The Fight for Mahto Paha.

Courtesy aimag.com The new Full Throttle Saloon’s plans call for construction of 400 cabins and RV hookups shown in the aerial photo at the base of Bear Butte.

Courtesy aimag.com
The new Full Throttle Saloon’s plans call for construction of 400 cabins and RV hookups shown in the aerial photo at the base of Bear Butte.

The fight for the sacred grounds of Bear Butte has not gone well, and now the biggest asshole of biker assholes is planning on wholesale desecration. White people, so darn thoughtful and stuff.

Tribal leaders fear that Bear Butte, one of the seven traditional sacred sites of Northern Plains tribes in or near the Black Hills, is in serious danger of further moral and environmental degradation after a local planning board recommended that Meade County commissioners grant full approval for construction of the “world’s biggest biker bar” on a campground practically at the base of the butte.

Applying for the plot approval is Michael Ballard, whose original Full Throttle Saloon, east of Sturgis, was widely hyped to be the “World’s Largest Biker Bar.” He hopes this new Full Throttle Saloon will be even more successful than the original, which burned down last September. Ballard has obtained unanimous preliminary approval from the Meade County Planning Commission on April 18 and from the Meade County Commission on May 11.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe, President William Kindle, reached in his office Wednesday, said the tribe continues to explore every option to prevent further desecration around “Mato Paha,” and stood by his May 25 statement to the planning board, in which he said his tribe had “grave concerns because this would additionally impact an area that is already stressed by those outsiders who feel the need to develop additional adult entertainment/play spaces, which are located in close proximity to our place of prayer, Bear Butte.

“Not only would this bring additional people imbibing in alcohol, and obnoxious revelry near our sacred site, there would most likely be a serious impact to the water and the ecology of the area.” In addition to a new Full Throttle Saloon, Ballard’s plans call for construction of 400 cabins and additional RV hookups for an adjacent campground — to be named The Pappy Hoel Campground.

Full Story at ICTMN.

Make America Native Again.

Facebook.

Facebook.

There is a new product hitting the interwaves that hails from Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s a red baseball cap featuring the caption: “Make America Native Again” in response to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, which states “Make America Great Again”.

The hat, produced by Bowen Creative of Albuquerque is worn in this image by Christina M. Castro on her Facebook page. Ms. Castro works as a staff facilitator for Tewa Women United’s A’Gin Program: Healthy Sexuality & Body Sovereignty Project. She’s also the managing editor of the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute’s youth publication, The Yucca Cord.

Castro calls herself, “a writer, educator, all around badass native woman!”

“You know it’s interesting how Trump, a rich, white man can be blatantly racist and it’s ok. When people of color have a response, we are quickly shut down. We Native American people have an increasingly powerful voice that will not be silenced!”

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[…]

These are all strong Native women making statements, empowering each other but also just living their daily lives, making America Native, again.
The “Make America Native Again” hat can be found here: http://bowencreative.co/shop.

The full story is at ICTMN.

Thunder Boy Jr.

Courtesy Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Courtesy Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Thunder Boy Jr., the new children’s picture book by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016), is the latest in long line of literary works by the Native author and humorist. Alexie has been touring the country, doing personalized readings for schoolchildren and other audiences for several months. Recently he stopped at the historic KiMo Theatre in downtown Albuquerque, where he regaled the capacity crowd for more than two hours, offering insights into the book’s creation as well as personal revelations. Indian Country Today Media Network sat down with Alexie for a glimpse into his life and work.

ICTMN has the interview.

GAG

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Sunday’s NYC Pride parade will include an important new contingent of marchers. Hundreds of people will march in a group called Gays Against Guns (GAG), formed in the wake of the June 12 Orlando massacre. The parade begins this Sunday at noon starting at 36th street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

From organizers:

About 150 people showed up for GAG’s first organizational meeting at the LGBT Community Center on Friday, June 17, to organize the group’s presence at the March. In attendance was openly gay City Councilmember Corey Johnson, who invited GAG to join his March contingent. “Gays Against Guns is taking this fight to the NRA’s front door,” said Johnson. “Our community has been fighting for gun control as part of other organizations for many years, now we’re starting our own. The LGBT community has vanquished bigger enemies than the NRA.”

