Latest news with #AlaskanNative
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND NEW CATEGORIES
A note from Kelly Moneymaker, AIFF Humanitarian Award Recipient 2024 and owner of Alaska-based Drum Song Films ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Dear Friends, I'm incredibly honored to join the AIFF (Anchorage International Film Festival) Board of Directors, alongside the brilliant and inspiring Princess Daazhraii Johnson. Together, with the amazing AIFF team, we're excited to continue to create space for storytellers from across Alaska, especially from our Indigenous voices across the state, nation, and Internationally. As we gear up to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Anchorage International Film Festival, I'm thrilled to share some exciting updates about what's ahead. This isn't just a milestone, it's a moment to honor where we've been and reimagine where we're going. AIFF has long championed independent voices, and this year we're deepening that mission with new creative opportunities, expanded outreach, and a renewed commitment to inclusion, equity, and authentic representation. Festival Director Adam Linkenhelt shares: "We're so pleased to welcome two extraordinary new voices to our Board of Directors this year: Princess Daazhraii Johnson, an Alaskan Native writer, producer, and actress known for her work on HBO's True Detective: Night Country and the animated PBS Kids series Molly of Denali—and Kelly Moneymaker, last year's AIFF Humanitarian Award winner for her beautiful Alaskan-made documentary Drum Song: The Rhythm of Life. Both bring deep roots in our community and an unwavering passion for graceful storytelling that uplifts Alaska's unique culture. And here's some of the exciting new categories we wanted to share with the Alaskan community. iPhone Super Shorts This brand-new category is all about scrappy, soulful, and wildly creative filmmaking. These are short scripted films or documentaries—under 6 minutes—shot entirely on an iPhone. It's proof that you don't need a big budget to tell a bold story. Sometimes all it takes is a phone, a vision, and the courage to hit record. As Festival Director Adam Linkenhelt puts it: "The iPhone Super Short is about the democratization of cinema: opening the door wide for anyone with a story and a phone, no matter where they're from, what age or what they've got. It's voices from Detroit, Baltimore, the heartland of America, villages across Alaska, and places you'd never expect, all coming together." Music Video Category We want to create a space where musicians and filmmakers are in the same room—where musicians who've picked up a camera, filmmakers who love music, and anyone who's taken a creative risk with a music video can share their work. If you've made a music video that's wild, personal, or just something different, we want to see it. This category is about showcasing music videos as a unique art form—where sound meets vision in ways that move, surprise, and inspire. Come join us and share your music and film with an audience that understands why music videos are such a beautiful, powerful way to tell stories. Native Voices Showcase Building on the powerful success of last year's Native Voices Showcase, we're proud to continue this vital program. This showcase creates a dedicated space for Indigenous filmmakers from diverse tribes around the globe to share their stories, challenge perceptions, and bring fresh perspectives to audiences in Alaska and beyond. It's about celebrating the rich complexity of Native experiences and giving voice to narratives that deserve to be seen and heard. A Word from Festival Director Pat McGee "These new categories reflect our commitment to fostering a creative environment where filmmakers and artists at every level—from local Alaskan storytellers and Native voices to international award-winning veterans—can come together. We believe in building a space where first-time filmmakers working with limited resources and seasoned professionals alike can connect, collaborate, and inspire one another. It's about creating a community where fresh voices and experienced storytellers grow side by side. That's the kind of place we're proud to cultivate here at AIFF." We can't wait to celebrate 25 years of bold cinema with you this December. In the meantime, if you're a filmmaker, or know someone who's been quietly making something special, please consider submitting or passing the word along. We'd be honored to help bring more voices into the fold, especially those who haven't had the chance before. Submissions are open now on Film Freeway: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Drum Song Films Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A new era of political disenfranchisement: soft disenrollment?
