Now that Prey is out in the world, viewers everywhere are enjoying one of the year's best-reviewed action films, enjoying the fight sequences, the work of star Amber Midthunder, and the new creature design that went into the Predator at the heart of the movie.

But of course, the human performers (and the human walking around in a Predator suit) are not the only main attractions. Viewers have also fallen in love with Sarii, Comanche warrior Naru's (Midthunder) loyal dog and hunting companion, played by an American Dingo named Coco. According to Midthunder, Coco was not a trained movie dog. She was adopted specifically for the movie (having an old breed makes sense for a film set in the early 1700s), and as a result was a little challenging on the set.

“She was a little bit of a hot mess – but in a sweet way," Midthuner told Dexerto. "She was not a movie dog, she was literally adopted to be in this movie, and she just happened to be very high-energy.

“She was such a delight to have around, she was so fun and very playful. And then it would be time to do stuff… sometimes she’d do it, sometimes she wouldn’t. But obviously, it all ended up fine, because she was great, and everybody loves her.”

According to director Dan Trachtenberg, Sarii's presence in the film was heavily inspired by The Road Warrior, and "Mad" Max Rockatansky's loyal dog companion from that film, known simply as "Dog." So, giving Naru a dog was always part of the plan for Prey. What changed along the way was just how much Sarii would end up being in the film.

“We were trying to get Coco out of scenes but the opposite ended up being true, and we ended up including her more – even in some of the action set-pieces, because I just thought it’d be so fun," Trachtenberg said. "One of the great things about Road Warrior is the way Mad Max uses his doggy, so we wanted to have the same kind of fun in this movie as well.”

Source

As any true dog person knows: When you have a good dog by your side, you want to keep finding excuses to have that dog by your side.

VIDEO

Studio photographer Harry Pollard spent time documenting the beauty and resilience of members of several tribes.

His breathtaking collection included the Tsuu T’ina, Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani tribes, captured in traditional dress.

Interestingly, the historic images, which can be found on the Provincial Archives of Alberta, include the individuals' names and tell a story in themselves.

Many of the titles are themed around nature, like Lone Walking Buffalo and Running Antelope. Others focus on their status within the tribe, like an individual Pollard met called Spring Chief.

Pollard was born in Ontario, Canada in 1880 and specialised in photographing native people. As a young photographer, he arrived in Calgary in 1899 and opened a studio there.

He was later commission to produce promotional pictures of ocean cruises, which saw him travel around the world 14 times.

His breathtaking collection included the Tsuu T’ina tribe, whose population had fallen to just a few hundred members when the pictures were taken circa 1910. Thankfully, numbers have since risen to a couple of thousand individuals.

Wolfe Teeth of Nakoda Nation "Walking Buffalo of Nakoda Nation." "Herbert Lawrence of Siksika Nation." Martin Breaker, Nakoda Nation." A very respected elder, Betty Hunter from the Nakoda Nation Here a meeting of the Siksika Council is captured on camera Spring Chief of Tsuu T'ina Nation Big Belly, the Tsuu T'ina chief Hunting Eagle of Nakoda Nation Chief White Head, the Nakoda chief These elaborate teepees stood out against the rolling landscape in the Assiniboine camp, one of the many areas Pollard captured Lone Walking Buffalo, Nakoda Nation

Baking and yoga are some of the activities some people have turned to as a way to cope with the stresses of 2020 so far. In that vein, we present 6-month-old Brave Yazzie from Onion Lake, Sask., who can’t walk yet, but can sure dance up a storm.

Strapped into a Jolly Jumper exerciser, the baby jumps up and down to the beat of drums and chants while beaming at her mom Aislinn Whitstone.

“While she was in my tummy, we attended a lot of powwows,” Whitstone told HuffPost Canada. “So we think that she’s [also] dancing to what she heard in my tummy.”

Yazzie is Plains Cree from Onion Lake on her mom’s side, and from the Navajo Nation in Arizona on her dad’s. Her parents are both dancers themselves and were eager to include their daughter in their traditions.

