NEW YORK — If you think Latin American history starts with Christopher Columbus, John Leguizamo would like to have a word. He points out there were great empires and civilizations during the thousands of years before 1492 — like the mighty Incas, Aztecs and Maya, whose great strides in medicine, engineering and science echo today. … Read more
OWYHEE, Nev. — The family placed flowers by a pair of weathered cowboy boots, as people quietly gathered for the memorial of the soft-spoken tribal chairman who mentored teens in the boxing ring and teased his grandkids on tractor rides. Left unsaid, and what troubled Marvin Cota’s family deep down, was that his story ended … Read more
Cork O’Connor, whose wife is a full-blooded Ojibwe and who is half Native American himself, retired from his job as Aurora, Minnesota, police chief a while back. He now runs a fast-food place, but when trouble comes to Minnesota’s Great North, Cork still is apt to end up in the middle of it. In “Spirit … Read more
NEW YORK — Some years ago, when Sonya Balsara and Adi Roy were in middle school, they were cast in kiddie versions of the musical “Aladdin.” Little did they know it would be very good preparation — for the same roles on Broadway. More than a decade after hitting their marks in the show as … Read more
NEW YORK — Tucked within the expansive Native American halls of the American Museum of Natural History is a diminutive wooden doll that holds a sacred place among the tribes whose territories once included Manhattan. For more than six months now, the ceremonial Ohtas, or Doll Being, has been hidden from view after the museum … Read more
CHOCTAW, Miss. — As the drummers walk onto the field, the players behind them smack their hickory sticks to the beat. The rhythm envelops the stands and a palpable sense of anticipation flows through the crowd. Indigenous peoples have been playing stickball for hundreds of years, and every summer since 1975, teams have competed in … Read more
TAHOLAH, Wash. — Standing water lies beneath the home Sonny Curley shares with his parents and three children on the Quinault reservation a few steps from the Pacific Ocean in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The back deck is rotting, and black mold speckles the walls inside, leaving the 46-year-old fisherman feeling drained if he spends too … Read more
LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lily Gladstone knows the gravity stories about what she calls the “epidemic” of missing and murdered Indigenous people have. But she also values humor in telling those stories. In “Fancy Dance,” set for a limited theatrical release Friday and streaming release on Apple TV+ June 28, Gladstone plays … Read more
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to take up a challenge to an agreement that gave the Seminole Tribe exclusive rights to handle online sports betting in Florida, dealing a blow to the deal’s opponents FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a challenge to an agreement that … Read more
HONOLULU — Ki‘inaniokalani Kahoʻohanohano longed for a deeper connection to her Native Hawaiian ancestors and culture as she prepared to give birth to her first child at home on the north shore of Maui in 2003. But generations of colonialist suppression had eroded many Hawaiian traditions, and it was hard to find information on how … Read more