Phoenix JohnsonTłingit & Haida In the heart of Southeast Alaska, a quiet storm brews within the Alaskan Native tribal nation of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, exposing fractures in governance, identity, and power that mirror some of the most dangerous political undercurrents shaping national policy today under Trump. This is not just a story of internal conflict, it's a warning for Indian tribe's executive council quietly rammed through a controversial constitutional rewrite while appearing to sideline valid parliamentary motions that gutted delegations. In the 90th annual tribal assembly that took place April 16-18, an already reduced Seattle delegation of 25 was the sacrificial symbol in a larger campaign of political reaping, sweeping in Anchorage and San Francisco delegations as additional victims. Seattle's initial reduction from 32 seats to represent its 9,000 tribal citizens — despite 1:200 apportionment per the constitution prior to disenfranchisement efforts — drew a sharp comparison to the 1787 U.S. Constitutional Convention that counted Black Americans as three-fifths a person. Now only 4 seats remain in Seattle and other urban delegations with the exception of the Juneau based faction, now disproportionately claiming 20 seats, framing constitutional change as a matter of some territorial leaders and sympathizers dismiss disenfranchisement concerns with comments like, "It's not like you're being disenrolled," it reflects a misunderstanding of a subtle yet equally damaging process of "soft disenrollment" for urban descendants and their children who were displaced from Alaska through federal relocation programs, the boarding school era, Sealaska Corporation funded educational incentives, or the long pursuit of survival. Delegates subject to the cut exclaimed it 'felt like the Termination Era.' While the changes were framed as budgetary, the implications are far deeper: a community who has traversed the Pacific Northwest pre-dating colonial borders was subjected to political erasure. For a people without reservation lands, the question of 'Who counts? Who is Native enough?' tribes have been publicly scrutinized for their own mass disenrollments or erosion of civil rights, often targeting the urban-dwelling population majority, while maintaining official enrollment numbers to safeguard federal funding. Based in a red state, the tribe's leadership has increasingly abandoned democratic transparency and subtly shifted toward policies that echo conservative authoritarianism. The recent assertion in local media by the tribe's president that 'DEI is over,' alongside procedural irregularities and concentrated decision-making, reflects a broader pattern of internal colonization. This is particularly insidious within Indigenous contexts because it turns the tools of survival such as self-governance, cultural identity, and sovereignty, against our own. Under the guise of efficiency, delegates drew quick parallels to being 'DOGE'd' and asked if this was not just a response to a potential threat of the current administration as claimed but, rather, an exploited opportunity. The troubling pattern of tribal leaders aligning with conservative political ideologies emerging across Indian Country leaves delegates from Anchorage voicing concern about an undercurrent mentality of viewing urban Indians as 'crazy liberals.' Within this internal struggle is the rising bias against urban constituents; once unchecked, now codified into law. Reports are mounting of key figures openly expressing disdain for Seattle-based citizens. This raises a critical concern for how fundamental services such as court rulings, placement of children under the Indian Child Welfare Act, funding essential needs, and access to cultural education have been impacted to date — setting a dangerous precedent for the future of families. Self-reliance has long guided Indigenous communities, exemplified by Seattle's delegation founding a nonprofit and building pathways to secure space through grants. Quizzically, the tribe opened a nearby office around the same time, co-occurring with disenfranchisement efforts. The glaring absence of full services not afforded to urban citizens with now diminished political power raises a critical question: is this office truly a hub for support, or is it a symbolic outpost? As delegation-led cultural and social events face uncertainty, a deeper fear stirs rooted in the Northwest Coast's own history of internal subjugation of their own people through slavery. If this trend continues, it could lead to a reality where people are expected to provide services without holding any power. Like our non-recognized relatives, we're made caretakers without the resources, representation, or the recognition our status warrants in this precarious position. It calls forth the conversations surrounding DEI, also known as diversity, equity and inclusion. Government-to-government tribal relationships with the U.S. are based on political sovereignty as distinct legal and political entities rooted in treaties, land, lineage, and community — unlike DEI frameworks focused on addressing racial inequities in education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. One could assess DEI as a human-centered methodology