“In my culture, the heartbeat sounds exactly like the drum. We are slowly bringing her into life, so that way when she grows up, she knows where she’s from and who she is as an Indigenous little girl.”

Whitstone posted video of Yazzie dancing to a Facebook group called Quarantine Dance Specials 2020, which features Indigenous peoples from all over the world sharing dances from their respective nations during the pandemic. Whitstone made her daughter’s outfit herself and decided to post the video to brighten people’s days.

“We believe that dancing is a way of healing,” she said. “And especially with what’s going around in the world today, we wanted to bring happiness to everyone.”

Whitstone is glad about all the positive feedback from the video of little Yazzie.

“We know that she will continue with dancing, and will make us proud.”

Source

VIDEOS

This six-month old angel is Brave Yazzie.

She's half-Cree, half-Navajo, and lives in Saskatchewan, Canada.

She can't walk yet — but she loves to dance.

We dare you to not smile.

😀♥ pic.twitter.com/LgvBSRBbLi

— Goodable (@Goodable) June 29, 2020

“It’s a beautiful thing because we have suffered from what he did to us,” said Dorene Day, a St. Paul resident and member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe.

Activists led by members of the American Indian Movement tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus at the State Capitol Wednesday. Once it toppled, they sang and danced around it in a dramatic show of defiance against a significant figure in the recent history of the Americas whose reputation is now associated with murder and enslavement of Indigenous peoples.

“For healing to happen, this needed to happen,” said Mike Forcia, chairman of the Twin Cities American Indian Movement and a member of the Bad River Band of Ojibwe. “It was here for far too long. It’s a slap in the face to all Native people and all people of color.”

Though Forcia tied the rope around the neck of the statue, Native women led the demonstration by pulling the rope that brought down the statue.

Her mother Charlotte Day was one of the founding mothers of the American Indian Movement, which began in Minneapolis in 1968 in response to police brutality against Native people. Day attended the demonstration with several of her children and her grandchildren, just like her mom brought her to protests when she was a child. “I know in spirit my mother is really happy,” Day said.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and the highest ranking Native woman elected to executive office, released a statement in which she stopped just shy of congratulating the demonstrators.


“I can’t say I’m sad the statue of Christopher Columbus is gone. I’m not,” she wrote. “All Minnesotans should feel welcome at the Minnesota State Capitol, and our state is long overdue for a hard look at the symbols, statues and icons that were created without the input of many of our communities.”

The arrival of Columbus, Flanagan said, “set in motion centuries of violence and genocide against the Indigenous people who already lived here.”

Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged the legacy of genocide unleashed by Columbus, but he said in a statement that there’s a process for removing statues that should be followed “to ensure the safety of bystanders and the preservation of surrounding property.”

He added: “While that process was too long for those who were pained by the statue’s presence, that is not an excuse for them to take matters into their own hands and remove it in that fashion.”
Source

Members of AIM sing the AIM song over the fallen Columbus statue in St Paul pic.twitter.com/0wrvvw0ey6

— Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) June 10, 2020

People dance around the statue. pic.twitter.com/6gIPTe9nBs

— Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) June 10, 2020

In the Lakota creation story, beings emerged from the Wind Cave in South Dakota’s Black Hills—some in human form and some in buffalo form. There’s no difference between people and buffalo in this worldview.

“We’re Lakota people and that means we’re buffalo people,” said Wizipan Little Elk, the CEO of the Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (REDCO), the economic arm of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “They’ve always taken care of us and we need to take care of them.”

And the Rosebud Sioux tribe will do just that with the commitment of 28,000 acres of native grassland for the creation of a new plains bison herd. With a capacity to support 1,500 animals, the Wolakota Buffalo Range will become North America’s largest Native American owned and managed bison herd.

The project is being advanced by a partnership between REDCO and WWF with support from Tribal Land Enterprise, the Rosebud Sioux Tribes land management corporation, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. Over the next five years, the Department of Interior will send hundreds of bison over to the newly created space from federally managed herds. The historic project will increase the overall number of Native American owned bison by an impressive 7% nationally.

