New Native Language App Starts Small, WIth Animal Names in Four Tongues

By Leeanne Root: April 23, 2012

This app is currently available in the iTunes store. It is based around 4 different languages: Diné, Lakota, Mvskoke and Ponca. There are up to 14 different animals in each language where it shows how to say the animal in English and the language desired. There is even a way to hear the word in the Native language, to make sure you are saying it correctly. The app has great potential to be an amazing thing to help children learn their Native language in this rapidly fast growing technology market. Apparently the app is meant to target younger children because of the attachment to animals, but it has been met with some resentment by people who have bought it.

“14 animals and that’s your app? Come on, do these languages some justice.”

The app is said that it needs room for improvement and that this was just a starting point. I understand how this can be a starting point, but I think I would have developed it more before sending it out into a raging public. I check the app on iTunes and it has some terrible rating and some horrible comments about the app in general. The Lakota is apparently extremely messed up and everyone is saying that the words are incorrect for the pictures. I guess that is what happens when you put out an app and people are able to comment on it anonymously. They are beyond evil with what they say. The woman that helped create the app learned Lakota from her great grandfather and grandmother, but apparently she didn't learn it correctly or her grandparents taught her a different way of speaking. Even with all the problems that this app has been having I understand why it was put out in the first place. It is a way to save a culture and a language, especially with how fast technology is evolving. It can reach a larger number of people in a shorter time period and help people reconnect with their culture. I like where this idea is going and it has helped some people, maybe? I would like to track the app and see how is ends up at the end...or even if it reaches it's full potential. I don't know if I would spend the 2 dollars on it right now.

Why Should We Keep Tribal Languages Alive?

By Sonny Skyhawk: April 6, 2012

"I canʼt stress enough the importance of retaining our tribal languages, when it comes to the core relevance or existence of our people. Our languages can teach us many things through daily use. Language can teach us respect, for ourselves and each other, our elders, women and most importantly, the things that allowed us to exist."

I don't think that anyone realizes how bad the loss of languages is becoming, not just tribal languages but other Native languages. It is said that 6,000 languages are at risk of "dying" out. That is a terribly high number of languages from all over the world. I understand that it might not seem that important to some, but language is a way of communication and a way of life for most people. What would it be like if English didn't exist anymore, that you were the last native speaker? How terrible would that be? To loose your culture and ability to connect with the outside world. This doesn't seem fair. It is especially bad with Native populations as a whole. Who is going to teach the children? I think this needs to be addressed or help or at least put into the spot light! Where are the celebs now?! I hope that something can be done in the future to help this.

University Recognizes Native Students With Awareness Week and Powwow

Dancers at the 2011 American Indian Awareness Week powwow at Black Hills State University in Rapid City, South Dakota.
By ICTMN Staff: April 10, 2012

Black Hills State University in South Dakota is hosting a Powwow in honor of the large population of Native American students that tend the college. This will be the 29th annual powwow to be hosted here, lasting for three days (April 13th - April 15th). There is going to be traditional dancing and this event is open for all of the public. This would be a great place for people to learn about the Native Americans and for Native people to have pride in who they are. There has been a lot of struggles with Native people not wanting to be Native and hating who they are. This is a great chance to change that opinion, to help Native people embrace who they are without the fear and hatred. I think more colleges should do this, to help out the people that have been beaten down to believe that they aren't as important or that their hertiage is terrible. I know that Michigan State hosted a powwow. I didn't get to attend, but I heard that it was wonderful. :)

"Today starts the school’s week-long focus on Native culture which will feature speakers, a hand drum and singing competition and a three-day powwow. American Indian Awareness Week is organized by the school’s Center for American Indian Studies and the student organization Lakota Omniciye."



Suicide Survivor Arnold Thomas to Kick Off Red Lake Youth Conference

Arnold Thomas (Shoshone-Paiute) is a suicide survivor.
By Michael Meuers: March 26, 2012

The thought of suicide has crossed most people's minds while they were growing up, whether it was in high school, adulthood, or because of life problems. There have been several cases in the news lately about young people in middle school or high school that have committed or attempted suicide. The actions of bullying or family issues that appear to have no end could possibly drive a younger individual to suicide, but this is why Arnold Thomas has decided to help out, to get involved in the Sixth Annual Red Lake Youth Leadership Conference, at Red Lake Humanities Center in Red Lake, Minnesota.

