Youth-led Powwow for the Planet Comes to UNLV April 23, 2022


Las Vegas, Nevada March 30, 2022 – The Las Vegas urban Indigenous community organized a grassroots planning committee to plan a youth-led, Pow Wow [1] for the Planet, during Earth Week, April 18-22, to advocate for the protection of sacred sites, climate action, and a more sustainable world.  Please join us in supporting this event and local Indigenous organizations committed to engaging youth in environmental conservation education and advocacy![2] 

The planning committee advocates and will fight for Avi Kwa Ame to be designated as a national monument!

Avi Kwa Ame (Ah-VEE kwa-meh) is the Mojave name for Spirit Mountain and the surrounding landscape in Southern Nevada.  It’s the source of life and place of origin for 10 Yuman-speaking tribes of the Mojave, Hualapai, Yavapai, Havasupai, Quechan, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Halchidhoma, Cocopah, and Kumeyaay.  It’s sacred land to the Hopi and Chemehuevi Paiute people.  (Source:  https://www.avikwaame.com/ ). 

Please show your support and sign the petition at https://honorspiritmountain.org/

Pow Wow for the Planet will be held on Saturday, April 23, 2022, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) campus. It will feature traditional powwow dancing & vendors.  Vendor Check-in begins at 9:00 am.

Pow Wow for the Planet

Saturday, April 23

UNLV Campus

4505 S. Maryland Pkwy.

Las Vegas, NV 89154

Thank you for your support!  Photos and Interviews available upon request

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Effort to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day advances in one rural county, stalls in another

For the first time, Mineral County today is celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a significant move for a county in rural Nevada, where Native communities still face obstacles to getting recognized, even as Indigenous Peoples’ Day is increasingly celebrated across the nation.  More

This Virtual Classroom Company Made Millions During The Pandemic While Students Languished

Edgenuity offers to help schools pivot from “brick to click” during the pandemic, but to many parents, teachers, and students, the cost-saving program comes at the expense of a quality education. More…

Colleges criticized for declining Native enrollment in Nevada

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Native American enrollment is down at Nevada colleges, a trend students and professors say reflects an unwelcoming community that’s not committed to recruiting more familiar faces on campus. More…

KNPR’s State of Nevada

Other Voices: Lance West

On June 21, we aired a segment on AB261, a bill Governor Sisolak signed that mandates that Nevada public and charter schools include the history and contributions of minority and marginalized groups. This includes not only racial and ethnic groups but also the LGBTQ community, the disabled and religious organizations. The segment garnered a lot of listener phone calls. 

Advocates from the Native and transgender communities also had plenty to say about the bill and what it could mean to the groups they represent, as well as concerns they may have when it comes to implementation. 

In this discussion, we hear from tribal activist and educator Lance West. More…

Nevada Public Radio – Native Nevada, Part 3: The Teachers

Nevada Public Radio is presented an eight-part podcast series on the culture, issues, and perseverance of Nevada’s Indigenous Peoples.

Lance West, Rata Elmore, and E. Mercedes Krause were interviewed for Part 3: The Teachers.

In a small, rural school reside big hopes for Nevada’s Native students

Before class on a warm and sunny December morning, eight kindergarten students at Schurz Elementary School listened quietly as the Shoshone Indian Flag song played over their computer screens. 

The lyrics, translated to English from the Shoshone language, mean, “Across the big water, the red, white and blue is fluttering in the wind. War spear thrown in the ground by a foreign water.”

This is how students begin their virtual school day on the Walker River reservation, which spans 325,000 acres across the Nevada desert, east of Yerington and north of Hawthorne. Surrounded by mountains, the river valley is home to a little more than 1,000 people. And 69 of the 72 students who attend Schurz Elementary School, which sits on the reservation, are American Indian. More.