarak of Shaktoolik came to the aid of brothers clinging to a buoy after their fishing boat was swamped. And, about three years ago, they also intervened in a grizzly attack.

Vote on federal recognition for Native Hawaiians expected soon
Native Hawaiians could finally be treated the same as the nation’s other indigenous groups – but only if a U.S. Senate vote on federal recognition is taken before fall elections, according to the AP, here. That’s because the majority in the Senate might change after November, meaning that it could be years – if ever – before the matter comes up again.

Gulf tribes seek advice on BP oil disaster
Native American tribes who live along the Gulf of Mexico coast in Louisiana are seeking advice from other indigenous groups who’ve dealt with environmental disasters, according to this Voice of American story. They’ve talked to Alaskan Natives about the Exxon Valdez disaster, and also indigenous people in Ecuador about the largest environmental lawsuit in history, against Texaco over toxic waste.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Alaska Natives, Alcohol abuse, BP, British Petroleum, Exxon Valdez, Federal recognition, Gulf oil spill, Haudenosaunee Confederacy, homelessness, Iroquois, Iroquois Confederacy, Iroquois Nationals, Labateyah House, Lacrosse, Native Hawaiians, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Texaco, U.S. Senate, Whiteclay, World Lacrosse Championships

People on Hawaii’s big island can mark Memorial Day weekend by going to the Hilo Inter-Tribal PowWow, now in its fifth year.

Terrie Henderson of the Big Island Weekly writes here that the event is organized by Liz and Troy De Roche, and emphasizes connections between Native American and Hawaiian peoples and cultures.

Troy De Roche will be cooking up the wildly popular fry bread and pleasing the crowd with his traditional flute playing. Troy, whose been known to play the flute with flour on his shirt from baking the bread, told Big Island Weekly last year that the recipe he uses for the fry bread is handed down from his grandmother. The Indian tacos are also always a big hit, according to the De Roche family.

This year’s event also will feature the return of Seneca Nation member and former Big Island resident Mike Gates. Gates will be the head dance and Fredricka “Freddie” Hunter, who is Blackfeet from Montana, is head woman dancer.

The host drum for the powwow will be The Wildhorse Singers from Torrance, Calif., cormprising drummers and singers from the Navajo, Apache, Tohono O’Odham and Cherokee nations.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Apache, Blackfeet, Cherokee, Fry bread, Gwen Florio, Hilo Inter-Tribal PowWow, Indian tacos, Native American news, Native Hawaiians, Navajo, Seneca, Tohono O'odham

Ad offering to “clean” city of First Nations youth probed as a hate crime
Indian Country Today’s Gale Courey Toensing follows up here on this disturbing story about an online ad offering to cleanse the Canadian city of Winnipeg of Native youth. The ad ran with a picture of three Native boys and was headlined “Native Extraction Service.” It offered to relocate the “pesky little buggers” to their “habitat.” It’s now being investigated as a hate crime. As Valerie Talliman points out in her commentary, here, ignoring the ad is not an option: “Our silence is our consent.”

Ghost town haunted by wolves – Alaska village on high alert after teacher’s fatal mauling
A town hall meeting has been held in Chignik Lake, Alaska, to keep residents informed about wolves on the outskirts of town believed to have killed a teacher last week. Whiteout weather conditions hampered a hunt for the wolves. In the meantime, people are staying inside. This KTUU report calls Chignik Lake “a ghost town haunted by wolves.” Click on the link to watch a video report.

Native Hawaiians closer to establishing own government
This Associated Press report points out the fact that Native Hawaiians are the last remaining indigenous group in the United States that hasn’t been allowed to establish their own government. But a U.S. Senate vote this month – and President Barack Obama’s expected signature – could give federal recognition to 400,000 Native Hawaiians.

First Nations University funding denied; school could close within weeks
Canada’s aboriginal-run university could be forced to close by the end of this month, according to some reports, as a result of federal refusal to restore $7.2 million in funding that was cut after allegations of financial mismanagement. Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl tells the Toronto Globe & Mail, here, that “It is time to focus our attention on those aboriginal students themselves,” rather than the university.