Said Kevin Hertzog, who started the group with Brian Worth, “We know that several groups have been fighting gun violence in the U.S. for decades now. We’ll be meeting after Pride to hash out positions and a strategy approaching the November 2 elections. But for now, we want to present as large a crowd as possible on Sunday, to show New York and the U.S. that LGBTQ people are outraged. The current situation with guns in America makes us gag in disgust!”

[…]

Follow them on Facebook at “Gays Against Guns NY” or @GAGnoguns on Twitter.

(Staging area is 35th street between Fifth and Madison, Section 0, Group 33, from about 11am.)

Full Story is at Towle Road.

Sealaska Art Contest

Txaamsem, Best of Show, by David R. Boxley (Photo: Brian Wallace, Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)

Txaamsem, Best of Show, by David R. Boxley (Photo: Brian Wallace, Courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)

Eight artists have taken top prizes at Sealaska Heritage Institute’s eighth biennial Juried Art Show and Competition, and five young artists also placed in SHI’s new Youth Juried Art Exhibit.

Tsimshian artist David R. Boxley won the top two awards: Best of Show and Best of Formline for his piece Txaamsem.

“I have worked for a very long time to understand formline,” Boxley told the crowd at the ceremony. “I believe it is the most beautiful thing in the world.”

Tlingit artist Alison Bremner won second place for Best of Formline for her print Cat Lady:

Cat Lady, by Alison Bremner, won second place for Best of Formline (Photo: Brian Wallace, Courtesy Sealaska Heritage Institute)

Cat Lady, by Alison Bremner, won second place for Best of Formline (Photo: Brian Wallace, Courtesy Sealaska Heritage Institute)

[Read more…]

Relay!

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The 2016 PIHRA races are off to an exciting start, and even more exciting, the finals will be taking place in Billings, Montana, which is close enough for us to go, so it looks like we’ll be taking a week in September. Maybe two, if we make wacipi earlier in September. From Lakota Country Times:

According to the PIHRA website “Indian relay is America’s oldest sport. It dates back over 400 years to when the horse was first re-introduced to the native cultures of the America’s. Lakota culture insists that this was in fact the second coming of the horse and its reintroduction and in fact the relationship to the plains cultures and the horse is perhaps much older than that is realized. Archeology seems to support that view.”

The PIHRA would add, “It appears that Indian relay developed independently amongst the Indian nations. Different cultures have different oral histories of its origins and most likely they are all true representations. To one tribe relay was used as war games, to another a relay to hunt the buffalo, to another a way to outrun the wild horses to enable their capture,” said the PIHRA.

The Modern version of the sport is currently experiencing a time of rapid growth and has over 50 teams currently vying for one of thirty spots in this year’s World Championships set to be held in Billings, MT on September, 22, 2016.

During the relay portion of the race Riders and Holders line up and await a starting gunshot. After the start riders leap on horses and race three laps exchanging horses after each lap. Fifteen horses and 20 warriors are on the track at the same time working for that seamless exchange. Each team consists of a rider, an Exchange Holder who holds the horse the rider mounts, a Mugger who catches the horse the rider jumps off, and a Back Holder who’s job it is to secure the extra horse during horse rotation.

The PIHRA requires team members to be dressed in tribal theme oriented regalia or traditional ribbon shirts while the rider’s regalia will display moccasins, breechcloths and/or leggings. All horses will be marked with traditional tribal war paint and decorations in colors determined by team tradition which may include medicine and feathers and any distinguishing personal symbol, mark and color.

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There’s much more to read and see at Professional Indian Horse Racing Association. Check the schedules, if you’re going to be in the areas this year, grab a ticket.

Remember the Removal, 2016.

Courtesy Cherokee Nation Remember the Removal Bike Ride Elder Ambassador and Cherokee Nation citizen Sammy Houseberg leads the cyclists to the Cherokee Nation Courthouse as they complete the 950-mile trek.

Courtesy Cherokee Nation
Remember the Removal Bike Ride Elder Ambassador and Cherokee Nation citizen Sammy Houseberg leads the cyclists to the Cherokee Nation Courthouse as they complete the 950-mile trek.

The 2016 Remember the Removal Bike Ride cyclists rolled onto the Cherokee Nation Courthouse lawn Thursday, June 23 officially ending their 950-mile journey retracing the Trail of Tears.

