Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 191
SANTA FE, N.M.-According to the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH), suicide rates among the state's Native American population dropped by 43% during 2022 to 2023. According to the Centers for Disease Control, American Indians and Alaska Natives experience suicide rates that are 91% higher than the general population. In New Mexico, home to 23 federally recognized tribes, from 2009 to 2018, suicide rates among the Indigenous population climbed nearly 56 percent.. During...
SASKATOON, Sask.-The Mitchison Flight Centre is hosting a Dziret'ái Pilot Training Program designed specifically to train Saskatchewan Indigenous students and women to achieve their goals of becoming pilots. The program started in September 2024, when 9 of the 105 people who applied were chosen. It is funded by several organizations, including the Indigenous-owned RiseAir airline, mining companies, governments, and First Nations. Because of organizational funding, the...
OTTAWA, Ontario-The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, recently announced the establishment of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act) Action Plan Advisory Committee (APAC). The APAC is an Indigenous-led, independent body made up of 10 experts from diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis backgrounds and...
BOULDER, Colo.—According to IllumiNative and Advance Native Political Leadership, a record number of Native American leaders recently took office in the United States. Of around 250 Native candidates who ran for political offices in 2024, 166 won seats. The groups report that 115 of these men and women are first-time office holders. "We're proud to see our people represented in positions of power, where we can drive meaningful change for our communities," leaders from I...
SASKATOON, Sask.—The Government of Canada has announced landmark settlements with First Nation communities regarding unfulfilled promises made in treaty agreements many decades ago. In late February, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, announced the settlement of Agricultural Benefit Claims with the following First Nation Communities: Ahta...
Yellowknife, NWT—The government of Canada and the the Government of the Northwest Territories recently signed a ten-year funding agreement that will support nature conservation with Indigenous governments and will help advance the NWT Our Land for the Future Agreement. This agreement is expected to help build a foundation for a conservation-based economy in which sustainable jobs and communities can thrive. It also highlights the importance of continued partnerships between C...
WASHINGTON, D.C-During 2024, the U.S. Senate passed 16 bills and helped secure historic investments, which will benefit Native communities nationwide to the tune of $15 billion dollars. The benefits include delivering record funding for Native housing, totaling more than $1.3 billion, as well as more than $7 billion to strengthen Native health care. Additionally, four bills were enacted into law, and several others-including the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding...
TORONTO, Ont.-In recent weeks, two more Canadian organizations have come forward with apologies to the Indigenous people for their roles in discrimination and programs that supported colonization and assimilation. In mid December, the YWCA Canada announced, "As we have embarked on a journey towards meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, YWCA Canada is taking ownership of the harms caused as part of our legacy as a historically colonial institution with faith-based...
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.—Diné bizaad is now the official language of the Navajo Nation after Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren signed long-awaited legislation to have the Navajo language used, taught and supported by appropriations. "One of my priorities coming in as president has always been to make sure that we make Navajo cool again," he said. "It's exciting to see the work that's being done. And, so, I commend the Navajo Nation Council for doing that." The legislation to ma...
GATINEAU, Que.-Parks Canada has developed a new strategy for working alongside Indigenous communities to conserve nature and culture. The policy objectives, according to the Parks Canada website, are to have a framework for Indigenous stewardship and to support cultural continuity, cultural safety and healing. Parks Canada says the Indigenous Stewardship Policy recognizes and supports Indigenous stewardship in all places Parks Canada plays a role in administering. It is...
Winnipeg, Man.-On October 26, 2024, more than 150 people gathered at The Meeting Place in Winnipeg, Man. to offer praise to the Lord for the outreach and effectiveness of Indian Life Ministries. Attendees from Canada and the United States reflected on Ecclesiastes 3:1–4 and the goodness of God in every season. And the theme was carried throughout the music and message. Chris and Rochelle Creasy led the participants in worship and blessed the crowd with their music. Chris a...
LAVEEN VILLAGE-President Joe Biden, on October 25, 2024, formally apologized for the 150 years of abuse and harm suffered by Indigenous children who were put into the federal boarding school system. "I believe it is important that we do know there was [sic] generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn't know, with people they never met, who spoke a language they never heard," Biden said during a visit to the Gila River Indian Community in front of an...
LANGDON, Alb.—On Saturday, October 26, Indian Life Ministries will host their annual banquet. This year's theme is "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." (Ecc. 3:1). "In every season, for every reason, our heavenly Father is the reason for our joy," says ILM director team, Todd and Krystal Wawrzyniak. "Regardless of the circumstances we our in, there is always a reason to praise Him." So the evening will feature praise! Some participants w...
