Latest news with #NativeAmericans
BBC News
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Jonathan Joss: Three roles the King of the Hill star was known for
US actor Jonathan Joss, known for his roles in King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation, has died aged 59. Joss was shot dead, in what his husband called a homophobic hate crime, although police in Texas say there is no evidence of this. Joss's broad career spanned different genres and platforms, appearing in films, sitcoms, animations, stage productions and has been credited with increasing representation of Native Americans on screen. Here are three of the notable performances he will be remembered for. John Redcorn in King of the Hill In the animated sitcom King of the Hill, Goss voiced the character of John Redcorn, a Native American "licensed New Age healer" from season two sitcom centres around the Hill family and is set in the fictional town of Arlen, in suburban the first four seasons, Redcorn is having an affair with Hank Hill's neighbour, Nancy Gribble. Nancy's husband Dale is a flawed character, Redcorn is known for his kindness and calm persona, and for championing his Native American season four, during perhaps his most notable storyline, Redcorn reveals an ongoing battle between his tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, saying he hoped to regain Native American land from the Redcorn a "true friend", Dale decides to help him with the lawsuit filed against the government, by introducing him to the Freedom of Information then permanently ends his14-year affair with Nancy, out of respect for Dale. The affair is not revealed to Dale and he happily heads home with Nancy. Full story: King of the Hill and Parks and Rec actor shot dead Author Dustin Tahmahkera once described Redcorn as "arguably the most developed and complex indigenous character in US sitcom history, thanks in critical part... to the on-and-offscreen work of Joss".In his 2014 book Tribal Television, which considered the representation of Native Americans in sitcoms, Tahmahkera added that the portrayal "attempted to break through a largely unkind and unflattering history of representations of the indigenous".But the fact that Redcorn was the "most human and multidimensional" Native American on screen was "a disheartening and stark reminder of the history of indigenous representations in network television", Tahmahkera pointed out. King of the Hill originally aired from 1997 to 2010. The sitcom is set to return in August with the characters aged and living a new part of their lives. Chief Ken Hotate in Parks and Recreation Joss's onscreen role as Native American tribe leader Chief Ken Hotate was a fan favourite in this live-action Chief's sharp dress sense matched his comedic wit, and he was often seen teasing the core characters as they struggled to tell if his straight-faced comments were deadly serious or a complete joke. Chief Hotate often met Leslie Knope, deputy director of the Parks and Recreation department for the fictional city of Pawnee, to discuss use of the land. He would often use stereotypes associated with Native Americans to his advantage, for example when opposing a festival organised on an ancient burial site by saying he hoped his ancestors "don't put a curse" on the event. White people are "terrified of curses", he explained to the camera in a tongue-in-cheek with King of the Hill, Joss's character was dedicated to defending tribal ancestry, and would often highlight injustices faced by his and Recs creators used Joss's character with a "really witty kind of self awareness", said Samantha Sheppard, associate professor of cinema and media studies at Cornell University."Parks and Rec loved to kind of reckon with the fact that despite the very good intentioned and warm-hearted, generous public servant that was Leslie Knope, and the folks who worked for the city, that the city still existed on indigenous land, and therefore had to account for those violences and that history," Prof Sheppard told the BBC. His role made light of the sensitive issues in a way that made the difficult topic of America's ugly history with indigenous groups more "accessible", Prof Sheppard said. "There was this kind of cheeky awareness of stereotypical representations of Native Americans on screen," she said, referring to the dichotomy of Chief Hotate also being a casino owner."I think it did pave the way for, like, other kinds of indigenous storytelling to happen." Denali in The Magnificent Seven Taking on a darker role, Joss portrayed the ruthless Denali in 2016's The Magnificent Seven. A retelling of a 1960s Western of the same name, a group of gunslingers come together to protect the town of Rose Creek, which is under threat from a tycoon wanting to mine the ground for exiled from the Comanche tribe, becomes a personal assassin to the tycoon, and is seen firing arrows and in hand-to-hand combat. "When people ask me what I thought of the movie, I tell them that all I know is my dad would have loved it," Joss told MySanAntonio: a news outlet local to his home town at the time of the film's release.
