Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

ILTF speaker series kicks off Thursday with Charles Wilkinson

Rebecca Clarren’s next stop on her book tour for “The Cost of Free Land” is Bismarck on April 29, where she’ll be having a reading and open discussion about the dispossession of Indigenous land. Photo by Shelby Brakken, photo courtesy of Rebecca Clarren

Dear Readers:
The Indian Land Tenure Foundation will sponsor an inaugural speaker series at the University of Montana, Payne Family Native American Center. Each presentation will be followed by a reception, beginning at 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively. If you have any questions, send me an email or give me a call. Here’s a press release from the University of Montana:

Contact:
Jodi Rave, Indian Land Tenure Foundation, 406-396-8537, jodi.rave@umontana.edu
Events Explore Contemporary Land Issues In Indian Country
Feb. 7, 2011

MISSOULA – “Lessons of Our Land: The Indian Land Tenure Foundation Speaker Series” will take place during February and March at The University of Montana. Here’s the ILTF speaker series flier. The series will focus on contemporary land issues in Indian Country, casting a light on our relationship to the Earth and the management of Indian trust land.

All events in the series are free and open to the public and will take place from 4 to 5:15 p.m. in Room 105 of UM’s Payne Family Native American Center. A speaker reception in the center’s Bonnie HeavyRunner Gathering Place will follow each presentation.

The series begins with an interview and live KBGA radio broadcast with University of Colorado, Boulder, law Professor Charles Wilkinson on Thursday, Feb. 10. Wilkinson will discuss American Indian land issues in the 21st century.

Copies of his new book, “The People Are Dancing Again: The History of the Siletz Tribe of Western Oregon,” will be available at the event.

Following is the schedule of other series events and presenters:

* Wednesday Feb. 23: Marcella Giles, a leading oil and gas attorney representing Indian landowners, will talk about what every American Indian land allottee needs to know – and needs to ask – about ownership and management of their land trust.

* Wednesday, March 2: Narcisse Blood, scholar and former director of Kainai studies at Red Crow Community College in Stand Off, Alberta, will share his knowledge of indigenous languages. He will discuss how the language of our ancestors explains our relationship to the Earth and our communities.

* Wednesday, March 9: Cris Stainbrook, president of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation in Little Canada, Minn., will address land consolidation and the American Indian Probate Reform Act, as well as concerns for landowners across Indian Country.

* Wednesday, March 23: Elouise Cobell, lead plaintiff in the Cobell v. Salazar lawsuit, will talk about progress made in the historic Claims Resolution Act of 2010. After 14 years of litigation, the landmark settlement was signed into law by President Obama this month.

* Wednesday, March 30: Julie Cajune, executive director of the Center for American Indian Policy and Applied Research at Salish Kootenai College, will present the Indian land tenure curriculum, “Lessons of Our Land.”

For more information about the series and biographical information for all speakers, visit https://clients.loudskymedia.com/buffalosfire.com . Information about the Indian Land Tenure Foundation is online at http://iltf.org .

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BD

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Indian Land Tenure Foundation
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.