Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • This Library Takes an Indigenous Approach to Categorizing Books

    Reconsidering the ways in which subject headings sort and present knowledge can help address systemic racism. The X̱wi7x̱wa Library at the University of British Columbia is rethinking the way libraries organize and place value on different forms of knowledge. By eschewing the Dewey Decimal Classification, which obscures and relegates indigenous literature to folklore, the library catalogs work geographically and by the name of the indigenous community. Librarians assist visitors, creating a welcoming atmosphere and forming relationships with communities and individuals.

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  • Cut Bank's IEFA curriculum is model for other schools

    Cut Bank, Montana has incorporated education about Native Americans in all grade levels with a special emphasis on and participation by Blackfeet Nation students because of the reservation's proximity. This effort is also state legislature: the Indian Education For All (IEFA) law was passed in 1999 and funds schools conducting the curriculum. Cut Bank School is special because of how Blackfeet Nation students contribute to the teaching, but students are also learning by reading stories about American Indians, learning words and phrases, talking about the first Thanksgiving, and playing traditional music.

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  • What's Wrong With This Diorama? You Can Read All About It

    Reassessing representations creates an opportunity for educational experiences. Instead of simply removing a problematic diorama depicting members of the Lenape tribe and Dutch colonists, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, NY, converted the piece into a learning experience for visitors. Following pressure from groups like Decolonize this Place, the revised diorama now features panels that illuminate and discuss misrepresentations in the piece.

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  • How North Dakota tribes countered a restrictive voting law

    Native American tribes, community groups, and nonprofits quickly responded to a North Dakota law requiring voter IDs with physical street addresses by holding information sessions, setting up stations to create instant tribal IDs, and placing volunteers at polling stations to assist those who wanted to vote actually be able to do so. Many tribal members rely on post office boxes and do not have an official address on their reservation. Despite some voters being turned away because of their ID, overall there was a record turnout in precincts that include reservations.

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  • Climate change is fueling wildfires around the world. Can indigenous knowledge help us manage them?

    The indigenous practice of setting regular fires to manage land hasn’t been used in generations, but it’s now being brought back to help manage wildfires in Australia. With support from the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation and 10 Deserts Project, indigenous people are re-learning old traditions to help the land, though they are still learning to navigate complex relationships with the government about which land can be used.

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  • Native American Rights Groups Are Targeting Six States to Fight Voter Suppression in 2020

    Native American voters are disproportionately impacted by restrictive voter ID laws, particularly those that require proof of address because many Native Nations do not use formal street addresses. In response, the voting rights group Four Directions helped create and implement a system that allowed tribal officials to set up at polling places and immediately generate an ID on tribal letterhead with an address based on a location that a voter pointed to on a map. The group also supported lawsuits to expand polling places, lessening the financial and travel burdens for Native American voters.

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  • Native American Tribes Gaining Recognition For Timber And Forestry Practices

    Native American tribes in Oregon have garnered attention for their sustainable forest preservation, especially since recent national legislation passed that gave thousands of acres of land land back to several Native American tribes. Dedication to the land over short-term profit has allowed these forests to thrive. By using techniques that promote longevity of wildlife, these forests are cost effective and managed to last.

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  • How a Tech Geek Is Using Machine Learning to Hold Human Rights Abusers Accountable

    Patrick Ball, cofounder of the nonprofit Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), has helped use quantitative data to put numbers behind things that were before unprovable — i.e. the difference between genocide and random violence. Ball and HRDAG have analyzed existing data to come up with the "invisible" data, overlaying several sets of statistics with machine learning to come up with stats like the fact that you were eight times more likely to be killed by the army in the Ixil region in the early 1980s if you were indigenous. Ball also advises nine truth commissions, four UN commissions, and more.

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  • From a new bird to a new community reserve: India's tribe sets example

    A new species of bird discovered in the small village of Singchung, India has been named after the Indigenous people who own that land — the bird is called Bugun liocichla, named after the Bugun people. Not only did this put the village in the international spotlight, it also brought tourism that helped them develop an ecotourism business. Now the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary is in charge of the community reserve which is now the most effectively patrolled area under the sanctuary's purview.

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  • ‘We see its value': Ugandan communities benefiting from agroforestry

    Communities across Uganda have been realizing the benefits of agroforestry, an old farming system that mimics natural ecosystems. Apart from creating a diverse, stable local food supply, the practice promotes soil health, bolsters biodiversity, creates wildlife habitat, and sequesters carbon. An NGO is working with communities to spread the practice across the region, with marked effect.

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