“We see it as a point of pride,” Wizipan Little Elk said. “That we can have the largest native managed and owned buffalo herd. We can show that socially impactful, socially responsible business with multiple bottom lines can work and that it creates multiple positive impacts locally and globally.”

Over the past five years, WWF has invested more than $2.2 million in bison restoration efforts with indigenous communities in the Northern Great Plains. This new opportunity, which aligns strongly with Lakota foundational values and beliefs, will offer a model for cultural and ecological restoration efforts by Native American nations across the US.


“This announcement matters for several reasons: it represents a homecoming for this iconic species, and it’s also a reunion with the communities who lived with them for centuries in a symbiotic relationship,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF. “We are honored to be partners in this effort with the Rosebud Economic Development Corporation and the U.S. Department of the Interior, and we look forward to seeing the bison return to the Rosebud Reservation later this year.”

The first transfer of bison from the Department of Interior herds will take place in the fall.

Massive herds of bison once roamed all the Great Plains and much of North America. Unsustainable western expansion decimated those populations in a matter of decades, but now projects like this are helping to bring large herds back. WWF’s goal is to restore 5 herds of at least 1,000 bison each in the Northern Great Plains by 2025.

For Wizipan Little Elk, this is a return to history and tradition—not only in terms of buffalo, but in terms of Lakota values. Of perseverance and self-reliance. Of resiliency, community, and family. And the project meshes well with other new initiatives happening on this land. Next year, the first native language immersion school on Rosebud will open. Lakota immersion classrooms will get to visit the buffalo herd as part of their education—a meaningful interaction that will link their past and future.

“I think when we look out and see those buffalo and their hooves touch the land, it’s going to be relatable for everyone,” Wizipan Little Elk said. “Especially given our history.”
Source

As COVID-19 cases on the Navajo Nation reach 1,127 with 44 deaths, the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund is building momentum to address a food and water crisis in the area with support from actor Jason Momoa.

A massive truck carrying 28 pallets with 1,540 cases of water was sent by Momoa to Tó naneesdizí (Tuba City) on Tuesday.

A group of volunteers led by Lt. Robbin Preston, Tuba City Distribution Team Leader for the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Effort, unloaded the donation and prepared it for immediate distribution throughout the crisis-stricken area. "Water is life and shapes lives and the earth; it’s the power we draw life from," said Lt. Preston.

Momoa, who is Native Hawaiian, heard about the Relief Fund through an article and offered a large donation of water through his company, Mananalu Pure Water, which is an effort to end single-use plastic drinking bottles and their devastating impacts on the environment. According to the company’s website Mananalu means “a powerful wave of the sacred spirit of life.”

Can’d Aid, a Colorado based non-profit, shipped 48,000 cans of water for relief efforts last week.

“Access to clean water is a necessity while our communities are urged to shelter in place.” said Ethel Branch, Relief Fund Founder and Arizona Co-Lead. “We are extremely grateful for all of the amazing support in our efforts to ensure families have enough food and water to sustain themselves through this crisis. Whether it’s one truckload brought by a community member or these incredible donations from Jason Momoa’s Mananalu Pure Water company and Can’d Aid, every contribution is extremely important and amplifies our goal of working together to help our precious elders and those most vulnerable in this time of crisis.”


With more than 30 percent of the 180,000 residents on the Navajo reservation having little to no access to running water or electricity, and 3 of the 12 Hopi Villages largely without running water or electricity, the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified a decades-long infrastructure crisis. One-third of Navajo and Hopi families in this area must travel miles to haul water, while only 16 grocery stores and small food markets serve the entire area.

"Access to water is a human right that has been denied our people for far too long,” said Janene Yazzie, New Mexico Lead. “Now we are dealing with the repercussions of that and it’s costing the lives of our precious loved ones. As we grapple with this epidemic we will not lose sight of the need to have this basic human right fulfilled and our responsibility to protect our sacred waters for food sovereignty and water security for future generations."


