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Boarding School Healing Coalition
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New England Public Media | By Nancy Eve Cohen November 12, 2024
The Barre, Massachusetts, Museum Association repatriated two 19th century headdresses to the Oglala Sioux, a tribe in South Dakota, on Monday. It was the second repatriation from the museum to the tribe in two years.
One of the bonnets is topped with a feather, painted red — probably earned by a warrior wounded in battle, according to Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Justin Pourier, who drove from South Dakota to pick up the items. He viewed them for the first time this week.
Pourier pointed out eagle talons and porcupine quills, along with porcupine, white-tailed deer and horse hair on the intricately designed warrior's headdress.
The second bonnet, with a train of about 30 eagle feathers, most likely belonged to a chief, Pourier said. He said each feather would have been earned by a chief for performing great deeds to protect family and community.
Pourier said repatriating the headdresses to the Pine Ridge Reservation will have a positive impact on young people.
PHOTO: Nancy Eve Cohen/NEPM
Justin Pourier, the Oglala Sioux tribal historic preservation officer from South Dakota, examines a 19th century warrior's bonnet at the Barre, Massachusetts, Museum Association on November 11, 2024. The headdress is topped with a feather and painted red, symbolizing the person who earned it was wounded in battle.
"It's returning the energy and a prayer back to our kids to ... restore some hope in them. Because the reservation life it's really ... a hard way of living," he said.
According to the U.S. Census, more than half the people on the reservation live below the poverty line.
Pourier sang a chief's song and prayed over the items as they were boxed up at the museum. He said he was very grateful to the people at the museum.
"It really means a lot, from my heart to everybody here, for doing what you guys do," Pourier said.
He gave a brief language lesson in Lakota as he explained he really wanted to show his gratitude.
"'Pilamaya' is 'thank you.' 'Wopila' is a bigger thank-you. If you really want to put an exclamation point on that, you say, 'Wopila tanka.' That's like a real big thank-you," he said.
The museum acquired the headdresses from Frank Root, a traveling showman, in the late 1800s, according to Aaron Miller, a repatriation expert who has consulted with the museum.
Root also gave the museum items that are believed to have been stolen off the bodies of Native people killed by the U.S. Cavalry at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1890. The museum repatriated 130 items from Wounded Knee to the tribe two years ago.
Pourier said when the items from the massacre were shown during two ceremonies to tribal members in South Dakota, it helped people.
"Seeing the grandmas and the kids, the ones that are crying, shows me that the impact is helping them maybe start to process that historical trauma, that intergenerational trauma, that we carry," he said.
All of the items from the Barre Museum are kept at the Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, South Dakota.
Elizabeth Martin, the clerk of the Barre Museum Association, explained what returning the items this week meant to her.
"It's a tiny reparation for a great harm — the great harm that's been done to Indigenous people all around the world by what we call civilization," she said.
Pourier said he'd like to have a building on the reservation where young people can come and view the bonnets.
"For our young ones, boys and girls, that are learning to do beadwork and quillwork, that they can look at the designs that our tribes had, our families had, our wives had back then," he said.
After visiting the Barre museum, Pourier planned to visit Harvard University, where he was consulting about the return of human remains of Native people and the hair clippings of Native children who were at boarding schools. He said medicine men from the tribe would join him.
Pourier said he expected to bring back from Harvard a hammer and also a human skull, which would be buried.
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| Treasurer Chief Lynn Malerba signs her name during a ceremonial signing at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in September 2022, when she became the first Native American U.S. Treasurer. Her signature, which appears as "Lynn Roberge Malerba" in honor of her maiden name, was added to U.S. currency alongside that of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, shown on right. (Photo: Treasury) |
November 14, 2024
U.S. Treasurer Chief Marilynn "Lynn" Malerba, the first Native American to hold the position, is stepping down this week after overseeing significant expansions in tribal economic development and investment programs during her two-year tenure at the Department of Treasury.
Malerba made her decision to step down ahead of the 2024 election, according to sources familiar with the timing.
The lifetime chief of The Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut, Malerba realized a long-held vision as Treasurer: creating Treasury's first Office of Tribal and Native Affairs, which she had advocated for both as a tribal leader and member of the Treasury tribal advisory committee. Under her leadership, the office helped administer $30 billion in economic recovery funds, including $20 billion for tribes through the American Rescue Plan — the largest single investment in tribal nations in U.S. history.
When offered the historic appointment in 2021, Malerba acknowledged feeling some intimidation, but saw a greater opportunity. "It was a space that Indigenous people have not been represented in, and that's really very special to me, to be able to be the person that would then bring our voice forward in a bigger way," she said during a press call Wednesday, reflecting on her tenure at Treasury.
