American Indian Studies @ Iowa State University

Hundreds evacuating from hardest hit Western Alaska villages following storm Nearly all the homes in both towns were damaged and a tribal administrator said it was unsafe to stay.

Our thoughts are with the newest victims of climate change. Native villages in Alaska -and elsewhere - are experiencing many of these consequences first.

It is Indigenous Peoples Day.

We propose that every day should bring a step forward for Indigenous rights.

We can all contribute to that by understanding the history of the land and respecting the treaty rights to which we are bound.

In light of the political discussions surrounding Wounded Knee - we want to reassure the public that we will always teach history based on historical knowledge, not based on efforts to rewrite it.

The history of the massacre at Wounded Knee is and has been settled, indeed.

Climate change and invasive species are affecting tribes and all if us in many different ways.

A new semester starting. Meeting new people. Learning new things.

Exciting. Together, let us explore the world.

What the presence of sheep means to the Diné - High Country News How to look at Milton Snow’s historical images of a livestock genocide on the Navajo Nation.

How to look at historical images from a photographer hired to document a genocide of
livestock on the Navajo Nation.

We hope everybody had a good summer. The fall semester is coming, and we are excited to be a part of the Cyclone Civics programming: Nov. 12 at 6pm "Indigenous Peoples and the American Constitution."

We recommend all the programming this fall. Know and think about your rights and responsibilities.

Proud to have our director, Sebastian Braun, writing the contribution on the United States for the IWGIA yearbook, The Indigenous World, for the twentieth year in a row.

As we see what this year brings, the book was launched at the UN.

@iwgia.bsky.social

iwgia.org/en/resources...

Th Office of the State Archaeologist fully deserves this praise. The efforts to collaborate are and have been exemplary.

Next week, we are happy to cohost a lecture on Native sites in historical documentation.

At the museum for the Will Wilson exhibit tonight.

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Native American Artist and Activist, Has Died Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, the pioneering artist who mapped the Native American experience in dynamic and complex artworks, has died.

It's always sad to have to remember somebody, but her groundbreaking art lives on.

Navajo Nation President responds after concern tribal members could be detained by ICE Some Indigenous people fear racial profiling and a lack of adequate IDs could lead to confusion during possible raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

We should all know and remember that members of Native nations in the U.S. are American citizens. The Indian Citizenship Act was passed in 1924 and made them so.

Want to know more about Native sovereignty and issues? Take a course with us.

Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier granted clemency by President Biden The outgoing administration has released Leonard Peltier from prison. Numerous activists and tribal officials have requested the release of Peltier, whom they believe to be innocent of killing two FBI...

A historic decision on Leonard Peltier.

Join us January 30 at the Brunnier Museum for a celebration of the new exhibition of Wil Wilson's photography project.

We are incredibly saddened to share the news of the passing of THPO Lance Foster and send condolences to his loved ones, friends, colleagues, and Tribal Nation. We wrote this as an award nomination month ago; now it is a tribute to him and his remarkable career

archaeology.uiowa.edu/news/2025/01...

What a great example of how casually misinformation was spread in those "lessons." The stereotypical assumption that Native people were to no extent agricultural is reinforced as a factual statement, even though any self-respecting researcher knew better.

Lance Foster - 2025 - Dorr & Clark Funeral Home Share Memories & Support the Family.

Our long time friend, mentor, and colleague Lance Foster, THPO of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska has passed. We are in shock. A great loss in kindness, knowledge, and humanity.

Fare well, Lance.
Sing good songs.

Giant sloths and mastodons lived with humans for millennia in the Americas, new discoveries suggest New discoveries from several archaeological sites in North and South America suggest that ancient people first arrived in the New World much earlier than scientists once thought.

Clovis First has been dismantled for a few decades now. We are not sure why the media has not caught up with it and is still amazed that people could have lived in the Americas 30,000 years ago.

apnews.com/article/mast...

The Tribal Lending Industry Offers Quick Cash Online at Outrageous Interest Rates. Here’s How It’s Survived. Despite lawsuits, prosecutions and federal crackdown attempts, the tribal lending industry has adapted for over a decade, providing exorbitant loans to millions of financially vulnerable consumers.

Tribal lending is one example that showcases the extremely complex realities of modern tribal sovereignty and its existence in late capitalism.

It is also one example of how different tribes exercise their sovereignty in different ways.

www.propublica.org/article/trib...

Names are important. They impart identity and relationships.

When we helped in the renaming of a creek to Ioway Creek, we thought the trend was going in the right direction - to respect and make visible an indigenous landscape that has been, is, and will be present.

Mountains are part of that.

Soeey, but didn't you just make an equally blanket statement? That trivializes the efforts of millions of people who see religion as a way to liberation?

The fact that some "religious" people are self-righteous jerks does not mean that religion has nothing to do with morals. Religion is the formalization of morality. Whether religious people follow those morals expressed in their religions is another question.

Bill protecting Native and indigenous children heads to President Biden’s desk Native American children are seven times more likely to experience abuse, but help may soon be on the way.

The Native Amwrican Child Protection Act awaits a signature.

www.azfamily.com/2024/12/20/b...

Congratulations to all the graduates at ISU - and everywhere. Walking up to the ceremony today, I was reminded that while the pomp and circumstance might seem silly to some, it is fitting to celebrate success with rituals.

Also, without trying to be technical or corrective: the Lakota word for bison (or buffalo) is pte. Tatanka is the word for buffalo bull. And in traditional Lakota society, pte are more important than tatanka. The Lakota, the buffalo nation, are therefore the pte oyate, not the tatanka oyate.

Buffalo Inc. - University of Oklahoma Press Some American Indian tribes on the Great Plains have turned to bison ranching in recent years as a culturally and ecologically sustainable economic developme...

Also recommended reading (by one of our faculty):

www.oupress.com/978080614372...

Native American Patients Are Sent to Collections for Debts the Government Owes - KFF Health News Federal law says Native Americans aren’t liable for medical bills the Indian Health Service promises to pay. Some are billed anyway as a result of backlogs or mistakes from the agency, financial middl...

The Indian Health Service has been underfunded for decades. Consequences extend to individuals.

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

@lisamurkowski.bsky.social just wrote an op ed on this (www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/...).

Here are the two takes:

(www.eenews.net/articles/ala...)

(www.adn.com/bristol-bay-...)

Graphic that reads: Native American Heritage Month.

Happy #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth, Wisconsin!

This month, we reflect on the immeasurable contributions of Indigenous communities to our state, celebrate Native culture and heritage, and commit to the work ahead to bolster the success of Native Nations across Wisconsin.