that is more closely aligned with the original indigenous value systems that we should be naturally implementing within our protected class of sovereignty. Navigating both sovereign governance and systemic oppression cultivates an unparalleled strength and adaptability, positioning some of us as capable candidates for alternative, just solutions – a foundational argument for the inclusion and reverence of more Indigenous leadership to steer the United States to higher grounds. Divisions within Indian Country prevent us from seizing critical opportunities to unite and advocate at a time it's needed Tlingit and Haida tribe's political divisions are a microcosm of the broader challenges facing Indian Country. These challenges are not only about who gets to govern but also about how identity, legitimacy, and power are defined. The internal struggle over the representation of urban versus rural populations, inculcation of Christianity in official business, and rejection of DEI is a reflection of deeper systemic issues that have long plagued Indigenous communities. We must all strive to create governance systems that reflect diverse identities, shared history of resilience, and collective desire for self-determination for all tribal members, regardless of where they live or how they express their Indigenous identity. This is about preserving our integrity, our sovereignty, and our Johnson is a political educator, systems strategist, and is serving as an elected official in both the Democratic Party and the Tlingit & Haida tribe. Her work centers on analysis, advocacy, and education to challenge injustice and build accountable governance across diverse communities, with expertise in diversity, equity and inclusion, indigenous governance, and systemic reform, focusing on power structures. She is also a US Air Force veteran and mother. This opinion-editorial essay does not reflect the views of ICT; voices in our opinion section represent a variety of reader points of view. If you would like to contribute an essay to ICT, email opinion@ information about our guidelines: .
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Yahoo
Tribes raise awareness of the missing, murdered women, relatives by the shores of Lake Superior
Three members of the Wisconsin Murdered, Missing, Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR) Task Force who attended a May 4 commemoration in Ashland were (from left) Justine Rufus, chair of the task force and a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Rose Barber of Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Rene Goodwich, a Bad River Tribal member. | Photo by Frank Zufall/Wisconsin Examiner Linda Dunbar, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and marginalized Communities advocate for New Day Advocacy Centers, said when she was in foster care 50 years ago in St. Paul, Minnesota, her mother was murdered and her killer was never charged. Rose Barber, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, a Wisconsin Murdered, Missing, Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR) Task Force Member, and president of American Indians Against Abuse, said decades ago, an Alaskan Native friend went missing and his body was never found. Even today, nobody knows what happened to him. After a round dance performed by the Red Cliff Women's Hand Drum group, dozens of names were read of tribal members from Minnesota and Wisconsin who are officially listed as murdered or missing, names such as Melissa Beson of Lac du Flambeau, missing since March 17, Gene J. Cloud, Jr. of Black River Falls, Lisa Lynn Ninham of Menominee County and Nevaeh Leigh Kingbird of Bemidji, Minnesota. And then more names were shouted out, names that had never been officially reported but who family members said had just disappeared and were never heard from again or who died a mysterious death. The names were honored at the No More MMWIR event, which was held Sunday, May 4, in Bayview Park in Ashland by the shore of Lake Superior. The event is one of several being held around the nation during the month of May to raise awareness of the MMIWR issue that has plagued tribal communities nationwide. On some tribal reservations, the murder rate for tribal women is ten times the national average. Tribal members face violence, both domestic and outside their families, at a higher rate than the general population. Several factors contribute to the MMIWR phenomenon including the fact that missing people belong to a vulnerable population that has suffered historical trauma and is disproportionately affected by poverty and substance abuse; exploitation associated with itinerant workers in mining and oil camps near reservations; and an inconsistent track record of law enforcement committing resources to solve murders or finding missing person. Justine Rufus, co-chair of the Wisconsin MMIWR Task Force, rural coordinator of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and a Bad River member, spoke about the need for state funding to address the issue. Rufus said that since the task force was created five years ago, awareness of the MMIWR issue has grown, but the number of MMIWR cases has also risen. 'We can keep creating awareness and education, which is very important,' she said. 