Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Minneapolis Lawyers Uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act

    The 43-year-old Indian Child Welfare Act continues to make a "profound" difference to Native American families and tribes, despite being under frequent legal attacks. The law limits the placement of Native children in non-Native foster or adoptive homes, to preserve families and Native culture. Helping parents stabilize their families is preferred over removing children. Native children are still removed from their families and culture at disproportionately high rates. But a review of 40 cases handled by the ICWA Law Center in Minnesota showed "clear benefit for the children it is designed to protect."

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  • Learning Syilx teachings through EPIC program at Southern Okanagan Secondary School

    The Experiential, Project-based, Indigenous and Community (EPIC) program was designed to strengthen connections with Indigenous students and boost attendance at a high school in Oliver, B.C. The new program is offered to Indigenous and non-Indigenous students at Southern Okanagan Secondary School in Syilx/Okanagan territory. Through different activities students are encouraged to connect to Syilx culture and traditions.

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  • The Cherokee Nation to Produce Its Own PPE

    The Cherokee Nation had a hard time sourcing personal protective equipment for health workers, citizens, and others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tribal leaders decided to use a portion of the CARES Act funding to create their own manufacturing facilities to produce PPE for both Cherokee Nation citizens and non-citizens. Though still in the testing phase, the facilities are already training 10 people and plan to employ a minimum of 25 people. They will make about 200,000 surgical masks a day and will also produce N95 and N99 masks that they will distribute to healthcare workers and other organizations.

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  • Restorative Justice in Indian Country

    Like standard drug courts, the Penobscot Nation's Healing to Wellness Court refers people facing drug-related criminal charges to substance abuse counseling as an alternative to punishment. But this court and other tribal wellness courts are steeped in indigenous customs, blended with restorative justice approaches, to emphasize rehabilitation based on trust, support, and native traditions. The threat of punishment looms over participants should they fail in their counseling program. But no one has been jailed in the past two years in the Penobscot program.

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  • 'One generation away'

    Diné College, the first tribally-controlled accredited college, provides over 1,300 students with opportunities to learn cultural traditions and the Navajo language, alongside traditional academic subjects. The school helps preserve the Navajo language, arts, skills, and customs by teaching it to younger generations. Learning Navajo traditions and language helps students make stronger connections with elders and they find the Indigenous philosophies that the school was founded on useful for overcoming obstacles, like finding ways to continue their education during the coronavirus pandemic.

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  • ‘Race against the clock': the school fighting to save the Ojibwe language before its elders pass away

    Waadookodaading is an Ojibwe immersion school that meets state and federal academic standards but does so entirely in the indigenous language by connecting children to their cultural heritage. The school goes through 8th grade and uses the forest as its classrooms where traditional ceremonies and practices are used to teach lessons. For example, students learn math while harvesting maple sap and wild rice and biology through practicing sustainable fishing and hunting. Community elders play an important role in passing on their knowledge to students and the 100 graduates provide hope for the language’s future

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  • What WA can learn from Native communities' vaccination plan

    Washington state’s Native communities have led the way in distributing the Covid vaccine to their communities' most vulnerable and are now helping to vaccinate those who are outside of their tribes. Their success is due to a combination of factors, including direct outreach to those who needed the vaccine the most. According to the Seattle Indian Health Board CEO, “That’s the difference between state, county systems and other public health systems They’re not serving people [directly] every day.”

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  • Indigenous-focused podcast connects students, teachers, community leaders

    Word Up is an Indigenous-focused podcast that connects students, teachers, and community leaders for an opportunity to learn and explore social issues. The podcast began as a way to diversify how indigenous literature was taught but expanded to incorporate other topics. For each episode, teachers select a student to interview public figures. The student learns to conduct background research and design interview questions, allowing them to feel reflected in the topics. To date, the podcast’s five episodes have had 266 unique listeners and 384 downloads, and several more episodes are being planned.

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  • The Cherokee Nation Infuses Cash Into Language Revitalization Efforts

    Tribal members are being paid to learn the Cherokee language through the Master Apprentice Program. The $16 million effort to maintain a tie to the culture through language is being funded from the tribe’s casino revenues. Participation has increased since the inception of the initiative six years ago.

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  • Koori hearings

    The Marram-Ngala Ganbu program, also known as Koori Family Hearing Day, provides a child-protection specialist to support Indigenous families before family court hearings, support them in the hearing, connect them to services as needed, and ensure cases are managed in culturally appropriate ways. The hearings incorporate aspects of the family’s culture, such as their totem, and community elders can participate. About 400 families have participated in the program and an independent evaluation found that the Indigenous community believe the program gives them a voice and makes a difference for their children.

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