2020 Culture and Tradition News Stories
Native American hub planned for Mission District (San Francisco Examiner) 12/31/20
After decades, U of M is finally on track to return Native burial objects dug up in 1920s (Minnesota Star-Tribune) 12/31/20
How Juneau, Alaska is becoming an epicenter for Indigenous art (Smithsonian Magazine) 12/23/20
Alaska Natives: Crucial traditions at risk (Indian Country Today) 12/21/20
'The Night Watchman': Louise Erdrich's novel based on grandfather's fight to save his tribe (Texas Public Radio)
Indigenous inmates, volunteers navigate a year without ceremonies, celebrations (Oregon Public Broadcasting) 12/14/20
Cleveland's baseball team will drop its Indians team name (The New York Times) 12/13/20
A crisis of invisibility: Inside San Francisco's planned Native American cultural center (The Guardian) 12/11/20
New Native Theatre starts second week of Good Medicine Festival (Indianz) 12/7/20
Big win in #NoMoreStolenAncestors fight (Indian Country Today) 12/7/20
Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto designers are showcasing resistance and resurgence (Indianz) 12/3/20
American Indian Cultural District expanding to include Dolores Park (San Francisco Examiner) 11/30/20
New California law seeks to give tribes more standing to recover sacred objects from museums (Laredo Morning Times) 11/30/20
A magical hike on Whidbey Island whitewashes Native history (Crosscut) 11/24/20
A champion of Indigenous filmmaking (Indian Country Today) 11/17/20
Bringing the dead home (Texas Observer) 11/16/20
Scott County Historical Society donates Dakota rifle to Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (Indian Country Today) 11/16/20
History: Dr. Lowell John Bean worked to change the depiction of Californian Indians (The Desert Sun) 11/15/20
Online archeological group deciphers arrowheads, artifacts found regularly in Wisconsin (Herald Times Reporter) 11/13/20
New Navajo language app on the market (Albuquerque Journal) 11/12/20
Native Americans’ stories of military service go far beyond Code Talkers (Anchorage Daily News) 11/12/20
National Native American Veterans Memorial opens on the National Mall (The Architects Newspaper) 11/11/20
Vanessa GoodThunder is revitalizing the Dakota language (Post-Bulletin) 11/10/20
Native cinema showcase (National Museum of the American Indian)
Thlopthlocco protected traditions, culture (Enid News & Eagle) 11/8/20
What’s on PBS? More Native programs (Indian Country Today) 11/8/20
Pueblo native pens historical work on Indian Wars (The Pueblo Chieftan) 11/5/20
Native American heritage month trivia contest (Tribal College Journal)
Patricia Marroquin Norby is the Met's first curator of Native American art. Here's how she navigates the field's thorniest issues (ArtNet) 11/4/20
Florida's Seminole Tribe reclaims ancestors and artifacts (US News & World Report) 11/1/20
Art museum criticized for keeping Native American objects (Minneapolis Star Tribune) 10/31/20
How Indigenous architecture can change the way we live on Earth (Vogue) 10/27/20
PBS Wisconsin honors Native American heritage month (PBS Wisconsin) 10/28/20
Off the Wall: A conversation on repatriation at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (The Hoya) 10/21/20
F is for Fake: How a dozen possibly fraudulent and forged Indigenous artworks left Texas and ended up on museum walls in Wyoming (Texas Observer) 10/21/20
Sculpture of runners who played role in Pueblo Revolt still in limbo (Santa Fe New Mexican) 10/20/20
Disney adds disclaimer about stereotypes to ‘Peter Pan’ (Indianz) 10/19/20
Four new Indigenous films by and about Native women (Indian Country Today) 10/16/20
Group thinks it has found proof of 10,000-year-old, Ice Age culture in Straits of Mackinac (Detriot Free Press) 10/14/20
Indigenous Film and Arts Festival spotlights Native stories online (Westword) 10/14/20
Reversing the erasure of Native contributions to muralism (Smithsonian Magazine) 10/9/20
On the record: Project by NM museum, National Archives posts 374 US-tribal treaties online (Albuquerque Journal) 10/9/20