LA RONGE, Sask.—A wrong that was committed over 100 years ago looks like it will probably be made right. The Lac La Ronge Indian Band announced it approved a whopping $601.5 million settlement with the federal government to address the "cows and plows" clause of Treaty 6. Under treaties 4, 5, 6 and 10, the Crown promised agricultural benefits-livestock, hand tools, seeds and farming equipment-to the First Nations that signed. This was meant to push First Nations people from a...
HORNBROOK, Calif.-In August, crews completed the largest dam removal project in US history by demolishing the last of the four dams on the Klamath River. For decades, tribal nations on the Oregon-California border have fought to restore the river back to its natural state. For the past 100 years, the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River-Iron Gate Dam, Copco Dams 1 and 2, and JC Boyle Dam-have prevented the region's iconic salmon population from swimming freely along...
WASHINGTON – June 2 marked one century since then-President Calvin Coolidge signed a law granting American citizenship to Native Americans. Women had secured the right to vote four years earlier under the 19th Amendment. For the nation's 250,000 or so Native Americans, the Indian Citizenship Law promised acceptance, economic opportunity and legal protections. But it was not intended to ensure voting rights. That remained the purview of states, and many threw up obstacles f...
VICTORIA, B.C.-Last November, The Cowichan Tribes voted to pass new laws to help Indigenous families keep children within their families or with relatives in other Indigenous homes. And now, the Tribes have signed a co-ordination agreement with British Columbia to assume full responsibility over youth and family services for Cowichan citizens. Now, the federal and provincial governments have signed the co-ordination agreement that allows the nation to start phasing in the...
Tulsa, Okla.-In late March, The Cherokee Nation's tenth Cherokee Warrior Flight departed for Washington, D.C., with eight veterans who served during the Vietnam War. The Cherokee Nation funds the flight for Cherokee veterans to see the national war memorials erected in their honor at the nation's capital. "This trip is one small way for us to say thank you to our Cherokee veterans. I'm proud to say that Cherokees serve in the U.S. military at greater rates per-capita than any...
OTTAWA, Ont.-The cost of closing the on-reserve infrastructure gap will top half a trillion dollars by 2040 unless the federal government acts now, the Assembly of First Nations says. In a recent report, the national advocacy organizaiton said that Canada must invest $349.2 billion now to make sure that First Nations will have access to similar infrastructure by 2030, in keeping with the government's ability to fulfill their public and federally mandated commitments to First...
NEW YORK-In April, at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York City last week, National Congress of American Indians President Mark Macarro gave a statement advocating for advanced participation of Indigenous Peoples. Enhanced Participation refers to a process Native Americans and other Indigenous leaders have been advocating for for over a century, beginning in 1923 with the League of Nations, that would put Indigenous leaders closer to...
Whitehorse, YT-Indigenous people in Yukon and Alaska are celebrating a new chinook salmon management agreement between Canada and the U.S. On April 1, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) along with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) signed an agreement to rebuild chinook salmon stocks. The agreement places a moratorium on commercial, sport, domestic and personal fishing. The moratorium will be in place for seven years, which is the full life cycle of a chinook salmon....
CALGARY, Alb.—The Nisga'a Nation in northwestern British Columbia is partnering with a Texas-based firm, Western LNG, to buy the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project from Calgary-based TC Energy Corp. "Today is a historic day for the Nisga'a Nation and represents a sea change in major industrial development in this country," said Eva Clayton, president of the Nisga'a Lisims government, in a news release. "In taking an equal ownership role in this pipeline, we are s...
Navajo Nation-Federal energy officials took the unusual step of denying permits Thursday to several pumped hydropower projects proposed on the Navajo Nation, citing a new policy that gives tribes a greater voice in projects on their lands. The tribe and environmental groups had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny applications for several of the pumped storage projects, saying they worried about the impact of the projects but had not been consulted by...
AJO, Ariz-Jesse Garcia was first introduced to farming in his grandmother's garden. As a child, he recalls not quite understanding the true purpose of growing and how important it is. It was in high school that he first started taking an interest in farming and agriculture. After graduating, he had a number of jobs, but he did not feel passionate about any of them. It was then that he found the Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Arizona farmers are aging. With a hope to s...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-In December, the third annual White House Tribal Nations Summit was held, bringing together tribal leaders and top administration officials to address critical issues facing tribal communities. During the event, U.S. president Joe Biden signed an executive order reforming federal funding and support for tribal nations and aimed to promote the next era of tribal self-determination. The critical issues addressed by the summit included co-stewardship agreements...