In addition to limited access to water resources, the region is plagued with 523 abandoned uranium mine claims on or near the Navajo Nation, including 609 mine sites and 1,265 mine features, such as waste piles and mine openings. These mines and related sites have contributed to severe rates of cancer and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 22 wells on Navajo Nation as exceeding safe drinking water standards due to high levels of radioactive contamination. Some Hopi Villages have drinking water that is three times the legal limit for arsenic. For more than forty years Navajo and Hopi springs and wells on Black Mesa were impacted by coal mining operations. Today many of these springs and wells have dried up. Some 1.2 billion gallons of clean drinking water a year were pumped from the precious N-Aquifer and used for mining operations. Even with the mine shutdown, families in the region continue to face water scarcity. Additionally, the Navajo Nation is also still recovering from the 2015 Gold King Mine spill where EPA contractors released more than 3 million gallons of mine waste into waterways that Diné families rely upon to practice traditional lifeways by irrigating their fields and watering their livestock.


The Navajo Nation is expected to become one of the top three hot spots in the country per-capita for COVID-19 cases. The Navajo Nation is about the size of the state of West Virginia, yet while West Virginia has a population of 1.8 million, the Navajo Nation has 1/10th its population and has 200 more COVID-19 cases. Huffington Post reports that the number of COVID-19 cases on the Nation “surged 367% in two weeks.”

“In many homes on the reservation, there are multi-generational families that live there. The virus is attacking this important family unit by spreading among entire families who cannot isolate from each other,” said Jessica Stago, Water Coordinator for the Relief Effort. “Providing food and water for these families is essential to an effective strategy to stop this pandemic in our communities.”

With these water donations, the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Effort will be able to include water in their food baskets, which already provide enough food to last receiving households two weeks. So far the effort has served over 1500 families in almost 40 communities on the Navajo Nation and in 4 of the 12 Villages on Hopi. Through collaboration with their fiscal sponsor, the Rural Utah Project, and Bluff Area Mutual Aid volunteers, the Relief Effort has been able to serve an additional 342 families (1,450 people) in Utah communities. The Relief Effort now has full access to its over $700,000 in GoFundMe dollars, which has enabled it to deliver almost $100,000 in food, cleaning, and PPE supplies to locations all throughout the Navajo Nation this week. This week they also sent a pallet of water donated by Home Depot in Flagstaff to Hard Rock, one of the new COVID-19 hotspots, for distribution to families that live in remote areas with no running water.

“With our sacred waterways polluted and our wells contaminated by uranium or drained by coal mining, we have had our immune systems continuously attacked through degradation and poisoning of our Mother Earth,” said Kim Smith, Northern Agency Lead. “But just as our bodies have natural defenses to fight diseases, we have been fighting here in ceremony and prayer to ensure our ways of life are protected for coming generations. Right now, staying home, social distancing, wearing masks, washing our hands, and safely and responsibly contributing to relief work is our way to keep walking in beauty.”

SOURCE:  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 18, 2020 Cassandra Begay www.navajohopisolidarity.org 

View this post on Instagram

SUPER STOKED AND PROUD TO DELIVER @mananalu.water Last week we sent a full truckload (20,000 cans) of Mananalu water to the Navajo Nation. My water company is still small but I’m doing what I can to help those that need it the most MAHALO NUI @theellenshow for helping us spread the aloha Thanks to the Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief campaign (@navajohopicovid19relief) for helping us distribute our water to the families. This is a grassroots effort led by a group of Navajo women who work 14 hours a day with no pay in order to raise funds and support for Navajo families in need during this terrible pandemic. That’s amazing. • Native American tribes are among the highest risk communities during the corona virus pandemic, and a lot of them haven’t gotten the resources they need to fight the virus. This includes medical equipment and basic goods like food and clean water • About 40% of the residents live in rural areas and have little to no access to running water • They’re literally living in a “food desert” with very few grocery stores and the land is very spread out. Many families have to travel several miles just to haul water. FILM COMING SOON BY @deidrapeaches on our youtube channel. #mananalu.water #navajonation. ALOHA J

A post shared by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Apr 19, 2020 at 4:58pm PDT