Monday, July 11, 2016 – Retrieving sacred items
Various tribes have tried different strategies to try and recover important and sacred items. Some use the courts. Some negotiate with well-meaning museum curators. Others resort to bidding for them against wealthy collectors at auctions or on eBay. One approach proposed in Congress works to make it harder for unscrupulous sellers with new laws and harsher penalties.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016 – Putting ancestry to the DNA test
For a fee, you can fill out an application, swab your cheek and find out if you have Native ancestry. Dozens of online services perform this service for hundreds of curious people. But does the result mean you can finally declare your Cherokee heritage? What do online DNA kits really tell us about Native ancestry?
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 – Bikers vs. sacred sites
Bear Butte, South Dakota, or Mató Pahá, is a well-known sacred place to the Lakota. That’s in contrast to the new Full Throttle Saloon. The owners bill it as the “World’s Largest Biker Bar” with 15,000 patrons a night during the Sturgis Bike Rally. In August, a group of Native American activists plans to protest the bar because of its proximity to Mató Pahá.
Thursday, July 14, 2016 – The pot powwow: marketing marijuana to Native Americans
A medical marijuana company is marketing directly to Native Americans. Scottsdale, Arizona-based Ultra Health signed a major sponsorship deal with the popular Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque. The deal includes putting the Ultra Health company name in the powwow title. Is this the beginning of a new brand of Native American marketing?
Friday, July 15, 2016 – Young people facing climate change
The changes in average global temperature will have consequences. How and when these things will happen is not clear. The Environmental Protection Agency predicts reductions in crop yield, increases in flood-causing rain, and an increase in wildfires in the future. Young people will bear a heavier burden of climate change.
