Native News Online’s editorial staff is dedicated to providing accurate and important news about the Indigenous peoples year round. As we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we asked some of our editorial team to write what it means to be a writer on Indigenous issues for Native News Online. At Native News Online, our job is to elevate the long-ignored and intentionally hidden truth of what Indigenous people have suffered for generations at the hands of the U.S. government.
Tribal Nations and a California Representative voiced support last week for a bill that would memorialize public lands adjacent to the Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. U.S. Representative Raul Raiz (D-CA) announced in a press conference that he supports efforts to memorialize the public lands and is asking President Biden to designate them as a National Monument. Raiz said that earlier in September, he began the legislative process to memorialize the lands by introducing the Chuckwalla National Monument Establishment and Joshua Tree National Park Expansion Act of 2023.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol announced last week that Ivan Reddest, Jr., 24, a Kyle, South Dakota man, died as a pedestrian in Box Elder, a town next to Rapid City. Reddest was a tribal citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. All were young and pedestrians walking along South Dakota highways.
The North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) announced on Friday, September 15, 2023, it has acquired Owamni, the award-winning modern Indigenous full service restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. The James Beard Award-winning restaurant was previously owned by Ghost Dancer, LLC, a company co-owned by Sean Sherman (Oglala Sioux) and Dana Thompson. Together, Sherman and Thompson branded “The Sioux Chef” and launched NATIFS, the Tatanka Truck food truck and Owamni.
Today, 35 people were arrested and cited for violations in Washington, D.C., during a planned demonstration near the White House advocating for the release of Leonard Peltier from federal prison. The organized demonstration took place near Lafayette Square, a public park just north of the White House, bringing hundreds of supporters to push an organized message to President Biden to free Peltier from prison on his 79th birthday. “For 79 years, this warrior, a relative, our elder, walked these lands with purpose, with a fire, and with a calling, a special calling upon his life, and he has galvanized a movement for justice in the United States,” said NCAI President Fawn Sharp at Tuesday’s rally in front of the White House.