NCAI President Fawn Sharp Delivered the 2023 State of Indian Nations on Tuesday. For the first time since 2020, the National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp from the Quinault Indian Nation delivered the State of Indian Nations in person. The 2023 State of Indian Nations Address was held on Tuesday at the Rasmuson Theater at the National Museum of the American Indian. Hundreds of tribal leaders and federal government officials were in attendance. Similar to the U.S. president’s annual State of the Union address, each year, the president of NCAI delivers a speech to tribal leaders, members of Congress, government officials, and the public. The purpose of the address is to provide an update on the issues important to Indian Country and a vision for the upcoming year.
The non-profit group “Ending the Silence,” held a conference in Rapid City on Sunday with Native American elders to talk about native-on-native violence with an emphasis on child sexual assault. The event had a great turnout of around 300 Native American elders and bring people together to discuss these issues to see how they can come together as a community. “Right now, in Rapid City four out of five of our native kids are sexually abused before they turn 12. We’ve had over half of our teens attempt suicide, or actually complete the act in the past year,” said Brandon Ferguson, Executive Director of Ending the Silence Ferguson said the message he hopes for everyone to leave with is people can sit with their kids and let them know the importance of speaking out if something is wrong, and to not stay quiet.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.
