This Week in Native American News: dental therapists, a protested auction, and salvaged murals.

Have you ever heard someone ask, “What is God’s will for my life?”  Often what they want to know is a very specific answer to a question: Should I marry this person? Should I take this new job?

The traditional Navajo religion seeks answers to these spiritual dilemmas by enlisting the help of people called hand tremblers who heal and diagnose illness, witchcraft, and other imbalances that may be plaguing the seeker. 

This Week in Native American News - May 20, 2016: grandmothers, photographers, and a whole bunch of laws

Every spring, we have the Blessing of the Fleet in Neah Bay which marks the beginning of the fishing season and asks God to bless the year’s harvest. Last year, there were at least 100 people at the marina, and it was a very meaningful time for all who attended.

Later that morning, a young fisherman, who had been at the Blessing, came to my office at Makah Lutheran Church. He had his Bible in one hand and questions on his heart.

This week in Native American News: a merger, a repatriation, and some monarchs.

Many First Nations people believe in the Seventh Generation Principle, that all our decisions should take into account our families seven generations from now. Everything we do and plan should help to make future generations strong and successful.

Too often, we hear the stories of our people, filled with pain, death, hopelessness, and rejection, and it’s hard to comprehend how we can make the drastic changes needed, not only for the Seventh Generation but for the first and second!

This week in the news... a trip down Route 66, amazing youth, and a headdress.

As you go about your week, we challenge you to learn more about those who you are trying to reach with the Word.

Learn to sing their song.

The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple… Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live.  
Psalm 119: 130, 144

Oklahoma State Representative Todd Russ made a public apology this week after offending Native Americans with comments that referenced their genetic predisposition to alcoholism, which he stated while discussing a change to alcohol laws in Oklahoma convenience stores. Read the full story here.

These comments stem from the "Firewater Fairytale" that states that when Colonists introduced alcohol to early Native Americans, they simply weren't able to handle alcohol - their genetic makeup is to blame. This belief has been disproven on numerous occasions (here's one).

The real reason for rampant alcoholism and drug use among native communities?

New Jersey, New York, and California were the first of the US states to pass ivory bans to deter the poaching and trafficking of elephants, and more than ten more states have some form of law in the works. These laws, however, also ban walrus, mammoth, and mastodon ivory which can be legally used by indigenous groups.

“It’s not just a hobby for us – this is our livelihood,” said Denise Wallace, an indigenous Alutiiq ivory carver now living in Hawaii, which is poised to pass its own broad ban of ivory. “I live out of the state, but I know there are a lot of people up [in Alaska] who are living in villages, and this is their total income as well.” Read the full article here.