President Formally Apologizes for U.S. Native American Boarding School Program
On October 25, President Joe Biden visited the Laveen Village near Phoenix, Arizona. He spoke at the Gila River Crossing School in the Gila River Indian Community. This is the home of the O’odham and the Pee-Posh Native American people. In his speech, President Biden apologized to the Native American community for the government’s Indian […]
Native American Inventions
November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States. It is a time to recognize, honor, and celebrate Native Americans’ contributions to culture and history. When you think of Native American inventions, you might think of pottery, instruments, or jewelry. But Native Americans are responsible for inventing many things that are still widely used […]
Chef Sean Sherman Promotes Indigenous Foods
Award-winning chef Sean Sherman has earned a reputation as an innovator by promoting Indigenous foods. For Sherman, a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe, that means cooking with ingredients that are native and naturally found throughout North America. Sherman does not use ingredients such as beef, pork, chicken, wheat flour, dairy, and cane sugar. […]
The Pima Canals: A Solution for Modern Water Problems in the Southwest
As early as the 1600s, Spanish missionaries considered the Pima people in southern Arizona as the gardeners of the dry American Southwest. The Pima used canals dug by their ancestors to water their fields of wheat, corn, beans, and fruit trees. That is, until American settlers upstream diverted the water of the Gila River, which […]
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks Named Ohio’s First UNESCO World Heritage Site
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the addition of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks to the list of World Heritage sites. The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are made up of eight locations throughout southern Ohio. The earthworks are Ohio’s first World Heritage Site and one of only 25 sites in the United States. […]
Ada Deer: A Woman of Firsts
Ada Deer, a highly respected Native American leader from northern Wisconsin, died on August 15, 2023, at the age of 88. Deer was a woman of firsts. She was the first woman from her Menominee (Muh·naa·muh·nee) Tribe to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Deer was the first Native American to obtain a master’s degree […]
The Navajo Nation Elects a New President
Dr. Buu Nygren became the Navajo Nation president on January 10, 2023, in Fort Defiance, Arizona, after campaigning to improve public services and the economy. Nygren’s presidency makes history. He is the youngest Navajo Nation president at 36, and he has never held political office. His running mate, Vice President Richelle Montoya, is also the […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
The Day of 8 Billion On November 15, 2022, the world reached a milestone: the global population officially surpassed eight billion people. In honor of this event, the United Nations celebrated November 15 as the “Day of Eight Billion.” But is this a good thing or a bad thing? According to the United Nations, population […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Chicago Museum Highlights Native American Stories Chicago’s Field Museum opened in 1894 and contains nearly forty million natural artifacts and specimens. Its goal is to connect visitors to the natural world and to the human story. Recently, its Native North America Hall has undergone a makeover. When the original hall was created in the 1950s, […]
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Native Americans Oppose Nevada Lithium Mine Renewable energy can sometimes come with hidden costs. For example, the element lithium is an important component in rechargeable batteries. In fact, by 2030, it is expected that demand for lithium will increase tenfold in the United States alone. But mining for lithium can be harmful to the planet, […]