Miami Herald
12 hours ago
- General
- Miami Herald
Two graduations, two empty chairs and the long shadow of a missing Indigenous teen
BENA, Minn. -- The pomp and circumstance of graduation carried somber tones for the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School class of 2025. A dozen seniors graduated last Thursday, and two classmates received honorary diplomas - their absence marked with a pair of empty chairs on center stage in the school gymnasium. As the students walked into the gym, they held framed photos of the two friends they lost in 2021 and who should be graduating with them: Preston White, 14, died by suicide that March, and Nevaeh Kingbird, 15, went missing on a cold October night. In the long shadow of Nevaeh's unsolved disappearance, friends and family continue to search for answers and purpose. Her mother, Teddi Wind, sat in front row of the graduation ceremony. She has never given up hope in finding her daughter but has taken much of the search into her own hands. Wind graduated from the law enforcement program at Leech Lake Tribal College on May 17. That same day, she attended a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) event at Bemidji's Sanford Center, where she spoke in front of supporters. Wind told them she earned her degree in honor of Nevaeh and because she no longer has faith in law enforcement finding her. "In my journey at school, I learned that there were holes that they missed while they investigated my daughter's case," she said. "No parent should ever feel the way that I feel ... not knowing where their child is, having to celebrate their milestones without them." Wind said she is happy for her daughter's friends and wishes Nevaeh - heaven spelled backward - was there for this moment. "She loved school, loved this place," she said. For this small K-12 school in the center of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe reservation in north-central Minnesota, reaching this milestone carries additional meaning given the obstacles they have overcome. In Minnesota, the graduation rate for Native Americans is a little over 60% compared with nearly 90% for white peers. Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig students once had to study in a school that was in dire need of repairs and among the worst in the federal Bureau of Indian Education system. But in 2018, the government finally followed through on treaty obligations and moved them from a leaking pole barn into a new facility. When the pandemic struck, however, these students had to navigate distance learning, only to return to classrooms in 2021 and lose Preston, then Nevaeh. "It's kind of just a lot of emotions today," Kimmela GrayHawk, who was Preston's cousin and Nevaeh's best friend, said as she waited in the library for the ceremony to start. "But overall, I'm proud of myself, happy that I made it. I'm gonna walk with them in my heart because they will always be there, always." An unfinished vision board Teacher Bambi Brown said in her graduation address that memories of Nevaeh and Preston are vivid. He was known for being a talented pow-wow dancer and drummer. She said Nevaeh took his passing hard. An incomplete vision board Nevaeh was working on before she vanished in Bemidji on Oct. 22, 2021, included many quotes about loss. She wore Preston's clothes to feel closer to him, Brown said. Nevaeh had a passion for volleyball. She was artistic and fluent in Ojibwe. She wanted to go to college in Colorado. "You could often hear Nevaeh saying, 'Love you' to her friends as she went down the hall," Brown said. "She felt things real deeply and was extremely sentimental." Brown's classroom door is decorated with Nevaeh's missing person poster and a People magazine article about her disappearance. Posters that students bring to rallies and marches for MMIR hang in the hallways. This spring, the idea was floated to put a red handprint that symbolizes missing Indigenous women on graduation caps. So many seniors were supportive of the idea that they all got the decals, which Wind paid to have done at a shop in Bemidji. A silhouette of Nevaeh was in the center of the handprint. Brown said Nevaeh would be proud of the class showing support of MMIR at graduation. "It's exactly what she would have done if she were in your shoes," she said. "When we find Nevaeh - and we will - she surely will go on to help Native youth in our communities," she said. 