As Mohegan's first female chief, Malerba brought a unique perspective to the role of Treasurer. Prior to her appointment, she served as a critical care nurse and held various tribal government positions, including executive director of health and human services and chair of the Mohegan Tribal Council.
At Treasury, she helped the agency reach a milestone of more than $500 million in State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Capital Program approvals for tribal nations, including an $83 million allocation for a consortium of 125 Alaska tribes. These investments are expected to leverage up to $5 billion in additional financing for Native entrepreneurs and small businesses.
SOURCE: TRIBAL BUSINESS NEWS
As I wrote in a recent POST, for a tribe to get federal recognition, you need time, resources, reams of paper and MONEY which most tribes do not have.... The feds made this process VERY HARD...only to delay delay delay... Trace
The Mattaponi Indian Tribe on Thursday formally submitted a petition for federal acknowledgment as an Indian Tribe with a government-to-government relationship with the United States. The petition was delivered to the Office of Federal Acknowledgment within the Bureau of Indian Affairs by a delegation of tribal citizens and leaders, including Chief Mark T Falling Star Custalow, who traveled to Washington, D.C., for the occasion.
“Today we return to Washington, D.C. to continue the pursuit of the highest possible recognition of our Tribe’s sovereignty” said Chief Mark T Falling Star Custalow. “Since the 1970’s we have fought for the federal government to acknowledge our sovereignty, as the State of Virginia does, to give us access to the rights, freedoms and resources granted to other federally recognized tribes. Our people have fought long and hard for this, and we look forward to joining the family of federally recognized tribes.”
In Virginia, there are seven federally recognized tribes and eleven state-recognized tribes. The Pamunkey Tribe was the first in the state to gain federal recognition in 2015, with six other tribes added in 2018. The Mattaponi, one of the original Powhatan tribes, is now the last of these tribes seeking federal recognition. The Mattaponi’s petition has gained strong support from other tribes in Virginia, both state and federally recognized, as well as from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Pursuing federal recognition is a rigorous and costly process. In 2021, the Mattaponi Tribe received a grant to aid in gathering data and preparing the extensive petition, which includes nearly 1,000 pages of narrative and more than 1,000 supporting documents. Researchers examined historical records dating back to the founding of Jamestown, and a dedicated team—including six enrolled tribal members—worked tirelessly with the Mattaponi Petition Office to make today’s filing possible.
“We could not have gotten this far without the dedicated staff, tribal members, and consultants who worked long hours on short deadlines.” “Special thanks also goes to Administration of Native Americans for their help and support along the way,” the Chief said.
Federal recognition would affirm the Mattaponi’s sovereignty, empowering the Tribe with self-determination over its lands, resources, and cultural heritage. This status would also open up new opportunities for education, healthcare, and housing programs that would strengthen the Tribe’s economic stability and prosperity. Additionally, federal recognition would support the Tribe’s efforts to preserve its rich cultural and historical heritage, enhancing America’s understanding of Native American history.
The Mattaponi Tribe, a state-recognized Indian tribe with nearly 300 enrolled members across the United States, holds a reservation of over 200 acres along the Mattaponi River in King William County, Virginia. The name “Mattaponi” is derived from the Algonquian language and translates to “Landing Place” or “River of Highbanks.” The Mattaponi are one of the core tribes of the Powhatan chiefdom, led historically by Chief Powhatan, the father of Pocahontas, who ruled most of Tesenacomoca (now Tidewater Virginia) when European settlers arrived in 1607.
The Mattaponi signed articles of peace with European colonists in 1646, later ratified in 1677, and have since maintained their treaty obligations, presenting an annual tribute to the Governor of Virginia, thereby sustaining their government-to-government relationship.
NATIVE NEWS ONLINE: https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/mattaponi-indian-tribe-files-for-federal-recognition
READ:
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/former-judge-senator-chair-of-trc-murray-sinclair-has-died/
LINK:: CBC : 14 books you heard about on CBC Radio recently
Heard on: The Current
Murray Sinclair made his mark on Canadian society as a judge, activist, senator, the chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the co-chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry — and now he writes all about it in his memoir Who We Are. The book answers the four guiding questions of Sinclair's life — Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? Who am I? — through stories about his remarkable career and trailblazing advocacy for Indigenous peoples' rights and freedoms.
Murray Sinclair is a former judge and senator. Anishinaabe and a member of the Peguis First Nation, Sinclair was the first Indigenous judge appointed in Manitoba and the second appointed in Canada. He served as Co-Chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in Manitoba and as Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He has won awards including the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Manitoba Bar Association's Equality Award and its Distinguished Service Award (2016) and has received Honorary Doctorates from 14 Canadian universities.
