This Week in Native American News (8/24/18): sharing stories, helping the homeless, and paying taxes
August 24, 2018
Oral history project preserves experience of Alaska Native women
Researchers present their findings from an oral history project at the Bristol Bay Native Association in Dillingham. CREDIT AUSTIN FAST / KDLG
The world could go to hell, but Alaska Natives would survive, 70-year-old Connie Timmerman said. She wants her grandkids, whether male or female, to know how their ancestors subsisted from Bristol Bay’s land and sea.
"Us women we could do anything. It's a tough life, but you could do it if you set mind to it. And I truly believe that," Timmerman told interviewers last summer. "We're capable just as much as our men are. And it's a good companionship, that way I think it's healthier. You work together."
Timmerman was one of a dozen Alaska Native women from Dillingham, Naknek and Togiak interviewed by researchers working with the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center and the Bristol Bay Native Association (BBNA). They returned in July to interview another handful of women and preserve their oral histories for future generations.
Read the Full Story Here
More Stories About Stories (and Songs)...
Mark King shares stories of Alaganik’s days gone by
“It’s a sacred site,” King, 63, said of Alaganik. “It’s changed a lot just in my lifetime. Delta raised up and was a mud flat when I was a youngster and now it’s got trees that are 40 feet tall on it. It’s still changing, but I guess that’s the way deltas are.”
Wisconsin man sings Native American song for NASCAR
People stared, and more than once, they called out an ugly, oft-repeated racial slur. Experiences such as this reinforced what Billy Bob Grahn was taught growing up on the reservation: Don’t show who you are when you’re out in white society.
Homeless women in danger at ‘The Wall’ with few options for help
Outside the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul, 2013. (Pioneer Press archives)
It began with a few tents near Hiawatha and Cedar Avenue in south Minneapolis, but "The Wall" is now one of the largest homeless camps Minnesota has ever seen. On Friday morning, it was also the site of one of the largest social service outreach efforts in state history.
Those working to help, say there are now at least 120 people living at "The Wall" and most are Native American. Each person brings a unique story and set of problems, but KARE 11 recently learned that one particular issue has arisen, and it is an urgent concern for the entire community.
"It's hard to deal with knowing that our people are there, and they're there in that way, and that they really feel forgotten," Jackson said. "Some of them don't want... they don't want the help. But there are so many out there that do."
Jackson and LaGarde says it's those people who do want help, who are keeping them up at night.
"The help that's out there is not enough," Jackson said.
After visiting the camp on Sunday, Jackson realized there were several women who needed help because they were victims of, or in danger of, sexual assault. She says the problem is largely controlled during the day, but she has been pleading for more police presence and services at night.
Read the Full Story Here
More on "The Wall"...
Minneapolis city leaders unveil 'action plan'
At a crowded news conference, Frey promised a “full-throated effort” by city and county social service agencies to provide housing and other services to the tent city at Hiawatha and Cedar Avenues, near the Little Earth housingcomplex. Frey said he aims to eliminate the encampment by the end of September, as the city works on longer-term solutions for expanding the city’s supply of affordable housing and reducing its growing homeless population.
Do Native Americans Pay Taxes? Let Sort Out Rumors from Fact
The rumor has been around for decades, maybe even centuries: Native Americans don’t have to pay taxes. And that’s exactly what it is—a rumor—although the devil is in the details.
There’s a major distinction between the terms “Native American” and “Native American tribe.” Adding that one word—tribe—differentiates between an individual and a sovereign entity. As a sovereign entity, a tribe governs itself. It’s effectively an independent nation even though it's located on American soil.
Tribes themselves are not bound to pay taxes to the U.S. government. That’s the easy part. It gets a bit more complicated from there.
Read the Full Story Here
Lost Native American city of Etzanoa opens its gates to tourists
Etzanoa had an estimated population of 20,000 who lived in dwellings similar in shape to beehives
A “lost city” whose whereabouts remained a mystery for more than four centuries has been opened up to tourists after its rediscovery by archaeologists in Kansas.
Etzanoa may have been the largest Native American settlement ever built, some historians believe. In 1601 Spanish conquerors armed with cannons arrived in search of gold but were repelled by warriors throwing soil and shooting arrows.
Some had doubted its existence until its discovery on uncultivated wildlands in 2015 at the confluence of the Walnut and Arkansas rivers, where Arkansas City now stands. After years of excavation, guided tours of the site are being offered to visitors.
Read the Full Story Here -THEN- Check out the Etzanoa website
This Week's History Lesson...
More than 300 years ago, a revolt at this Hopi pueblo shaped the future of the American Southwest.
Cultural tensions, famine, and brutal treatment of the native population eventually precipitated a coordinated rebellion in which the Spanish were overwhelmed by a surprise attack by every pueblo on the same day. Led by Popé from the San Juan Pueblo, the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 successfully eliminated European hegemony, but only briefly as the Spanish gradually reasserted control by 1692.
How a small American Indian tribe came to give an incredible gift to Irish famine sufferers
In the winter of 1847, the people of Ireland were suffering from a devastating famine. Meanwhile, members of the Choctaw Nation of American Indians, one of the five great southern tribes of the United States, met in a small town in Indian Territory called Skullyville. There, members of the tribe discussed the experiences of the Irish poor. It was proposed that they would gather what monies they could spare. This wasn’t going to be much in the wake of their recent removal from their tribal homelands east of the Mississippi River. Ultimately, they collected US$170, a sum roughly equivalent to US$5,000 today.
Liliuokalani - Ahead of Her Time
Queen Liliuokalani is well known as a courageous advocate for Hawaiians. Less known are some of her efforts to improve the lives of women and children when she was still Princess Liliuokalani. That included a bank for women at a time when married women traditionally held no rights to finances or property.
It's hard to fit so much news in such a small space.
To read all of this week's news, visit the LIM Magazine.
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