'I had to find my voice again' Wind said during the first year of her daughter's disappearance, she couldn't speak and had to relearn how to be a parent. At the time, she was raising a baby. She pursued a degree, held two jobs at the casino and Indigenous treatment center, and raised six children, all while searching for Nevaeh and maintaining her sobriety. "I did what I could to keep going," Wind said, "and then I had to find my voice again." She works closely with Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office, the first office of its kind in the nation dedicated to MMIR. She's planning search efforts for Nevaeh this summer and is seeking employment options to put her new degree to work. Nevaeh's sister, LaKaylee Kingbird, 20, is following her mom's footsteps and will return to the tribal college in the fall to earn the same degree. "[It's] inspirational knowing everything she went through, watching her cry when she couldn't get homework done, and she ended up getting it done anyway," said LaKaylee, who graduated from Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School in 2023. "Just seeing her push through all that and coming out stronger than she was before is very beautiful." Petra Rodriquez is a family liaison at the school who grew close to LaKaylee after her sister's disappearance. "I'm just so proud of how she overcame all that heartbreak," Rodriquez said of LaKaylee. Rodriquez said Nevaeh should be here. She wants recent graduates to not take life for granted, to be grateful and to be careful out in the world. "There's a lot of strong kids," she said. "I just hope they can honor her by reaching their goals." Nevaeh's letter jacket was draped on the empty chair at the ceremony. When Wind retrieved her daughter's diploma, eagle feather and Pendleton blanket gifted by elders, she put on the jacket and glanced down at Nevaeh's name stitched on the front. "She probably would love this more than anything." ____ Anyone with information on Nevaeh's case can call the Bemidji police tip line at218-333-9111, or submit tips by texting 847411. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Saba Yemen
12 hours ago
- Health
- Saba Yemen
Study: Leprosy Was Latent in Americas Long Before Colonization
Washington - (Saba): A recent scientific study has found that leprosy was latent in the Americas long before European colonization, contrary to the long-held belief that the disease was introduced by European settlers. This suggests that Native Americans had already been dying from the disease for centuries. The primary cause of leprosy is known to be a bacterium called Mycobacterium leprae, and researchers still believe that Europeans introduced it to the Americas. However, a lesser-known cause appears to have been identified at that time. The new study, conducted by an international team of researchers and published in the journal Science, found that another bacterium, Mycobacterium lepromatosis—a less common cause of leprosy—was present in the DNA of ancient human remains from Canada and Argentina dating back at least 1,000 years. "This discovery changes our understanding of the history of leprosy in the Americas," says genomicist Maria Lopopolo of the Pasteur Institute in France. "It shows that a form of the disease was already endemic among indigenous populations long before the arrival of Europeans." Mycobacterium leprae was first detected in a patient in the United States in 2008 and has since also been found in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the United Kingdom. Researchers suggest it likely spread from the United States to the United Kingdom in the 19th century. In collaboration with local indigenous communities, regarding the handling of ancestral remains, the researchers analyzed the DNA of a total of 389 ancient human samples and 408 modern human samples. Based on the results, they constructed a genetic family tree for the leprosy bacteria. Although the ancient Canadian and Argentine samples were separated by thousands of kilometers, they were remarkably genetically similar. This suggests a rapid spread of leprosy across The Americas. Based on the timeline compiled from DNA, the various strains of Mycobacterium leprae likely diverged from a common ancestor more than 9,000 years ago. With all these millennia of evolution, the team says there are likely more diverse forms of the bacteria still waiting to be discovered in the Americas. "We are only just beginning to uncover the diversity and global movement of this newly discovered pathogen," says biologist Nicolas Rascovin of the Pasteur Institute. This study allows us to hypothesize the existence of unknown animal reservoirs for this virus. All of this adds a valuable dimension to our understanding of the history of the Americas and of leprosy. It provides researchers with crucial data regarding the evolution and diversity of the disease. Infectious diseases have played a significant role in the history of North, South, and Central America, with the arrival of Europeans bringing with them a range of new pathogens for which indigenous communities were biologically unprepared. We now know that the leprosy aspect is more complex than previously thought. Around 200,000 new cases of the disease are reported globally each year, even though it is now treatable and curable with modern medicines. 'This study clearly demonstrates how ancient and modern DNA can rewrite the history of human pathogens and help us better understand the epidemiology of contemporary infectious diseases,' says Rascovan. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
