Native american

September 17 is Constitution Day, marking the signing of the Constitution of the United States in 1787. Schools often trace the intellectual lineage of the Constitution from ancient Athens to the European Enlightenment. But Robert Miller, a lawyer, tribal court judge and citizen of Oklahoma’s Eastern Shawnee tribe, writes that another source for many of his ideas are the tribal political entities that were the fledgling US government’s closest neighbors. .

Miller explains that many of the Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution had extensive knowledge of Indigenous nations, some having negotiated treaties or maintained diplomatic relations with them.

18th century tribal governments throughout what is now the United States had a wide variety of models of government, from “relatively complex governments to simple governments.”, and from almost autocratic to highly democratic governments. The governments of eastern North America best known to the founders were confederations of tribal nations, including the powerful Iroquois confederacy of upstate New York. The Iroquois, Shawnee, Cherokee, and other political parties generally separated military and civilian leadership, protected certain personal freedoms, including freedom of religion, and included somewhat democratic policies for referendums, vetoes, and revocations. . (Most also gave women prominent roles in government, something that wouldn’t be enshrined in the U.S. Constitution for over a century.)

Miller notes that Benjamin Franklin was closely involved in negotiating and printing treaties with Indigenous nations, including the Iroquois Confederacy, and studied their systems of governance. Writing in 1751, Franklin argued that:

It would be a very strange Thing if six Nations of ignorant Savages [sic] should be able to form a plan for such a union, and be able to execute it in such a way that it has endured for ages and seems indissoluble; and yet a similar union should not be practical for ten or a dozen English colonies[…]

John Adams has suggested that those who draft the Constitution should study the governments of “ancient Germans and modern Indians,” which he says divides power between the three branches of executive, judicial and legislative governance. Specifically, he cited the Mohawks, who he said enjoyed “complete individual independence”, while tribal chiefs brought important decisions like declarations of war to “a national assembly”.

Thomas Jefferson also studied Indigenous systems of government, expressing admiration for them, although they mistakenly refer to them as having “no law”. In a letter written after the completion of the first draft of the Constitution, he wrote that “the only condition on earth to compare with ours is that of the Indians, where they have even fewer laws than we do. Europeans are governments of kites on pigeons [sic]. “

While European thought had obvious and substantial influences on the US Constitution, Miller concludes, “Ultimately, the founders developed democratic political theories and principles that were hardly practiced in Europe.”

Editor’s Note: The caption for this article has been updated to more accurately reflect the image shown.

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There is a common myth among non-Indigenous people in the United States and Canada that Indigenous people do not pay taxes. Whether it’s sales tax, federal income tax, or even the tax gleefully dubbed “death,” some people apparently feel that aboriginal people are exempt from all of this.

Not so. In fact, as a registered member of the Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee tribes, I can assure you that Uncle Sam has my bank account number living rent free in his head. And I’m responsible for it all – federal, state, sales, property – you name it.

Although the details of this assumption can get complicated (ie paying their “fair share” which, given our history, is quite insulting in addition to being inaccurate.

To add even more insult to injury, Native American women might argue that they are the ones who are not getting their fair share. Data shows they earn about 60 cents for every dollar a non-Hispanic white man earns each year. That’s even less than the overall gender wage gap, which stands at 82 cents on the dollar.

In fact, September 8, 2021 has been designated Native American Women’s Equal Pay Day because today represents the number of days in 2021 it took for an Indigenous woman in the United States to earn what it took a non-Hispanic white man to win in 2020 alone.

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That’s right – over a full year and eight months. As US Department of the Interior Senator Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna) wrote as a member of Congress: “This is a statistic that has an impact on so many other issues, including access to health care, education, vocational training and childcare.

After all, less money in the bank means less money for basic necessities, not to mention extras.

The story continues

Nor is it a problem unique to aboriginal women. BIPOC’s women’s communities, including Black and Latinx, are no strangers to their unique pay gaps, with many experts offering advice on how to negotiate wages.