Filmmaker Jeff Palmer tells Native Americans’ untold stories (Cornell Chronicle) 10/7/20
The Met acquires commissioned works by Cree artist Kent Monkman
(Art Daily)
Philbrook Museum of Art opens groundbreaking exhibition of Native women artists (Art Daily)
Eskimo Pie is getting rid of its derogatory name (CNN) 10/7/20
Portrait project memorializes missing and murdered Indigenous women (Smithsonian Magazine) 10/6/20
Larissa FastHorse, a playwright of indigenous stories, wins a MacArthur grant (The Los Angeles Times) 10/6/20
A Native American community in Baltimore reclaims its history (Smithsonian Magazine) 10/5/20
Why New Mexico's 1680 Pueblo Revolt is echoing in 2020 protests (The New York Times) 9/27/20
Oldest Seneca citizen shares story of tribe's struggle, survival (Indian Country Today) 9/26/20
Indigenous tribe sees mission to reclaim remains rom UT as a spiritual issue, not a legal one (Texas Standard) 9/15/20
Senator Jamescita Peshlakai launches effort to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day in Arizona (Indian Country Today) 9/14/20
Arts Scene: Tulsa museums to host major shows featuring Indigenous women artists (Tulsa World) 9/13/20
Mashpee resident honors tribal ancestry with traditional dance (Cape Cod Times) 9/13/20
'We have to enjoy life': Why this iconic Arizona chef is stepping away from the kitchen (Arizona Central) 9/9/20
75 years after WWII, a look at the Native American impact (Indian Country Today) 9/2/20
'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture (Indianz) 9/1/20
Squaw Valley Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe to change name from the 'racist and sexist slur' (CNN) 8/25/20
History preservation one reason Lumbee Tribe opposes Piedmont facility (The Laurinburg Exchange) 9/1/20
"Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone" (Public Radio Tulsa) 8/31/20
Changing the narrative: Tribes help create exhibit to tell the violent history of Bosque Redondo (Albuquerque Journal) 8/28/20
Tribal nations are decolonizing cultural protection (High Country News) 8/27/20
Murder on the rez: A phenomenal thriller invents Native noir — and then transcends it (Los Angeles Times) 8/21/20
Norma Dunning: May my grandchildren never hear the E-word again (Indianz) 8/19/20
‘Keeping the culture alive’: Native dance goes digital during pandemic (Arizona Central) 8/16/20
After 400 years, Native stories at heart of Mayflower events (The Times-Union) 8/14/20
Amid pandemic, ‘Shimásání bi Skirts’ serves grandmothers (Navajo Times) 8/13/20
Po'pay's Rebellion, also known as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 (Indian Country Today) 8/10/20
Pembina marker honors Ojibwa suffragist (Williston Herald) 8/10/20
One piece of the language puzzle (Indian Country Today) 8/7/20
The state of Native media (Indian Country Today) 8/7/20
Chuck Hoskin: New Cherokee language department connects us to who we are as a people (Indianz) 8/6/20
Lokosh carvings featured in SWAIA online market (The Ada News) 8/5/20
Unraveling the mystery of a stolen ceremonial shield (High Country News) 8/1/20
Cherokee Nation works to preserve language (Press Argus-Courier) 8/1/20
Nunavummiut have to stay home, but their art continues to travel (Nunatsiaq News) 7/29/20
Virtual art show offers encouragement to Lakota artists (The Bismarck Tribune) 7/26/20
Choctaw chief chosen to help design new Mississippi flag (Indian Country Today) 7/25/20
Global Initiative for Indigenous Advancement announces community sponsorship for art installation on Boston Common (Indian Country Today) 7/24/20
The business of growing talent (Indian Country Today) 7/24/20
'An icon in Indian Country': Noted radio host and journalist Harlan McKosato passes on (Indianz) 7/22/20
It's not just a ski resort. From Tahoe to Carson, Indigenous people say Sierra names misrepresent them (Capital Public Radio) 7/21/20
Native musical 'Distant Thunder' to premiere in spring (Indian Country Today) 7/18/20
