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There was one meal in 1621. In 1622, the Indian Wars began. Native people were systematically erased through genocidal policy. The Indian Wars ended in 1924. But again, they just went cold because as soon as they ended, the Indian termination era began. Those battles were won by passing legislation that made it harder for us to stay visible, to thrive as a people, to stay alive. This November, most Americans will sit down with their families and eat a Thanksgiving meal. Some still will be...

By Amy Sokolow, November 12, 2020, Native News. Jody was close to achieving her dream of becoming a writer. A member of the Muckleshoot Tribe, she had gone from living on the streets of nearby Seattle as a teen to nearly finishing a creative writing degree, and had plans to get her master’s degree at New York University. But debilitating back pain caused by an injury she sustained as a teenager forced her to drop out of school, just a handful of credits shy of her bachelor’s degree. [ Please...

From 1778 to 1871, the United States signed some 368 treaties with various Indigenous people across the North American continent. Concluded during the nearly 100-year period from the Revolutionary War to the aftermath of the Civil War , some 368 treaties would define the relationship between the United States and Native Americans for centuries to come. The treaties were based on the fundamental idea that each tribe was an independent nation, with their own right to self-determination and...

Honor the Earth Native Food Security Grants Link View Program Website Sponsor Honor the Earth Deadlines Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Contact 218.375.3200 Grants@honorearth.org Purpose This program provides grants for Native organizations working to create food security utilizing traditional seeds, foods, and growing methods, as well as energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Eligibility Eligible applicants are Native organizations, with 501(c)(3) status or an...

By Thadeus Greenson, October 28, 2020, Community Voices Coalition . Working on the North Coast, where the American Civil Liberties Union has had an ongoing presence since 2007, when it filed a landmark class-action lawsuit against Del Norte Unified School District on behalf of Native American students, Tedde Simon says she came to see there was what she described as a “widely understood issue.” In Humboldt County — home to seven federally recognized tribes and proportionately one of the...

The exclusion of Indigenous people and other non-White communities in environmental and conservation work is, unfortunately, nothing new. For centuries, conservation has been driven by Eurocentric, Judeo-Christian belief structures that emphasize a distinct separation of “Man” and “Nature”—an ideology that does not mesh well with many belief structures, including those belonging to Indigenous communities. Before the onset of such religion through colonialist conquests, the overwhelming...

Gregory Cajete stands in front of a classroom full of University of New Mexico students enrolled in a graduate seminar on Indigenous nations and sustainable communities. Cajete is teaching these students about having a relationship with, and responsibility for, the environment. This way of knowing is called Native Science , and it is part of a body of evolving Indigenous knowledge based on generations of learning and direct contact with nature. A Tewa Indian from Santa Clara Pueblo and...

Explore the untold story of how Indigenous women influenced the early suffragists in their fight for freedom and equality. Mohawk Clan Mother Louise Herne and Professor Sally Roesch Wagner shake the foundation of the established history of the women’s rights movement in the US joining forces to shed light on the hidden history of the influence of Haudenosaunee Women on the women’s rights movement. Streaming online from 11.2.20 - 12.1.20 Click here: ...

Changing the food system is the most important thing humans can do to fix our broken carbon cycles. Meanwhile, food security is all about adaptation when you’re dealing with crazy weather and shifting growing zones. How can a world of 7 billion—and growing—feed itself? Here are 13 of the best ideas for a just and sustainable food system. Land Ownership 1. Indigenous land sovereignty The world is watching as historic land reforms on the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu show how to return land...

Anthropologists have called Indigenous peoples the “original ecologists.” 19 Indigenous peoples were able to sustain their traditional subsistence economy for millennia because “they possessed appropriate ecological knowledge and suitable methods to exploit resources, but possessed a philosophy and environmental ethic to keep exploitive abilities in check, and established ground rules for relationships between humans and animals.” 20 Native peoples’ reciprocity with the natural and spiritual...

On October 12th, Frist Nations is proud to stand with Native communities across the nation in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day . This day, which began as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day, raises awareness of the true history of the United States while celebrating the culture and resilience of Native people. It is a day of recognition and respect, and a holiday that more and more states and local governments have been observing every year. Still, at First Nations, we believe that every...

More and more towns and cities across the country are electing to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day as an alternative to —or in addition to—the day intended to honor Columbus’ voyages. As a scholar of Native American history —and a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina—I know the story is more complex than that. The growing recognition and celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day actually represents the fruits of a concerted, decades-long effort to recognize the role of Indigenous people...