Search

Culture Watchlist: ‘Why Leonard Peltier’s Clemency Matters’ 02.13.2025 Kamiah Koch Watchlist By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist Considered the country’s longest serving political prisoner, Native American activist Leonard Peltier, now 80 years old, saw his sentence commuted on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. After being convicted of murdering two FBI agents in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Reservation and imprisoned for five decades, former President Biden commuted his sentence in the final …

Culture Watchlist ‘FBI announces new resources to solve cases of missing, murdered Indigenous people’ 04.11.2025 Kamiah Koch Watchlist By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist One of Portland’s local news channels, KPTV FOX 12, shared a segment reporting the FBI is boosting resources across the country to address unsolved crimes in Indian Country, including cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people. “With these added resources, unsolved violent crimes in Native American communities …

Culture Watchlist: ‘Red dresses bring awareness to Washington's missing, murdered Indigenous people’ 05.13.2025 Kamiah Koch Watchlist By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist All across the country on Monday, May 5, red dresses were on display in public spaces for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Awareness Day, also known as Red Dress Day. “Right now 72 Indigenous women are missing across the state of Washington and their names can all be found on this display in Northern Quest …

Culture Watchlist: ‘This is Indian Country 111: Oregon’ 05.28.2025 Kamiah Koch Watchlist By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist Ruth-Ann Thorn hosts a series on the Native-based channel, First Nations Experience (FNX) called, “This Is Indian Country.” It shares modern Native American culture and in her latest episode of the show, she visits Grand Ronde and other Oregon Tribes. Her visit includes a segment with Grand Ronde Tribal member and carver Bobby Mercier. Mercier, an artist …

Culture Watchlist: ‘What Makes Someone Native American?: Ep 4. of Crashcourse Native American History’ 06.12.2025 Kamiah Koch Watchlist By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist The Grand Ronde Tribal membership voted to amend the Tribal constitution in 2024 to do away with blood quantum and move toward lineal descent. The Tribe began accepting new membership applications Tuesday, June 3. Serendipitously, a popular education channel on YouTube called CrashCourse released a video a month …

Culture Watchlist: ‘What Do Native Cultures Have in Common?: Ep 6 of CrashCourse Native American History’ 06.27.2025 Kamiah Koch Watchlist By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist In the latest installment of the widely popular educational YouTube channel, CrashCourse, Native comedian Che Jim (Navajo and Odawa) shares a video on a commonality found among many Tribes: Natives know how to have fun! “If you believed everything the media tells you, you’d think all Native Americans were stoic …

Culture Watchlist: ‘Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act’ 07.29.2025 Kamiah Koch Watchlist By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist In simple terms, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act of 1996 was established to offer federal support to promote Tribal self-governance and culturally grounded housing solutions. After visiting several Tribes all across the country, including Grand Ronde’s Tribal Housing and Elder Housing, the National …

Culture Watchlist: Video delves into how Alaska Native women heal from trauma 10.28.2021 Kamiah Koch Culture Marjorie Kunaq Tahbone (Inupiaq) applies a tattoo to a woman’s chin as part of her effort to help her fellow Alaskan Natives heal from historical traumas in an Al Jazeera YouTube video called “How Alaska Native Women Are Healing From Generations of Trauma.” (Smoke Signals screenshot) (Editor’s note: It is estimated that there are approximately 149 billion videos on YouTube …

Culture Watchlist: ‘Bad Press’ trailer 09.14.2023 Kamiah Koch Watchlist By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist Smoke Signals staff, two members of the Editorial Board and a Tribal Council member attended the Indigenous Journalists Association’s annual conference in Winnipeg, Canada, in August. One of the conference activities was a special screening of the documentary “Bad Press.” To our surprise, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Smoke Signals received a shout-out in the film …

Culture Watchlist: ‘Why “Star Wars” was dubbed into the Navajo Language’ 01.31.2024 Kamiah Koch Watchlist Smoke Signals screenshot By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist Native Americans dressed as C-3PO, Princess Leia and stormtroopers settle into their cars as the sun is setting on the Navajo Reservation. “Ladies and gentleman who are listening in your cars this evening here at the drive-in theater, the Navajo language is on a comeback,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said over …