Mauricio Savarese Associated Press SAO PAULO — An Indigenous group in Brazil said Wednesday its members detained 12 people for allegedly mining illegally in the Amazon and handed them over to police. The non-profit Urihi Associação Yanomami said in a statement that the incident took place Tuesday in the northern state of Roraima, which borders Venezuela. The organization said its move was aimed at avoiding the risk of water contamination by mercury in mining. Brazil's Indigenous Peoples Ministry confirmed that a dozen alleged miners, including 10 men and two women, were in police custody. The ..read more

Greetings, relatives. (can be in traditional language, make intro your own) A lot of news out there. Thanks for stopping by ICT’s digital platform. Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you. Remember to scroll to the bottom to see what’s popping out to us on social media and what we’re reading. Also, if you like our daily digest, sign up for The Weekly, our newsletter emailed to you on Thursdays. If you like what we do and want us to keep going, support and donate here. Okay, here's what you need to know today: Diné student joins Columbia campus protest A wave of highly charged ..read more

Fabiano Maisonnave Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil — Indigenous representatives from 35 countries issued a declaration Thursday criticizing the fact that they are too rarely consulted about mining that takes place on or near their lands, an issue that has become more acute with increased demand for minerals needed in the transition to a cleaner energy system. "We recognize and support the need to end fossil fuel reliance and shift to renewable energy as critical in addressing the climate crisis," the statement read. "However, the current trajectory of the energy transition fails to meet the ..read more

A slice of our Indigenous world Animation brings magic to life. The animation “We Carry You With Us” celebrates culture and community. ICT’s Ashley Sinclair has more on the short film created by the Urban Indian Health Institute.  ICT’s Mark Trahant recently spoke with Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland about the agency’s focus on climate change. The agency’s budget is seeking $120 million to fund 146 projects in tribal communities.  U.S. Rep. Tom Cole is solidifying himself as one of the most powerful politicians in Congress. We also learn if it is worth it for ..read more

Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press Tribes and environmentalists want a U.S. appeals court to weigh in on their request to halt construction along part of a $10 billion transmission line that will carry wind-generated electricity from New Mexico to customers as far away as California. The disputed stretch of the SunZia Transmission line is in southern Arizona's San Pedro Valley. The tribes and others argue that the U.S. Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management failed to recognize the cultural significance of the area before approving the route of the massive project in 2015. SunZia i ..read more

Associated Press WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday took up Donald Trump's bid to avoid prosecution over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump's lawyers argue that former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity for their official acts. Otherwise, they say, politically motivated prosecutions of former occupants of the Oval Office would become routine and presidents couldn't function as the commander in chief if they had to worry about criminal charges. Lower courts have rejected those arguments, including a unanimous three-judge panel on a ..read more

Steve LeBlanc and Nick Perry Associated Press The University of Southern California canceled its main graduation ceremony and dozens more college students were arrested at other campuses nationwide Thursday as protests against the Israel-Hamas war continued to spread. College officials across the U.S. are worried the ongoing protests could disrupt plans for commencement ceremonies next month. Some universities have called in police to break up the demonstrations, resulting in ugly scuffles and hundreds of arrests, while others appeared content to wait out student protests as the final days of ..read more

About this series Lee Enterprises’ Public Service Journalism team has spent more than a year digging into the causes and implications of Native Americans' disproportionately high rates of fatal encounters with law enforcement. Through public records requests, dozens of interviews, the examination of lawsuits and multiple reporting trips to Native American communities both on and off tribal land, reporter Ted McDermott has worked to understand the systemic forces that contribute to this trend — and to hear many personal stories of how these deaths have reverberated within Indigenous communities ..read more

Sandra Hale Schulman Special to ICT The latest: Pots tell stories from desert clay, Native artists win awards, Kiowa life in black and white ART: Pottery from tradition A traditional potter and a flint knapper, Tony Soares, Metis/Portuguese, has been reviving the millennia-old art of Mojave Desert Indigenous pottery. Working out of caves and classrooms, he teaches how to dig the clay, dirt and water out of the desert floor to create the right mixture for pots. “I am a potter specializing in California and Arizona paddle and anvil type pottery,” Soares told ICT at a recent booth demonstration f ..read more

Greetings, relatives. A lot of news out there. Thanks for stopping by ICT’s digital platform. Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you. Remember to scroll to the bottom to see what’s popping out to us on social media and what we’re reading. Also, if you like our daily digest, sign up for The Weekly, our newsletter emailed to you on Thursdays. If you like what we do and want us to keep going, support and donate here. Okay, here's what you need to know today: Tackling the opioid epidemic PORTLAND, ORE. — Across the Pacific Northwest, Native nations and Native-led organizations a ..read more