And unfortunately, despite more Indigenous women seeking higher education, the biggest gaps can be seen at the bachelor’s and master’s level, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

“Native women typically have to earn a master’s degree before they are paid more than non-Hispanic white men with just an associate’s degree ($ 56,000 and $ 53,842, respectively),” the organization reports.

During a career taxed on income, it adds up.

Viewing Receipts

Indigenous women recently took to TikTok to share their feelings about Indigenous stereotypes about money. And these feelings are great.

TikToker Lily (Diné), aka @sheshortnbrown, jumped on the ‘Questions I Get Asked’ trend by sharing some of the comments she says she’s sick of hearing as a native woman – one of them “must be kind not to pay taxes.” “

“No, I do,” she replies. “[D]o Do your favorite billionaires still pay them? “

Fire.

This is a fair point. Find out how many non-native multibillionaires – with a “b” – on this list have dodged the income tax train.

Another TikToker, @ sherry.mckay (Anishinaabe) explains how the myth spreads to our First Nations families in Canada.

While showing literal receipts, McKay shares how much she paid in sales taxes.

“Stop with the narrative that indigenous people don’t pay taxes,” she says.

Meanwhile, Patricia Raylynn (Salish and Pend d’Oreille) shakes her head at the multiple Indigenous stereotypes thrown at her, including one asking her if she is getting free government money.

While there are so many myths that seek to undermine Indigenous communities, those that involve undeserved financial gain are particularly insidious.

After all, when you lose $ 977,720 on average over a 40-year career, being accused of bypassing the government that colonized your tribe is, well, to stay on the money topic. , rich.

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If you enjoyed reading this article, check out In The Know’s story about the finance expert who shares tips for women of color to negotiate more money..

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The post Native American Women Breaking My Money Myths first appeared on In The Know.

For Native American women living on tribal lands, obtaining an abortion has long been a difficult and intimidating process.

For native Texas women, this challenge was magnified after the United States Supreme Court this week refused to block the state’s ban on most abortions, highlighting the unique health disparities that native women face. have long faced and potential threats to their health, said Charon Asetoyer, executive director of the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center.

Asetoyer, a descendant of the Comanche tribe, fears that many indigenous women, who already suffer from the highest rates of rape and sexual assault, will not be able to find the financial means to access a safe abortion and legal outside Texas – if that’s even an option for them – or being forced to give birth under already difficult and financially burdensome circumstances. Indigenous women in the United States are more than twice as likely as white women to die from diseases caused or exacerbated by pregnancy.

“It’s definitely a whole other level of mental anxiety and cruelty that is forced upon us,” Asetoyer said. “Our right, our human right, to make this decision is taken away from us.”

The abortion-related data available through the Indian Federal Health Service, or IHS, which provides access to health care to an estimated 2.5 million American Indians and Alaska Natives, is sadly incomplete, according to activists and researchers.

Asetoyer helped lead a survey in 2002 that found that 85 percent of IHS health facilities were not complying with the agency’s official abortion policy, and in 62 percent of facilities, staff said they do not provide abortion services or funding, even in cases where a woman’s life is threatened by pregnancy.

This is in violation of the Hyde Amendment, which was enacted by Congress in 1976. The measure – whose namesake was GOP Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois – essentially prohibits the use of federal funds. for abortion services, except for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or if the woman’s life is in danger. Many states also require that women seeking abortions file police reports within a certain time limit.

After the Hyde Amendment was passed, the IHS said it performed 25 abortions over a 20-year period, the researchers said.

The IHS did not immediately respond to a request for the latest available abortion statistics or for comment on the process for indigenous women on tribal lands requesting abortions.

Asetoyer said the problem remains that many IHS facilities simply do not have the resources to perform abortions, or their employees mistakenly believe that all forms of abortion are illegal.

“They don’t even offer abortions under the restrictions of the Hyde Amendment,” she added.

The main IHS website does not specifically mention abortion on its “reproductive health” page, nor does its health manual mention allowances for abortions related to rape or incest.

Activists say it’s especially troubling given that one in three indigenous women is raped or attempted rape, according to Justice Department statistics from 2012.

