On November 15th 2013 I was able to attend the 7th Annual LA Skinsfest Film Festival in Los Angeles, California and view a short film I co-wrote on the big screen of Regal Cinemas in downtown LA. As I stepped onto the hustle of the city streets I noticed the neon lights flowing down…
My Leadership Path: Discovering the Power of Our Native Foods (Recipes Below :)) For the last four years I have been on a journey into the great vastness of health and wellness. I discovered this passion and a way of life at Fort Lewis College, in Durango, CO. In 2009 I connected with the…
Hello NYLA community. NYLA members (Mariana and Winona) and I attended a two-day symposium in Seattle, May 1st and 2nd about cultural food practices and ecological knowledge. The symposium celebrated the future plans for Weleb?atxw, a community hall on the University of Washington campus. This longhouse style building will open in 2014. The workshops at…
I was recently elected as a Shannon County Commissioner representing District 2 in my hometown of Oglala, South Dakota. Through research based on a the history of Native American women who were elected, I found out I am the youngest in history to hold office and youngest Native elected in the country as a County…
These past few months have been very intense! I am so passionate to work with our Native youth, they have so much talent and just need the right environments and encouragement to share their voices and gifts fully. Our communities need to see youth as the most important resources for our future, and with my…
Earlier this month I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the ‘The Living Breath of Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ: Indigenous Ways of Knowing Cultural Food Practices and Ecological Knowledge’ symposium held at the University of Washington in Seattle. This extraordinary event held space for Native peoples in the local region to share their knowledge, practices, issues, stories, and (possibly…
I was honored to have the opportunity to speak at The 2013 Funders for LGBTQ Issues Grantmakers Retreat in Albuquerque NM it was organized by Santa Fe Community Foundation and The Envision fund. We did the opening night for the retreat, we spoke about the issues happening New Mexico among LGBTQ and we were the…
This past March, I had an amazing opportunity to learn and gain more experience with Nettles (Urtica dioica). Hosted by Tierra Madre Fund’s Ya-howt Food Justice program and the Community Alliance for Global Justice held at the Chief Seattle Club, in downtown Seattle, WA. This one day workshop offered an opportunity for the urban Native…
On January 29-31, 2013 we made a difference with the youth of Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Fort Duchesne, UT and we got to experience a Youth Leadership Conference. NYLA fellow Angel Mills and I got invited to facilitate a workshop on Celebrate LIFE and Two-Spirit/LGBTQ and a “huge” thanks to Malachi Garza a Brown…
The Powder River Basin (PRB) in Southern Montana and Northern Wyoming is home to billions of tons of coal deposits. Coal mine owners in the eastern MT and eastern WY are trying to take advantage of the booming markets in China, South Korea, India, and other countries in Asia by shipping their coal overseas. Coal…