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NAYA Family Center Announces New Leader
Oscar Arana, Chichimeca, has served as interim CEO for over a year at the Native American Youth and Family Center and has worked at the organization for 14 years. On Wednesday, he stepped into his new permanent role as CEO. “It’s a huge honor,” Arana told Underscore/ICT. “This is an...
Yakama Elder Awarded Honorary Doctorate
Warning: This story contains information and descriptions related to missing and murdered Indigenous relatives. On a sunny Friday in July, the office of the Yakama Nation tribal council was packed with tribal members dressed in ribbon skirts and shirts. The sounds and sights that mark the beginning of every council meeting were present: a blessing, the ringing of a bell and hands moving up and down to the sound of the drum. But this particular meeting was special.
Youth Education Central Theme at Lamprey Celebration
A young man with two long, black braids clinging to his back took a deep breath before diving head first into a crevice at the base of the Willamette Falls, searching for a slippery Pacific lamprey — called Asúm in Sahaptin, the traditional language of Yakama Nation. Though...
Native Youth Carry the Torch of Citizenship Act 100 Years Later
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 stands as a pivotal thread in the tapestry of Indigenous civil rights in the United States. Before its enactment, Native Americans confronted a bewildering legal landscape that systematically withheld citizenship and its accompanying rights. Propelled by the advocacy of U.S. Rep. Homer P. Snyder...
Federal Action on U.S. Boarding Schools Inches Forward
This story was originally published by ICT, a close publishing partner of Underscore Native News. The U.S. is beginning to face its Indian boarding school history. Both the U.S. Congress and the Catholic Church took visible steps forward last week in officially taking action on an issue that has long been ignored in the U.S.
The Pacific Northwest is Littered with ‘Deadbeat Dams’
This story was reported and produced in collaboration with The Seattle Times. Kwoneesum Dam once had a purpose. It created a lake for girls attending a summer camp to swim, canoe and sail. But just two decades after the dam was built in the mid-1960s, the camp closed, and the land was sold to a timber company.
Native Designs Showcased at 2024 UNITY Gala
As lights flashed and music filled the Oregon Convention Center on July 2, Native models strutted down a runway with confidence and attitude. Thousands of youth sat in the audience, dressed in traditional clothes from their nations and their finest attire, and cheered for their peers onstage. Youth from Native...
‘Pi-Ume-Sha Means Celebration’
In Warm Springs, Ore. as the sunlight peeked through the clouds on a hot Saturday afternoon in June, the sounds of jingle cones and brass bells blended with the rhythmic downbeats of the drum. Dancers filled the powwow circle for the grand entry of the 55th Annual Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days Powwow and celebration which took place June 27-30, 2024. Hundreds of families gather every year from near and far to participate in the powwow, traditional parade, rodeo, endurance horse races, stick game and more.
Coquille Indian Tribe Celebrates 35 Years of Restoration
Hundreds gathered at Bullard’s Beach in Bandon, Oregon, where the Coquille River runs into the Pacific Ocean on June 28th. People came from all over the country for the 35th annual First Salmon Ceremony as part of the Coquille Indian Tribe Restoration Celebration. The sun warmed the sand as citizens of the Coquille Indian Tribe gathered driftwood sticks for the salmon ceremony.
Largest Native Youth Gathering in Nike History
On Monday, a small group of Native youth walked past the Michael Jordan Building at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. One boy yelled out “Skoden.” As he sprinted to the front of the group, his long black braid swayed across his back with each stride. When they turned the corner, they were met by a sea of Native youth who make up the largest gathering of Native youth in Nike history.
How Native Nations Forced Federal Investment in Salmon Reintroduction
Down the curved walkway just past the Chief Joseph Hatchery, the sounds of soft laughter and friendly hellos mixed with the roar of the Columbia River as it cascaded in streams through the Chief Joseph Dam. Near the hatchery raceways, spiritual leaders of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation led a ceremony to give thanks for the sacrifice of the first salmon of the season.
Underscore Wins Numerous Indigenous Media Awards
Last week, the Indigenous Journalists Association announced its 2024 Indigenous Media Awards. Underscore Native News walked away with 11 awards in multiple categories. That’s in addition to the trio of awards Underscore won last month from the Society of Professional Journalists. Nika Bartoo-Smith reports for both Underscore and ICT....
NAYA Opens A Native Family Shelter
Khwat yaka haws, meaning Auntie’s Place in the Chinook language, provides culturally-centered services like first foods cooking classes, beading and drumming lessons, and more. The shelter is also intentionally staffed with people who understand the lived experiences of those who need housing to help create a safe and supportive home for Native families experiencing homelessness.
Center for Tribal Nations to Transform Portland Waterfront
Imagine a future in which first foods and medicines line the shores of the Willamette River in the OMSI district, Indigenous stories and design on full display, as flags from hundreds of Native nations fly proud. This is the vision for the Center for Tribal Nations (CTN) — a hub...
Miss Indian Northwest Pageant Returns After Nearly Three Decades Pause
On Friday night, hundreds gathered under and around two large white tents covering the powwow circle. Song and dance filled the Delta Park in Northeast Portland, celebrating the long awaited return of the Miss Indian Northwest Pageant in addition to the 51st Annual Delta Park Powwow. Spectators and family members...
Four-Year-Old Oregon Report Identifies Missing Native American Women As An ‘Emergency’ — But Progress Has Been Limited
Carolyn DeFord was hoping for change. She was hoping for answers. She’s been hoping for 24 years. It was Feb. 18, 2019, and DeFord was making the long trip from her home in central Washington to Oregon — a drive she had made many times to search for her missing mother, Leona Kinsey, who disappeared from her home in La Grande, Oregon, in 1998. This time the drive was different. DeFord was traveling to testify in the Oregon Capitol.
NAYA’s Many Nations Academy Celebrates Class of 2024
A roar of clapping hands, cheers and the echo of a drumbeat filled the pavilion on the blacktop behind the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) as 16 students dressed in black caps and gowns turned their tassels to the left — congratulations to the Many Nations Academy class of 2024.
Introducing Our New Website and Brand
Cambridge Dictionary defines the word “underscore” as such: “to emphasize the importance of something.” Other definitions include the words “stress” or “make evident,” while others describe the literal act of drawing a line under a word to highlight its significance. Whatever definition...
Feds Shrug Off Responsibility for BIA Officer Who Raped Woman Under Threat of Arrest
WARNING Missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, sexual assault. That Dana Michael Bullcoming, a former police officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, raped a woman in her own home while on duty is not in dispute. But the federal government says it bears no responsibility for what its attorney called the “reprehensible actions” of its officer because he assaulted the woman “solely for his own benefit.”
Former Oregon Governor Kate Brown to Lead Willamette Falls Trust
Former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has been busy since she left office in 2023. She’s completed teaching fellowships at Harvard and the University of Chicago. Now, she’ll lead a regional organization seeking to reopen public access to the second largest waterfall by volume in the United States — a major cultural spot for area Native nations — for the first time in nearly two centuries.
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