#NativeAmericaCalling: Protecting #SacredSites in urban areas

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

"Protecting sacred sites in urban areas
Sacred sites sometimes get lost in urban settings as cities prioritize the needs of non-Native residents and commercial interests over the historical and spiritual value for Native Americans.

"But tribes and Native organizations are having some success connecting with city officials to see that sacred spaces are protected and accessible. After years of restoration work, what were known as the #IndianMounds in #SaintPaulMN, have a whole new look, a new #Dakota name — #Wicaḣapi — and an educational #CulturalCenter.

"Over in St. Louis, Missouri, the city just solidified a transfer of property that signifies its first-ever recognition of #TribalSovereignty. The sacred #SugarloafMound is being returned to the care of the #OsageNation, whose people were removed from the land.

"Tune into Native America Calling to talk about the difficult work to recognize and preserve sacred places in population centers."

Listen: https://indianz.com/News/2025/10/07/native-america-calling-protecting-sacred-sites-in-urban-areas/

#ProtectTheSacred #NativeAmericans #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousPeoplesDay #CulturalPreservation #CulturalHeritage #PreservingHistory

Originally completed in 1930, the garden was revived after decades of overgrowth during the "Birdland and the Anthropocene" exhibit by Lynne Parks. Now a vibrant downtown oasis, it's open for community programs and event rentals!

#ThePeale #MuseumCourtyard #HistoricRenovation #PreservingHistory

Another #Nihkaniyane Honoree, #EmmaSoctomah, is the daughter of Elizabeth Neptune and #DonaldSoctomah -- Donald being another person I learned a lot from when I was covering the #MaineRivers conference! Emma is also the grandchild of renowned #Passamaquoddy #Basketmaker #MollyNeptuneParker.

"Emma Soctomah is a Passamaquoddy citizen of #Motahkomikuk and was the 2025 class valedictorian at University of Maine Machias,where she majored in psychology and community studies. She was an active participant in the college’s Kinap Mentorship Program, which creates both on- and off-campus programs aimed at bringing together #Wabanaki cultural values and Indigenous ways of knowing with Western education. She plans to continue working at the elementary school in Motahkomikuk and will pursue a master’s degree beginning in fall 2026. Soctomah is the daughter of Donald Soctomah and Elizabeth Neptune and the granddaughter of world renowned basketmaker Molly Neptune Parker. Soctomah is also a nationally recognized basketmaker and was among the first artists to receive an #AbbeMuseum Wabanaki #Artist Fellowship."

Learn more about Emma:
https://www.wabanakialliance.com/nihkaniyane2025-emmasoctomah/

#CulturalPreservation #PreservingHistory #IndigenousLanguage #IndigenousHistory #TraditionalArts #NativeAmericanArtists #valedictorian

Another 2025 #Nihkaniyane honoree -#BrianneLolar!

"Brianne Lolar is one of three individuals honored by the #WabanakiAlliance at the 2025 Nihkaniyane event. A citizen of the #PenobscotNation, Lolar is a beloved elementary school teacher who left the classroom four years ago to begin doing equally important work as the first #WabanakiStudies Specialist for the Maine Department of Education. In that work she is bringing voice and representation to the Wabanaki people through partnerships with Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators and organizations who’ve been working together to achieve unmet goals and objectives of the 2001 requiring that #WabanakiHistory and culture be taught and integrated into the K-12 curriculum.

"A 2022 report from the Wabanaki Alliance, #AbbeMuseum, #ACLU of Maine, and Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission noted the law has not been implemented meaningfully across the state. Those findings and the work of a task force leading up to the report are what led Lolar to leave her 'happy place' of teaching in the classroom and enter the challenging give-and-take realm of state government where she’s been working on year-to-year contracts to help teachers and school districts fulfill the goals of the 2001 law.

" 'I knew I can’t complain about nothing being done if I’m not going to step up and sacrifice,' she says. 'My thinking was ‘It’s just a year and I’ll go back to teaching. It could go away again at any time. So I need to make the most of this opportunity.'

"Her sense of urgency motivated a 'can-do' approach that made sure yearly progress was being made to create a solid foundation for Wabanaki studies being taught across the entire state."

Read more:
https://www.wabanakialliance.com/nihkaniyane2025-briannelolar/

#WabanakiAlliance #Wabanaki #LanguagePreservation #WabanakiLanguage #CulturalPreservation #PreservingHistory #IndigenousLanguage #IndigenousHistory #Teachers

#Photographing the unique #cowboy poet #tradition of the #AmericanWest https://zorz.it/qMHvX | #KenKlein #documentary #interview #JessicaBrandiLifland #photographer #musicians #portrait #CowboyPoets #PreservingHistory #nostalgia

Ooooh...! @SlippiHUD Tagging for #SolarPunkSunday!

