Here’s the entire story from the Associated Press:

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) – The federal government has announced that costs to repair damage from severe storms and flooding in June at Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation will be covered 100 percent with federal money.

The White House on Friday said that the severity and magnitude of the damage warrants the decision.

President Barack Obama on July 10 declared the reservation and Hill County in north-central Montana a disaster area, making federal money available.

That money is usually available under a cost-sharing agreement where only 75 percent is paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The White House says the decision to fully pay for reservation repairs does not apply to areas that are not part of the reservation in Hill County, where cost-sharing remains in place.

Tags: Chippewa Cree, disaster area, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, Hill County, Obama, Rocky Boy's Reservation, White House

Tribal educators who met in Washington, D.C., last week for the National Native Language Revitalization Summit met with members of Congress and Obama administration officials, seeking help in strengthening Native languages.

Rob Cappricioso of Indian Country Today follows up on the conference here:

Ryan Wilson, president of the National Alliance to Save Native Languages, highlighted a plethora of reasons for increased language support from the federal government. Chief among them is the ability to save cultures that have been treaded upon for hundreds of years, yet still survive, he said.

Cultural Survival Quarterly recently reported that “unless dramatic action is taken now, more than 70 Native American languages will become extinct within the next 10 years.” The publication helped sponsor the summit, citing its concern about the situation.

“We are at a unique moment in history for the federal government to assist with the revitalization of Native language and culture,” Wilson told a gathering of legislators and tribal officials at the Senate Dirksen Office Building July 14.

The group formally asked for a White House initiative on Native language revitalization .

“Those who may ask why the federal government has a role in revitalizing Native American languages need only look to the sorry history of federal regulations and practices to obliterate Native languages,” that request said.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Cultural Survival Quarterly, Gwen Florio, National Alliance to Save Native Languages, National Native Language Revitalization Summit, Native American languages, Obama Administration, Senate Dirksen Office Building, White House

Actress Q’orianka Kilcher, who played the part of Pocahontas in “The New World,” was arrested at the White House Tuesday after tying herself to the fence in a protest over the pending visit of Peruvian President Alan Garcia.

Kilcher’s father is a Peruvian Indian, the Los Angeles Times reports here. Her mother, Saskia, was arrested along with her. The Times writes:

The actress was charged with disorderly conduct, her mother with defacing government property; both women are due in Washington, D.C., Superior Court on June 9.

The star is no stranger to activism — reports say just last week Kilcher visited the Peruvian capital of Lima to support Alberto Pizango, an indigenous leader. She also sat with Bolivian president Evo Morales at an April political rally on climate change.

Gwen Florio

Tags: "Pocahontas", Alberto Pizango, buffalo post, Evo Morales, Gwen Florio, Native American actors, Native American news, Peruvian President Alan Garcia, Q'orianka Kilcher, The New World, White House

The reference comes in this Fox News transcript of commentator Glenn Beck’s show yesterday. (Remarks come at about 8 minutes, 40 seconds, into the video above.)

In his comments, Beck references the fatal shootings at Fort Hood. As he has done before (see previous post, with video, here), he jumps all over President Barack Obama for mentioning the historic, long-planned White House Tribal Nations Conference that took place on the same day. According to the Fox News transcript, Beck says:

N

Now, let’s just play this out in our heads. When confronted with one of the worst acts of terror on our soil since 9/11, 13 dead — 31 soldiers wounded — Fort Hood — Barack Obama spent the first two minutes in his press conference talking about Native American conferences and sending shout-outs to people.

It’s one thing to take issue with Obama. It’s quite another to drag tribes into it.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Fort Hood shootings, Fox News, Glenn Beck, Gwen Florio, Native American news, President Barack Obama, White House, White House Tribal Nations Conference

Mark Trahant is a Kaiser Media Fellow examining the Indian Health Service and its relevance to the national health care reform debate. He is a member of Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Comment here.

Has the Indian Health Service been an effective, government-run delivery system?

Consider this from a White House memo: “While there has been improvements in health status of Indians in the past 15 years, a loss of momentum can further slow the already sluggish rate of approach to parity. Increased momentum in health delivery and sanitation as insured by this bill speed the rate of closing the existing gap in age at death.”

In other words progress is slow. But Dr. Ted Marrs wrote the memo on April 26, 1976, and the subject was about the original Indian Health Care Improvement Act. “In 1974 the average age at death of Indians and Alaskan natives was 48.3. For white U.S. citizens the average age of death was 72.3. For others, the average age was 62.7.”