Eight Cherokee Nation cyclists and seven Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian riders traveled seven states starting June 5 to honor their Cherokee ancestors who were forced to make the trek on foot more than 175 years ago. […] The cyclists started in New Echota, Georgia, and traveled over three weeks across Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas to arrive in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

“This ride is an amazing journey. It’s vigorous and challenging, and I feel like we are taking away a family bond and a better sense of our tribe’s history, culture and ancestry,” said 2016 Remember the Removal cyclist and Cherokee Nation citizen Blayn Workman. “Because of this experience, I can also now tell others about what actually happened on the Trail of Tears. In school, you don’t learn about where they stopped along the trail or why they stopped or how many died, so now I can help further other people’s knowledge about the trail just as the ride helped further my knowledge.”

The cyclists visited various gravesites and historic landmarks significant to the history of the Trail of Tears, including Blythe Ferry in Tennessee, which was the last piece of Cherokee homeland the ancestors stood on before beginning the trek to Indian Territory. Riders visited Mantle Rock in Kentucky, which provided shelter to the ancestors as they waited for the Ohio River to thaw in order to cross safely, and also stopped to pray at Shellsford Cemetery in Tennessee, where Cherokees who died on the route are buried in unmarked graves.

2016 Remember the Removal Bike Ride participant and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians citizen Jack Cooper hugs his mother Jill after completing the 950-mile bike ride. (Courtesy Cherokee Nation)

2016 Remember the Removal Bike Ride participant and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians citizen Jack Cooper hugs his mother Jill after completing the 950-mile bike ride. (Courtesy Cherokee Nation)

[…]

The Cherokee Nation started the ride in 1984 as a leadership program and so that Cherokee youth would never forget the hardships of their Cherokee ancestors. Of the estimated 16,000 forced to make the journey to Indian Territory, approximately 4,000 died due to exposure, starvation and disease.

For the first time since the program began, participants received three hours of college credit from Northeastern State University after completion of the ride. Also, the U.S. National Park Service awarded a copy5,000 grant to the Remember the Removal Bike Ride for cyclists to promote the national parks along the trail.

The 2016 Remember the Removal Bike Ride included the following:

Cherokee Nation

Amicia Craig, 24, Tahlequah

Stephanie Hammer, 24, Tahlequah

Nikki Lewis, 23, Tahlequah

Kelsey Girty, 21, Warner

Amber Anderson, 23, Warr Acres

Kylar Trumbla, 23, Proctor

Blayn Workman, 16, Muldrow

Glendon VanSandt, 16, Siloam Springs

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Marisa Cabe, 49, Wolfetown, North Carolina

Cole Saunooke, 16, Yellowhill, North Carolina

Tom Hill, 57, Yellowhill, North Carolina

Tosh Welch, 38, Wolfetown, North Carolina

J.D. Arch, 49, Wolfetown, North Carolina

Jack Cooper, 15, Birdtown, North Carolina

Aaron Hogner, 31, Wolfetown, North Carolina

The Cherokee Nation also had Cherokee Nation citizens Stacy Leeds, Dean of Law at the University of Arkansas, ride as a historian, Vietnam veteran Sammy Houseberg ride as an ambassador and Kevin Jackson ride as a Cherokee Nation marshal and trainer.

The 2016 Remember the Removal Bike Ride is chronicled on Facebook.

ICTMN has the full story.

Battle at the Greasy Grass.

Indians charge Custer’s cavalry. (Courtesy National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution)

Indians charge Custer’s cavalry. (Courtesy National Anthropological Archives/Smithsonian Institution)

140 years ago, on June 25th, 1876, the Battle at the Greasy Grass was fought. Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho were camped at the Greasy Grass along side the Little Bighorn River. What was one of the few victories of Indians against the colonial military is historically described as a tragedy, the horrific slaughter of a noble man and great military leader. Poor Custer. Certainly, at the time, the battle at the Greasy Grass was depicted as a tragedy to be avenged, those animals (Indians) needing to be put down, and we were. It wasn’t long after Greasy Grass that much more effective arms were granted to the military, repeating rifles rather than single shot, etc. Crazy Horse was killed in captivity by soldiers. That was followed by the Massacre of Wounded Knee. The U.S. has held a grudge over the Greasy Grass for all these years. Everywhere, there are monuments littered of those who slaughtered countless Indians, including Custer, but there are no monuments to the valiant fighters of the Greasy Grass, of those who saved and protected so many lives, as there were six to eight thousand Indians gathered at the Greasy Grass.