Thomas states what happened to him here...

"From Thomas’ biography: “One warm summer night soon after I turned 18, I stuck a hunting rifle under my chin and pulled the trigger. The gun shot wound severely damaged my face and left me completely blind. I was unable to speak for several years. With the steadfast support of my hometown community, my family and my friends along with my own renewed will to live, I survived this challenging period of my life and slowly began to put the shattered pieces back together.'"

Because of Thomas' great efforts to help the young of the nation and tribal members to understand that suicide is not the only option. That things do in fact, "get better" (as the youtube campaigne is trying to teach the younger generation and protect them from suicide). He has been at this service for 15 years. He has served as a member of the National Institute of Health’s C-SAT (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment) work group, and he has assisted in creating cultural sensitive materials for the Indian Health services’ Emergency Medical Services for Children in Washington D.C. Thomas also served as a spiritual advisor for Native American inmates incarcerated in the Utah State Correctional system. He has also recently started working with homeless Native Americans.

Thomas is truly an inspiration to everyone who has ever thought about or tried to commit suicide. There are other options that can help: talk to someone (anyone). His actions speak a hundred more times than his words ever could. He is a strong individual that is standing up against something that he once had to face. I understand that sometimes we think there is no way out and we think the best thing we can do...is check out. I don't understand this logic, no matter how horrible things are. No matter how terrible everything appears to be...there is always a tomorrow. There is always someone who wants to help, who wants to change your life. "Suicide is a way of telling God...you can't fire me, I quit." I don't think that it is time to quit. I think it is time to stand up.

More Than Frybread Mockumentary Going Rez to Rez

By Jack McNeel: March 24, 2012

This looks like it is going to be one of the better mockumentary that I have heard about or watched in a long time. I understand where he is going with this. It is generally a really good idea and the video at the end of the article makes it so much better. The amount of 'cheesy-ness' is amazing. It hits the right spot for a mockumentary. I seriously hope that this film comes out soon for the whole public to see and not just bouncing around reservations then disappear.
The film is about a fake Frybread Competition that is bring together several different tribes as they compete for a trophy to be the best frybread maker. I think that this is a amazing idea for a film, because it brings together several tribes. Frybread is a major part of several tribes and the film is going across several reservations to help connect all the individuals. Weirdly enough frybread really isn't an original traditional food for Native people, but it has become one over the years. The pride that people take in making it is rather interesting. I love how this film is going to explore the cultural identities of people who live on reservations and the connection they have with frybread.

Below are some questions about the film that I thought would explain better.

"What is your background in this field?
I go out to the rez, non-Native, a missionary and just got a degree in anthropology from Northern Arizona University. It’s kind of funny. Three strikes against me right from the start to work with Native people. But it’s fine, I love working on the reservations.

Why did you choose frybread as a subject?
I wanted to make a movie that got us outside the Navajo reservation. I wanted something where we literally had an excuse to shoot on another reservation and make new friends and I thought frybread was a good thing to bring people together. I didn’t realize how frybread is kind of universal so we’re getting people from all over the U.S. and Canada to come and view the film.

Frybread is more important than life or death in Indian country. Have you found anyone offended by making light of it?
We had a world premiere February 3rd and sold out a show of 900 seats and almost sold a second show out the same evening. I think we’ve had one lady that’s seen it that came up with concerns, one out of possibly 10,000 people now that have seen it.

What other reservations are you hitting on this tour?

We’ll hit 11 reservations. On the journey up we started at the Hualapai Reservation, then Umatilla, Yakama, and Nez Perce. Now we’re here [at the University of Idaho] and then we’ll hit Colville, Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Rocky Boy in Montana and then Fort Duchesne, the Uinta-Ouray, and we finish up in San Carlos. We’ll be gone 15 days and 14 of those days we’ll be showing the movie on 11 reservations in six states.

