IdleNoMore Wisconsin

Meeting the demand: Banks work overtime to cash Hardship checks - Navajo Times The sound of money counters quickly and accurately counting large sums of money inside Wells Fargo banks is shuffling across Diné Bikéyah.

Disney employees and former judge among 108 arrested in human trafficking sting, Florida police say Authorities arrested 108 people, including alleged child sexual predators and those seeking prostitutes.

This week during session, I adjourned in honor of my friend and mentor, Ada Deer, a member of the Menominee tribe and leader for Indigenous rights.

From becoming the first member of the Menominee Tribe to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and helping pass the Menominee Restoration Act, which reestablished federal recognition of Menominee sovereignty, to becoming the first woman to head the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Ada has consistently stood as a leader and role model for the Menominee community and the people of Wisconsin.

I remain inspired by her life’s work and will be forever grateful for the mentorship and friendship she has provided me over the years.

For decades Native children were severely disciplined if they dared speak their native language during the boarding school era. However, the same languages these assimilation schools strived to eradicate would be the very thing that kept them from defeat in not one but two world wars.

During the First World War, the Germans mastered tapping the American Army's phone lines. Because of this tactic, they could find out where the Allied Forces were stationed and what resources they had available.

At the peak of these battles, several Choctaw soldiers were overheard speaking their Native language. Their commanding officer had an idea to have the nineteen soldiers do the bulk of the communicating. Because they were fluent speakers, the Germans couldn't effectively spy on the transmissions any longer, and the Choctaw Code Talkers were instrumental in ending the war.

Because of their success, the United States Army started a code talking program before World War II. Most of the publicity for Code Talkers goes to the Navajo during this time, but 33 different tribes contributed to the code talkers program.

Included in the code talker program were 67 known Lakota Code Talkers from various Lakota tribes.

As Lakota people, we know that our language is sacred! The government tried to steal it from our ancestors, use it for their wars, and then sell it back through expensive university courses. At Thunder Valley CDC, we work diligently to make sure every home can produce fluent Lakota Speakers.