A National Memorial in Northern Michigan is getting a $3.6 million makeover to more accurately portray the area’s Native American history. The grant, received by The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), comes from the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Projects, a $500 million commitment to transforming the nation’s commemorative landscape to ensure collective histories are more completely and accurately represented. The Father Marquette National Memorial sits in the Straits State Park, St. Ignace.
Non-profit news outlet Retro Report recently released a short film, , about the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz Island, which sparked a wave of Native American activism in the 1970s. Native News Online sat down with the film’s producer, Colleen Thurston (Choctaw Nation), to discuss how the occupation of Alcatraz was the beginning of the modern Indigenous rights era, what inspired her to create this film, and what she would like Native and non-Native audiences to gain from watching.
The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) announced the designer line-up for the first-ever American-produced Indigenous Fashion Week which will take place in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The event is set to take place from May 2 to 5 and will feature Native American and Indigenous Canadian designers who aim to shine a spotlight on their unique fashion narratives and celebrate the rich diversity in Indigenous cultures.
Nearly 150 people were evicted earlier this month from Camp Nenookaasi, a community-based healing camp in Minneapolis rooted in Native practices where people experiencing homelessness can find stable interim shelter. The camp has occupied a vacant city lot in the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis since August 2023, but residents began folding tents and gathering belongings after Mayor Jacob Frey scheduled the eviction and destruction of the camp on January 4. On January 2, residents of Camp Nenookaasi filed a lawsuit against Frey in an attempt to halt the eviction process, but a federal judge denied their request, allowing the city to move forward.
A new report released on Wednesday shows that persistent disparities are hindering American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children across the United States. “We need children of every race and ethnicity to grow up ready to provide the talent, intellect and hard work that will make our country strong and prosperous,” Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs at the Casey Foundation, said in a press release. While there were gains among every demographic group in poverty indicators, more than half of AI/AN (57%) kids currently live below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.