This Week in Native American News (8/9/19): Celebrate the World's Indigenous People
August 9, 2019 - Celebrate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
Celebrating language on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is commemorated each year on 9 August in recognition of the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982.
On this day, people are encouraged to spread the message that the rights of Indigenous peoples must be protected and promoted.
To coincide with the International Year of Indigenous Languages, this year’s theme is Indigenous Languages.
The theme aims to ‘highlight the critical need to revitalize, preserve, and promote indigenous languages and share good practices through expert/interactive panels and presentation of innovative initiatives on indigenous languages.’*
‘It is estimated that, every 2 weeks, an indigenous language disappears, placing at risk the respective indigenous cultures and knowledge systems. That is why, on this International Day, the goal is to draw attention to the critical loss of indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote them at both national and international levels.’**
To preserve Australia’s Indigenous languages, the Australian Government provides funding to organisations that support participation in, and maintenance of, Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures through languages and arts.
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Crow Tribe, National Guard work together to build homes for veterans
Montana and Hawaii Army National Guard 260th and 230th Engineers build a new home in the Apsaalooke Warrior Apartments near Crow Agency. From left, Sgt. Josiah Baisa, Spc. Johanna Lembke and Sgt. Benjamin Rinke work on the home on Tuesday. LARRY MAYER, Billings Gazette
This house being built in a small neighborhood on a hill overlooking the town feels like success.
Working on the house are members of the Montana and Hawaii Army National Guard, who will spend the month building or repairing housing units in Crow Agency for the Apsaalooke Nation Housing Authority.
It's part of the U.S. Department of Defense's Innovative Readiness Training program, which pairs soldiers in need of specialized training with the communities that need a specific service.
In Crow Agency, many residents need a place to live.
"The greatest need it fulfills is the need for housing," said Lanny Real Bird, a board member on the Apsaalooke Nation Housing Authority board.
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Native American artists collaborate with local tech company
It’s a new way to learn about ancient art. A UNM professor helped design a new project that brings his, and other pueblos’ signature pottery designs to life.
“It’s always about educating, teaching the public to understand a certain art, the history the culture itself,” said UNM Professor Clarence Cruz.
Cruz, who is a member of the Tewa Pueblo, has been practicing pottery for decades. He uses the same techniques that have been passed down for generations.
“I get a lot of joy out of it,” said Cruz. He and artist Michelle Lowden of the Acoma Pueblo, collaborated with a local tech company to bring the ancient art into the 21st century.
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Why Native Americans at Standing Rock are building solar farms three years after the #NoDAPL pipeline protests
Three years after the Dakota Access Pipeline protests swept the nation at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, Native American leaders have made history by opening the largest solar farm in the state of North Dakota on their tribal land.
The community solar farm project, led by the non-profit organization Indigenized Energy, will provide renewable energy on the Standing Rock reservation and is located just a few miles from the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which became operational in 2017 despite the widespread protests against its construction.
Cody Two Bears, founder and executive director of Indigenized Energy, told Mic in an exclusive video interview that the solar farm is projected to save up to $10,000 in energy costs annually and will also create local jobs. The 1100 solar panels are currently powering a community center in nearby Cannonball.
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Talking to the editors of "Shapes of Native Nonfiction," Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warburton, about weaving together essays by Indigenous writers
Editing an anthology, or a collection, is not for the weak. The curation and collation of myriad voices weaving into one another, collectively imbuing a relationship that is both structured and organic, takes focus, tenacity, and patience. Reading c, edited by Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warburton, this cohesion, and the planning behind it, is apparent. Beyond what’s explained in the introduction, with the concept-turned-theme of basket weaving, the pieces populating each section exemplify how materials, through words, come together. I came away from this collection clearly recognizing the intent of both Washuta and Warburton in how “shapes the content (material) enables a move away from a focus on a static idea of ‘Native information’ and, instead, emphasizes the dynamic process of ‘Native in formation.’”
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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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