Casino workers’ union contract brokered under tribal law
Among the very few tribal casinos whose workers have a union contract is huge Foxwoods Resort Casino complex, run by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in Connecticut. What makes the contract unusual is that it was brokered under tribal law. NPR has the story here.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Chignik Lake, Federal recognition, First Nations University, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Gwen Florio, hate crimes, Labor unions, Mashantucket Pequot, Native American news, Native Extraction Service, Native Hawaiians, President Barack Obama, racism, Tribal law, U.S. Senate, Winnipeg, Wolves

Alaska Natives likely to be first climate change refugees?
Larry Merculieff has petitioned Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski to stop an amendment she has proposed that would delay regulations on greenhouse gases. “We are probably going to have the first refugees of America – climate change refugees – and they are going to be Alaska Native people” says Merculieff, an Aleut tribal advocate. KTUU story and video, here.

Homeless people, many Native, dying on streets of Anchorage
A dozen homeless people, seven of them Native, have died in Anchorage this summer. Some died of natural causes – if you consider hypothermia natural – and at least one was murdered. Police say alcohol is the common thread. In the News-Tribune, here.

“We’re all indigenous people from somewhere.”
Artist Solomon Enos wants to educate people about the sophistication of Native Hawaiians. To that end, he’s produced a monumental, 500-page book project “The Epic Tale of Hi’iakaikapoliopele,” written and translated by Puakea Nogelmeier (Awaiaulu Press, 2008, $40), which uses 375 chants to tell the legend of Pele’s younger sister Hiiaka. Read about it here in the Honololu Star Bulletin.

Federal court will hear appeal of reversal of Schaghticoke status
Five years ago, the Bureau of Indian Affairs yanked federal acknowledgment of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. Now, the 2nd circuit court of appeals will hear oral arguments from the tribe as to why that status should be restored. In Indian Country today, here.

“Strange Rez”: Is there a Flathead Lake monster?
The Char-Koosta News has fun with this story. The Salish and Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee says those tribes have no stories about a lake monster. But the Kootenai knew of the creature, even calling Flathead Lake “Monster Lake” before white explorers ventured into the region. Cue the “Jaws” theme!

Gwen Florio

Tags: Alaska, Alaska Natives, Alcohol abuse, buffalo post, climate change, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Federal recognition, Flathead Lake, Homeless, Kivalina, Native American news, Native Hawaiians, Pele, Schaghticoke, Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Yurok Tribe seeks to reintroduce condors
The Yurok Tribe is using modern science in hopes of restoring condors, which have not soared above the northern coast of California since 1914. If they can get permission to reintroduce them, it would be the first restoration of condors in the northern half of its historic range, and a steppingstone to condors soaring over Oregon and Washington, the AP’s Jeff Barnard reports here. Lower Klamath River tribes use condor feathers in healing dances. “It can soar the highest, so we figured that was the one to get our prayers to heaven when we were asking for the world to be in balance,” says Richard Myers of the Yurok Tribal Council

Native Hawaiians and self-determination
The resolution moving s-l-o-w-l-y through Congress that would apologize to Native Americans had a counterpart in one applying to Native Hawaiians. That one passed in 1993. (Note to Congress: You did it before. You can do it again.) Meanwhile, native Hawaiians continue to push for some sort of self-determination, possibly akin to the sovereignty status of Native tribes in the other states, according to this Honolulu Advertiser story.

National Museum of the American Indian marks four anniversaries
This from the History Channel: The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian inaugurates a season-long celebration of four landmark anniversaries – the 20th anniversary of the signing of the legislation that created the museum, the 15th anniversary of the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City, the 10th anniversary of the state-of-the-art collections facility in Suitland, Md., and the fifth anniversary of the opening of the flagship museum on the National Mall.

Cigarette sales on reservations won’t be taxed in New York
According to the Buffalo News, here: Despite a ballooning budget deficit, the Paterson administration quietly has written off taxes it had been expecting to collect on sales of cigarettes by American Indian retailers – an admission that yet another governor has no plans to resolve the long-standing, thorny matter.

LSU’s Chavis only Native coordinator in Football Championship Subdivision
Wouldn’t it be great if there were more? But in the meantime, enjoy this Baton Rouge Advocate story about John Chavis, whose mother is Cherokee and father, Lumbee. He’s the defensive coordinator for LSU, and his job this year is to restore that team’s proud defensive reputation.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Cherokee, Condors, Football Championship Subdivision, John Chavis, LSU football, Lumbee Tribe, National Museum of the American Indian, Native American news, Native cigarette sales, Native Hawaiians, Sovereignty, Yurok Tribe