Recently in Native News

Partnership With Native Americans has compiled some of the latest stories from the month of July as we aim to continuously educate and inform readers about news and cultures across Indian Country. Stay up to date with more articles by following us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

 A dozen heroes inducted into first Native American Hall of Fame via Indian Country Today

• “After 10 years, 30 nominees and decades of discovery, the first National Native American Hall of Fame will induct 12 honorees in October. Many of the inductees, such as Olympic star Jim Thorpe, astronaut John Herrington and Maria Tallchief, the first Native American to be a prima ballerina, are well known and have been lauded with awards and honors. But something was still missing, said James Parker Shield, a member of the Chippewa Tribe and chief executive of the Native American Hall of Fame, who dreamed of the hall for a decade.”

Tracing the Native American Roots of Natural Icons in the U.S. via National Geographic

• “Colorado resident Jaylyn Gough was tired of seeing the Native American roots of the outdoor spaces she loved being ignored. She knew each of these natural icons had a history — one that didn’t start with the person they were now named after. To trace these spots back to their ancestral foundations, she launched the ‘Whose Land Are We Exploring On’ campaign and set out to learn more about America’s most famous outdoor destinations. She started with Mount Evans — she’d already climbed the 14,271-foot peak and knew some of its history. ‘I knew it was the closest 14er to Denver and that it was named for an important man in Colorado’s history,’ Gough says. ‘It seemed like a good place to start.’ The information she discovered shocked and saddened her.”

Grants remove offensive Native American imagery via The Detroit News

• “A [tribal coalition] fund is helping remove offensive depictions of Native Americans in city buildings, schools and monuments across Michigan. The Native American Heritage Fund awarded a nearly $335,000 grant Friday to the Belding school district to remove Redskin imagery formerly used as a mascot. The district switched to the Belding Black Knights mascot in March 2017 after a contentious debate over the new name. ’This will stir the pot a little bit again, getting this money, but I want everyone to know that our community is not racist,’ said Superintendent Brent Noskey. The school board dropped the Redskins name in 2016 after moving away from the Native American imagery for years.”

Elite Native American Crew Fights Fires, Serves Community via Statesman Journal

• “Members of the Warm Springs Hotshots were getting ready to head home when the radio buzzed — a wildfire had started — and the elite crew launched into motion to tamp down the blaze in the sagebrush of eastern Oregon’s foothills. The blur of activity in late June would be familiar to every wildland firefighter, but the Warm Springs crew is one of only seven Hotshot crews based on a Native American reservation and overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. It’s also one of only four administered directly by a Native American tribe. The country’s more than 100 Hotshot crews — consisting of about 20 members each — are trained to work in remote areas for long periods and often respond to large, high-priority wildfires. Members must pass arduous physical tests and undergo training in specialties like fire behavior.”