Texas’ new abortion law is the most restrictive in the country and prohibits such a procedure once a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat, which is typically around six weeks old and may even be before some women have realize they are pregnant. The law makes an exception for medical emergencies that would affect the health of the mother, but not for rape or incest.

Even with state law in place, native Texas women who receive care through the IHS would theoretically have more permissive access to abortion since the Hyde Amendment makes exceptions for rape or rape. incest. But IHS Texas Tribal and Urban Health Centers contacted by NBC News said they were not providing abortion services anyway.

Indigenous women seeking an abortion usually have to venture out of reservation, which can be a trying experience if the nearest clinic is in a town hundreds of miles away, requiring significant travel and expense. refundable.

Asetoyer, who resides on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota, said this had been the case in his state, where the only clinic offering abortions – a Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls – had suspended procedures for seven months in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions. . More than 450 women had to travel out of state, South Dakota News Watch reported.

For these women, especially Indigenous women living in poverty, getting a safe abortion can be simply unrealistic, said Sarah Deer, professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at the University of Kansas and a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma. .

Adding yet another distressing layer to the question of how indigenous women have historically been deprived of their reproductive rights, approximately 3,400 of them – including three dozen under the age of 21 – have been forcibly sterilized by the IHS in the 1970s. The practice was part of the federal government’s “family planning” services and was explored in the 2018 documentary “Amá” on the consequences of forced sterilization.

“To understand reproductive justice in a historical context, the government says, ‘We don’t want you to have babies. We no longer want Indians to deal with it. Your children will be taken away, ”said Deer. “The message we want to send now is that all reproductive justice in the Indian country is loaded with these really difficult issues.”

She added that because of the trauma resulting from the dismemberment of their families, there are also Native Americans who are against abortions and “could approach it through the issue of preserving children.”

In 2006, Cecilia Fire Thunder, the first woman elected president of the Oglala Sioux tribe, South Dakota’s largest indigenous tribe, defended the creation of a family planning clinic on her reservation – in response to the ban by the State of virtually all the reasons for an abortion. But this proposal was controversial and led the tribal council to depose Fire Thunder.

Asetoyer said indigenous women traditionally decide when to start a family and how many children they want to have, and for those who end up choosing to terminate their pregnancy, this should also remain their sovereign right.

“This is what is so cold about these laws: if they really have everyone’s best interests, they wouldn’t put a woman in this situation,” said Asetoyer, who has helped lead the fight in recent years. to ensure that the IHS makes emergency contraceptives available in all of its health centers.

Abigail Echo-Hawk, executive vice president of the Seattle Indian Health Board and a member of the Pawnee Nation, was among a group of prominent Indigenous activists and scholars, including Deer, focusing on reproductive rights in Mississippi after the U.S. Supreme Court said in May it would review the legality of the state’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

These activists plan to file a brief this month in support of the state’s only abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

As part of their preliminary research, Echo-Hawk said, they found that the IHS paid very little for abortions involving Indigenous women, “meaning that even with the high rate of rape and incest in our communities, we have no choice but to have the procedure available to us in cases where it should be. “

Echo-Hawk said that as a rape survivor, she knows how crucial it is for women to have barrier-free access to care.

She reflects on what other aboriginal women in the midst of generational poverty and burdened with having to bear a child will do.

“I think of Cecilia Fire Thunder, who once said, ‘Keep your white hands away from my brown body,'” Echo-Hawk said. “We have to make sure that we have autonomy over our bodies.”

By SCOTT MCKIE BP

Staff with a feather

For years, Native Americans, especially those residing on tribal lands, have questioned unequal access to the vote in federal elections. From a general lack of access to polling stations due to long distances or the refusal of election officials to accept tribal ID cards, complaints have been constant.

Senator Ben Ray Lujan (DN.M.) introduced the Frank Harrison, Elizabeth Peratovich and Miguel Trujillo Native American Voting Rights Act (NAVRA) (S.2702) in the 117^e Congress recently helped reduce barriers to voting in federal elections for Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and those residing on tribal lands.