'What we really need is actual action to address this crisis. Our relatives are going missing at higher rates now since we created this task force. We are being murdered at higher rates. We are being sex trafficked higher than we've ever seen, so it takes real action.' Rufus said no state has designated dollars for the MMIWR issue in its budget. (Minnesota sends a percentage of license plate fees to underwrite its MMIWR Office, part of the Department of Public Safety.) She noted that Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' proposed budget includes $3.5 million to create 11 MMIWR liaison offices with the 11 tribes in the state, working with the Attorney general and the Department of Justice. 'I applaud Gov. Evers for putting this in the budget,' she said. 'He's the first governor in the nation to put any dollars towards this crisis. But now is the time of action. We need to call your legislators to tell them that we demand to continue this work.' Rufus also called for more funding for law enforcement. 'Some of our communities don't even have law enforcement,' she said. She noted the ongoing search for Melissa Beson in Vilas County has consumed many resources. Rufus encouraged the crowd to contact legislative Joint Finance Committee members to urge them to approve funding for MMIWR issues. Rene Ann Goodrich, a Bad River tribal member and MMIWR advocate for the last 10 years, who is a member of the Wisconsin MMIWR Task Force and a board member of the Minnesota MMIWR Office, a member of the Native Lives Matter Coalition and the No More MMIW and Relatives Movement, noted the local effort in the Twin Ports area of Superior and Duluth, Minnesota to raise awareness. She said MMIWR events feature important Native American elements. 'I wanted to share a little bit about some of the cultural practices that we bring as a people to the contemporary missing and murdered indigenous women and relatives movement that helps to promote the healing for our families and our communities.' She noted the cultural practice of offering tobacco and prayers to request guidance. And she talked about how the red dress had become the official symbol of the MMIWR movement. For Native Americans, red represents a 'connection between the physical and spiritual world.' 'The red dresses began with our sisters doing this work and advocacy for lost loved ones up in Canada, and so we've started the work down here about 10 years ago with the red dresses,' she said, 'so we're asking for communities from Minnesota to Wisconsin to please start hanging out those red dresses and hang out red shirts also, because our men, our boys, our two spirits people, they matter, too, and we want to honor them.' For many tribal people who had dealt with historical trauma, including the legacy of family members being shipped to federal boarding schools, Goodwich said, it is difficult to talk about the MMIWR issue but the red dress or red shirt is a way to raise awareness. 'I understand that it's a difficult topic, and it's very difficult for many of us to be able to speak about this movement, this legacy of trauma, this intergenerational trauma that we do carry,' she said. 'So the red dresses are a quiet form of advocacy. They speak for themselves. Hang out a red dress on your porch; hang it in your yard. You're spreading awareness that way. You don't necessarily need to have all the data or the background, but this is a quiet, honoring form of advocacy that everyone can do.' Goodwich noted that she and her granddaughter, Alexis, were gathering names family members wanted to honor, including those who have not been officially recognized as missing or murdered. 'As we become more educated and more familiar about this epidemic and how it impacts us, Indigenous people disproportionately across Turtle Island (Earth), leaving us with this legacy, including the boarding school, the legacy from this colonization, how this violence disproportionately impacts our women and our girls … we're learning more each year about the broad spectrum of violence that is this movement,' said Goodwich. Rep. Angela Stroud (D-Ashland) represents a district that includes the Bad River and Red Cliff bands of Lake Superior Chippewa. 'We know that part of what makes this such a major issue that has been so difficult to solve as a country, as a state, is that we've just failed to make missing and murdered Indigenous people a priority,' said Stroud. 'My experience tells me that when native people are struggling, too often there's a tendency for systems of power to have an attitude that it's not our problem, like it's a problem of tribes or just the problem of local communities,' she added. Stroud said the legacy of state violence and the scourges of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, homicide and human trafficking are connected. She called on people living on ceded Native American land to recognize 'the moral responsibility of our government to prioritize missing and murdered Indigenous people.' 'So as the state representative of this area of Bad River and Red Cliff and any other indigenous people who live in the 73rd, I want you to know that I care, that I see you, and I will do what I can to walk this journey with you of finding those who are missing and sitting together in the pain of those who are gone,' she said. Dunbar noted that the Red Cliff Women's Hand Drum Group, performing for the event, had formed to support the community, and each woman had made her own hand drum as part of her spiritual quest. 