Sara Sinclair is an oral historian of Cree-Ojibwa and mixed settler descent. She teaches at Columbia University and is currently co-editing two anthologies of Indigenous letters.
Niigaan Sinclair is a writer, editor, activist and the head of the Department of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. He is the co-editor of Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water and Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World Through Stories. He won the Peace Educator of the Year award in 2019. He is also the author of the book Wînipêk.
A quote from the book WHAT JUST HAPPENED, which includes my interviews with John Trudell
By Trace Hentz, blog editor
I had emails right after the election (Trump won) and I was asked about how this could impact Indigenous Sovereign Tribal Nations here in the US.
Trump obviously doesn't know our history. There is no sign that he cares, unless it can make him money or gain him prestige and power.
His first term was defined as SURREAL
So, yes, it could impact every one of us in some way - for good or for bad. For one, tribal nations will not have a seat at the table, judging by Trump's last term. (Sadly, the Department of the Interior will no longer have a Native (Secretary Deb Haaland) running it.) Trump will not convene any Tribal Summits, even though we are sovereign and deserve a voice and a seat at the table.
How about his type of corruption? His financial ties and connections to oil and gas industries in exchange for permits to DRILL DRILL DRILL could impact every state, especially Alaska!
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| “The policies enacted during President Trump’s first term played a crucial role in this growth and innovation. By reducing regulatory burdens, his administration allowed energy companies to focus on production and innovation rather than navigating an endless stream of rules from Washington bureaucrats. In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration has been far more aggressive than even the Obama administration in undermining domestic oil and gas production,” the alliance said. MORE HERE |
BACKWARDS? Yup, in reverse, we will be back to THE GREAT WHITE FATHER making new rules and breaking and bending treaties, again.
(From Rex Tellerson, to Jeff Sessions, to Wilbur Ross, every Cabinet member he chose in his first term proved their incompetence or corruption. Trump's choices first term: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_cabinet_of_Donald_Trump)
SCARY?
Another possibility is Trump would terminate tribes, like what happened over 40+ years ago. I remember when I was editor of the Pequot Times that Trump played a part in the denial of federal recognition for the Eastern Pequot and the Schaghticoke tribes in Connecticut. Both tribes had tried over many years to petition the federal government for recognition, and regain the land they deserved to be declared their reservations. (At one point there were over 200 tribes in that situation, stuck in limbo and petitioning for federal recognition.)
Remember that every treaty ever written was broken.
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| LINK: https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/bia/termination |
It was devastating, beyond what anyone could have imagined. (Like the Dawes Act!)
It took the tribes like Grand Ronde in Oregon many years to be recognized again, to be regarded and treated as Sovereign - costing these tribes their time and money and untold tragedy.
You see, it never ends. Domination never ends. Their demand for land and what is on the land, or under the land, never ends.
In 2020 I compiled a non-fiction book WHAT JUST HAPPENED concerning Trump's new presidency, because I had friends who were literally scared to death. The instability of the man, the crime boss Mafia mentality he displayed, the pathological liar who was our new president, this new phenomena was called TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, or TDS. People were knocked off balance and literally in fear, scared. For good reason.
I know it's only one branch of government, yes, but in the past, almost all past presidents were a danger to us, and what is coming, has yet to be determined.
As far as future adoptees, ICWA is still our federal law. But sadly, even that could change!
With the election of President Donald Trump to serve in his second term, the National Indian Child Welfare Association released the following statement:
As the 2024 election results are nearly complete, we recognize there is much at stake for our communities. At times, the campaign rhetoric was divisive and raised important questions about how a transition in leadership might impact our communities. While leadership changes can often bring uncertainty and even anxiety, we have prepared for this and are already planning how we will organize, educate, and advocate for the needs and rights of Native children and families and the protection of tribal sovereignty.
NICWA has navigated national leadership changes going back to the 1980s, and we understand how to strategically and diligently advocate for the rights and protection of Native children and families in changing political environments. During some of the most challenging times, we have found ways to protect and even advance resources and rights for Native children and families. This included expanding our network of allies—both Native and non-Native—and finding new ways to communicate the importance of laws like the Indian Child Welfare Act, which are crucial to the well-being of our communities.
NICWA values seeking opportunities to work in a bipartisan manner and designing strategies that ensure support from both parties. Our strength is the relationships we have within our communities, leadership, and each other. We will continue our fight for the protection of Native children and families with you as our most valuable allies and partners.
**
Hey! We're SMART!
Let's keep watch. Like Trudell told us many times in many ways: we are resilient, sacred and ancient. We are not going anywhere.
ADOPTION REALITY: UK
Report calls for ‘sea change’ to make face-to-face contact with birth families the norm to help all involved with issues such as identity
Adopted children should have face-to-face contact with their birth parents, a major report has recommended.