In a statement, Senator Lujan said, “This historic voting rights legislation will protect the sacred right to vote and reduce barriers for voters living on tribal lands, thereby attracting more voters into the electoral process. With more Senate co-sponsors than ever before, I am proud of the momentum that is building for this bill. Native Americans’ right to vote must be part of the national conversation. “

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif), one of the co-sponsors of the bill, said in a statement: “We cannot have an inclusive democracy if we do not provide Native Americans with equal access to the ballot. We must remove the systemic and other barriers that Native Americans face when voting and customize our election administration to ensure that tribal communities are not denied equal protection in our democratic process. “

Representatives Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Member of the Ho Chunk Nation, sponsored companion legislation HR 5008 in the United States House of Representatives with co-sponsor, Representative Tom Cole, member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. Both are co-chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus.

She said in a statement: “Voting is the very foundation of our democracy, but indigenous voters face repeated obstacles at the polls, ranging from considerable distance and uneven hours of operation at polling stations to the polls. lack of voter education. This bill further fulfills our federal trust responsibility to protect and promote the exercise by Native Americans of their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. “

Representative Cole said in a statement, “This legislation dramatically improves the tools and resources available to help Native Americans exercise their right to vote, which is especially important for those who live in rural areas.”

According to information from Senator Lujan’s office, some of the key provisions of NAVRA include:

• Provides grant program “to help establish state-level Native American voting task forces to address voting issues unique to Indian country”
• Improves Access to Voter Registration, Polling Stations and Drop Boxes in Indian Country
• Facilitates the addition of polling stations on tribal lands and “adopts factors to be considered when considering whether to add a polling station on tribal lands”
• Requires acceptance of all identification documents issued by tribes at polling stations
• Provides electors without a residential address or mail delivery a means to register, collect and cast a ballot

The legislation already has the support of many Native American organizations across the country. In a statement, John Echohawk, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), said: “Over the past decade, NARF has documented and addressed the targeted and current barriers that Indigenous voters face when trying to vote… NARF strongly endorses this legislation which will create more equitable access for Native Americans. “

S.2702 was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and HR 5008 was referred to the Committee on House Administration and the House Committee on the Judiciary.

At an event sponsored by the Five Tribes of North Dakota in mid-August at the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, members of the tribe gathered to commemorate the children who died in residential schools.

In Fargo, activists are organizing a three-day residential school-focused commemorative event for the end of September, which will culminate on the last day of the month with a remembrance walk, mirroring a similar Canadian day of reconciliation established in 2013.

And after coming together for a meeting of the United Tribes of North Dakota, the leaders of the state’s five tribal governments agreed to bring the resolutions back to their tribal councils, with the aim of forcing the federal government to fiscal power in its recently announced budget. commission to investigate residential school deaths across the country.

In June, Home Secretary Deb Haaland, the country’s first Native American cabinet member, unveiled the Federal Indian Residential Schools Initiative, a one-of-a-kind effort to examine the role of government in attempting to erase indigenous cultures through state sponsored initiatives. education.

The announcement follows the discovery this summer of more than 900 anonymous graves at two First Nations residential schools in Canada.

Shane Balkowitsch then prepares-Rep. Debra Haaland, DN.M., for a photograph in 2019. Haaland, now Home Secretary, unveiled the Federal Indian Residential Schools Initiative in June. Forum archive photo

“I know this will be a hot topic for, you know, a month,” said Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa chairman Jamie Azure, one of the tribal leaders who participated in the United Tribes resolution.

At this point, Azure said, the most important step they can take is to continue to spread the word.

“Often these hot topics start to drop because things are not explained and dialogue does not continue,” he said. “People need to understand the big picture. ”

From the Indian Civilization Act of 1819 and into the 20th century, Indigenous children across the United States were shipped from their families and tribal communities to residential schools, many to austere former military complexes. As an explicit goal, these schools aimed to eliminate the native culture of the students and assimilate them into white America.

