Mary Annette Pember

This Thanksgiving, as an Ojibwe woman, I will grieve for what Europeans did to native peoples here. But I will also give thanks for life.read more

About 30 percent of elementary students in Winner, South Dakota, are Native American. Only 1 percent finishes high school.

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October 4, 2006

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue on a mission of plunder for Spain. When he arrived here, he commenced the virtual annihilation of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.read more

August 15, 2006

Bikers and developers need to take a hard look at the damage wrought by their merrymaking near sacred places. Last week, the 66th annual Sturgis Bike Rally in South Dakota drew thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts. But it is also drew attention to the rights of Indians.read more

June 6, 2006

Thirty-five years ago this month, federal officials escorted a little ragtag group of Indians and supporters off Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The 19-month occupation of the island helped bring about a sea change in the relationship between the U.S. government and Indian country.read more

November 21, 2005

It is fitting that Vine Deloria Jr.'s spirit chose to pass on Nov. 13, so close to Thanksgiving.

Deloria, famous for his acerbic wit as he punched holes in native stereotypes, would have appreciated the irony of dying days before a holiday that mythologizes the American Indian.read more

November 14, 2005

November is National American Indian Heritage Month, and President Bush is paying only lip service to it.read more

July 28, 2005

Steven Spielberg's latest television epic, "Into the West," traveled some tired trails in its effort to tell the story of the occupation of the American West and the toll it took on native people.read more

June 28, 2005

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has disgraced the Texas voters who helped bring him to power.

He has come to embody the very image of a corrupt politician, selling his influence to the highest bidder. DeLay's unholy alliance with lobbyist Jack Abramoff is a perfect example.read more

April 13, 2005

The tragedy on the Red Lake reservation in Minnesota has placed native people and our "social ills" on the mainstream media news for our 15 minutes.

Most of these stories retrace the same well-traveled ground, citing our high levels of poverty, substance abuse and lack of opportunities, before we recede, once again, into news oblivion.read more

October 18, 2004

The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration essentially celebrates discovery by conquest, and as a Native woman, it sticks in my craw.read more

September 23, 2004

On Sept.read more

July 28, 2004

"Indians are like the canaries that miners carried into those coal mines to predict disasters.read more

February 25, 2004

Tobacco is sacred to most Native Americans.read more

February 11, 2004

It has taken only a bit more than 200 years to build a native place on the National Mall.read more