SEATTLE-Walking through Waterfront Park in downtown Seattle, along the shoreline of Elliot Bay in the Puget Sound, Pier 69 has long been home to the iconic whale watching tours aboard the FRS Clipper. This summer included an extra special tour grounded in Indigenous knowledge and storytelling. "Some people are really excited about seeing a whale and are also gaining a perspective from our point of view and the naturalist point of view," said Valerie Segrest, citizen of the...
TULSA, Okla.-After recording more than 380 stories from Indigenous boarding school survivors in 19 states, a national oral history project recently made its final stop in Tulsa. In the last two centuries, the federal government sponsored 500 boarding schools, intended to assimilate tens of thousands of Native American children into white culture. The schools began around 1819 and ended around 1969, leaving many elders who still remember the dark days of being pulled from...
LANGDON, Alb.- On June 6, Intertribal Life Ministries, in collaboration with Samaritan's Purse, hosted a First Nations Shoebox packing party in Calgary, Alb. The team of 20 packed over 300 shoeboxes, destined to arrive in Guinea-Bissau, Africa during their cashew harvest festival in October. Each box was packed with love and filled with the hope of the gospel. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan's Purse, an international relief organization that has been...
Ottawa, Ont.-The Government of Canada is seeking feedback on a draft of the redesigned Additions to Reserve (ATR) Policy. This draft policy builds on years of engagement with First Nations, provinces and territories, and technical partners, through which more than 1,000 recommendations were received. Participants are invited to share their feedback in one of the following ways between now and September 22, 2026: • Complete the online feedback form: Share your views:...
ADA, Okla.-At the end of June, Chickasaw Gov. Bill Anoatubby, 80, retired, after leading the Chickasaw Nation for 39 years. "This moment is bittersweet as I reflect on a lifetime of service to this mighty tribal nation," Anoatubby wrote on Facebook. "However, I have full confidence in the servant leaders, currently elected, appointed and employed to continue the momentum we have forged together and stay true to our mission, to enhance the overall quality of life of the...
Washington, D.C.-The Department of the Interior recently announced a ten-year extension of the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act Demonstration Project. Under this program, tribes that are engaged in forest land management or surface leasing activities on trust lands may establish an Indian Trust Asset Management Plan, allowing the tribe to develop their own forestry and surface leasing regulations and assume certain approval authorities otherwise held by the Department of the...
OTTAWA, Ont.—Recently Indigenous Services Canada, Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation celebrated the implementation of the Ontario Final Agreement to reform the First Nations Child and Family Services Program across the province. As of the end of May, funding began under the Agreement to support First Nations-led approaches focusing on prevention, family support, and better outcomes for children. The Ontario Final Agreement commits over $900 million per year to...
This 180-day devotional will highlight encouraging and thought-provoking, scripturally sound writings by Kene and Milly Jackson, along with members of their family, making this an intergenerational project. The patriarch of the family, Bill Jackson, also known as Grandpa Billy Jackson, found the Lord in 1951. When Grandpa Billy started serving the Lord the trajectory of his family changed for eternity. He became a faithful student of God's Word and a respected Bible teacher,...
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.- The 25th Navajo Nation Council recently unanimously approved a historic investment totaling $244,617,938 to fund broadband infrastructure projects throughout the Navajo Nation. Legislation No. 0109-26 appropriates $75,546,678.33 from the Unreserved, Undesignated Fund Balance to the Navajo Nation Broadband Office and approves the Broadband Infrastructure Projects Plan. "This measure underscores the need to address the broadband divide that exists on the...
BUSBY, Alb.-On May 14–17, 2026, Intertribal Life Ministries participated in the annual Native Youth Conference (NYC). ILM leaders participate in brainstorming and helping plan the event all year, as well as assisting on site. This year's NYC event included 251 youth, 46 chaperones, several dozen volunteers, speakers, and other invited guests who gathered at Camp Nakamun in Busby, Alb.. The theme was "Start Over," based on the scripture from 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore,...
I grew around Cree people, but by my background, I'm a Saulteaux Indian. My mother was Saulteaux and my dad was Metis and came from Peli, Saskatchewan. I come from Swan River, Manitoba. I have four sisters and one brother. We were a poor family. My mother and my dad struggled to get by, but my dad always worked, and always made sure there was food on the table for us, growing up. I thank the Lord that, even though I didn't know Him then, my mom always made us go to Sunday...
As I was putting together a sermon on the topic of peace, I went back in history to the year 1805 in Alberta, Canada. That was the year when a great Indigenous man was born. He became known as Chief Broken Arm. Why? Because right after he was born, his mother left her baby boy lying in the grass. The desperate mother thought she wouldn't be able to raise him herself. At the same time, a horse race was taking place at that spot and the baby's arm got broken. Broken Arm...
A good friend of ours has had a lingering cough for two years. At first, it was just a cough-you know the kind. The one that is pesky, but not a big deal. Over time, it got more bothersome, people noticed it and it kept him up at night. He decided to visit his doctor, thinking maybe it wasn't just a tickle in his throat. After he went through all the testing the doctors asked of him, they came back to him with good news-they had an answer! But they also had bad news: It was...
After living in the same house in Pendleton, Oregon for the first 18 years of her life, Summer Wildbill took a big leap post high school graduation in 2023, by moving across the country to study international relations at New York University (NYU). "My senior year self went in really confident that it was not going to phase me at all, and I could just do a really smooth transition from reservation to the city, which was not true," said Wildbill, a citizen of the Confederated...