Many institutions have complied with a refrain from the founder of one of the first residential schools, former Civil War general Richard H. Pratt: “Kill the Indian, save the man”.

“We could do better as humans, you know? Said Tracey Wilkie, a Fargo activist and member of the Turtle Mountain Tribe. “I think we are coming out of the greatest genocide the world has ever seen. It is recognized. People are starting to pay attention.

“It really builds on the work that many people have already been doing for decades,” said Democratic Representative for Fargo, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation member Ruth Buffalo. “You will hear different people say, ‘This is what we tried to tell people.'”

Ruth Buffalo celebrates after being sworn in on December 3, 2018 to serve in the North Dakota House of Representatives. Contribution: Lea Black Photography

Buffalo, who is also recently appointed chairman of the board of directors of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, said she learned more about her own family’s experience in residential schools into adulthood. Although she grew up listening to her mother’s residential school stories, it wasn’t until this winter that she learned that both of her grandparents were survivors of institutions as well.

The task of finding out what happened in these schools – and exactly how many children were lost there – is enormous. In recent years, some academics and researchers have devoted themselves to this story. But, for the vast majority of schools, scholarships are slim, if not nonexistent. Record keeping in residential schools tended to be of poor quality, and stories of what happened inside survive mainly on the memories of the ancient Native Americans who frequented them.

Some North Dakota tribes, like the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, are already finding that many of the same bureaucratic barriers that can hamper resources on their reserves also pose significant challenges to their research on boarding schools.

The tribe recently identified that one of its members, a girl named Mary Charboneu, died at the Indian School in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1925. Official documents from the state of South Dakota have not recorded the cause of his death.

“We’ve just erased a lot of our history,” said Azure, the tribe’s chairman. “His hard to really put into words – really hard to grasp how big it really is and how big it will become. “

In a meeting this month between the Turtle Mountain Tribal Council and the North Dakota Legislature’s Tribal-State Relations Committee, Azure and tribal lawyer Alysia LaCounte told lawmakers that they thought there were unmarked graves at the North Dakota boarding school sites.

In particular, they looked to Fort Totten, the military post established in 1867 that also served decades as a boarding school for Native American children, many of them on Turtle Mountain.

But LaCounte told state leaders that even starting to investigate this site poses significant bureaucratic hurdles.

Fort Totten, on the Spirit Lake Reservation, was established as a military outpost in 1867, but then served as a residential school for Native American children for several decades. Forum archives.

Fort Totten, on the Spirit Lake Reservation, is also a state historic site, meaning the tribe will have to come under state jurisdiction to investigate and recover the remains of all of the tribe members who are buried there. LaCounte expressed hope to lawmakers that the state will welcome them and offer support in efforts to probe the location.

And even within Turtle Mountain, resources are limited. The Chippewa Band government currently does not have a Tribal Historic Preserver.

Even after holding that position, LaCounte said, delving into the lost history of tribal members who died in boarding schools will be much more than a job for one person.

Azure also pointed out that when it comes to anonymous graves, “we’re talking about the worst-case scenario.”

Those who survived were nevertheless subjected to difficult conditions and a systematic dismantling of their cultural identities.

The last names have been changed.

Indigenous languages ​​have been deleted.

Azure said her 92-year-old grandmother, who attended two boarding schools, has three different recorded birthdays: she was assigned a date of birth to match when she arrived at each new school.

As tribes like Turtle Mountain rushed to start local investigations into boarding school losses, Buffalo noted that preferences about how to proceed may differ from community to community and from tribe to tribe to. the other. Measures to investigate lost burial sites, she stressed, must come from below.

“It can’t be a top-down approach in this type of work,” said Buffalo, who added that in addition to the elements of residential school board research and outreach, steps to promote healing around an issue which has contributed to generations of trauma within Indigenous communities will be equally important.

“It really has to be treated with special care. It really has to come from a place of prayer,” she said.

