U.K. Lawmakers to NFL: Nix the Redsk*ns London Game, and Other Weekend Reading

Weekend News Wrap

U.K. Leaders Oppose NFL Plans to Have the Redsk*ns Play in London

The International Business Times and other media outlets have reported that two British Members of Parliament have told the NFL they oppose plans to have the Washington Redsk*ns play a game Oct. 30 in London. They told “NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that they don’t want a team named after a racial slur playing at Wembley Stadium,” the story said. Labor Party MP’s Ruth Smeeth and Ian Austin wrote Godell Feb. 2.

Capitol Art Update

City Pages this week published a story: Battle Rages Over Racist Paintings in the Capitol, the latest take on the debate. The Pioneer Press also ran an AP story: Controversial paintings may be relocated in Minnesota Capitol. The Healing Minnesota Stories blog also ran its own take.

This Day in History: Wounded Knee Takeover

On this day in history, Feb. 27, 1973, more than 200 Native people involved in the American Indian Movement began their 71-day occupation of the town of Wounded Knee on Pine Ridge Reservation. For more on that, here is a link to a 2014 article in Indian Country Today titled: Native History: AIM Occupation of Wounded Knee Begins. It says in part: ” Set in the same impoverished village as the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre, the occupation called global attention to unsafe living conditions and generations of mistreatment from federal and local agencies. The occupation, which began during the evening of February 27, is hailed as one of AIM’s greatest successes.”

Lakota Family Tries to Change Strained Relationship With Pine Ridge Border Town

A story that ran on This American Life focuses on efforts by Lakota to change their relationship with the town of Whiteclay, Nebraska. Whiteclay “has long had a reputation as being the primary location for alcohol purchases by members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe,” the story said. Martin and Rhiannon Pilcher just bought a grocery store in the heart of Whiteclay, Nebraska, and they don’t sell alcohol. They said it seemed like a good opportunity both for their family and their people. It is “the first Lakota-owned business in the controversial town,” the story said.

A TV Network By and For Native Americans in the Works

The Atlantic Magazine reports on a TV Network for Native Americans is under development: “All Nations Network—a cable channel featuring TV programming created for and by native peoples that its creators hope to launch soon in the U.S., according to Variety. Though details are sparse at the moment, the channel will get some help from Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, a similar outlet that launched in Canada back in 1992 and that now serves 10 million households.”

Bloomington Exhibit Features Twin Cities Native American Artists

The Shakopee Valley News gave a nice write up of a new show at the Bloomington Center for the Art called “Sinew: Female Native Artists of the Twin Cities.”  The show is curated by Dyani Whitehawk. The exhibit focuses on “increasing the visibility and recognition of the strength, vigor, power and resilience of Native American women and their important contribution to the arts, our communities, our families and our world.”