Comanche and Kiowa are the latest Indigenous languages to receive dedicated keyboards on iPhones.

Apple added the Comanche language, also known as Nʉmʉ Tekwapʉ̠, and Kiowa, or Ǥáuiđòᵰ:gyà, as iPhone keyboard options in its iOS 27 update last month. That means users can type special characters and accents natively on iPhones, rather than relying on external apps or copy and paste.

The Comanche Language and Culture Preservation Committee, a Lawton-based nonprofit that works to revitalize the Indigenous language, says the update lets learners use their language throughout the day.

Fewer than 50 fluent Comanche speakers and around 10 Kiowa speakers are alive today. Both are considered critically endangered.

Cherokee was the first Native language added to the iPhone in 2010. Since then, six others tied to Oklahoma have been added, including Chickasaw, Choctaw, Osage, Mvskoke and Kiowa.

You can add the languages to the iPhone’s keyboard through the Keyboard tab in Settings. Once installed, the user can switch between keyboards across apps that use iPhone’s typography.

Apple's website lists more than 200 languages supported by iPhone keyboards. Around 20 are Indigenous American.

I’m not native, but this can’t be forgotten, since the Flavio Bolsonaro election was lost, multiple native groups are being threatened with massacres and water supply poisoning by extremists Bolsonarists.

Several jornalists have made publications about it:

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https://www.instagram.com/p/De-GuISD9-x/?vrfl=cDZvY25ucHZobXI=

Flávio Bolsonaro and his group are fear mongering bastares that preach on white supremacy and woman below man, heck, four days ago they had a black man chained and dragged during a political rally, in another case a native Tupi Guaraní elder was tied and beaten.

Please, beware of what’s happening in Brazil.

If people want to see real American Indians and other indigenous people's view, though and projects, look to this brother's podcast. The brother is correct, it is not how much you have, it is how much you give and how you live.

Much love and respect to humans who have respect for other humans, the animals and the earth. The culture war they wanted was a race and gender war, but the culture war they are getting is human cultures ( diversity) vs corporate culture. If you have ever worked in a big corporation, you know which side will win this, corporations are not people or human, they are a human made instrument.

Tools don't tell the humans how to live, or we would all die for profits, corporate profits for greedy billionaires.

A few highlights from the article:

"If we put a project like this in around Yellowstone County, in that river valley, it’s gonna be an environmental impact similar to a coal mine, or something that’s gonna cause irreparable harm to the area. I think that’s why there’s so much opposition to it right now,” Doyle said."

"The gas would affect more than just the rural Broadview community. A retired Billings pulmonologist modeled the air-quality impact of 1,700 megawatts using EPA tools, Hedges said, and found fine-particulate pollution spreading to communities east of the site, including the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, and Fort Peck reservations. “It’d be a disaster,” she said."

Edit: A bit more detail below from the article on the data center it discusses.

"The stakes are highest in Crow country. In the small city of Hardin, at the Crow Indian Reservation’s northern edge, a former cryptocurrency mine is being actively converted into an AI data center. About 14 miles northwest of the reservation, Texas-based Quantica Infrastructure plans to build its Big Sky campus on nearly eight square miles of ranchland near the town of Broadview, north of Billings, Montana’s most populous city. As it’s currently planned, the data center would rank among the largest data centers in the world. The Yellowstone River Valley is “the heart of the Crow Nation,” Doyle said."

I should note that I'm not Native American or a First Person. I've just been curious if anyone has thoughts on whether life is better or maybe less toxic/problematic for an indigenous person in Canada or in the US. I do want to say that I don't think that things are great in either country, and I would guess that the differences would probably be marginal. I have certainly never entertained the thought that either is any kind of paradise for an indigenous person.

Has anyone spent a significant amount of time in both countries to be able to make comparisons from personal experience?

Here are 13 bone-chilling Indigenous horror reads that’ll crawl under your skin & into your dreams. Stephen Graham Jones is back with Off the Reservation, Never Whistle at Night returns for blood & writers from Alaska to Aotearoa are bringing the scares.

I found a book that covers the indigenous nations in the state of Louisiana. The inner cover was signed by two featured dancers of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana: Thunder John, and Hawk John.
Despite this there are some questionable decisions, one in the section highlighting word contexts.
From research the term Ouachita, is a French misspelling of a Choctaw word used to denote the Washita tribe under the Caddo Confederacy. There is conjecture on the meaning but silver water seems to be accurate.
Is this conclusion a better description?

If this is not an appropriate place to ask this question I will delete the post.

EDIT:
The “silver water” translations seem to be more a part of urban myth-making. Referring to the location as a “hunting ground” seems to be the larger consensus. Also Washita appears to be Caddoan, NOT Choctaw.

It's getting worse, and Amazon needs to clamp down. If you search Plains Cree on Amazon the second hit is by an author named Duygu Mengioğlu. If she exists she is a Turkish author and translator. She has books in a zillion different languages claiming to teach you how to speak and write them. It's all clearly AI!

