There has been a lot of talk about Native reservations being food deserts. With no corporate supermarket and little access to the necessary amounts of salmon, a traditional staple, the Yurok Tribe has started the Yurok Agricultural Corporation (YAC) to overcome this imbalance and move ahead with hope for a brighter future planted in the soil […]
André Cramblit
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The End of the Intertribal Gathering is the End of an Era
Many people were recently left without what has become their fall tradition. For 38 years the Northern California Indian Development Council (NCIDC) has put on the Intertribal Gathering and Elders Dinner around Veterans Day. This year there was no reveling in the reunion of friends and family, no basking in the glow of honor placed […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Through the Eyesof Native Activists
I started my review of From Wounded Knee to Standing Rock: A reporter’s journey, screening at the Eureka Theater on Oct. 19, with some trepidation because of its local connection. Journalist and director Kevin McKiernan’s documentary looks at Indian actions at two different points in history. It focuses partly on the American Indian Movement, the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Changing of the Seasons
It has been a cold winter with what used to be normal amounts of rain. Floods have taken lives locally and we even had snow down to the sand dunes. Earth Day, like spring, is just around the corner, descending upon us on April 22. For many Native peoples, every day is Earth Day. We […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Military Parade of Shock and Awe or a Circus Cavalcade of Compunctious Consumption
In all his self-aggrandizing bluster, the great orange father has proposed, at various times, a military parade to brashly venerate his presidency with marshalled aplomb. He has glommed onto this idea from viewing similar machinations of muscular might by our European allies and in the history reels of yore. I would dare hope his vision […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Aches and Pains of Getting Older
According to the American Association of Retired People, there are 108.7 million folks in the United States over the age of 50. This includes 76.4 million Boomers (born 1946-1964), compared with 49 million Gen Xers and 82 million millennials. Moreover, the number of people 50-plus will continue to grow over the next decade to the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
One Native’s Perspective on Turkey Day
The fourth Thursday in November is always a special day in many Native households. For most it’s about time off from work (if they have a job as the national unemployment rate for Native Americans is 12 percent according to the US Census, versus 4.2 percent for the country in general) and an opportunity to […]
Posted inNews
How To Host a Political Party: A social approach to figuring out your ballot
First you must set up the invite list. This is most important. You will want to have around 10 to 12 people, mostly of your generation, whose opinions you respect and who are not afraid to speak up on the critical issues that confront the electorate. It doesn’t hurt to throw in a few people […]
Posted inNews
Swerving with Merv
To say that Merv George was a local legend is an understatement. He was a man who led by example. He stood out among his peers as the righteous savior of the old world who could blend it with the new one dawning. His main passions in life were his music, his family and his […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Did Trump Appoint a Non-Native to Native American Ambassadorship?
Amid a maelstrom of “fake news reports” of indictments, sullied security clearances, resignations, forced resignations, removals and other such sundry vitriol among the many faces of the presidential administration, one name has gone unnoticed under society’s radar. His Highness, or as he is called by many in Native American country “The Great Orange Father,” has […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Vagaries of Family Survival
One of my favorite purveyors of family accounts was my great aunt Violet’s treasured cousin Ramona. Back in the days of her spritely late 80s (she passed away when she was 97), I would pick her up from her home in Eureka (sometimes with little or no notice) and take her to visit Auntie Vi […]
Posted inNews
How to Kick Ass in 2017
It’s a new year, and while that’s of little consequence to the universe at large, it’s a convenient place for us to take stock and up our game. We did as much 2016-bashing as anybody and now that it’s behind us, well, beloved celebrities will likely still die and calamity will still befall us in […]