Turkey Vulture
(Cathartes aura)

Louise Erdrich, author of the novels "Love Medicine" and "The Round House," will receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction this year.

The prize, which will be awarded during the National Book Festival on Sept. 5, is given to writers with "unique, enduring voices" whose work addresses the American experience. Past winners include John Grisham, Toni Morrison and E.L. Doctorow.

Keanu Jones just wanted to tell stories of his Navajo people when he picked up a camera several years ago, never thinking that his "simple 3-minute film" would bring him all the way to the White House.

"It's incredible," said Jones, 18, whose film was one of 15 selected from around the country as part of the second annual White House Student Film Festival.

Onondaga Nation- Winter has decided to make its mark on our memory this year with lots of sub zero temperatures and many snow days. It was so cold that our annual community give has been postponed to later in March. But with the deep snow and cold temps has created ideal snowsnake conditions.

"The kids have been asking when we were going to have Snow snake this year," said Brad Powless the culture teacher at the school. "They've been seeing all of that snow and have been just itching to play."

There definitely is something about Merry

Rev. Howard and Mrs. Lorena Baker knew their daughter would be born at Christmastime. When she did arrive, on December 20, 1950, they christened her Merry Carol.

While unusual, the name fits her to a tee. She sings, loves, cares and brings merriment to the lives of her Byng High School students and thousands of others. She is a member of Native Praise, a choir which sings hymns in Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee languages.

From the enrolled to the unenrolled, from the reservations to the cities, from South Dakota to as far away as Europe, a call for unity comes from a Reddit group called "Indian Country: Many Nations One Community." With a goal of bringing people together from every possible Native experience, the group has released several podcasts, which have become regularly scheduled events entitled "Digital Pow Wow."

In Ojibwe tradition, as well as in all other Native cultures that I know of, womanhood from birth until the return to the spirit world is a sacred state, honored and respected. Countless generations of storytelling, combined with observation and experience, are the foundation of Ojibwe teaching and learning.

Few American Indian wars were more devastating to colonists and more influential on the development of the south than the Yamasee War of 1715. April 15 will mark the 300th anniversary of the start of that war, which ended with the death of 400 British. On April 16, the first conference to bring recognition of the war will be held in Saint Augustine, Florida, mere steps from Yamasee archaeology sites.

On January 11, 2015, Bronson Koenig, backup point guard for the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team, was thrust into a starting role for the NCAA basketball's sixth-ranked team after senior point guard Traevon Jackson went down with a broken foot. "I'm obviously going to have to start being more vocal as a leader," Koenig, a sophomore, said following the announcement. "One area of improvement I need to really start working on is my leadership and being more vocal, but I'm confident that I'll step into that role."

I recently attended the 17th Native Diabetes Prevention Conference in Phoenix. The theme was "Protecting the Generations, A Lifespan Approach to Preventing Diabetes"; protecting our future by introducing "lifestyle changes" to our people so that they will never have to experience diseases such as diabetes. Lifestyle change is the modifying or eliminating long-held habits of eating or physical activity, and maintaining a new, improved habit over months and years; making the change permanent.

With 32 seconds left, Mathew Wingett scored his 22nd point, the last one of his high school career. The horn blared, and he and his younger brother, David, walked together off the court.

They'd played every second of the state championship game. Finally, they could rest.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and three nationally significant partners today announced Seeds of Native Health, a major philanthropic campaign to improve the nutrition of Native Americans across the country. The SMSC is committing $5 million to launch the campaign and plans to recruit other funding and strategic partners.

"There is more to an immersion school than simply bringing in elders and having them teach the chidren," said Sunshine Carlow, education manager of Lak?ól'iyapi Wahó?pifor, the Lakota Nest Immersion School on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota.

A high-fat, high-sodium, low-fiber menu is a typical lunch at many American elementary schools. Deep-fried popcorn chicken, tiny taters tots, bread, barbecue sauce, ketchup, and milk are menu mainstays routinely featured alongside fatty items such as pizza, french fries, hot dogs, and a mystery pork product called “ribicue.” On a national level these typical offerings to school age children have galvanized not only high-profile chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Rachael Ray but also First Lady Michelle Obama.

There's a lot archaeologists still don't know about the American Indian culture in our region; but they're analyzing what they found during the dig to clear land for the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge and they're ready to share.

For one, East St. Louis was a bustling city chock full of immigrants. Around 1000 A.D., it was bigger than nearby Cahokia Mounds site and it thrived for about 150 years.

Despite being thousands of miles from Indiana, a good number of Pala residents were big fans of Notre Dame.

I’m 63, a number without fanfare. Too young for the shroud, too old for hip-hop; but I’ve seen some stuff.

I’ve lived on the Pala Reservation many years; witnessed many changes. If I close my eyes to see the Pala of my earliest recollections, it’s unrecognizable from the Pala of today.