Ruth Hopkins has an article at Last Real Indians, Fighting with Spirit, How Greasy Grass Was Won.

ICTMN has an article, The Battle of the Greasy Grass 140 Years Later: The Complete Story in 18 Drawings.

The Lakota Times (subscription only) notes that “The Battle of Greasy Grass/The Battle of Little Bighorn”will begin at 2 p.m. on June 25th. Admission for Learning Forums is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $9 for students, & half off for members (includes museum admission). The Journey Museum is located in Rapid City at 222 New York St, 2 blocks east of the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center right across from the Club for Boys.

A 2010 article from Smithsonian Magazine highlights the Battle at the Greasy Grass from the point of view of the victors, a rare case when the victors are Indians.

Happy Victory Day.

Jim Boyd has walked on.

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Jim Boyd, musician and Colville tribal chairman has walked on. Jim was well known for his music as a member of the bands XIT, Greywolf and Winterhawk, and for four songs in the iconic Indian Country classic movie Smoke Signals. Jim Boyd was also instrumental in the recent historic canoe journey and intertribal gathering, which has brought profound joy to so many people. Also instrumental in that effort was Virgil Seymour, who also walked on recently, another great loss to the Colville people.

Jim has walked on, but I will look to the stars, listen to his voice, and whisper thank you.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fFWrfI1YLU

Native Music Icon and Colville Chairman Jim Boyd Walks On.  Jim Boyd’s Passing the Second of Two Devastating Losses for Colvilles.  ‘There are No Words’: Reviving Canoe Culture on the Upper Columbia River.

Stonewall: Where [White] Pride Began.

Last year, I was excited to hear a movie was going to be made about Stonewall. I wasn’t so excited when I heard it would be directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Patriot). Then I thought to myself, well, how bad could even Emmerich do, it’s a great story, filled with amazing people. Optimism really doesn’t pay off. After last September, I heard many negative noises about the film, and promptly forgot about it.

Did you see Stonewall? Based on its abysmal box office performance, it seems safe to assume you did not. The terrifically abominable thing — just a badly-planned and shoddily-executed work from start to finish — premiered last September and grossed just $187,674.

Stonewall is offensive on two counts: Not just for being a lousy movie, but also for whitewashing history. The 1969 Stonewall riots, as has been well-documented, was a landmark event for LGBT rights; two of the most prominent protesters were trans women of color, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

But Stonewall director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Patriot) wanted his movie to appeal to the masses, he explained to Buzzfeed, and in order to get that mainstream appeal, he created a fictional protagonist, Danny. Danny is gay but, in Emmerich’s words, “very straight-acting.” He is cis and he is white. He moves from Indiana to New York City and, in the film, is the brick-throwing rebel that incites the riots that sparked a movement.

:Gobsmacked: So Emmerich thought a white, cis-het appearing, apple pie and mom guy would magically appeal to the ‘mainstream’. Who did he think was going to be the major audience for a movie about Stonewall? This reminds me of the often blank reaction people get when they realize that indigenous people are still around – Stonewall was in 1969, and no, not everyone there and involved is dead, let alone long dead.

Perhaps it will not surprise you to know that many, many LGBT individuals and allies objected to this act of erasure — Johnson makes little more than a cameo, Rivera is M.I.A. — and over 20,000 people signed a petition promising to boycott the movie altogether.

No, that doesn’t surprise me at all.

One might think that Emmerich, nearly a year out from his film’s release and subsequent commercial and critical failure (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 9 percent) would, upon reflection, realize his errors. Or not! In an interview with The Guardian pegged to the release of sure-to-be-cinematic-masterpiece Independence Day: Resurgence, Emmerich “sighs at the memory of his passion project’s reception.”

“My movie was exactly what they said it wasn’t. It was politically correct. It had black, transgender people in there,” Emmerich said. “We just got killed by one voice on the internet who saw a trailer and said, this is whitewashing Stonewall. Stonewall was a white event, let’s be honest. But nobody wanted to hear that any more.”

