The Wrap: Protecting artwork

Greetings, relatives.

A lot of news out there. Thanks for stopping by ICT’s digital platform.

Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you. Remember to scroll to the bottom to see what’s popping out to us on social media and what we’re reading.

Also, if you like our daily digest, sign up for The Weekly , our newsletter emailed to you on Thursdays. If you like what we do and want us to keep going, support and donate here .

Okay, here's what you need to know today:

Stolen artwork? Here’s how to protect your work

Sarah Agaton Howes was moved to tears describing the theft of her original artwork.

“After all that’s been stolen from us – our kids, language, land, religion, our whole way of life – then this guy thinks he can just walk in and take our artwork,” Howes said, her words catching in her throat.

Howes, a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, was alerted to the theft by a friend who sent her a copy of a design for sale on another artist’s website.

“Isn’t this your design?” the friend asked. READ MORE — Mary Annette Pember, ICT

SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. CONTRIBUTE TODAY

LISTEN to ICT’s newscast on the go

‘Reservation Dogs’ set like a ‘cookout,’ actor says

OKLAHOMA CITY – IndigiPopX, a Native-themed pop culture exposition, returned to Oklahoma City April 12-14 with panel discussions from the cast of the popular FX television show “Reservation Dogs” who talked about how the show’s set was different from other sets they’ve been on.

“I think I’m going to be spoiled now,” said Lane Factor, who plays Cheese on the show, which ended its third and final season in September 2023. “I still think about the food they served on set.”

Sten Joddi, who played rapper Punkin Lusty, the father of one of the show’s primary characters, Bear, told the story of his favorite moment on set.

“My favorite moment was the day that we filmed the music video for ‘Greasy FryBread.’ … The aunties were all there, and everybody was talking about directions for the stage, and the aunties just randomly started singing a Muscogee hymn together. And in that moment, the whole room just fell silent, and we were all just in that moment together.” READ MORE — Felix Clary, ICT + Tulsa World

Alaska Native vision for the future: Self determination

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Indigenous leaders want a seat at the table and to be seen and heard. “Nothing about us without us.”

That’s the message Indigenous leaders shared at an Arctic symposium that organizers say brought in participants from 30 countries. Six Inupiaq, Tlingit and Athabascan leaders kicked off “Arctic Encounter 2024” with a plenary session entitled “Northern Indigenous Leadership: Our Future, Our Vision for Success.” Organizers say the three-day symposium drew about a thousand leaders in diplomacy, research, science, the military and business to the Dena’Ina Convention Center in Anchorage.

Kasanannoaluk Marie Greene, Inupiaq, is president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which is made up of members from Greenland, Canada, Russia and the United States. She told an audience of about 150 people her goal is to continue to fulfill the vision of the council’s founder, Eben Hopson, Inupiaq: “to have our Inupiat people at the international level come together to strengthen our unity, to work together in harmony as we come together and address our concerns, our common concerns, our challenges, and what we need to be doing going forward as we continue to build that unity.”

Greene said Hopson expressed at the founding meeting of ICC in 1977 “the need to … to be promoting our language, our culture, our customers, who we are as Inuit and to promote and work with our governments, to ensure that we have the policies, long-term policies in place and to also address our interests at the international level.” READ MORE — Joaqlin Estus, ICT

Leonard Peltier advocates seeking United Nations help

Leonard Peltier has spent over half his life in prison. Now, at nearly 80 years old, his health has taken a downward turn leading advocates to call for his release.

Peltier is currently serving two life sentences at the Coleman Maximum Security prison in Florida in connection to the deaths of two FBI agents in 1975 during the Wounded Knee Occupation. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians citizen is considered by many to be a political prisoner.

Peltier’s declining health has gone untreated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, said advocates from the Leonard Peltier Ad Hoc Committee.

“Leonard is in serious physical trouble,” said Dawn Lawson, secretary of the Leonard Peltier Ad Hoc Committee, to ICT and the Rapid City Journal . “His diabetes has progressed to the point where he could slip into a diabetic coma. He hasn’t seen a dentist in over ten years. He’s in excruciating pain all of the time.” READ MORE — Amelia Schafer, ICT + Rapid City Journal

Sign up here to get ICT's newsletter

Newscast: Thunderbirds return to the prairie

Long-time Native American member of Congress has secured one of the most influential roles on Capitol Hill. Chickasaw citizen and Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole is the new chairman of the house Appropriations Committee. The 10-term, 74-year-old lawmaker said in a statement that he is excited to "hit the ground running."

A leader who advanced solutions to sacred site protection and the MMIP crisis has retired, leaving behind a long legacy in the Department of Justice. Tracy Toulou is the outgoing director of the Office of Tribal Justice, which he oversaw for over 20 years.

A Native American non-profit has purchased land in the Black Hills, near a sacred site. Officials from the Cheyenne River Youth Project announced it bought 40-acres adjacent to Bear Butte State Park in the western part of the state.

WATCH

Empower tribal justice, ex-Justice Department official says

WASHINGTON — A quarter-century ago, the Justice Department had few meaningful relationships with tribes.

While the federal government worked with state and local police and courts, tribal justice systems did not have the same level of recognition, said Tracy Toulou, who oversaw the department's Office of Tribal Justice from 2000 until his recent retirement. "They were essentially invisible," he said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Toulou built the office from an idea into an "institution within the Justice Department."

Its relationships with the nation's 574 federally recognized tribes are important, in part because federal authorities investigate and prosecute a set of major crimes on most reservations. READ MORE — Associated Press

FOLLOW ICT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK , INSTAGRAM , TIKTOK

What’s trending on social media:

Other top stories:

• Alissa Pili selected in WNBA draft : Updated: The Inupiaq and Samoan woman was selected in the first round
• Abortion ban hits another state with high Native population : A decision by the Arizona Supreme Court sent ripples across the country in a election year
• Big pink truck delivers books, love of Native literature : NDN Book Club hits the road to distribute 10,000 books to Navajo Nation

What we’re reading:

• Water from arsenic-laced wells could protect the Pine Ridge reservation from wildfires
• 50 years ago, 'Come and Get Your Love' put Native culture on the bandstand
• Tensions build as White Earth Nation tries to assert authority over state forest land use

We want your tips, but we also want your feedback. What should we be covering that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know. dalton@ictnews.org .

ICT is a nonprofit news organization . Will you support our work? All of our content is free. There are no subscriptions or costs. And we have hired more Native journalists in the past year than any news organization ─ and with your help we will continue to grow and create career paths for our people. Support ICT for as little as $10. Sign up for ICT’s free newsletter .