This Week in Native American News (1/24/2020): the First Census Interview and the Great American Cowboy
January 24, 2020
Alaska Native Elder, 90, Is First American Counted in 2020 Census
In this Monday, Jan. 20, 2020 image, Lizzie Chimiugak looks on at her home in Toksook Bay, Alaska. Chimiugak, who turned 90 years old on Monday, is scheduled to be the first person counted in the 2020 U.S. Census on Tuesday. Gregory Bull–AP
Lizzie Chimiugak has lived for 90 years in the windswept western wilds of Alaska, born to a nomadic family who lived in mud homes and followed where the good hunting and fishing led.
Her home now is an outpost on the Bering Sea, Toksook Bay, and on Tuesday she became the first person counted in the U.S. Census, taken every 10 years to apportion representation in Congress and federal money.
“Elders that were before me, if they didn’t die too early, I wouldn’t have been the first person counted,” Lizzie Chimiugak said, speaking Yup’ik language of Yugtun, with family members serving as interpreters. “Right now, they’re considering me as an elder, and they’re asking me questions I’m trying my best to give answers to, or to talk about what it means to be an elder.”
The decennial U.S. census has started in rural Alaska, out of tradition and necessity, ever since the U.S. purchased the territory from Russia in 1867. The ground is still frozen, which allows easier access before the spring melt makes many areas inaccessible to travel and residents scatter to subsistence hunting and fishing grounds. The mail service is spotty in rural Alaska and the internet connectivity unreliable, which makes door-to-door surveying important.
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“Rez Rising” App Connects Users With Native-Owned Businesses
Change Labs intern Jillian TopSky CREDIT DEIDRA PEACHES, CHANGE LABS
A new app connects shoppers with more than 500 Native-owned businesses in the Southwest, from beauty salons to food carts to car repair shops. It’s called “Rez Rising” and it’s designed to give tourists access to authentic products and experiences on tribal lands, while giving a boost to local economies. One of its creators is Heather Fleming, executive director of Change Labs, a nonprofit incubators for Native businesses. She spoke with KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny about the vision behind Rez Rising.
It basically functions like Yelp, where you can search by keyword, by category, or by location, to help you narrow in on where you might find a Native small business to support with whatever you may need, whether it be muffins, or someone to do some plaster work, or screen printing. There’s a whole host of businesses on there.
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The Other Message in Redbone’s ‘Come and Get Your Love’
Redbone in 1971: left to right, Lolly Vegas, Pat Vegas, Pete DePoe and Tony Bellamy. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
Formed in 1969, Redbone was one of the first Native-American rock bands in the album era. A chunky tribal dance beat helped propel their single “Come and Get Your Love” to No. 5 on the Billboard pop chart in 1974.
The song has been used often in films and covered numerous times, including a version by Real McCoy that reached No. 19 on the Billboard pop chart and No. 1 on the dance chart in 1995.
Recently, Pat Vegas, Redbone’s bassist and the song’s arranger and co-producer, looked back at the hit’s evolution and his contribution. His brother, Lolly, the song’s writer, died in 2010.
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WATCH THIS: Navajo Son: Meet the Great American Cowboy
Growing up on a Navajo reservation in rural Arizona, Derrick Begay always dreamt of making it as a professional cowboy. But the idea of someone from his tribe hitting the big time seemed out of reach—though folks, including his own father, had tried to do it, no Navajo had ever managed to. After years of hard work, Begay finally succeeded, becoming one of the first Navajo cowboys to qualify for the national finals—and he’s gone on to compete there six more times.
It’s hard to fit all the news in a little space.
To read all of this week's news, visit the LIM Magazine.
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