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UNM Training Grant to Improve Special Ed Teaching

Image via Wikimedia Commons

By Jacob Trasen / New Mexico News Port The University of New Mexico Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences was recently awarded an $830,000 grant that will help create the “Project SCENES” program at UNM.  This program is designed to help teach UNM students to more effectively work with young students with autism and other… Continue reading UNM Training Grant to Improve Special Ed Teaching

Indigenous Elders and Youth take on the 2022 Gathering of Nations

The 2022 Gathering of Nations is the largest powwow in North America. Absent for two years due to the pandemic, this year’s Gathering was much needed for many. ​ ​ Chaske LaBlanc, 67, traveled from South Dakota, where his tribe, the Lower Sioux Minnesota resides. LaBlanc has danced one of the powwow’s most popular categories, Men’s Northern Traditional, since he was 3 years old. ​ ​
“It’s military and powwow manner to make friends and trade stories,” said Larry Naakai Etsitty, 68, Navajo, (left). ​ ​ During Friday night’s gourd dance, Ben Graywolf, 69, Dino Taino, (right), and Etsitty set up camp beside each other and traded stories about their time in the U.S. Army.​ ​ Coming from Southern Florida, Graywolf said he relied on Etistty to show him Albuquerque’s best restaurants and historic downtown.
“My parents put me in Northern Fancy Dance ever since I could walk,” said Sam Tsosie, 55, Peneloton/Navajo, (right). “I did the same to my kids and now we’re dancing in the biggest powwow!”​ ​ Blaine Shebala, 46, (left), met Tsosie during dance practice and shared stories about his teenage years on the Mandan Arikara reservation in North Dakota.​
“The Gathering of Nations is my family’s first powwow this summer,” said Peyton Moses, 11, Navajo/Hopi/Dakota. The family plans to travel to six more. ​ ​ Moses, who entred the Junior Girls Jingle Dress category, said powwow keeps her healthy and content.​
Like his sister Peyton Moses, Ryder Moses, 8, Navajo/Hopi/Dakota, began to dance not too long ago. ​ ​ “It’s fun dancing with other kids like me!” he said.​ ​ ​
Catching their breath after Grand Entry, new friends Jolie LaBlanc, 7, Lower Sioux Minnesota, (left), Ne’naya Jack, 9, Sioux, (middle), Kianna Brown, 9, Cree, (right), shared some candy.​ ​ Although they dance three different categories of dance, LaBlanc, Jack and Brown shared a moment of exhaustion and elation.​ ​ “I’m glad I made new friends,” Jack said. “I can’t wait to see them next year.”​
“Powwow has always been a part of my life,” said William KD, 20, from the Fallon Paiute Shoshone tribe in Nevada. “I won’t even stop when I’m a grandpa!”​ ​ KD said that indigenous youth who can’t or won’t dance powwow should at least watch and cheer for the dancers.​

Photographed by Taylor Gibson / New Mexico News Port Taylor Gibson is a reporter for New Mexico News Port and can be reached at nmnewsport@gmail.com.

Movie theaters transform in response to streaming

By Brigid Driscoll and Lara Sullivan / New Mexico News Port Movie theater ticket sales peaked in 2002 and were slowly declining until the pandemic shuttered indoor spaces and tanked sales. They are now rebounding, but in 2021 theater-goers bought fewer than 500 million tickets, less than half of the 2019 total. Meanwhile, Netflix has… Continue reading Movie theaters transform in response to streaming

Women in sports disagree with Transgender athletes

University of Pennsylvania Women’s Swimming and Diving roster.

By Jacob Trasen and Juan Baeza / New Mexico News Port When University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas won a national championship event in March, 2022 some saw it as a monumental victory for a trans athlete. But others felt that it was unfair for the other women that she competed with and against. New… Continue reading Women in sports disagree with Transgender athletes

ABQ Sunport to Double Food Court Area

Picture of Albuquerque Sunport, taken from Wikimedia Commons.

By Jacob Trasen / New Mexico News Port The City of Albuquerque plans to renovate the Sunport in 2023, expanding the food court in order to accommodate passengers who are spending more time in the airport before their flights. The project for New Mexico’s largest commercial airport has three goals, Sunport marketing coordinator Cassandra Scott… Continue reading ABQ Sunport to Double Food Court Area

UNM Alums Express Emotion in Poetry During Lightning Lounge Event

By Lara Sullivan / New Mexico News Port Professor of math and statistics Billy Brown introduced himself and the poetry group he hosts, Fixed and Free, at a UNM faculty Lightning Lounge on Wednesday afternoon. He read an emotionally heart wrenching poem about his young daughter, who tragically passed away in a car accident in… Continue reading UNM Alums Express Emotion in Poetry During Lightning Lounge Event