Olinguito

President Barack Obama has nominated Cherokee Nation citizen Keith Harper of Washington, D.C., to an ambassador-rank post within the United Nations.

On June 10, Obama announced Harper as his pick for U.S. representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council. If confirmed by the Senate, Harper would be the first Native American in an ambassador post.

The United Nations Human Rights Council addresses human rights issues around the world. Prior U.S. representatives have included former first last Eleanor Roosevelt and vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro.

When Miss Navajo Leandra Thomas and Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise unveiled the special edition Miss Navajo Pendleton Shawl to the public on Friday, the more than 100 people in attendance whispered "ohhs" of surprise and offered their applause.

They were astounded by the colorful Pendleton shawl, which is officially called "Naabeeh— Asdzáá Bééhániih" in the Navajo language. "Ayoo shil bahozho," said Thomas in Navajo about the first-ever specialty shawl manufactured by Oregon-based Pendleton Woolen Mills.

Although Jason Champagne didn't grow up on a Native American reservation, he visited relatives on them growing up and saw nutrition was a major issue. Now, the 37-year-old University of Minnesota graduate student wants to change that. Like many Native American students in Minnesota, Champagne relied on tribal-funded scholarships to help pay for his college degree.

The fall of 2009 marked the first year University students were awarded the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Endowed Scholarship, which aims to increase Native American students at the University and is offered in part on students' intent to serve native societies when they graduate.

At Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Hagersville, Ontario, the home of the Six Nations Chiefs, box lacrosse champions of eastern Canada, a photograph from 1931 hangs on the wall. Gazing ahead resolutely and gripping a lacrosse stick is a handsome dark-haired Mohawk man with a bandage over his right brow.

As European explorers and Native chiefs set-up the translation protocol of their meetings, in the background, sailors and warriors would check out each other’s tattoos and piercings. You could say those were the first cross cultural exchanges in the Americas. Tattooing and body art was widespread among most tribes but because of Christianity and acculturation it disappeared or went underground for a century or so. Since the late 1960’s, modern society has seen a resurgence of all types of tattooing, with tribal designs especially trending. Before, it was the domain of subcultures like bikers, sailors, gangs, clubs, and inmates. Then the 1980’s saw the rise of Punk and a Youth culture of non-conformity and body art took off. Tribal tattoos now reflect Clan symbols and legends, totems and spirit protectors, family traditions and Native languages. Tribal members now modernize traditional arts like wampum designs and pictographs into body art to update and re-affirm cultural identity.

Continuing their success of the Navajo keyboard released last November for the Apple products, the staff of Native Innovation Inc. having been working hard this past month testing the application that will Android device users download a Navajo keyboard.

Last evening in Flagstaff, Native Innovation staff held a launch party at the Native American Cultural Center at Northern Arizona University to celebrate their success.

“This is our contribution to the Diné Language Revitalization among our tech savvy youth,” commented Jerome Tsosie, president and co-owner of Native Innovation Inc. to the Native News Network prior to the launch party.

The Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College was recently granted full accreditation, as described in last Saturday's Daily Mining Gazette, and Friday afternoon the achievement was celebrated.

A ceremony was held at the Big Bucks Bingo hall in Baraga, with several key stakeholders reflecting on the college's history and looking forward to its future. Several other dignitaries joined in the celebration.

When Red Cloud Junior Myriam Rama '15 learned about the Research Apprentice Program, or R.A.P., at the University of South Dakota, she knew it would give her exactly what she wanted: the opportunity to work with a professional chemist in a university lab. She spent this summer in the lab of Dr. Kadal Marriappan, focusing on metal ions and how to increase the efficiency of metal detectors.

What she didn't expect was that a small mistake in her research would lead to an innovative breakthrough—and put her name in print alongside seasoned scientists.

Ceivert LaForge hopes that people buying and selling goods and services on the Crow Indian Reservation are soon dealing with "scouts," not with U.S. dollars.

The scouts would be copper, silver and gold coins created and issued by the Crow Tribe, a "sovereign currency" for what is already a sovereign nation.

Over the summer 11 Cheyenne River teenagers provided 60 hours of service during the Cheyenne River Youth Project's first teen internship program. They focused on youth wellness and the two-acre Winyan Toka Win ("Leading Lady") garden in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.

The students earned a $500 stipend for their hard work.

On a plateau near Fort Defiance that felt like the top of the world, students and a teacher gathered sagebrush and lichen to dye wool.

It was once a common sight, but these days few weavers gather plants for natural dye.

"You don't need more than what you need," cautioned Mary Walker, a bilagáana weaving instructor for the weaving class. "That's greedy."

Her baskets have been shown in three continents in world-class museums, one of her baskets was presented to Pope Benedict at the Vatican, and now ten lucky students had the opportunity to learn from master basketmaker Sheila Ransom. Children from 9 years old to 14 years old met two times a week for a two-hour class at the Akwesasne Museum. Ms. Ransom’s specialty is making fancy baskets, but for this class she taught the skills she had learned from another master basketmaker, Henry Arquette, to make a small pack basket.

Fourth Annual Hopi Native Arts and Music Festival Sept. 28-29

The fourth annual Hopi Native Arts and Music Festival takes place Sept. 28-29 in Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff. Organizers expect to draw several thousand visitors daily to Flagstaff.

The Hopi Tribe Economic Development Corporation (HTEDC) sponsors the event. The group's mission is to create economic opportunities for the Hopi people. Kevin Lombardo, CEO of the corporation, believes that the festival in Heritage Square is an economic opportunity that creates a venue where people can come and gather and present their wares and have others come and look, and hopefully, buy them.

This Date in Native History: Earthquakes and eclipses of the sun were among the deeds attributed to Tecumseh and his brother, but legends surrounding Tecumseh are as great as the truths, said Shawnee Second Chief Ben Barnes. "It is hard to know without proof or specific oral history just exactly what happened" on August 11, 1802 he said.

There is evidence that Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa, were prophets and visionaries who may have changed history had there been a little more help from the British, and more faith from certain tribes. As for help from the Creator, or "Master of Life," the evidence follows.

The 19th Annual Gathering of Potawatomi Nations is now history, but it will be long remembered as a place where Potawatomi from nine bands gathered under bright skies and green trees to celebrate who they are as Potawatomi people.

Known as the "keepers of the fire," the Potawatomi have had a presence in Michigan for centuries, so for many descendants who were in Dowagiac, the home base of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, it was a time to remember where their ancestors lived up until the mid-1840s when they were forced to Kansas and Oklahoma.

Horsemeat is not only a delicacy in Europe and China, it's also one here.

Since at least the 1500s, Navajos have harvested and consumed horses. This is according to Tim Begay, a Navajo Cultural Specialist with the Navajo Historic Preservation Department, who added that horse consumption on Navajo was and is mostly a way to combat the common cold and flu, and an alternative food source for families during the winter months.

"It was used as medicine, which is totally different from slaughtering and selling them to different countries," Begay said of why Navajos harvest horses.

Plimoth Plantation's Wampanoag Indigenous Program (WIP) is proud to announce that a mishoon (a traditional Native American canoe) has recently been accepted into the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, one of 19 museums, research centers and zoos that comprise the Smithsonian Institution.

Five-year-olds who consume four or more sodas daily are more than twice as likely to attack others, fight with them or destroy their property, according to findings from a study by the Children's Hospital Medical Center, published August 16 in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Many studies have confirmed a relationship between adolescents' soft drink consumption and aggression, depression and suicidal thoughts; but this is the first time scientists have identified this association between soda and young children.