Native Americans

Native American News Roundup Oct. 2-8, 2022

Eyewitness drawing of the Sand Creek Massacre by Southern Cheyenne warrior and ledger artist and massacre survivor Howling Wolf, ca 1875.

Here is a summary of Native American-related news around the U.S. this week:

Haaland Announces Expansion of Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced an expansion of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site during a solemn ceremony there Wednesday.

Haaland, a citizen of the Laguna Pueblo, was joined by National Park Service Director Chuck Sams, a member of the Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes, at the site where Colorado cavalry charged a Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment in November of 1864, killing an estimated 200 people, more than half women, children and the elderly.

“It is our solemn responsibility at the Department of the Interior, as caretakers of America’s national treasures, to tell the story of our nation,” Haaland said. “We can't rely on history books that were written by those who colonized these lands to remember these stories. We must invest in opportunities like this that offer the chance for true and honest dialogue straight from survivors and their descendants.”

A view of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Eads, Colorado, where in 1864, the U.S. Army murdered more than 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho tribe members.

Her announcement to expand the site by an additional 1,400 hectares did not satisfy everyone at the event. Northern Cheyenne Sacred Hat keeper Michael Bearcomesout suggested the additional land could be used to build a university or a retirement center.

“We’re here all day listening to people talk about saving this site so that we remember,” Bearcomesout said. “But not once did we hear anything about paying back the Cheyenne and Arapaho people for what happened here.”

To watch a NPS video about the massacre, click here.

Secretary Haaland commits to telling America’s story at Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site



Native American Astronaut Nicole Mann Arrives at Space Station

A beaming – and weightless – Nicole Aunapu Mann arrived at the International Space Station Thursday as it flew 420 kilometers above the west coast of Africa. A Wailacki citizen of the Round Valley Indian Tribes in Northern California, she made history as the first Native American woman to leave the earth’s atmosphere.

Mann launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday, commanding a crew of three others – Josh Cassada from the United States, Koichi Wakata from Japan and Anna Kikina from Russia.

"Awesome!" said Mann as they reached orbit aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft. "That was a smooth ride uphill. You've got three rookies who are pretty happy to be floating in space right now."

Mann and her crew will replace three Americans and one Italian who will return in their own SpaceX capsule next week after almost half a year aboard the space station. Until then, 11 people will share the orbiting lab.

NASA has announced that The Associated Press, on behalf of Native American media affiliates, will conduct an in-flight interview with Mann on October 19.

SpaceX delivers Russian, Native American women to station




Lakota Culture Bearer Kevin Locke Remembered

Family and friends gathered in the Black Hills of South Dakota Friday to celebrate the life of Kevin Locke, also known as Tokeya Inajin (“The First to Rise”), who died September 30 from a severe asthma attack.

A Hunkpapa Lakota - Anishinaabe culture bearer from the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, Locke achieved fame for his North American Indigenous flute playing and his “Hoop of Life,” a traditional hoop dance that celebrated the unity of humankind.


In the 1980s, Locke became a follower of the Baha’i Faith, which he believed aligned with traditional Lakota spirituality.

“I saw people from all over the world, from widely diverse backgrounds, recognizing the need to unite and to come together based upon our spiritual reality as human beings, and recognizing the global dimensions of the human family,” he explained on his website. “Then, in 1983, some Baha’i friends from the Indigenous nations of South America visited our Standing Rock Reservation, and they helped me grow in the work to foster an awareness of our one human family.”

Locke worked with The Lakota Language Consortium and The Language Conservancy as part of an urgent effort to preserve and revitalize the Lakota language.

Rapid City resident Marina Allison, an Oglala Lakota member of the Cheyenne River Tribe, remembers listening to Locke and her mother speak Lakota.

“I feel we are losing a valuable teacher and mentor in Lakota/Dakota/Nakota country,” she told VOA. “I and many others will remember his teachings. ‘May he rest in power as a common man,’ as we say. Wopila pilamiya — great thanks.”

‘Huge loss for the world’: Lakota cultural bearer Kevin Locke passes on