'These women wanted to come today and sing songs for everyone here for healing and for their own healing,' she said. Those who are left behind after a family member goes missing or is murdered have a need to heal, Dunbar said, and she recounted her own experience. 'People ask me why I am so motivated to work on the MMIWR issue,' she said. 'When I was a little girl, my mother was killed in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They never, ever arrested the person who killed her. They took her body and placed it in a grave, and for some 50 years my family has been looking for her grave, and as the Creator would have it, this past fall we were able to find her grave. Most of my brothers have passed on. There are only three of us left out of nine. And so our nieces and our nephews and our grandchildren are going to journey to her grave this spring to do that ceremony to welcome her home.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Stein says May 5 is Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Day
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCT) — North Carolina Governor Josh Stein announced that May 5 is a day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women on Monday. The intention for the day is to raise awareness of those affected by the disproportionate rate of American Indian and Alaskan Native women who have gone missing or have been murdered. American Indians are a group of people who face some of the highest rates of violent crime in the country. In 60 years North Carolina has had approximately 106 missing and murdered cases of American Indians, 57% of those cases involve women and girls. 'Today we honor the lives of the Native American women and girls who have been taken from us too soon and pray that those who are missing return safely soon,' said Governor Josh Stein. 'It is tragic that this group experiences a disproportionate level of violence, and I am committed to a North Carolina where all are safe.' North Carolina has the highest population of American Indians east of the Mississippi. There are eight recognized tribes here including the Coharie, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Sappony and the Waccamaw-Siouan. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
02-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Denver Health teams up with Denver Public Schools for measles vaccine clinic
Health officials in Colorado are addressing the one measles case in the state in hopes of preventing an outbreak. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment led the meeting on Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of early treatment and vaccination to prevent further spread. Health officials now urge the public to take measles seriously, especially amid growing concerns about community spread. The case in Colorado could be linked to Mexico. The unvaccinated individual in Pueblo was diagnosed with the disease after a trip to Mexico. The infected individual was at Southwest Deli between March 17 and March 21 and the Southern Colorado Clinic on March 22; officials warn these are areas and dates to be mindful of. The state's vaccination rate stands at 88% for kindergarteners and 94% for older children, but areas with lower rates pose a risk. In Pueblo, the vaccination rate is 84% in the city and 92% in surrounding counties. Health experts also addressed concerns about using vitamin A as a treatment, warning that it should only be administered under medical supervision due to potential toxicity. Officials continue to investigate the case and monitor any additional exposure locations. For now, no new exposure sites have been identified. Health officials are urging those who may be at risk to check their vaccination status and seek medical advice if needed. Denver Health and Denver Public Schools have partnered up to host vaccine clinics for students across DPS schools, it is all part of their Vaccines for Children program . The program provides free or low-cost vaccines for children who are uninsured, underinsured, on Medicaid or Medicaid eligible, and/or Alaskan Native/American Indian. There are over 600 provider offices, community health centers, and local public health agencies that participate in the VFC Program in Colorado. Denver Health will be at Joe Shoemaker School on 333 S Havana St. in Denver from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. again on Wednesday for the vaccine clinic. No appointment is necessary, walk-ins accepted until capacity is met. Those interested should bring in a copy of the immunization record and a copy if insurance if applicable. Those 18 years-old and under can get the vaccines free of cost. Those who were vaccinated before 1968 are recommended to receive a dose of the MMR vaccine if they have not yet. Health officials say the MMR vaccine is 97% effective with a second dose of the vaccine. The safe threshold for school vaccination coverage is typically 95%, state data shows Joe Shoemaker School was at 71% compliance rate overall.
