The Wrap: Oklahoma tornado wreaks havoc

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Tornado took everything, but them

TULSA, Okla. – Tornado season is just beginning for Oklahomans, and while small towns like Sulphur are used to hearing storm sirens, Roshelle Sisneros never thought it would be her home those storms would sweep away.

“It's not typical for tornadoes to come through town. … It’s usually on the outskirts, even though we have one every year. My brother and his family lost everything two years ago in the Kingston tornado, but you still never think it would happen to you until it does,” Sisneros said.

Thirty-five tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma on Saturday, April 27, most of them striking after 10 p.m. Central Time when residents were asleep. Twelve of them were in Sulphur, Oklahoma, a town within the Chickasaw Nation jurisdictional territory.

The tornadoes were rated as EF3 or higher, meaning they were strong enough to uproot and snap large trees and throw heavy vehicles. READ MORE — Felix Clary, ICT + Tulsa World

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Oak Flat fight goes international

It isn’t over yet for Oak Flat.

A coalition of Western Apaches and allies are charting courses to the U.S. Supreme Court and the United Nations in their years-long battle to save the site in Arizona’s Tonto Nation Forest known as Chí’chil Biłdagoteel in the Apache language, or Oak Flat.

Considered a sacred site by the Apache tribes, Oak Flat also sits atop the earth’s third-largest deposit of copper and has been targeted for a mining operation by Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of international giants Rio Tinto and BHP.

“Oak Flat is like Mount Sinai to us — our most sacred site where we connect with our Creator, our faith, our families, and our land,” said Wendsler Nosie of Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving sacred sites. READ MORE — Mary Annette Pember, ICT

Asian American, Pacific Islander consumers want better brand representation, Nielsen reports

As companies around the country roll out plans to honor May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a report released Wednesday suggests members of those communities are paying more attention than ever to representation.

Nielsen researchers found that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., collectively, have $1.3 trillion in buying power or disposable income. Yet, advertisers are still learning the importance of nuanced cultural representation when it comes to branding and marketing. A majority of consumers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent are not willing to shrug off media and advertising that ridicules or mishandles their culture.

A strong share of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific islanders, 64 percent, stated they will stop buying from brands that devalue their identity group. Patricia Ratulangi, a vice president at Nielsen, was struck by the level of conviction.

“I think about how I grew up, my grandmother, my mother would have said, ‘Stop creating trouble,’” Ratulangi said. But in the last few years, she has noticed boomers joining young people in a “rallying cry in our community.” READ MORE — Associated Press

GLOBAL INDIGENOUS: Amazon reserve hit by deforestation

Around the World: Indigenous communities impacted by relentless deforestation, Indigenous mental health advocates urge child protection systemic reform, and Māori student aims to increase Māori enrollment in Ivy League schools

PERU: Deforestation impacting reserve

The Amarakaeri Communal Reserve in Peru, renowned as one of the most rigorously protected natural sanctuaries globally, has witnessed a surge in deforestation along its borders due to the illicit growth of coca plants, mining activities, and the development of new roads, Mongabay reported on April 24.

A recent report by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project has highlighted a concerning trend of deforestation encroaching upon the ancestral territories of Indigenous communities within Peru's Amarakaeri Communal Reserve.

This reserve, renowned for its stringent protection measures, has seen a significant loss of forest cover along its fringes over the past two decades. According to the report, a staggering 19,978 hectares (49,367 acres) of forest have been cleared within the reserve's buffer zone. READ MORE — Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT

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Newscast: Border politics in Arizona

This year's presidential election is essentially a repeat of four years ago. A key difference is who former president Donald Trump will select as his vice-president. What is the impact of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Trump's voter base. ICT Political Correspondent Pauly Denetclaw speaks with regular contributor John Tahsuda.

For tribes on the U.S.-Mexico border, it has been a struggle for families with relatives in two countries. They say the present-day border stands in the way of ceremony and everyday relationships. ICT senior producer Shirley Sneve talks to Arizona State University professor David Martinez about this. He's part of the Institute for Transborder Indigenous Nations.

It's been 16 years since our next guests opened the doors to Tocabe, a new concept restaurant, in Denver, Colorado. Since then, Ben Jacobs and Matt Chandra have fed the community with Indigenous-sourced foods. ICT senior producer Shirley Sneve reports.

WATCH

New Mexico to meet with pueblos on Rio Grande governance

The Rio Grande Compact Commission meeting on Friday had a small portion dedicated to describing future meetings with six Middle Rio Grande Pueblos to get tribal perspective on governing the state’s largest river.

The three-member commission met for its annual meeting Friday, hearing from legal advisors and New Mexico State Engineer Mike Hamman on the proposal. The commission is made up of appointees from Colorado, Texas and New Mexico and a non-voting chair from the federal government.

A coalition of six pueblos – Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Sandia and Isleta – have approached the commission for the past two years. Through spokespeople, the coalition said they sought a “seat at the table” to address the exclusion of tribal governments from the commission itself and to have more representation beyond the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, who makes presentations at the meeting.

Legal and engineer advisors described “multiple multi-hour discussions” over a series of months but had not developed a protocol for pueblos to make a presentation to the commission. READ MORE — Source New Mexico

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