News

• NPR: Native Stories From Alaska Give Gamers Something To Play With
  

  By Heather Bryant August 23, 2014 Until recently, no video games on the market have told the story of an indigenous people from their perspective. A group of Alaskan natives have partnered with a game developer to change that. Their game is called Never Alone, and its creators hope it will set a new standard … Read more



• UCLA linguist, Gabrielino-Tongva Indians use social media to revive extinct language
  

  Letisia Marquez | June 27, 2014 Citlali Arvizu, a descendant of Southern California’s Gabrielino-Tongva Indians, didn’t grow up speaking the Tongva language, but she’s hoping her children do. “It’s a dream that one day we will have speakers, that we can really do a full blessing,” said Arvizu, 35, of Anaheim. Arvizu’s hope that an … Read more



• Op-Ed by President Obama in Indian Country Today
  

  This morning, in an op-ed published in Indian Country Today, President Obama announced his upcoming travel to Cannonball N.D. to visit the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Friday, June 13. The President will be accompanied by the First Lady in his first visit to Indian Country since taking office. The following op-ed by President Obama … Read more



• NNABA Applauds the Historic Confirmation of Keith Harper
  

  For Immediate Release, June 3, 2014 Contact: Mary L. Smith (202) 236-0339 NNABA APPLAUDS THE HISTORIC CONFIRMATION OF KEITH HARPER TO BE UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL PHOENIX ”The National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) applauds the historic confirmation of Keith Harper as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights … Read more



• Stefanie Renaud, UCLA School of Law Student, Awarded NNALSA 2L of the Year Award
  

  Congratulations from the UCLA American Indian Studies Center! UCLA School of Law Student Stefanie Renaud was awarded the National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA) 2L of the Year award this year at the Annual Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference. The award recognizes a student who contributes outstanding legal services to the Native American … Read more



• Article: Recovered and Restored: ‘Ramona,’ Silent Movie by Chickasaw Filmmaker
  

  By Angela Aleiss March 27, 2014 The recently restored 1928 version of Ramona will have its world premiere on March 29 in Los Angeles. Based on a weepy, once-popular novel by Helen Hunt Jackson, Ramona tells the story of a mixed-race (Scottish and American Indian) girl who is raised by a Mexican family and suffers racial … Read more



• Angela Aleiss quoted in “Rooney Mara and ‘Peter Pan’s’ Lily-White Tiger Lily Problem” article
  

  The character exhibits the issues that many Native American characters do in the Hollywood imagination. According to Angela Aleiss – the author of “Making the White Man’s Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies” and an instructor at California State University, Long Beach – whether the Native Americans are depicted as savage villains or sympathetic victims, … Read more



• Article: 100 Years Ago: Lillian St. Cyr, First Native Star in Hollywood Feature
  

  By Angela Aleiss One hundred years ago, Winnebago actress Lillian St. Cyr became the first Native woman to star in a feature film. Cecil B. DeMille’s The Squaw Man was released to American audiences on February 23, 1914, and marked the first time a feature Western was made in what is now Hollywood. Lillian St. … Read more



• New from UCLA American Indian Studies Center Press: Structuring Sovereignty: Constitutions of Native Nations
  

  Drafting and adopting a constitution is a collective journey of self-discovery and reflection for any nation, Indigenous or non-Indigenous. This book is a guide for communities engaged in the process of drafting a constitution and for students who are studying that process. It draws on research, firsthand experience with constitution writing and constitutional change, and … Read more



• ICTMN: Three Tribes to Begin Prosecuting Non-Indian Domestic Violence Offenders
  

  Three pilot tribes have been chosen by the Obama Administration to take early advantage of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provisions passed by Congress last year that allow tribes to prosecute non-Indian offenders for domestic violence offenses on reservations. The Justice Department announced February 6 that the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Tulalip Tribes … Read more