The report, commissioned by Britain’s most senior family court judge, said the system where face-to-face contact was the exception rather than the rule was outdated.
Its author, Mrs Justice Judd, said there needed to be a “sea change” in the approach to enable children under 18 to regularly see their birth families provided it was safe to do so.
Most adopted children have little or no contact with their birth parents but, under current laws, they have a right to see their birth records and reach out to them. An adoption contact register allows the birth parents to indicate whether they want to be contacted, if it should be limited or none at all.
Until the 1970s, mothers would give up their babies for adoption with no expectation of future contact.
The report said: “The stigma attached to illegitimacy and infertility meant that the decision not to promote contact was considered to be a protective factor for the adopter, the adopted child and the birth family.”
KEEP READING: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/07/adopted-children-should-meet-birth-parents-says-top-judge/
“At a core level, the Cree people in Alberta were buffalo people,” says Jasper’s Matricia Bauer. “Buffalo was their food, their celebrations, their instruments, their tools, their way of life.”
But even though her own life as a knowledge keeper and storyteller is centred around connections to Cree culture, until she took up residency at the Banff Centre recently, Bauer hadn’t spent any time considering what the buffalo represents to her.
“The government has done a pretty good job of colonizing us,” she said when asked to consider that particular crevice between her ancestors. “And I guess I’ve done a good job of colonizing myself.”
Bauer is a Sixties Scoop survivor. She was one of thousands of Indigenous children in Canada removed from their families to be raised by non-Indigenous families. As an adult, Bauer has reconnected to her heritage, and today as an Indigenous educator operates Warrior Women, an organization which aims to “Indigenize the world” through workshops, performances and plant walks.
But spending 21 days at the Banff Centre was an opportunity to further decolonize her psyche, she said.
“It was nice to be back in the boots of a student,“ she added.
The conduits which allowed her do that inner reset were twofold: Firstly, as one of seven other Indigenous artists at the Banff Centre residency, she was able to tap into a shared community, and exchange traditional knowledge and skills. And secondly, she tapped into the power of paskwâwi-mostos: the buffalo.
“I thought [the residency] would be more about traditional practices and processes, but it was more about the relationship with the buffalo,” she said.
Navigating that relationship was neither easy nor expected. When she first saw the buffalo hide that she and the group were slated to tan, Bauer was instantly overwhelmed.
“When they rolled it out I just thought ‘oh no, that’s so big,’” she laughed.
Bauer had experience tanning hides, but she still couldn’t fathom the amount of physical work which would be required to scrape the buffalo hide clean of its membranes and hair. For hours each day, Bauer scraped. By the end of each session, she could barely lift her arms. Her back ached and her hands were cramped. And the pitiful progress made from her monumental efforts simply ticked her off.
“I would get mad,” she said. “You would stand there scraping for four to eight straight hours. It breaks you down mentally, physically, emotionally.”
Hitting a low point, suddenly, one day, Bauer noticed the Banff Centre was abuzz with activity. The reason for the heightened energy was a visit from a group of Indigenous seniors—elders from the Bow Valley community of Mini Thni were being toured around campus. When they saw the hide, Bauer said, the elders were immediately drawn to it. By turn, the aunties and uncles picked up unclaimed scraping tools, helping to dress the hide. It was a revelatory moment for Bauer.
“I realized it’s not something meant to be done alone,” Bauer said. “It’s meant to be done together, with community.”
The shared experience buoyed Bauer and her fellow artists in residency. They soon completed the scraping and tanning process, and from the hide created drums, rattles, parfleches and other tools.
A secondary exchange of knowledge came when the artists—whose collective mosaic included representation from the Māori people, the Ute from Colorado, the Lakota, and several other First Nations across Canada—shared their traditional forms.
Bauer demonstrated fish scale jewelry-making and caribou hair tufting. In exchange, she was taught horse hair wrapping, porcupine quilling, moose hair embroidery, and making leather from fish skin.
“I learned how to carve tools out of moose bone,” she said. “That blew my mind.”
Ten weeks after wildfire destroyed parts of her community, Bauer’s mind welcomed the outside stimulation. Because the fire torched any fall performances and workshops she had booked, a freed-up schedule allowed her to go into the residency with necessary focus. But like many of her friends and neighbours, she was also feeling very vulnerable.
“I went into it like a lot of Jasperites after the fire—fractured, confused and beat down,” she said.
The physically-demanding hide tanning process broke her body down even further, but by the end of the three weeks, she had not only had stronger arms and shoulders, but a clearer head and a fuller heart.
The biggest lesson she learned? To be open to the teaching in the first place.
“It reminded me that as much as I share my culture, I still have a massive amount to learn, and other people have a lot of gifts to share,” she said.
