We Salute
Sam Bradford

The meeting between the two North American Indian leaders had been called to discuss international issues, but Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, couldn’t help deviating from the agenda.

Fontaine, whose organization represents more than 800,000 Indians in Canada, wanted to know what the Cherokee Nation principal chief, Chad Smith, thought of Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford. "I heard he’s Cherokee," Fontaine told Smith. "He’s having a great year.”

Fritz Scholder (1937-2005)

In a National Museum of the American Indian first, two "Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian" exhibitions open Nov. 1 at the museum's Washington and New York City locations. The National Mall museum will present a broad overview of Scholder's works, including many of the revolutionary paintings of Native Americans for which the artist is best known. The exhibition at the George Gustav Heye Center in Lower Manhattan will focus on works created during a period in the 1980s when Scholder lived and worked in a nearby loft. The exhibitions remain on view through May 17, 2009, in New York and Aug. 16, 2009, in Washington.

Top Native students awarded Gates Millennium Scholarship

This fall 150 American Indian and Alaska Native students will begin their college experience as Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS). These scholars represent 18 states and 37 different American Indian tribes.

Overall, for the 2008-2009 school year GMS awarded one thousand scholarships to highly talented students of color.

Living with Navajo is a lesson in understanding

American Indian students in Utah schools often feel disconnected. They are far from the land, culture and families they love, and they are often misunderstood by teachers and peers.

Pueblo pottery on display at Carnegie

The exquisite clay pots in the exhibition "Born of Fire: The Life and Pottery of Margaret Tafoya," at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, were made for the most part in the last century, but they belong to a tradition that dates to 500 A.D.

At 69, her eyes soft and creased with age, Alvena Oldman remembers how the teachers at St. Stephens boarding school on the Wind River Reservation would strike students with rulers if they dared to talk in their native Arapaho language.

“We were afraid to speak it,” she said. “We knew we would be punished.”

Residents of the North Slope have long been concerned with the continuing loss of Inupiaq language.

Despite numerous conferences and meetings convened to discuss ways to reverse language loss over the last two decades, language loss continues at a dramatic rate.

Also of special note are the 758 Native American students who now attend Fort Lewis College, the highest number FLC has ever seen. This number represents 20 percent of the student body, the highest percentage of Native American students in more than a decade.

World Sees Alaska Through Inupiat’s Lens

At 23, photographer Brian Adams has pretty much reached what most would consider the peak of his career.

With a portfolio featuring Gov. Sarah Palin only months before becoming the Republican Party’s vice presidential running mate, and freelance work for clients such as the Wall Street Journal, the London Guardian and Getty images, he’s pretty much climbed to the top of the ladder.

Students at Potomac School were handed three arrows on Friday afternoon, and asked to use them with care. These weren't arrows with tips, feathers or shafts - but they could be just as sharp and hurtful, warned Robert TallTree.

Montana educator named NIEA teacher of the year

A fourth-grade teacher from Hardin has been named teacher of the year by the National Indian Education Association.

Montana’s superintendent of schools, Linda McCulloch, says Roxanne Small Not Afraid will be recognized for her achievements and service to American Indian education on Oct. 25 at the association’s 39th annual convention in Seattle

Chickasaw Nation crowns royalty

Three new Chickasaw young ladies began their reign as 2008-09 Chickasaw royalty during the annual Chickasaw Princess Pageant, conducted at the Ada High School Cougar Activity Center Monday, Sept. 29.

Carla Lane, Julie Underwood, and Chelsea Wedlow were crowned by Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby and Lt. Governor Jefferson Keel.

Recognizing cultural differences, historical inaccuracies

How many reservations are located within South Dakota's boundaries?

What dialects do the Native Americans in South Dakota speak?

The wind blows incessantly here in the high plains; screen doors do not last. Wind is to South Dakota what forests are to Maine or beaches are to Florida: a natural bounty and a valuable inheritance.

Students draw on history of American Indians

For his winter count picture, Nickolas Jonsgaard drew a teepee, fire, horse and sun, indicating what he learned from Leonard Wabasha about American Indians.

He said he found out "about the stuff they made like coats and pictures out of fur," he said. Most of what he knew before was from western movies he watched with his father. He was surprised at how well Indians could live without metals and machines of today.

Alaska’s Youth Protest to Gov. Palin and the State of Alaska Against Uranium Mining

Through covert dealings, Gov. Sarah Palin, State Dept. of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land Management, the Alaska and U.S. senators and representatives and an ANCSA corporation entrusted with the security and health of their constituents have accepted the lease proposal to explore for uranium at the Fireweed/Boulder Creek area located in southwestern Seward Peninsula, without the knowledge, consent nor approval of the citizens of Western Alaska.