Dr. Marrs wrote that the “bottom line” was an unavoidable connection between “equity and morality” when there is a more than twenty year differential in age at death between Indians and non-Indians.

So what do the numbers look like now?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Children's Health Insurance Program, Dr. Ted Mars, Health care reform, Health Characteristics of the American Indian or Alaska Native Adult Population, Indian Health Care Improvement Act, Indian Health Service, Mark Trahant, Medicaid, Medicare, White House, “Regional Differences in Indian Health

Above, “Christmas in the iglu” by Elisapee Ishulutak. (Artwork courtsey of Uqqurmiut, via Nunatsiaq News.

Sometimes we feel that Buffalo Post could be a blog solely about art, so many are the supremely gifted people about whom we write. Painters and sculptors, jewelers and quilters, writers and musicians and filmmakers – all entranced us this year. Here are just a few:

Brian Jungen‘s art is not only beautiful and impressive, it’s also a lot of fun. He uses a lot of modern materials – sneakers, anyone? – in contemporary sculptures that reference Native traditions. “Native cultures are living, and shouldn’t be in the Museum of Natural History. . . . It’s good for people to realize native art isn’t just beads and carving,” says Jungen, of the Dunne-za First Nation in British Columbia. Jungen was the first living artist to be featured in a solo show at the Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. His work has also been featured in London’s Tate Modern and New York’s New Museum as well as the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

You’d think it would be enough that at the age of 25, Josh Marceau‘s photo already hangs on the Wall of Fame in the Native American Research Lab at the University of Montana. Marceau is a doctoral student at UM, pursuing his degree in biomedical science. But he’s also a talented jeweler, and says the two pursuits actually dovetail nicely.

Writer Sherman Alexie seems to be on track to surpass Joyce Carol Oates in terms of productivity. Alexie makes us a little grumpy because he writes superbly in too many genres – adult fiction, young-adult fiction and poety – but we’ve got to get over that because he’s just so good. Besides, he’s passionate on the subject of reading and books: “I think white folks should be ashamed that it’s taking an Indian to save part of their culture,” he says. Alexie’s got a new book, “War Dances,” and of course he won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for his young-adult novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” It’s not as though his success comes from bending over backward to please everyone: “If you’re not offending a pretty high percentage of people who read your books, you’re not doing it well enough. … At my public performances, if somebody doesn’t walk out at some point I feel like I haven’t done my job.”

Jereldine Redcorn had already received multiple honors for her pottery, for which she mastered ancient Caddo techniques, although using them sometimes in modern designs. This year, she has one more kudo – First Lady Michelle Obama selected one of Redcorn’s works, “Intertwining Scrolls,” to decorate the White House. Her work is included with pieces by internationally renowned artists such as painters Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns, and ceramic artist Maria Montoya Martinez of the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico. “Life and unity are universal and timeless,” Redcorn says.

The film, “The Only Good Indian,” swept the American Indian Film Festival this year. University of Kansas faculty member Kevin Wilmott won best director, and actors Wes Studi and Winter Fox Frank won best actor and best supporting actor, respectively. The film was based on a script written by KU alumnus Thomas L. Carmody and “The Only Good Indian” was inspired by the early history of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence. It recounts the story of a Kickapoo boy forcibly taken from his family – yes, that would be kidnapping – and sent to boarding school. He later escapes, but is tracked by a bounty hunter – who is Cherokee. Those two are, in turn, pursued by an Indian sheriff. Many of the cast and crew are from the University of Kansas, Haskell, and the nearby Kickapoo Indian Reservation.

And speaking of movies, “New Moon,” the second movie in the “Twlight” teen vampire series got buzz and more buzz for the number of hunky young Native actors taking roles of Quileute tribal members who – in the books and movies – also turn into werewolves.

We could go on – and on and on. There’s Henry Real Bird, Montana’s new poet laureate; poet Joy Harjo; painter Joe Yazzie; basketmaker Julia Parker; quilter Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson – you get the, ahem, picture. We love reading about their work and hope you do, too.