Stonewall was a white event. Did I say I was gobsmacked before? No, Stonewall was not a white event. It wasn’t even close to a white event. Titus Montalvo, a Stonewall vet, put the crowd at 70% Hispanic and Black. That’s not overwhelmingly white, but I suppose to an Independence-minded Emmerich, that constitutes a white event. Mr. Emmerich, please, stick with your idiot pleaser popcorn flicks, and consider staying very, very quiet about events such as Stonewall. No one appreciates your continued whitewash.

Full Story Here.

Posters for Pulse.

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Photographer David Ayllon is offering these posters of drag perfomers, with all proceeds to be donated directly to the official Pulse victims fund. Didn’t take me long to make a choice, I’m all in love with Iris Spectre – “Noir”:

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Have a visit, take a look, and get yourself a nice piece of art. This is a great way to give, and to receive.

http://davidayllon.storenvy.com/

The Collective

The B. Yellowtail Collective is finally up and running, and looking great!

Anthony Thosh Collins - Thoshograpy.com Models: Linsay Willier (left), Shania Russell (center), and Gabrielle Lopez (right). Native fashion designer icon Bethany Yellowtail (Northern Cheyenne and Crow tribes) just launched a e-commerce retail expansion in partnership with a group of Native American artists on her website known as The B. Yellowtail Collective.

Anthony Thosh Collins – Thoshograpy.com
Models: Linsay Willier (left), Shania Russell (center), and Gabrielle Lopez (right). Native fashion designer icon Bethany Yellowtail (Northern Cheyenne and Crow tribes) just launched a e-commerce retail expansion in partnership with a group of Native American artists on her website known as The B. Yellowtail Collective.

Native fashion designer icon Bethany Yellowtail (Northern Cheyenne and Crow tribes) just launched a e-commerce retail expansion in partnership with a group of Native American artists on her website known as The B. Yellowtail Collective.

The Collective will benefit a group of Native artists selling their Native made fashion retail goods on the BYellowtail.com website.

According to a release put out by Yellowtail, the e-commerce retail initiative features jewelry, beadwork, textiles, handbags, and other accessories handmade by each of the artists. All pieces are one-of-a-kind, created through traditional design methods passed down for many generations.

Since the inception of Yellowtail’s clothing line in 2014, the designer says she has envisioned a collaborative project with Native American artists and designers who often lack retail opportunities due to their remote locales.

“What makes The Collective so unique is that the people will now have a direct connection to the authentic, creative source of what they’re purchasing. It is very important to know and understand the artist behind the work,” Yellowtail said.

“There will now be a face and a name behind their work, not just a generic idea of Native American product,” Yellowtail said, “Consumers will be able to see their faces, hear their voices, and understand the significance and individuality behind their designs and concepts.”

 Yellowtail tells ICTMN she was inspired to create the Collective when she was moving from Los Angeles back to her home communities on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne nations. Shifting from the fast-pace of L.A. caused her to rethink and re-evaluate her goals for her company.

She says one moment in particular inspired the Collective.

“I was at a gas station in Lame Deer, MT and a man came up to me and asked if I wanted to buy some earrings he made. I asked him, ‘WOW, how much?!’ They were absolutely exquisite. He said, ‘15.00, I just need gas money.’ That moment, a light bulb went off. At first, I felt really sad because the earrings were incredible and what he was asking for was so beneath their true value. Poverty, unemployment and lack of job opportunities is so real, especially in the Northern Plains region. So, accompanied by several other moments like that while I was living back home, I decided I need to use my platform as an opportunity to create real sustainable change. Launching “The Collective” is just the stepping stone for the true potential of our brand.

Yellowtail says that she hopes to provide more opportunity for artists in her life. She also offered words of advice to aspiring native designers and young native people in general.

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Model Martin Sensmeier (left) Necklaces by Alaynee Goodwill & Kendorina Redhouse Cuffs by Alaynee Goodwill & Thomas Yellowtail. Model Stephen Yellowtail (right) Choker by Karis Jackson, Bolo tie by Susanne Stewart, Cuffs by Elias Not Afraid. Photo: Anthony Thosh Collins – Thoshograpy.com

The B. Yellowtail Collective. Article at ICTMN.