Recently in Native News

The start of 2020 is well underway, and Native Americans are already making headlines in top outlets across the nation with important news topics. Please enjoy a compilation of some of these standout Native American headlines from the month of January. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and stay up to date with the latest headlines all year long.

8 of the biggest misconceptions people have about Native Americans via INSIDER

• “As one of the very few Native American people working in the entertainment industry, I’m used to being asked bizarre questions about my culture and upbringing. Growing up on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington state, I was ill-prepared for how little your average person knows about Native issues. For context, according to a recent study by the Native run nonprofit IllumiNatives, 87% of United States schools don’t cover Native American history beyond 1900. And that fact isn’t more apparent than when a grown adult — who went to college and should really know better — asks me if I was born in a teepee. To head some of these questions off at the pass, I’m here to clear up some of the weirdest and wildest misconceptions people have about being Native American in the 21st century.”

The 2020 Census starts tomorrow. Will Native Americans be undercounted? via The Hill

• [On] Jan. 17, census workers [began] trekking through some of the most remote parts of the country to carry out a constitutional duty — a count of all people, citizens and non-citizens, living in the U.S. The 2020 census will begin early in Alaska, one of the few places where the count is still taken in person, in order to reach an indigenous community that has historically been undercounted. Alaska and New Mexico were the most undercounted states in the last census, and their Native American populations account for a significant portion of those uncounted people. And since census counts are used to determine both federal funding and the number of legislative representatives for states, this will limit the resources available to these communities. In New Mexico, Gov. Lujan Grisham established the Complete Count Commission in April 2019 to ensure a more complete count in 2020.”

Native American curriculum rolls out in Oregon via The Columbian

• “This month, Oregon’s Department of Education finally rolled out the first pieces of new statewide curriculum on the history and culture of Native Americans in Oregon after lawmakers passed Senate Bill 13 in 2017 with the hope of remedying years of incomplete or inaccurate teachings. This school year is the first time districts are required to implement the change in classrooms — but the curriculum is not yet available for all grades. Because the department is ‘behind,’ it decided last week to do a soft rollout this year with a hard implementation starting this summer, said April Campbell, the advisor to deputy state superintendent on Indian education. But despite the delay in full implementation, local educators are excited for the positive impact the new curriculum will have on Native communities in local schools when it arrives.”

New York Celebrates Native American Community And Artists via Forbes

• “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. People of every nationality, race, religion and background know this to be true of New York City. That includes Native Americans. When thinking of America’s Indigenous people, few call to mind images of Central Park, Brooklyn or the subways crisscrossing the five boroughs, but of course, like everywhere else in America, Native people are there. In acknowledgment of this presence, the Museum of the City of New York presents ‘Urban Indian: Native New York Now’ through February 15. The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of American Indian Community House, a non‐profit community organization that improves and promotes the well‐being of Native Americans residing in New York.”