Advocates seeks Indigenous representation at Oklahoma monument (Indian Country Today) 7/11/20
Americans need to know the hard truth about Union monuments in the West (The Atlantic) 7/10/20
Cherokee Nation, At-large Cherokee Advisory Committee plan virtual activities to maintain historical, cultural connections (The Claremore Daily Progress) 7/9/20
National Gallery of Art acquires painting by Salish artist (Indian Country Today) 7/5/20
The thriving Native art of the Northwest and Alaska (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner) 7/5/20
FedEx, the Washington Redskins' most prominent sponsor, asks the team to change its name (Wall Street Journal) 7/2/20
Lawsuit over cultural appropriation of Native designs proceeds, despite Neiman Marcus bankruptcy (Alaska Public Media) 7/1/20
Knowing, rethinking a shared history (Indian Country Today) 7/1/20
Spanish colonial monuments fuel race strife in Southwest (Indian Country Today) 6/30/20
Bill protecting Native objects gets hearing (Albuquerque Journal) 6/28/20
Clara Caufield: Buffalo Calf Road Woman - Cheyenne Warrior Girl (Indianz) 6/26/20
Tribes' human remains and cultural items have been scattered across the U.S. Here's how they get returned (Arizona Central) 6/25/20
144 years after the Battle of Little Bighorn, Lakota values endure (Smithsonian Magazine) 6/24/20
On the Red Road (Taos News) 6/18/20
Native Sun News Today: Donovin Sprague, Lakota historian (Indianz) 6/18/20
Blackfeet film takes home an Emmy (Montana Public Radio) 6/17/20
YES! Magazine: Indigenous artists turn to technology to tell their stories (Indianz) 6/16/20
UC Berkeley has nearly 500,000 tribal artifacts and remains. It isn't giving them back quickly (Sacramento Bee) 6/12/20
Man sentenced for stealing Ancestral Puebloan artifacts (Indian Country Today) 6/12/20
Two local businesses drop Native American names (Madison Magazine) 6/11/20
Ivan Star Comes Out: Positive law dominates today; natural law is the Lakota way (Indianz) 6/10/20
Doug George-Kanentiio: What was life like among the Mohawks in the year 1300? (Indianz) 6/8/20
As Montana opens for tourism...tribes take a different course based on the value of elders (Indian Country Today) 6/7/20
A native perspective on shared political resistance and force (Michigan Daily) 6/3/20
'Love and Fury' documents Indigenous artists at the vanguard (High Country News) 6/3/20
Spike Lee mentors Native filmmaker Kyle Bell (Indian Country Today) 6/1/20
When art is medicine (New York Times) 5/28/20
Outdoors: Eagles live on in Native culture (The Toledo Blade) 5/23/20
'Powwow Pop Art' and perseverance (Indian Country Today) 5/22/20
Bison bring spiritual revitalization to Sioux, Assiniboine (Indian Country Today) 5/17/20
Native Sun News Today: 'It was all about the Redskins' (Indianz) 5/12/20
Michigan bookshelf: Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History (Holland Sentinel) 5/10/20
Native artists lend skills to COVID-19 campaigns (Indian Country Today) 5/10/20
Ojibwe elder loved handing down language, culture (Indian Country Today) 5/9/20
Breathing life into the Tuwaduq language (Indian Country Today) 5/8/20
Fry Bread: Children's book explores the connection between cooking and colonization (CBC Radio) 5/8/20
How a virtual powwow helped heal a spirit broken during the pandemic (NPR) 5/8/20
Yes! Magazine: Indigenous horse histories are being preserved (Indianz) 5/4/20
Chuck Hoskin: Even during social distancing, Cherokee culture connects us (Indianz) 5/4/20
Tulsan Joy Harjo appointed for a second term as U.S. Poet Laureate (Tulsa World) 5/1/20
Cafe brings Indigenous 'comfort food' to elders (Indian Country Today) 4/30/20
Two plead guilty to selling fake Native art in New Mexico (Santa Fe New Mexican) 4/29/20
Student sues school after being turned away for wearing religious attire (Turtle Talk) 4/27/20
Southeast Alaska Native group sues Neiman Marcus over 'Ravenstail' coat design (Anchorage Daily News) 4/22/20
'Toughest race' is off; honoring Louis Tewanima's Olympic story (Indian Country Today) 4/19/20
