Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin)

Wilton Miwok youth leader, Dahkota Brown, has been an outspoken activist for Native rights this past year. He gave an especially articulate interview to MSNBC on Native mascots in August. His non-profit NERDS (Native Education Raising Dedicated Students) is doing great work.

Hopi carver and elementary school teacher Bryant Mavasta Honyouti, from Hotevilla, was the featured artist at the 38th annual Pueblo Grande Museum Indian Market in mid-December in Phoenix, Arizona.

Louise Gopher ended 2014 on a high note Dec. 13 when she received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Florida State University for her contributions to the school and to her Tribe. Gopher is the third Seminole Tribal member to receive the honor;

This may appear petty and out of place in these fast modern times, but the lack of cultural knowledge among our younger generations deserves mention. Regarding the future, cultural knowledge should be among the essentials of modern education. Without this particular knowledge-base, our youth have very little chance of surviving as Lakota people.

Next year, as many as 650 middle school students from rural, native communities in Alaska will have the opportunity to dream a little bigger, thanks to a three-year partnership between Alaska Airlines and the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP).

Legal scholar and women's rights advocate Sarah Deer, Muscogee (Creek), is a winner this year of a MacArthur Foundation 'genius'grant for her work in addressing high violence rates against Native American women. But it's work the recent winner of the $625,000 award says remains unfinished.

A bit of time-traveling took place at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village. For the third year in a row, the facility, located in Mitchell, S.D., hosted its Lakota Games on Ice this past Saturday.

For the first time in history every business owned by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is showing a profit, Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin announced to over 1,200 Band members, public officials and honored guests at the 31st annual State of the Band address held on Tuesday, Jan. 13. As she shared her vision for the future of the Band, Benjamin also said that for the first time that she knows of, violent crime on the reservation is showing a decrease.

Over the past several months, I poured my heart and soul into trying to be one of this year’s eighty-three Rhodes Scholars.

As the grandson of survivors of successive waves of genocide from the Cariboo Gold Rush to the residential schools, and the only begotten child of a broken interracial marriage between a spunky Irish-Jew and an alcoholic artist who stumbled off the reserve and into a New York bar, I recognize the irony of my ambitions. My story is probably better suited to a Sherman Alexie novella than a prestigious scholarship.

On Friday evening, January 16, the Annual Fort Hall Round Dance began at Timbee Hall, with a feast that was held nightly for families and visitors that traveled near and far to be a part of the Round Dance.

Earl Arkinson and Manny Lieras served as master of ceremonies for Friday and Saturday evenings and the two would often share their traditional knowledge of the event.

Unlike a social round dance, the dances that were held at Timbee Hall were ceremonial.

When it comes to cornmeal selection, the decision isn't just yellow-and-white. There's also blue. So which cornmeal should a home cook choose? Studies show yellow cornmeal is more popular in Northern states, while white cornmeal reigns in the South, but there aren't any regional rules. Yellow cornmeal has a stronger flavor than white cornmeal, and blue cornmeal has the slight antioxidant edge. Still, the different colors can be used interchangeably.

The smell of Bacon lingered in the air as you walk into the Arlee Community Center early Sunday morning; bright eyes and bushy heads greet you with enthusiasm while they show you the crafts they made at the coyote stories sleepover.

Children between the ages of three and fourteen flocked to the gym last Saturday to indulge in storytelling and crafts. "It's the storytelling month, so I wanted to have a gathering and do something that centered around that. The event was also a great way to teach children how to sit and listen respectfully," says Arlee Tribal Council Representative Shelly Fyant

For now, the cradleboard that tells the story of the Creator's game remains in the Kahnawake home of the Mohawk couple who created it.

Chewey, OK – Basket weaver Vivian Garner Cottrell credits her mother for teaching her how to make Cherokee baskets the way they were made before European contact.

Cottrell has been weaving baskets since 1973 when she was in eighth grade. Her mother, Betty Scraper Garner, who was named a Cherokee National Treasure in 1993 for basketry, taught her how to make baskets using white oak splits and honeysuckle and buck brush "runners" or reed.

Partnership between Minneapolis and Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community to demonstrate environmental and food production benefits of biochar, focus on healthy food for underserved communities

Choctaw, MS — The countdown is on for the grand opening of a new hospital on the Choctaw Reservation. By early March the building, which is still under construction, is on track to open in the Pearl River Community near the Pearl River Resort.

BIG CYPRESS — The exhibit "It's Not a Costume – Modern Seminole Patchwork" at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum opened to a generous crowd Dec. 13, proving that ordinary things for one group of people can be quite exotic to others.

According to Wisconsin's Ojibwe tribes, the state's ban on hunting deer at night is something that needs to change — and depending on what the U.S. Supreme Court has to say, they could soon get their wish.

Two millennial-aged women of Houma ancestry have committed to the race to save that history. Hali Dardar and Colleen Billiot, both 25, have embarked on a project to reconstruct the language of their ancestors through linguistic sleuthing. It is a language that wasn't spoken for almost a century.

For many on the Gila River Indian Community in central Arizona, getting clear a clear TV signal can sometimes be a challenge. But that's about to change. In February, the tribe plans to launch its own low-power television station with repeaters across the reservation.

Researchers using a robotic underwater vehicle off British Columbia's northern coast believe they may have found the earliest evidence of human habitation in Canada. Unfortunately, the site that could date back almost 14,000 years lies beneath hundreds of metres of water in the ocean around the Haida Gwaii archipelago.

Mescalero artist Raul Davis was awarded funds from the Emerging Native American Artist grant. Davis was featured in the October issue of the Native Hoop magazine and in Native People in August. The grant is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and sponsored by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Rick Williams sits outside Seattle's Space Needle carving totem poles until dark, a workday that can reach up to 12 hours. Tourists and Seattleites approach the picnic table where he sits, examining the intricate designs he carves with only a pocket knife.