For nêhiyawêwin, Plains Cree, everyone sort of knows everyone when it comes to the expert language teachers who publish books. It is basically unheard of to have someone NOT connected to that language teaching community to come up with a legitimate resource. It's not like Spanish or Italian where millions upon millions of people learn and then teach it. I make this point because to the average person, it might seem prejudicial to assume someone can't learn the language and then publish a book about it.... but that literally just doesn't happen without running into the folks already doing the work.

Check her list for your language. And report it as AI if you can. Amazon clearly is going to let this crap continue to be published and it's inaccurate, it's appropriative and predatory, and downright deceptive.

Anna discusses Ojibwe ties to her land, and how they shape her culture and way of life. “Being Indigenous strongly centers connections to our lands, but I don’t feel that as a Jew. There have been a lot of diasporas. I can’t speak for other Jews, but I do not see my Judaism reflected in Israel, and I don’t feel connected to it as a homeland. My grandmother didn’t claim Poland and Poland didn’t claim her. I wish I had the feeling I have about the area around Bad River for the places where my Jewish family grew up.”

Isabella emphasizes the importance of recognizing Judaism as a cultural marker. “Judaism isn’t just a religion—it is culture and family. My culture and family is also about Navajo language and community. I don’t have to choose—I can make things work for me in the ways I need to, and take care of all parts of me. My parents always encouraged me to take part in ceremonies and learn the language...It’s sweet to see the way they treat each others’ cultures and honor both for me.”

Like other multicultural Jews, this is what Native Jews want the larger Jewish community to understand—that they are not “divided” between two cultures but expanded by them. There is no one “correct” way to be Jewish. Native Jews are complete and beautifully diverse.

A video about the superfund site in Cass lake Minnesota on the Leech Lake Reservation.

Hunterbrook analyzed 13 years of Minnesota death records (2011–2024, MN Department of Health individual-level data). Their analysis found:

Life expectancy in Cass Lake is 17 years shorter than the Minnesota average 

Half of Cass Lake residents die before age 65, versus roughly one in five statewide

Among communities adjacent to other Superfund sites across Minnesota, Cass Lake residents die youngest

(I guess this also could’ve been put under the “Education” flair too.)

Hi everyone, I hope my intentions come across as respectful and sincere. I didn’t know where else to ask, so I thought it’d be best to come here. If my wording comes off as inappropriate or I come off as weird, please correct me and educate me so I am aware of it.

I’m a non-indigenous 16 y/o girl from the states, and I’ve had an interest in Indigenous cultures and communities from Turtle Island since grade 7 after a rather more in depth history lesson at school. I took it upon myself to rather hear stories of history from indigenous people directly to get a better understanding through indigenous perspective, which basically started it all. Regardless of who I’m learning about and being mindful of the history, I’ve always been open minded to different cultures and communities, while respect of other people has always been something ingrained within me since I am also a POC (Sinti-Romani or “Gypsy” as gadze refer to us as, and Caribbean). So I understand the pain racism carries, but not through the lens of other marginalized people.

Despite living in a state with a smaller indigenous population (Eastern Coast, which is pretty vague but I’m being vague so I don’t give out too much personal information, just in case mods take this down since I am a minor), I’ve always tried my best to get involved in some way. Whether it be attending pow wows, supporting indigenous businesses, donating to the MMIW/MMIR/MMIP causes, or informing myself about how indigenous people are still impacted by the effects of colonialism today / ongoing issues. I’ve always been extremely (truthfully overly) worried of being insensitive or unaware about something, which sometimes stops me from asking questions, (which also) ultimately stops me from learning more or making connections. This in itself can become an issue and that’s what I don’t want it to be.

How do I become a better ally without being overly nervous all the time? I worry being scared also gives off the wrong idea to people about me that I’m weird or iffy, when I honestly just don’t want to seem ignorant or do more damage towards a community that has already been hurt for so long. What are other ways I can show my support for causes or for communities?

I really hope this doesn’t make me seem I’m trying to be a “savior“ of some sort. I care deeply for advocating and bringing awareness to a lot of things while learning and being apart of beautiful opportunities and creating great connections with people. But the last thing I want to do is cause harm.

Thank you to anyone who answers, hope you are having a great day/afternoon/night! 🩵

hi all! every christmas i try to make homemade, meaningful gifts for my loved ones. things that can be used and won't collect dust when interest is lost/holidays have passed. this year i'm making simmer pot bags and homemade candles, among a few other homemade goodies!

i want to attempt to make a sweetgrass scented candle. i know sweetgrass yields very little natural oil, so there isn't really anyone distributing sweetgrass essential oil. though i have seen may selling sweetgrass scented candles. i'm on a budget though and am hoping to make a big batch for my loved ones instead of spending $15+ a person. my wallet won't survive that </3

i was wondering if any other candle or soap makers out there in indian country know of any scent combos that yield at least a similar scent? hope this is okay to ask here, my apologies if it isn't! miigwech for any and all help !

The National Congress of American Indians has PASSED the Press Freedom Resolution (PSC-26-058), introduced by the Native Media Freedom Alliance (NMFA), the publisher of Buffalo's Fire, at their annual conference. This year’s NCAI annual conference was held Oct. 19–23 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.