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Photo: President Jimmy Carter during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. (Ava Lowery / Wikimedia)
President Jimmy Carter, who passed away Sunday, is being remembered for bills he signed into law for Indian Country.
In a social media post, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. expressed his condolences and said the laws made a positive and enduring impact on Indian Country – the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act, and the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Chief Hoskin goes on to say President Carter was a leader who championed peace and dignity for all people.
President Jimmy Carter, Rest in Peace. He signed into law the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act, all of which made a positive and enduring impact on #IndianCountry.
— Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. (@ChuckHoskin_Jr) December 29, 2024
According to a press release from the Carter Center, the former president, who was the 39th president of the United States and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, died peacefully at his home in Plains, Ga.
He was surrounded by his family.
He was 100 years old and is said to be the longest-lived president in U.S. history.
The Indian Health Service and the Chickasaw Nation are signing an agreement Monday for the development and operation of a new medical center in Newcastle, Okla.
It will be located within the outer suburbs of Oklahoma City and will serve patients in the Ada unit and surrounding area, which will include primary care, specialty care, and emergency services.
Indian Health Service Director Roselyn Tso and Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby will sing the agreement in Newcastle.
The project is expected to be built in three phases over a multi-year construction cycle.
Drew Michael, a Yup’ik and Inupiaq artist, works on a mask carving at his East Anchorage home studio. (Photo: Matt Faubion / Alaska Public Media)
The Anchorage Museum is launching a new fellowship next year designed to support artists in Alaska and the Circumpolar North.
The program was designed and conceived by mask maker and wood carver Drew Michael, who wanted to give other artists an opportunity to focus on their craft without worrying about day-to-day logistics.
Alaska Public Media’s Ammon Swenson has more.
Drew Michael leans over his work table, rough shaping a wooden mask about the size of a large serving platter.
Strips of wood spread across the table as he gouges and scrapes by hand.
Michael is a Yup’ik and Inupiaq artist who creates interpretations of Yup’ik-style masks with contemporary embellishments like bright colors or modern metals – often incorporating religious or other spiritual concepts within the traditional aesthetic.
He was inspired to create the Drew Michael Artist Fellowship Endowment after he had his own residency opportunity at the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.
“That whole time, I was able to focus on my art. They gave me a space to live. They gave me an artist stipend. They gave me a vehicle to drive around in, because where I was staying was so far away from where I was going to be working at the school. And they gave me materials money, and that whole month, I was able to focus on creating a whole body of work.”
When Michael didn’t see anything similar in Anchorage, he wanted to give other artists the same opportunities he had.
“And I give credit to the time that I was able to spend focusing, like kind of separating from my entire life so that I could focus on creating.”
One or two artists will be selected a year for the residency.
The museum will provide artists a stipend for expenses like materials or research and access to their archives and collections.
The endowment is meant to support young or emerging artists from Alaska or the Circumpolar North with a focus on people, place and ritual.
“I think if we’re able to culture share and share about how we’re living in these places, connecting to these places, maybe we could learn, maybe we could grow in who we are in these places.”
When Michael brought the fellowship idea to museum director Julie Decker, she was immediately on board.
Michael had already promised a financial gift to the museum in his will, so he and Decker worked out a plan to create his fund through the museum’s endowment or permanent savings account.
The Drew Michael Artist Fellowship Endowment is on track to begin residencies next year.
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