This Week in Native American News (6/9/17): Portrayals, Partnerships, and Proud Moments
June 9, 2017
Great People Doing Great Things: Guaranteeing Accurate Portrayal of Native Peoples
“We must bring American Indians out of the history books and stereotypical media portrayals and into the contemporary context,” she said. “I want to elevate the authentic presentation of American Indians in the mass media.”
Proudfit is the co-president and co-founder of The Native Networkers, which consults with the entertainment industries in fostering authentic representation of Native Americans. She and her partner, film director Chris Eyre, recently worked with director Scott Cooper and actor Christian Bale on the upcoming film “Hostiles.”
Read the full story here -or- Learn more about The Native Networkers
Indigenous Start Up Partners with Local Ikea
A Toronto fashion incubator for Indigenous artists is partnering with Ikea to launch a collection of kitchen accessories that reflect traditional ideas about conserving resources and feasting.
Beginning June 8th, shoppers at Ikea's Etobicoke location can purchase one of four handmade products made entirely from salvaged textiles by Setsuné Indigenous Fashion Incubator.
"In our culture, if you go hunting, we would use all parts of the animals, and we just kind of took those ideas into the kitchen. So we made all items that you can use for kitchen, food preparation, feasting," explained Setsuné co-founder Sage Paul in an appearance on CBC Radio's Metro Morning.
Read the full story here
Native Wisdom Imporiving Health Care in Alaska
Southcentral Foundation (SCF) in Anchorage is a tribally owned and operated health-care organization that serves Alaska Native and American Indian people, historically a woefully underserved population that is widely dispersed across the largest state in the Union. Alaska is nearly one quarter as large as the lower 48 states combined, and more than 200 Native villages count as distinct tribal entities. Many communities fall far outside the road system and remain accessible only by air or boat. Even today, Alaska Native people sometimes travel well over 1,000 miles to receive care.
Nevertheless, SCF has accomplished what others have found impossible: dramatically better health outcomes while controlling costs. It has reduced health disparities for the Alaska Native community through an integrated care system, called the Nuka System of Care. This approach joins Western medicine with traditional Native practices that emphasize connections among mind, body, and spirit. It addresses physical disease along with such issues as substance abuse, depression, domestic violence, and cultural and social connectedness.
In an era of soaring health-care costs and demands for reform, SCF represents the possibilities of a system that emphasizes wellness over treatment of disease and community relationships over profit.
P.S. This is the organization through which our ministry staff is trained in Beauty for Ashes
Read the full story here
Native Veterans Honored in France
Shay, a Penobscot Indian from Maine, was only 19 years old when he struggled ashore Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, as a platoon medic serving in Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment. The 16th Infantry Regiment was one of three combat regiments in the 1st Infantry Division that spearheaded the assault on D-Day.
According to Dutch anthropologist Dr. Harald E.L. Prins, 175 Native Americans landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day -- but only 55 have been identified. The memorial dedication to Shay and his Native American comrades is part of an ongoing effort to recognize the Native American contributions to WWII.
"This is the reason why we decided together with the Mayor of Saint Laurent sur Mer and city council to honor the Native Americans who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day," Shay said.
Read the full story here
Archaeological finds & Historical Research
A project to rehabilitate a 19th-century ranch house on one of the Channel Islands off Southern California has led to the discovery of another ancient Native American site in the archipelago, the National Park Service said Tuesday.
Scientists believe the ancient sites may be evidence of a coastal migration around the North Pacific Rim from northeast Asia to the Americas, the park service said.
Full story
A bright green glass spearhead believed to have been made by Aboriginal prisoners on Rottnest Island 100 years ago has been discovered by students during a university excursion.
Professor Len Collard from The University of Western Australia had taken the students to the island, known as Wadjemup, last week to learn about its Indigenous history as a prison for almost a century.
They were at one undisclosed site, believed to be on top of a hill when one of the students uncovered a sparkling object.
"This discovery is important because it helps us learn about our heritage and remember our past, which is important for today and future generations."
Full story
Sometime in the early 1720s, a Native American man went to Charleston and gave Francis Nicholson, then colonial governor of South Carolina, a map inked on deerskin. It depicted geographic and social relationships among the Native American nations in the surrounding area.
This map, now known as the “Catawba Deerskin Map,” is one of the only examples of a map created by a Native American and given to Europeans.
Full story
Climate scientists can use various sources to reconstruct the past climate. Natural archives, like trees or glaciers, provide temperature and precipitation records. Written documents provide records of the weather and its impact on society.
Many Native American nations of the American plains used chronologies with pictograms of notable events to record the passing of the seasons. These events include important battles, a good hunt or the death of a leader, but also observations of the surrounding environment.
Winter counts, drawn on an animal hide, often spanned many years and even many generations. The longest winter count records historic events of more than 175 years, beginning with the year 1701.
Full story
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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