'Goodbye Mia' Native American woman on Land O'Lakes packaging has been removed (Indian Country Today) 4/18/20
How Native Americans made basketball their own (Zocalo Public Square) 4/15/20
Book review: The people who profited off the Trail of Tears (The Atlantic) May 2020
Lessons passed down from great-grandparents help Zuni farmer cope in times of uncertainty (WPSU Penn State) 4/13/20
Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Obijwe word for courage (Indianz) 4/13/20
Margaret Seelye Treuer, Minnesota's first Ojibwe judge, dies at 76 (Casper Star Tribune) 4/8/20
Cultural lessons: Museum of Indian Arts & Culture makes Native-based curriculum available to download (Albuquerque Journal) 4/3/20
Colonial Spain tried to erase them, but the Genízaro persevere (High Country News) 4/3/20
Documentary Filmmakers Part 2: "Sisters Rising" (Montana Public Radio) 4/2/20
Climate change as art; 'My culture is beautiful...I'm glad I am Yupik' (Indian Country Today) 4/1/20
Interview: Fighting and winning with Louise Erdrich (High Country News) 4/1/20
Seminole Museum to Smithsonian: 'No more stolen ancestors' (Indian Country Today) 3/31/20
'We're building faith': Social Distance Powwow brings Indian Country together despite coronavirus (Indianz) 3/30/20
Cherokee Nation after the Trail of Tears (C-SPAN) 2/29/20
'Native artists are resilient. We'll get through this' (Indian Country Today) 3/22/20
Bored? This Indigenous list is for you (Indian Country Today) 3/21/20
Indigenous images: New Mexico artist signs contract with major publisher to illustrate books (Albuquerque Journal) 3/20/20
Doug George-Kanentiio: How the Mohawks responded to historical plagues (Indianz) 3/19/20
'Indigenous Matriarchs Rising' celebrates Women's History Month (Indianz) 3/13/20
Native journalist explains modern indigenous issues (Tahlequah Daily Press) 3/11/20
Bill could allow students to wear 'culturally significant' items at graduation (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 3/10/20
Michigan school district votes to drop Redskins mascot nickname (Detroit Free Press) 3/10/20
Indigenous art show will go up piece by piece with guest selections (The Missoulian) 3/6/20
Charmaine White Face: What stereotyping does (Indianz) 3/5/20
Lawmaker wants Native American community to oversee its imagery in high schools (The State Journal-Register) 3/4/20
Arizona's growing powwow, 'safe space' for Two-Spirit (Indian Country Today) 3/4/20
'It's obviously a really exciting thing': How Native American art has become a sleeper sensation in museums and the art market alike (Artnet) 3/3/20
New Ogichidaa "Warrior" storytellers video series and lesson plans available (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction) 3/3/20
In Louise Erdrich's 'Night Watchman,' tribal and personal history converge (Minneapolis Star Tribune) 3/1/20
The resilience of Native quilts (Indian Country Today) 2/29/20
Historic collaboration: If you love trails, thank a desert rider and tribal elders (The Desert Sun) 2/29/20
Cherokee Nation heirloom seeds bound for global seed vault (Indianz) 2/24/20
How a Native American coming-of-age ritual is making a comeback (Indianz) 2/24/20
Ivan Star Comes Out: Forced assimilation has successfully weakened Lakota people (Indianz) 2/24/20
Closing Seattle's National Archives is a 'paper genocide' for some Natives (Crosscut) 2/21/20
'Swing the door open wider': New fund encourages indigenous filmmakers (Taos News) 2/20/20
Missoula County dedicates CSKT flag and native artwork at courthouse (Missoulian) 2/19/20
Spotlight: Ursula Knoki-Wilson gives healthy living tips in today's world, through Navajo traditions (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 2/18/20
Cherokee Nation Film Office: One year and going strong (Indianz) 2/18/20
Heard Museum presents its largest contemporary exhibition to date (Indian Country Today) 2/17/20
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center receives $15,000 grant for Native American makerspace/incubator (Indian Country Today) 2/17/20
