Trahant Reports

Indian Country Today had its 40th anniversary last week. The newspaper has published a lot of history in that time. And one narrative that stands out, the story of founder Tim Giago.

A new film explores the story of John Peabody Harrington. He was an ethnologist and linguist who spent more than fifty years conducting exhaustive research that preserved some 150 languages (including detailed notes with more than 1 million pages). (Repeat)

Are the United States and Canada ready to reconcile their national myth with a brutal truth of history? Secretary Deb Haaland’s op-ed in the Washington Post was a first step.

Cartoonists have the talent to take a complicated idea and boil it down to its essence. The best cartoons make us laugh. And then we think. So it’s disheartening when the Pulitzer Prize board cannot reach a conclusion and give its annual award.

There is a lot of complexity in criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. That’s because when federal policy changes … the law often does not. So some laws support tribal sovereignty while others undermine that same idea. And that’s how a common sense decision became a “bare minimum standard” for law enforcement in a tribal nation.

The return of inflation impacts people in a variety of ways. It’s an old problem, one that really hasn’t surfaced in recent years.

A memorial day story. American Indians and Alaska Natives have a long history of signing up for military service. Even the Public Health Service is a uniformed civilian branch of the United States. And so many people lost their lives wearing one of those uniforms.

The latest research confirms what we already know: The impact from sports mascots is harmful to Native people. And, as people learn more, they are compelled to be good neighbors. It only takes one visit to a team with a mascot, watching the fans in all their crazy and offensive celebrations, to understand.

The latest research confirms what we already know: The impact from sports mascots is harmful to Native people. And, as people learn more, they are compelled to be good neighbors. It only takes one visit to a team with a mascot, watching the fans in all their crazy and offensive celebrations, to understand.

As tribal governments decide the next steps to limit the spread of COVID-19, one thing is clear. American Indian and Alaska Natives have the highest rates of vaccination in the country, according to the CDC. Already nearly 40 percent of the total population has had at least one dose. That compares to 25 percent of white Americans.