Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Sacred places, summer solstice, prayer days

Carmen White Horse spoke about the murder of her granddaughter Reganne Chekpa during the inaugural MMIP conference held by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Rosebud Sioux Tribe. (Photo by Amelia Schafer, ICT/Rapid City Journal)

desert-landscapeDear Sisters and Brothers:

On Sunday, many of us will be honoring our fathers. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, uncles and grandpas!

The day is also set aside to honor our Mother as part of the National Day of Prayer for Sacred Places, an event being organized by the Morning Star Institute. People all around the United States have been setting aside days of prayer to protect American Indian sacred sites, the unprotected church sites of our people. The prayer days began Friday and will continue to Thursday. Many of the prayer days will take place Sunday, the beginning of the summer solstice.

Read the attached flyer to see what events are scheduled in your area. In Montana, Wilmer Mesteth, an Oglala, is leading a horse ride to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Prayers are scheduled for Sunday. The horse ride ends Thursday at the battlefield.

Let’s all  unite during this time to honor our fathers and Mother.

Jodi Rave

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.