Arizona House bill aims to protect Native American regalia at graduation (Arizona Public Media) 2/14/20
'Frustrated': Tribes finally get hearing with National Archives about Sand Point facility closure (The Wenatchee World) 2/12/20
A conversation with Sundance-featured Native director Erica Tremblay (Indian Country Today) 2/10/20
Lakota Food Summit to debut (Indianz) 2/7/20
National Archives whitewash the historical record--again (Nonprofit Quarterly) 2/7/20
A new Southeast Alaska dinosaur species has been given a Tlingit name (Alaska Public Media) 2/6/20
Mascot debate surrounds Utah bill (Navajo Times) 2/6/20
Native American Jewish Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis tells us how she made history (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) 2/5/20
Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagle wins prize for work on Indian law case (Indianz) 2/5/20
Letter to the editor: Protection of Native spiritual rights important for prisoners (West River Eagle) 2/4/20
San Manuel donates $1 million to 'significantly advance' Indian Country Today's mission (Indian Country Today) 2/3/20
Performers keep Cahuilla traditions alive at Agua Caliente's annual Singing of the Birds (The Desert Sun) 2/1/20
Indigenous zines elevate authenticity (High Country News) 1/30/20
How a new generation of Native American street artists is leaving its mark across the United States (Artnet News) 1/30/20
World's largest public Two-Spirit powwow set for February 8 at Fort Mason (San Francisco Bay Times) 1/30/20
Native authors win accolades for sharing family stories in books (Indianz) 1/30/20
Exhibit honoring 19th Amendment now at Ute Museum (Montrose Daily Press) 1/29/20
Native American groups take issue with Library of Congress posting tribal stories (The Desert Sun) 1/29/20
'Empower Native kids to read' (Indian Country Today) 1/28/20
Washington state bill would makes Afros, braids protected hairstyles (The Seattle Times) 1/28/20
Lounging at Sundance, in an Indigenous way (Indian Country Today) 1/27/20
Utah tribal leaders protest legislation aimed to keep Native American mascots (The Salt Lake Tribune) 1/26/20
Wichita museum exhibits Native American creation tale before it heads to the Smithsonian (The Wichita Eagle) 1/26/20
Former MSU president publishes dictionary to help preserve language of California tribe (Indianz) 1/24/20
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes respond to East Idaho lawmaker's plan to introduce mascot resolution (Idaho State Journal) 1/23/20
Indigenous musicians come together in a sacred and safe space (Indianz) 1/22/20
A taste of Toksook Bay, Yup'ik culture and a way of life (Indian Country Today) 1/22/20
A Utah lawmaker says the state should support Native American mascots (The Salt Lake Tribune) 1/22/20
Native Sun News Today: Gerry Robinson publishes new book about early Cheyenne history (Indianz) 1/20/22
Native American culture runs deep within the USMA Corps of Cadets (Indianz) 1/16/20
Respect and understanding of Lakota culture are severely lacking (Indianz) 1/16/20
Historic tribal gathering set in Del Rio (Del Rio News-Herald) 1/12/20
Salt River students discover ancestral roots through language, weaving (Indianz) 1/10/20
'Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists' at Nashville's Frist Art Museum (Indianz) 1/10/20
Seneca Nation celebrates return of Cornplanter pipe tomahawk (Olean Times Herald) 1/9/20
Pawnee Nation reclaims agricultural traditions (Indianz) 1/8/20
Cherokee Nation increases effort to save historical sites in northeast Oklahoma (Tulsa World) 1/7/20
Why are Diné LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit people being denied access to ceremony? (High Country News) 1/7/20
Indigenous song keepers reveal traditional ecological knowledge in music (Indianz) 1/7/20
Reading Native family stories 'like mine' (Indian Country Today) 1/3/20
"We Are Miccosukee' Miami murals honor tribes and wow the public (Indian Country Today) 1/1/20