17 hours ago
North Dakota's historic sites will finally have toilets that flush
BISMARCK, N.D. -- Lawrence Welk didn't have a flush toilet where he grew up, but visitors to his childhood home in rural North Dakota now do. The bandleader's childhood family home marks the latest step in the State Historical Society of North Dakota's nearly completed goal of installing flush toilets at its dozen most popular, staffed sites. The most recent success, with the final three planned to be completed soon, came before the unveiling of a statue of Welk at a site that draws fans who recall 'The Lawrence Welk Show,' which ran on TV for decades starting in the 1950s. The North Dakota group's goal of replacing pit toilets with flush units may seem like a humble aspiration to some, but it's an important milestone, said Chris Dorfschmidt, a historic sites manager. 'A lot of our sites are kind of in the middle of nowhere. As I like to put it, history didn't happen where it's convenient,' he said. 'Because of that, if you've driven all the way out there, and that's the best we can do to kind of accommodate you, it's not the most pleasant experience.' North Dakota has 60 state historic sites — everything from museums and an underground nuclear launch facility to plaques mounted on boulders in fields. 'All of our sites, they really do help share a story of us as a state,' Dorfschmidt said. Two other facilities are slated to be finished by June 30: at Whitestone Hill, the site of a deadly 1863 attack by U.S. troops against Native Americans; and Fort Buford, a military fort near the Missouri-Yellowstone river confluence. The Historical Society also is eyeing the Chateau de Mores for flush toilets. The wealthy Marquis de Mores built the 26-room home in 1883 near Medora, a present-day tourist town in the state's scenic Badlands where a young President Theodore Roosevelt once roamed. Less-visited sites that aren't staffed likely won't receive a restroom upgrade, which costs about $150,000 each. At the Welk Homestead, about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of Bismarck, workers matched the color scheme of the restroom to the house and farm buildings, including interior colors. 'We made it to fit into the site and harmonize with the site and just be a pleasant part of the experience,' Historic Sites Manager Rob Hanna said.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
North Dakota's historic sites will finally have toilets that flush
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Lawrence Welk didn't have a flush toilet where he grew up, but visitors to his childhood home in rural North Dakota now do. The bandleader's childhood family home marks the latest step in the State Historical Society of North Dakota's nearly completed goal of installing flush toilets at its dozen most popular, staffed sites. The most recent success, with the final three planned to be completed soon, came before the unveiling of a statue of Welk at a site that draws fans who recall 'The Lawrence Welk Show,' which ran on TV for decades starting in the 1950s. The North Dakota group's goal of replacing pit toilets with flush units may seem like a humble aspiration to some, but it's an important milestone, said Chris Dorfschmidt, a historic sites manager. 'A lot of our sites are kind of in the middle of nowhere. As I like to put it, history didn't happen where it's convenient,' he said. 'Because of that, if you've driven all the way out there, and that's the best we can do to kind of accommodate you, it's not the most pleasant experience.' North Dakota has 60 state historic sites — everything from museums and an underground nuclear launch facility to plaques mounted on boulders in fields. 'All of our sites, they really do help share a story of us as a state,' Dorfschmidt said. Two other facilities are slated to be finished by June 30: at Whitestone Hill, the site of a deadly 1863 attack by U.S. troops against Native Americans; and Fort Buford, a military fort near the Missouri-Yellowstone river confluence. The Historical Society also is eyeing the Chateau de Mores for flush toilets. The wealthy Marquis de Mores built the 26-room home in 1883 near Medora, a present-day tourist town in the state's scenic Badlands where a young President Theodore Roosevelt once roamed. Less-visited sites that aren't staffed likely won't receive a restroom upgrade, which costs about $150,000 each. At the Welk Homestead, about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of Bismarck, workers matched the color scheme of the restroom to the house and farm buildings, including interior colors. 'We made it to fit into the site and harmonize with the site and just be a pleasant part of the experience,' Historic Sites Manager Rob Hanna said.