While miles of opaque, buried paperwork and historical documents hang over these missions, Azure said the tribes will not let go of their newfound momentum to bring members home and find out what happened at these schools, ” even if it takes the next 20 years. “

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or check out the trauma resources provided by the National Native American Healing Coalition.

Readers can contact Forum reporter Adam Willis, a member of the Report for America body, at [email protected]

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Through University of Arizona Health Sciences

August 22, 2021

Ferris Saad felt an undeniable call to pursue medicine as a way to address health disparities, especially in Native American communities. Through a unique mentoring program, Saad has spent the summer at the Arizona University of Health Sciences immersed in cancer research as he prepares to apply for medical school.

“Cancer has always been a big mystery to me, but now oncology is one of my main areas of medical interest,” said Saad, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physiology at UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson . “I’m learning a lot everyday and it’s been great.”

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The Summer Research Opportunity under the Native American Cancer Prevention Partnership (NACP) and Undergraduate Biology Research Program is a paid internship that pairs Native American undergraduates with a faculty mentor in their area of ​​research of interest. In May, Saad began working with Jennifer W. Bea, PhD, associate professor of health promotion science at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and fellow of the UArizona Cancer Center.

[NOTE: This article was originally published by the University of Arizona Health Sciences. Used with permission. All rights reserved.]

“I fell in love with student training – not only helping students learn and grow, but also experiencing what they bring to the team,” said Dr Bea. “They strengthen our knowledge, our cultural sensitivity and our connection to the community. And it’s just a pleasure to talk to Ferris and work with him as a person.

Towards Fairer Cancer Care in Arizona

Native Americans are the most under-represented racial or ethnic group among physicians and scientists. This under-representation can contribute to health disparities, according to Margaret Briehl, PhD, associate director of the Coordination of Cancer Research Education and Training at the UArizona Cancer Center.

“With 22 federally recognized tribes and nations in the state, training is one of the best ways to serve the community,” said Dr. Briehl, who is also a professor of cancer pathology and biology. “We want our Native American students to experience the excitement of biomedical research firsthand. “

The summer research internship is just one aspect of NACP, a partnership between the UArizona Cancer Center and Northern Arizona University funded by the National Cancer Institute. The NACP is designed to combat the uneven cancer burden among Native Americans in Arizona through training, research, and community outreach.

“This program allows students to engage in research early on,” said Dr. Bea, who heads the Research Education Core at NACP, including the summer internship. “And then we work with them on other grants to make sure they’re supported throughout their training to become top scientists, clinicians, or whatever they want to be.”

In addition to research, NACP interns meet weekly, either in small groups or with the larger group of the undergraduate biology research program, to learn more about topics such as the ethics of science. research and writing a summary and a personal statement. They also work with their mentors to create individualized career development plans for their future.

Answer the call to make a difference

“This is my first time going into research, I didn’t know what to expect,” said Elijah Keeswood, a NACP intern who returned for a second year in the program. “But I like to do research. In lab meetings, sometimes someone will show a result that amazes everyone because it was not what they expected. They’re all trying to figure it out and it’s so exciting because it might be a new discovery.

Keeswood, a senior specializing in biomedical engineering, has worked to understand how aggressive tumors change when they invade and cross the muscle barrier to spread to other parts of the body. He learned how to grow cancer cells in a 3D gel matrix and now helps analyze images of cancer cells as they move through that matrix or into actual muscle tissue.

“I really like looking at these pictures. Cancer forms a chain of cells as it travels through muscle tissue. It’s both exciting and scary since you know that’s what it does in the body, ”Keeswood said. “And I’ve found that I’m pretty good with computers, which I can use in a lot of different science fields.”

“It is very satisfying to see how far Elijah has progressed until he takes ownership of the project,” said his mentor, Anne E Cress, PhD, professor of cellular and molecular medicine and radiation oncology. at the College of Medicine – Tucson and member of the Cancer Center. “I think the biggest surprise for me in mentoring undergraduates – and Elijah is no exception – is what they give back to us. They are a very important part of the team.

