Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

Heitkamp, Murkowski Re-Introduce Comprehensive Bill to Improve the Lives of Native American Children

U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), introduced their comprehensive plan to find solutions to the complex challenges facing Native American children throughout Indian Country on January 22, 2015. 

Conditions for young people in Indian Country are tragic. For example; More than one in three American Indian and Alaska Native children live in poverty; Suicide rates for Native children ages 15-24 years old are 2.5 times the national average and is the second-leading cause of death in that age group; While the overall rate of child mortality in the U.S. has decreased since 2000, the rate for Native children has increased 15 percent; At 67 percent, American Indian and Alaska Native students had the lowest four year high school graduation rate of any racial or ethnic group in the 2011-2012 school year; and 60 percent of American Indian schools do not have adequate high-speed Internet or digital technology to meet the requirements of college and career ready standards.

The Commission on Native Children would conduct a comprehensive study on the programs, grants, and supports available for Native children, both at government agencies and on the ground in Native communities, with the goal of developing a sustainable system that delivers wrap-around services to Native children. 

AFN Elects New National Chief

Perry Bellegarde was named AFN National Chief on December 10, 2014. National Chief. Bellegarde is a strong advocate for the implementation of Inherent Aboriginal and Treaty Rights.  Widely known as a consensus builder with a track record of accomplishment, he brings community people, leaders, Chiefs and Elders together to focus on working cooperatively to move issues forward. AFN’’s National Chief Bellegarde is from the Little Black Bear First Nation, Treaty 4 Territory.  He served as Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and Saskatchewan Regional Chief for the Assembly of First Nations. He has also served as the Tribal Chair of the Touchwood-File Hills-Qu’Appelle Tribal Council, Councillor for the Little Black Bear First Nation and Chief of Little Black Bear First Nation. 

My Father’s Bones Play

The Penn Museum (Philadelphia, PA) will host a staged reading of My Father’s Bones, a short play by nationally renowned Native American writers and activists Suzan Shown Harjo and Mary Kathryn Nagle, Thursday, February 12, 5:30 pm. The play recounts the ongoing struggle of three sons to recover the remains of their father—the unmatched Olympian Jim Thorpe—from the Borough of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, for reburial with his relatives on Sac and Fox Nation land in Oklahoma. Following the play, the Penn Cultural Heritage Center and the Museum will host a panel discussion about repatriation and the use of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) as the legal basis to return Jim Thorpe’s remains to his ancestral home.

For those unable to attend in Philadelphia, the play will be viewable online via HowlRound’s livestream on its global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at http://howlround.com/tv.

Tonawanda Seneca Businesses Must Pay $3.5 Million for Trafficking Contraband Cigarettes

January 15, 2015 KANSAS CITY, Mo. Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that TSNE, doing business as Jan’s Smoke Shop, located in Bascom NY, and operating on a reservation in the state of New York pleaded guilty in federal court today to its role in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and contraband cigarette trafficking, for which it must pay a total of more than $3.5 million in fine, forfeiture and restitution.

The total amount of fine, forfeiture and restitution is $3,550,730. TSNE must also serve two years of probation. The total state excise tax lost to the state of New York was more than $8 million. As well, the undercover operation resulted in a $3.5 million civil forfeiture. Following the seizures that occurred as a result of the investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office started a $3.5 million civil forfeiture case naming the assets taken up to that point, including more than $2 million seized from bank accounts and by agents, more than 300 cases of seized cigarettes, a 2009 Cessna T206H Stationair aircraft, two 2012 Peterbilt 389 trucks and two 2012 Peterbilt 386 trucks. The civil case has been stayed pending the resolution of the criminal case.

In a related case, AJ’s Candy & Tobacco, LLC, a tobacco wholesaler located on a reservation in Irving, N.Y., pleaded guilty to its role in the conspiracy and has been sentenced. The court ordered AJ’s to pay a $1 million fine.

2015 Indspire Award Recipients Announced

The 2015 Indspire Awards gala is being held on Friday, February 27, 2015 at Calgary›s Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. The Indspire Awards have celebrated the significant contributions of Indigenous people in Canada for 22 years. The Indspire Awards recognize the success of individuals who have the discipline, drive, and determination to set high standards and accomplish their goals.

This year’s 2015 Indspire Awards Recipients are; Lifetime Achievement: Elsie Yanik – Métis, Alberta. Arts: Ron E. Scott - Métis – Alberta. Business & Commerce: Brenda La Rose - Métis – Alberta. Culture, Heritage & Spirituality: Piita (Peter) Irniq - Inuit – Nunavut. Education: Dr. Paulette C. Tremblay – First Nation: Mohawk – Ontario. Environment & Natural Resources: Gerald Anderson - Inuit - Newfoundland and Labrador. Health: William Julius Mussell - Skwah First Nation - British Columbia. Law & Justice: Dr. Wilton Littlechild - Ermineskin Cree Nation – Alberta. Politics:

Kim Baird - Tsawwassen First Nation - British Columbia. Public Service: Madeleine Redfern - Inuit – Nunavut. Sports: Gino Odjick - Kitigan Zibi First Nation – Quebec. Youth - First Nation: Kendal Netmaker - Sweetgrass First Nation – Saskatchewan. Youth - Inuit: Jordan Konek - Inuit – Nunavut. Youth -Métis: Gabrielle Fayant - Métis - Alberta

Co-hosting the evening is Lorne Cardinal - Gemini Award-winning actor (Corner Gas) and Kyle Nobess - actor (Mohawk Girls, Cashing In). Performers for the evening include; Tanya Tagaq - 2014 Polaris Prize-winning Inuk throat-singer, Tahmoh Penikett - Yukon-born actor (Strange Empire, Supernatural, Man of Steel), Dani and Lizzy - R&B singing and songwriting sisters, Candy Palmater - comic and host of The Candy Show on APTN, Lightning Cloud - Los Angeles-based Cree/Huichol hip hop duo, Niiko Soul - multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre - dance, chant and martial art fusion, Pieter T - soulful R&B from chart-topping Maori vocalist and Santee Smith - award-winning dancer and choreographer who performed at the A’nowara’ko:wa Arena in July 2014 with her award winning Kaha:wi Dance Troup.