Final question, why does a white guy make Native films?
I get that question all the time. I came to a better understanding a few weeks ago, someone talking about a hybrid. It’s an interesting idea. That’s the kind of film making I guess I’m involved with, hybrid film making. Here’s this outsider coming to Native communities and working together. I feel we can make a better movie doing it that way."

Oglalas Ask Courts to Cap Whiteclay Beer Sales

Street scene in Whiteclay, Nebraska.
By Stephanie Woodard: March 19, 2012

The Oglala Sioux Tribe was the original lawsuit against the Whiteclay for an estimated sum of $500 million in damages against the tribe. The alcoholism is running rampid through the tribe and it said to affect 85% of individuals on the reservation. The lawsuit was soon amended to try and put a cap on the amount of alcoholic that whiteclay could sell to tribal members. Apparently the alcoholic is either consumed illegally on and off the reservation.

"With Nebraska’s top legal advisor indicating the state would not enforce its own liquor laws, the tribe was left with “no adequate remedies at law” to stem the ongoing flood of alcohol across its borders, says its most recent complaint."

What else are they suppose to do? How can the tribe stop this huge company from selling alcohol illegally to the people who live on the reservation. Even if the alcohol suppliers stop, then bootleggers are sure to show up. I feel like cutting out the alcohol completely is not the best way to go about this plan of action. I understand that it is for the bettering of the community as a whole, but you have to fix the people and their issues first. If the alcohol stops coming, that doesn't mean the people will sober up. It means that they will go elsewhere to find alcohol. You can't stop an alcoholic from having a drink, unless the alcoholic wants to stop themselves. I understand there is good behind this lawsuit and the idea is there, but it will not completely stop the problem. Maybe with all the money they will get from the lawsuit it will be put towards treatment programs. I'm interested in seeing how this ends up.

"Bootleggers set up shop across the border in Whiteclay, Nebraska, almost immediately and began to peddle booze onto Pine Ridge, which to this day suffers crippling rates of alcoholism and alcohol-related public-health issues, overwhelming the tribe’s health-care, social-services, education and justice systems."

Most of the children are born with fetal alochol syndrome. That is a huge problem. Someone needs to help educate these people for them to understand what they are doing. I think that alcohol abuse can be one of the worse forms of abuse because you it is legal to get. It's easy to abuse something when there is no sigma against it and you can stop at any store a buy it. If you have nothing better to do then drink, why wouldn't people? They need better opportunities to prove themselves. Where is the will power to be better than the last generation? I get that they have been pushed to the side, but it is time to stand up! Isn't it?

Canadian Singer Grimes Honors Missing Aboriginal Women in NYC

Grimes, a.k.a. Claire Boucher, will hold a silent auction of her artwork in New York City to benefit Sisters in Spirit and its programs supporting missing and murdered aboriginal women.
By ICTMN Staff: March 10, 2012

Claire Boucher, the Canadian singer and artist known as Grimes, is going to preform in New York City at the Mercury Lounge on March 23 and at Glasslands Gallery on the 24th. The same weekend she will debut a visual arts show that she has curated and hold a silent auction to benefit Sisters in Spirit, Canada’s group that combats violence against aboriginal women.

The exhibit will be at the Audio Visual Arts (AVA) gallery, in the East Village, and sponsored by the website Refinery29.

She sat down with The New York Times recently to declare that she shies away from designer clothes and likes to show “the beauty of women, but with a dark side,” she said. “I like creating beauty out of scary things."

I think it is an amazing thing that she is going to dedicate a part of her time and energy to raising awareness about what is happening to aboriginal women. I think it is about time that someone famous point at what is happening. For some reason no one cares to listen, until someone famous points out an injustice. It is the way that society works and it is depressing. I don't understand why it takes someone that we consider "famous" to get anything done for a group of people. No one would have noticed the struggles before, but now it has a spot light on it. I guess it can be considered a curse and a blessing in the same breathe. Finally someone is taking notice of the issues that are happening, but it took someone "famous" to point it out. People that aren't famous should care about these issues. What if it was you? You were the person standing there being hurt and wronged and no one lifted a finger to help you...then someone famous pointed at the problem and everyone rushed to your side. I understand that is can be frustrating, but I guess some help is better than no one knowing at all.