Gwen Florio

Tags: "Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian", "New Moon", "The Only Good Indian", "Twlight", "War Dances", American Indian Film Festival, Brian Jungen, Caddo, Dunne-za First Nation, Haskell Indian Nations University, Henry Real Bird, Jereldine Redcorn, Joe Yazzie, Josh Marceau, Joy Harjo, Julia Parker, Kevin Wilmott, Kickapoo, Maria Montoya Martinez, Michelle Obama, Museum of the American Indian, National Book Award, Quileute Nation, Sherman Alexie, University of Montana, Wes Studi, White House, Winter Fox Frank

At the invitation of the White House, Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal Chairman James Steele Jr. will be part of a panel discussion tomorrow in Copenhagen as part of the International Climate Change conference.

Steele will join Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, U.S. Rep. Kate Knuth of Minnesota and Alice Madden, an adviser in the Colorado governor’s office for the talk, the Missoulian’s Vince Devlin reports here.

The National Wildlife Federation and the National Tribal Environmental Council joined the White House in issuing the invitation to the discussion titled “Leadership and Innovation by States and Tribes in the United States.”

“Our home reservation features pristine wilderness, waters and animal life,” Steele says. “This didn’t happen by chance or luck. We’ve worked very hard to maintain our natural areas and we’re also reclaiming lands. Each day seems to bring a new threat to our lands. I welcome this chance to tell our story.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: Alice Madden, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Gov. Jim Doyle, International Climate Change Conference, James Steele Jr., National Tribal Environmental Council, National Wildlife Federation, U.S. Rep. Kate Knuth, White House

We’ve already written, here, about Jereldine Redcorn’s beautiful pottery, selected by First Lady Michelle Obama to grace the White House. This story from the Dalton (Ga.) Daily Citizen expands upon that with an interview with Redcorn, in which she talks about her successful effort to revive traditional Caddo pottery techniques.

Even though she uses ancient methods, Redcorn sometimes turns to modern themes in her work. “Life and unity are universal and timeless,” Redcorn said. “One of my modern designs is titled Dance All Night, Celebrate the Morning.”

The story points out that her work now will be included with works by internationally renowned artists such as painters Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns, and ceramic artist Maria Montoya Martinez of the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico.

“It’s quite an honor to have my work selected along with other artists such as Maria Montoya Martinez,” Redcorn says. “When President Obama was elected I received e-mails from German friends congratulating us on the outcome,” Redcorn said. “His election has made a difference all over the world by opening doors.”

Now, she herself is opening doors to new appreciation of Native art. Nice.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Caddo, Jereldine Redcorn, Maria Montoya Martinez, Native American news, San Ildefonso Pueblo, White House

White House tribal summit is Thursday!
Thursday, of course, is the first White House tribal summit in 15 years, since President Clinton hosted tribal leaders. Hopes are high because the concern for tribes evidenced by then-candidate Barack Obama as he campaigned in Indian Country. This Green Bay Press Gazette story nicely lays out the issues. Can you say health care, crime, education? Just about everything that’s been under-funded for decades now in Indian Country will certainly be discussed.

Little Shell Chippewa to address “broken” recognition process
Only representatives of federally recognized tribes were invited to the White House meeting. That dis really stung state-recognized tribes, one of which – the Little Shell Band of Chippewa in Montana – saw their three-decade bid for federal recognition rejected last week. Tomorrow, Little Shell leader John Sinclair will be in Washington for a Senate Indian Affairs Committee oversight hearing. Sinclair will testify about a recognition process that Sen. Jon Tester – who invited him to the hearing – calls “broken.” Tester, fellow Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and Montana GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg all are pushing legislation that would grant the tribe that long-overdue recognition. The hearing will be webcast.

Standing Rock leader: Fighting Sioux nickname debate not a priority
In North Dakota, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has yet to schedule a vote on the University of North Dakota’s use of the Fighting Sioux nickname for its teams. The NCAA strongly terms tribal nickname for teams “hostile and abusive”; North Dakota decided to resolve that by leaving it up to the tribes. The Spirit Lake Sioux have OK’d the nickname, but the Standing Rock remain divided. An Oct. 30 deadline passed with no resolution, and the state Board of Higher Education agreed to a 30-day extension. Now, the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer reports here that new Standing Rock chairman Charlie Murphy says resolving the controversy isn’t a top priority and that furthermore, the tribe rejects any deadlines imposed by the board.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Federal recognition, Fighting Sioux, Little Shell Chippewa, Native American news, Presidential Barack Obama, Spirit Lake Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux, Tribal Nations Conference, U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, University of North Dakota, White House