Indigenous communities honor ancestors, confront challenges to beliefs
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In Manitoba, Canada, dozens of Indigenous people and their allies walked to remember Tanya Nepinak, a member of Pine Creek First Nation who has been missing since 2011.
The group walked to Odena Circle in Winnipeg and offered prayers and songs in her memory, seeking to keep her case visible. In Wyoming, a pastor at Foundations for Nations church, Sarah Lucas, publicly criticised an Arapaho ceremony as “idol worship,” prompting calls for her removal from the community.
Lucas stated she intends to remain, creating tension between the church and the tribe. Indigenous organizers in Wisconsin are preparing for their fourth annual walk on October 3 to commemorate Orange Shirt Day and honor girls who died while attending the Good Shepherd Indian School in Milwaukee County. Researchers are working with them to ensure the stories of boarding school survivors and victims are remembered.
Elsewhere, the new television series “Rez Cops,” created and co-produced by Leigh George of the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, explores themes of community and homecoming in south-central Canada. Citizens of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans are travelling from Wisconsin to Massachusetts to hold a powwow on their ancestral homelands, hoping to strengthen their connection to the land.
Additionally, a puppet show in New York City recently celebrated the ongoing restoration of buffalo herds, a project largely driven by Native communities.
