Milestones: 100 Years and a Six Month Checkup
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Six Months
of Reporting
This past Saturday I went to a birthday party for the mother of a good friend, Paul Collins, who spent many months during the 1970s on reservations in South Dakota, which resulted in a series called, "Other Voices - A Native American Tableau." Read More »
International Day of the World's Indigenous People: Time to Craft Our Future
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Yellow Bird Apache Dancer
Today, August 9, is recognized by the United Nations as the International Day of the World's Indigenous People.
Since 2005, the International Day of the World's Indigenous People has been celebrated on August 9 each year to recognize the first United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations meeting in Geneva in 1982. Read More »
A Summer Irony: Attorney General at Wounded Knee; Leonard Peltier in the Hole in Lewisburg
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Wounded Knee
It is almost ironic, the Attorney General of the United States showing up at Wounded Knee to lay a wreath at the memorial there for the 175 Lakota who were massacred there during Christmas week 1890 and 1,500 miles away Leonard Peltier sitting in the hole in Lewisburg during the sweltering heat of the summer of 2011. Read More »
Attorney General Visit to Wounded Knee
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
When Attorney General Eric Holder arrives later today at Wounded Knee to lay a wreath there, he will become the highest ranking official of the United States government to ever visit and memorialize a place of great historic significance to American Indians everywhere. Read More »
Sogorea Te Victory: Balancing the Present with the Past
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Sacred Burial Site
The news arrived midweek last week that after 98 days there was a victory for the protesters at the Sogorea Te sacred burial site, commonly known as Glen Cove. Read More »
Time to Move Charlie Sheen Out of Headlines
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Headlines?
These days - it seems - the news is all about celebrity. Whether the outlandish antics of Charlie Sheen or criminal activity of Lindsay Lohan, the celebrity gets the headlines. Read More »
Memories of the Longest Walk 3
Native News Network Staff in Native Condition »
An Indian-ness
By the time the Longest Walk 3 - Reversing Diabetes reached Baltimore last Saturday, on the day after the walk officially ended, I had spent 31 days following the American Indian journey across America began its journey on February 14. Read More »
The Journey Will Last a Lifetime
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Longest Walk 3 »
Awareness to Action
The Longest Walk 3 - Reversing Diabetes is coming to an end this week when the Long Walkers walk into Washington DC. It comes to an end after walking across the country to bring attention to the devastating impact diabetes has American Indians that began on February 14, 2011 Read More »
In Memoriam: Sergeant Darrell C. Curley Killed in Indian Country
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Navajo Flags at Half-Mast
Since1979, a total of five Navajo Police officers have been fatally wounded by gunfire. Prior to the weekend's killing of Sgt. Curley was Navajo Police officer Samuel Anthony Redhouse, in February 1997. Read More »
The First Day of Summer: A Day of Prayer
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
For All Sacred Sites
Today is the first day of summer. Living in Michigan, I welcome summer because of the long hours of daylight. It is a time to enjoy the outdoors. This year in particular, it seems as if the winter and spring lingered longer than usual. Read More »
The Women Who Have Brought Attention to How Precious Our Water Is
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Water Walk 2011
Indigenous women are powerful women. They are the carriers of life as they carry our newborns and nurture our children. In almost any American Indian community you go, it is the women who serve as the backbone of our tribal communities. Read More »
USDA Distribution Program to Indian Country Unfair to Urban Indians
Melissa Waitner in Native Condition »
Melissa Waitner - Odawa
Throughout Indian Country, American Indian tribes operate Food Commodity Programs to income eligible families. Much like other federal assistance programs, our people have to prove enrollment status and meet income eligibility requirements. Each tribe that implements the USDA Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservation (FDPIR) program has a specific service area. Read More »
Call It a Tax or Contribution: Tribe Still Pays It Share
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Last week's presentation of two checks by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians - commonly referred to as the Gun Lake Tribe - was a time to celebrate. The checks were given from proceeds from the Gun Lake Casino. Read More »
Cherokee Nation’s Rescue Efforts and Support Should Not Go Unnoticed
by Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
It was a quiet afternoon before the EF3 tornado hit the Cherokee Nation. The storm that went through Delaware County, Oklahoma with speeds up to 140 miles per hour produced destruction in its wake. Witnesses said the tornado sounded like a train. In its aftermath, there were 20 damaged homes and debris on the Cherokee Nation Read More »
Moving the US Boarding Schools Policy into the American Consciousness
by Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Survivor
It is fair to say the average American has never heard of how the government agents showed up at American Indian homes to tell parents they had to send their school-aged children to schools, sometimes many times hundreds of miles from home. Read More »
An opportunity for Tribal Nations
by Glenn Zaring in Native Condition »
Glenn Zaring-Kituwah Cherokee
It has been said that the Tribal Nations have a unique opportunity in current times. A prime example of that came up at the recent Tribal Assistance Coordination - Group (TAC-G) meetings held at the Oneida Radisson in Green Bay, Wisconsin when representatives of 15 Federal agencies and numerous tribal groups gathered for three days of talks. Read More »
Foundations Need to Find Ways to Fund American Indians
by Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Funding American Indian programs can be difficult, especially since non-Indians think we are all rich as the result of Indian gaming. This is nothing more than a modern day misconception about American Indians.
These are not crybaby words or words of victim talk. Read More »
Geronimo’s Stolen Identity: Why It Matters
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Geronimo Was No Osama
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Preserving Mother Earth for the Next Seven Generations
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Protest is Not About Playing Indian and Sitting Around a Campfire
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Not Enough Being Done Fast Enough
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Bring Restoration to the Desecrated Graves: The Los Angeles Case That Must Not Be Ignored!
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
When Length of Hair Does Not Cut It
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
John Stossel Fails to “Get It” When it Comes to American Indians
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Access to Healthy Foods: Key to Healthy Eating
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
There is Not Enough Coverage of Longest Walk 3
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Not Your Average Politician
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Who Can We Blame for Our Eating Habits?
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Revelations Along the Longest Walk 3 - Reversing Diabetes
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Mainstream Media Does Little with UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
American Indians Reaching Out to All Nations
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition »
Levi Rickert is the editor-in-chief and co-producer of the Native News Network. Mr. Rickert is a tribal member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and is the former executive director of the North American Indian Center of Grand Rapids.
Mr. Rickert writes book reviews for The Grand Rapids Press and has had several articles dealing with American Indian concerns published in various periodicals. In 2000 he contributed to the American Indian Review, a national American Indian magazine with an essay entitled American Indian Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. Additionally, Mr. Rickert has contributed to numerous American Indian tribal newspapers across the nation.
He has had two essays published in two different books. An essay he authored in 1999 was published in Grand Rapids Indians at the Millennium for Heart and Soul: The Story of Grand Rapids Neighborhoods (November 2003 by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company). In May 2007 Mr. Rickert became a contributing essayist for Thin Ice: Coming of Age in Grand Rapids with his essay Even Though I Was Not “Raised Indian” (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company).
Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief
Mr. Rickert has been a guest lecturer on college and university campuses, speaking on American Indian affairs. For the past two years, he has served as a moderator for two different presentations at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan featuring Dennis Banks, a co-founder of the American Indian Movement. In November 2009, he moderated “A Conversation with Dennis Banks” and in November 2010, he moderated “Dennis Banks: A Vision for Our Nation’s Future.”
In June 2010, Mr. Rickert served as the lead planner for Indigenous People representation at the World Communion of Reformed Churches’ Uniting General Council held at Calvin College and a one-day powwow at Ah-Nab-Awen Park in downtown Grand Rapids.
Mr. Rickert is a resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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