It is not every day a superstar comes to visit the reservation but it does happen. NBA great Kyrie Irving who is now a member of the Dallas Mavericks is also an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who reside on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Irving made a visit to the Oglala Lakota Nation and visited Isna Wica Owayawa (Loneman School).
When the eighth grade graduates realized they were short on funding to make a graduation trip to Hawaii, Kyrie stepped in assisting them with what they needed to make their dreams come true. He also was able to get playground equipment for the lower grades. It is great to have a superstar who identifies closely with Indian Country.
Many people are wondering if Old Man Waniyetu (Winter) is ever going to head back up North, as snow continues to fall into April in amounts of a foot or more. These past couple of years it seems like we bypassed Spring entirely straight into Summer. Who can actually complain though because Rapid City has been on the outskirts and not receiving the snow totals of other hard hit places.
We really should count our blessings that we are not in tornado alley and experiencing the kind of weather the folks in the south are having to deal with. It’s really sad to hear that people actually lost their lives because of the tornados that hit in Mississippi and other places.
Native Sun News Today celebrated their 15th Anniversary last week. We scheduled a pot luck to celebrate but wouldn’t you know it, extreme weather showed up and ruined our plans. In effect, we celebrated the next day on Saturday. Some employees were a little ruffled having to wait after all the food was made. A thought of Jackie’s Posole along with Ernestine’s fry bread and Kirk’s barbequed ribs brought almost everyone out for the event.
Although Yolanda couldn’t make it she sent her famous chicken kabobs which were devoured. Jimmy brought his son Ren along to enjoy the potluck and Ren said he really enjoyed Ernestine’s frybread. Jimmy was hoping Ernestine would bring her blueberry wojapi and was disappointed when she didn’t show up with any but put in his order for next time. Ernestine is planning on going to Gloria Eastman’s Easter Food Market on Saturday at 103A New York Street in the old Prairie Market Plaza to sell Tripe Soup and frybread. Maybe she will get adventurous and make wojapi too.
The staff at Native Sun News is planning on having a customer appreciation day soon and we will invite all our loyal readers to stop by at our new location in Tuscany Square and enjoy cookies and coffee. Maybe Ernestine will make her wojapi for that event.
Our newest staff member Christopher Pina is getting his feet wet as a journalist. He has been to several events including the Black Hills Indian Artist Market and Spring Fashion Show. Christopher was not only covering the story as a journalist but was also there as a model. It is nice to have a younger person on staff as Christopher is able to reach an audience that us oldies can’t relate to. His perspective is a much needed addition to Native Sun News Today.
We may also have another younger person joining our staff as Charise Abernathy is interested in coming on board in production. Ernestine is now trying to do double duty and finally admitted she can’t do it all. Yolanda told her she wants that in writing. Hopefully that will work out and Ernestine can get back to what she enjoys the most, writing.
The staff was in the middle of preparing their documents to enter the Native American Journalism Association completion when bad weather hit and they thought missed the deadline. Thankfully NAJA extended the deadline and we may still be able to enter. NAJA has a new award this year recognizing Tim Giago’s contributions to journalism. The award is called the Tim Giago Freedom of the Press Award.
Tim would want us to enter and represent him at this year’s event which is being held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Although we might not get to go, we will hopefully win awards that Tim would be proud of.
Doksa Ake’
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