Last summer, in the countryside near Oglala, Leonard Little Finger held a lock of hair in his hands and knew the agony of Wounded Knee. He and six others had just returned from New England, where they had claimed a lock that reportedly had been cut from the scalp of his great-great-grandfather, Chief Big Foot, more than a century earlier at the Wounded Knee massacre. For decades, it had been part of a library collection in Barre, Mass. Now, as…
Spirits are being awakened for the first time in 60 years. I can see it in the faces of those around me, Blackfoot Indians from both sides of the border, gathering on Canada Day at a ranch in northern Montana to celebrate the return of a vital link to their past. The men sit nearest the fire, the women forming a circle behind them. Sweetgrass burns and turns to ash, filling the teepee with an ancient aroma. Expressions filled with…
Bristling with anger, humor and a deep sadness, Chris Eyre’s second feature “Skins” is a torrent of moods, feelings and scorched fury. In examining a struggle of acceptance and reconciliation between two brothers, the film acknowledges a culture whose scarred past and uncertain future remain inchoate and incomplete.
Experts say two cases coming before the Supreme Court this week could become landmarks in defining how Canada regulates industrial activity on indigenous lands.
Chase Iron Eyes never had political aspirations before this year. Sure, he was an activist and a committed community leader in his tribe in North Dakota, but running for office didn’t cross his mind.
Then one day early in 2016, he heard Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders spoke passionately about social revolution and economic justice, and Iron Eyes then knew he wanted to be part of that change.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that the Obama Administration has exceeded its goal of placing half a million acres of tribal homelands into trust for federally recognized tribes.