Live cancer research live

Although the summer internship ended this month, Saad will continue his training part-time during the school year. One of his projects is examining how body composition, like the amount of fat deep around the kidneys and liver, affects the prognosis of kidney cancer in patients. For the study, Saad learned to identify and analyze different regions of fat and muscle on MRIs and CT scans.

“CT scans can be quite difficult to read. The first time you see one, you say to yourself, “What are these spots and dots?” “Said Dr Bea. “Practicing early to distinguish between organs and other tissues can be of great benefit to medical school and a great exercise in anatomy. “

Saad is also in the early stages of communicating with Arizona tribal communities to understand individual access to digital technology and preferences for obtaining health information.

“I learned a lot about coordinating with tribal leaders and developing a plan to engage with the community and do a preliminary needs assessment,” Saad said.

Dr Bea hopes this knowledge will be invaluable to tribal leaders as they disseminate public health information to members of their communities.

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A Claremore Boy Scout troop leader ensures that the culture of the Cherokee Nation is passed on to a new generation.

Boy Scout Leader Terry Hancock noticed that there was no Scouting program that taught Native American culture. So he found a solution.

“About six or seven years ago I was looking through the National Boy Scout Catalog for badges, badges and merit awards,” Hancock said. “And I noticed that they had a knot for Asian studies. I kept going through it and I did. I don’t see any for Native Americans, or more importantly, Cherokees.

Hancock is partly Cherokee himself, so he contacted his tribe to see if the rulers would help him create a badge to teach the Cherokee scouts about their heritage.

“The important thing is that it is designed to help educate Boy Scouts about the language, culture, history and background,” Hancock said.

Hancock and then-former chef Bill Baker came up with the badge, which was designed after the Cherokee service ribbon. There is a knot in the middle to symbolize unity and friendship.

The badge can be completed in three steps. Scouts must first learn parts of the Cherokee language and know how to pronounce words. The Scouts will then learn about the culture and history of the tribe. Finally, they must take a botany class where scouts can grow plants and vegetables that the Cherokees commonly use.

“Terry brought both a problem and the solution to the table,” said Keith Austin, Cherokee Tribal Councilor.

Austin, who contributed to the idea, said Boy Scouts will be able to visit museums like the JM Davis Historical Museum in Claremore, where the history of the Cherokee Nation is on display.

“The badge is to ensure that the scouts here locally in the Cherokee Nation learn that Native Americans are not a generic people, that they are very many, many cultures,” Austin said. “I think it’s a beautiful thing that comes out of that.”

“It’s not like the Indians on TV. It’s a Cherokee nation, and we teach them what truth is and how things are to be learned,” Hancock said.

The badge will be available exclusively to Scouts who are members of the Cherokee Tribe. The badge is expected to be available on the Cherokee Nation website this fall.

The smell of fire-roasted corn, the sounds of drumming and chanting, and the sights of exhibits and events brought Native American culture to life on Saturday in the Lehigh Valley.

The Museum of Indian Culture, 2825 Fish Hatchery Road in Allentown, hosts its 40th annual corn cob roasting festival. It continues on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Each day at noon is the Grand Entrance, under the direction of Arena Director Bart Cartwright of the Delaware Nation and hosted by David White Buffalo of the Rosebud Sioux. Percussion is provided by the Youngblood Singers and Medicine Horse Singers, with lead dancers Matt and Chris Clair of Mi’kmaq.

The featured artists this weekend are Luis Salinas and his family from Mexico City, performing traditional Aztec dances at 11 am and 1:45 pm; Native Nations Dance Theater and hoop dance champion Katrina Fisher.

Other attractions include flint cutting, flute making, atlatl and tomahawk throwing, basketry, Lenape cooking and tipi exhibits, as well as children’s craft activities and pony rides, an artifact show and vendors of food, drink and jewelry and crafts.

Admission is $ 10 for adults, $ 5 for ages 8-17 and 62 and over, and free for ages 7 and under. Animals are not accepted, with the exception of service animals.

Visit museumofindianculture.org for more information and find the event flyer here.

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Kurt Bresswein can be reached at [email protected].