#History #PreservingHistory #Maps

#DOGE terminates grant for #Maine #FilmArchive in #Bucksport

April 14, 2025

BUCKSPORT, Maine (WABI) - "A Hancock County non-profit says the Trump Administration abruptly terminated a six-figure federal grant this month.

"Northeast Historic Film in Bucksport has been dedicated to preserving Maine history for four decades.

"Executive Director David Weiss says he received a letter from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, around 1:00 a.m. on April 2nd. That’s how they learned a $341,000 grant from the National Endowment for the #Humanities was canceled.

"The money was funding a project to catalog, digitize, and publish material NHF has collected from Maine television stations over the last 35 years. Weiss says they’re now looking at a $104,000 budget deficit and the paychecks of all seven archives staff members are taking a hit.

" 'The only good thing about it is that I don’t feel singled out, you know? I feel like this is just a broad thing that happened, and we got caught up in it. It’s not like they said, ‘You are bad.’ It’s just like, ‘Well, you’re all bad.’ So, safety in numbers, maybe that’s the best I can say,' Weiss said.

"While Weiss says an appeal wouldn’t do any good, there is the potential for them to be involved in a lawsuit to hopefully get some of the funding back.

"In the meantime, they’ve launched a #fundraising push to try to cover some of the losses. It’s raised $15,000 in just two days.

"If you’d like to contribute, visit oldfilm.org and click on 'GIVE.' "

Source:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/doge-terminates-grant-for-maine-film-archive-in-bucksport/ar-AA1CUQf2

#PreservingOldFilms #PreservingHistory #FilmArchives #Maine #NortheastHistoricFilm #History #Histodon #BadDOGE #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #ErasingHistory #PreservingMaineHistory #USPol #MainePol #BucksportME

"Because when the ground is shifting beneath you—as it was in 2020 and it is absolutely doing right now—writing it down gives you a solid foundation to remember what is really happening. It's a way of being able to look back and ask "Did I really experience that? Did that really happen?" and see that, yes, it did."

https://dansinker.com/posts/2025-02-1-write-it-down/

#WriteItDown #PreservingHistory

🌏✨ Discover the world's oldest known cultural ritual! Archaeologists in Australia have uncovered evidence suggesting an Aboriginal practice passed down over 12,000 years—spanning an incredible 500 generations. 📜🔥 - https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/04/science/worlds-oldest-ritual-intl-scli-scn/index.html

#AncientRituals #CulturalHeritage #Archaeology #AboriginalHistory #GunaiKurnai #CloggsCave #IceAgeArtifacts #HistoricalDiscovery #AncientTraditions #AlfredHowitt #AustraliaHistory #12KYears #IndigenousCulture #PreservingHistory #GoodNews

@goodnews

The Roberts Smalls House is coming to the National Historic Trust. Sadly due to an easement not completely open to the public. https://explorebeaufortsc.com/national-trust-to-purchase-historic-robert-smalls-house-in-beaufort/

#CivilWar
#History
#PreservingHistory

📚 Meet Lunastra, the Ethereal Scholar! 🌟

In the celestial realm of Skyforge Stronghold, Lunastra embodies the pursuit of knowledge and the preservation of celestial history.

Join us in celebrating Lunastra's unwavering commitment to uncovering the mysteries of the celestial cosmos! 🌠 #Lunastra #EtherealScholar #CelestialWisdom #PreservingHistory #ai #aiagents #aiavatars #llm #GamingRevolution #aiavataroasis #foryou #fyp #InspireAndCreate #shorts

@Deglassco @blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon@chirp.social
#LostGravestones of freedom-seekers unearthed in St. Catharines cemetery

Keeping alive the stories of people who fled slavery in the U.S. is about more than just #PreservingHistory

The #VictoriaLawnCemetery in #StCatharinesOntario is a sprawling graveyard established in #1856 that holds the remains of nearly 80,000 people.
The recently discovered gravestone belongs to #MaryHutchinson, who was enslaved in #Maryland before eventually escaping to #Canada with her husband William. Once settled in St. Catharines, they worked with #HarrietTubman – the famous abolitionist who was a key figure in the #UndergroundRailroad – as part of Tubman's #FugitiveAidSocietyOfStCatharines. #CanadianHistory includes #BlackHistory. #CanadianBlackHistory

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/salem-chapel-underground-railroad-cemetery-project-1.6859012