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Photo: A sign for Sacajawea’s grave site near Shoshone Business Council chambers in Fort Washakie on Sept. 17, 2024. (Photo: Chris Clements / Wyoming Public Media)
Some Eastern Shoshone tribal members are voicing concerns about the integrity of the tribe’s primary election held on September 17.
Wyoming Public Radio’s Chris Clements reports on a recent public protest.
About fifteen people, including some elders, gathered outside the Shoshone Business Council’s chambers in Fort Washakie, Wyo. to protest perceived election irregularities.
More specifically, addressing the election judges’ efforts to correct absentee ballots that had the incorrect number of candidates to choose from.
Protestors say the judges don’t have the authority to change the date the absentee ballots are due. Election judges, which are elected positions, are in charge of running elections for the tribe.
Bobbi Shongutsie is running as a write-in candidate in the primary and attended the protest.
“I think that our people finally woke up, and they [SBC] see that we’re awake now and they can’t continue to keep going.”
Protestors held signs that read “new election judges” and other slogans. The Business Council didn’t respond to requests for comment. An emergency special General Session meeting to address the absentee ballots and other issues is set for Saturday.
The Southern Ute Fair marked its 102nd anniversary in Colorado recently with a blend of old and new traditions, including a heavy metal concert featuring an all-Indigenous lineup.
As Clark Adomaitis reports, this type of music, holds a special place in many tribal communities.
This was the 14th year that the Annual Native Rez-olution Youth concert took place at the Southern Ute Fair.
At this concert, people in black T-shirts and black leather boots moshed around to an all-Indigenous lineup with seven heavy metal and rock bands.
The alcohol and drug-free event has a unique lineup of bands every year.
Loren Anthony, a Navajo actor and motivational speaker, is playing bass with Hellthrone tonight.
“The scene has still shown nothing but love, nothing but community, nothing but unity, all the things that the world outside of our own sees as dark, depressive, gloomy and filled with all these other things that might be tied to it in a negative way. But this type of event promotes not drinking, where people can come and feel safe and have a place to be. Metal music in general, has always been aggressive, has a lot of aggression and has a lot of true meaning to its words.”
Heavy metal is more than just music. It gives people an outlet to express frustrations and societal challenges faced by many Indigenous communities.
In fact, a specific subgenre of Heavy Metal has developed in Native American Communities — Rez Metal.
Ernest Capono is the guitarist for Hellthrone.
“We come here and we promote love and peace and you know, and it’s weird to hear that from, like, from all these metal bands, but, you know, there’s a lot of people that are don’t feel like they belong. There’s a lot of pain. There’s a lot of things that a lot of lot of struggles that people go through, and when people are struggling, they need to feel like they are heard and they’re and they belong. When you come to something like this, and you see the moshing, and you see all the pain and the anger and loud and all that, it’s we’re allowing the misfits to fit, and we’re allowing the anger to come in, and we’re allowing everybody to leave here with a smile.”
The Rez-olution concert takes place every year in September at the Southern Ute Fair.
@sashashoni83 This was so badass and a great ending to this show! Hell Throne covering none other than Slayer’s Raining Blood at the Southern Ute Fair Youth concert in Ignacio, CO. #livemusic #musictherapy #southernutereservation #southernutefair #metalmom #metalmoms #Slayer #rainingbloodslayer ♬ original sound – Nishoni Johnson
Friday marks the 57th Annual California Native American Day.
This year’s theme is “Recognizing 100 Years of Citizenship and the Fight for the Right to Vote: 1924-2024.”
The holiday takes place on the fourth Friday of September to celebrate the culture and contributions of California Native Americans.
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