Tsanavi Spoonhunter
(She/Her)
Green Bay, San Francisco
Covers:
Indian Country, Politics, Tribal Politics, Indigenous Rights, Human Rights
Nonfiction Storyteller /// Northern Arapaho & Northern Paiute
Articles by Tsanavi Spoonhunter
How to Stock Your Pantry With Native American Foods From Across the Continent
Everything from cornmeal to women-produced coffee beans is just a click away. When Ben Jacobs was a child, his parents launched a business in downtown Denver, Colorado. Grayhorse: An American Indian Eatery, was the first of its kind. But two years into the venture, the family closed the restaurant and moved on. Decades later, the memories of Grayhorse’s mission inspired Jacobs and his business partner, Matt Chandra, to launch their own restaurant in Denver in 2008.
Keeping a roof over their heads
Tsanavi Spoonhunter Special to Indian Country Today ETHETE, Wyoming — Pamela Lock was running out of options. She’d been a school bus driver on the Wind River Reservation when the pandemic hit. Her son was away at college but was sent home because of the shutdown. Her household bills and his apartment lease continued to pile up. “If kids don’t go to school, I don’t work,” Lock, Northern Arapaho, told Indian Country Today.
Across the Nation, a Native American Coffee Movement Is Brewing
In a northeastern neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, a small coffeehouse stands covered with pictures of bison. For centuries here, on the land of the Cowlitz, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and Clackamas peoples, there have been no bison. But Bison Coffeehouse still pays tribute to the animal that sustained Native American communities across the country. Inside, Native American art adorns the space, centered around a mounted buffalo head.
Revealing Hidden Indigenous Narratives within the Modern Context — Nevada Humanities
By Autumn Harry, Tsanavi Spoonhunter, and Jarrette Werk As Indigenous Peoples, our place-based narratives connect us with the ancestral world—geographically, spiritually, and physically. Due to the continued impacts of colonialism, Indigenous communities within North America are actively advocating for their rights to be recognized and respected within their ancestral homelands.
Video: Alcatraz, 50 years later Native youth mark anniversary
November marks 50 years since a group of American Indians took over Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Local organizers have been preparing by teaching youth how to carve their own canoes. The group will paddle their canoes to Alcatraz this month. Indian Country Today will continue to follow stories about the anniversary of the takeover. Tsanavi Spoonhunter, Northern Arapaho and Northern Paiute, was a Chips Quinn and Tribal Media Fellow at Indian Country Today.
Video: Alcatraz, 50 years later Native youth mark anniversary
November marks 50 years since a group of American Indians took over Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Local organizers have been preparing by teaching youth how to carve their own canoes. The group will paddle their canoes to Alcatraz this month. Indian Country Today will continue to follow stories about the anniversary of the takeover. Tsanavi Spoonhunter, Northern Arapaho and Northern Paiute, was a Chips Quinn and Tribal Media Fellow at Indian Country Today.
Native women in leadership share ‘common struggles’
Below is a transcript of the video. (SOUND BITE OF SUSAN MASTEN SPEAKING AT THE CONFERENCE) SUSAN MASTEN: I really wanted for there to be an environment where we prepare people for leadership because a lot of people find themselves on council and they have no experience at all and they're making major decisions that, you know, can have an impact for generations. TSANAVI SPOONHUNTER: Fifteen years ago, Susan Masten helped create WEWIN, which is Women Empowering Women for Indigenous Nations.
Native women in leadership share ‘common struggles’
Below is a transcript of the video. (SOUND BITE OF SUSAN MASTEN SPEAKING AT THE CONFERENCE) SUSAN MASTEN: I really wanted for there to be an environment where we prepare people for leadership because a lot of people find themselves on council and they have no experience at all and they're making major decisions that, you know, can have an impact for generations. TSANAVI SPOONHUNTER: Fifteen years ago, Susan Masten helped create WEWIN, which is Women Empowering Women for Indigenous Nations.
Vegas. Casinos. Tourists. And the world's largest cannabis dispensary (Paiute owned)
News Maven Home News Las Vegas is bigger than life. Casinos that fashion themselves as Paris, New York or Bellagio. The hottest entertainers. And, millions of visitors. It’s also home to the largest cannabis dispensary in the world -- owned by the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. Fourteen tribes in Nevada negotiated a bill with the governor's office two years ago that allowed each to use marijuana on tribal lands.
Vegas. Casinos. Tourists. And the world's largest cannabis dispensary (Paiute owned)
Las Vegas is bigger than life. Casinos that fashion themselves as Paris, New York or Bellagio. The hottest entertainers. And, millions of visitors. It’s also home to the largest cannabis dispensary in the world -- owned by the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. Fourteen tribes in Nevada negotiated a bill with the governor's office two years ago that allowed each to use marijuana on tribal lands.
She takes office 'Grand Portage style,' surrounded by close family and friends
News Maven Home News Beth Drost remembers eating lunch at the only log school in Minnesota, the Old Grand Portage Log School, when she was an elementary student. Now, at 41, this is was where she learned that she would be the first chairwoman of her tribe. “There were a bunch of us just sitting around, Grand Portage style,” Drost said explaining that this style is referred to as being surrounded by close family and friends.
She takes office 'Grand Portage style,' surrounded by close family and friends
Beth Drost remembers eating lunch at the only log school in Minnesota, the Old Grand Portage Log School, when she was an elementary student. Now, at 41, this was where she learned that she would be the first chairwoman of her tribe. “There were a bunch of us just sitting around, Grand Portage style,” Drost said explaining that this style is referred to as being surrounded by close family and friends.
Diné Bahane’ is a beautiful story told as a contemporary museum exhibit
Raven Chocan’s culture has influenced his art throughout his career. His new exhibit is a retelling of the Navajo creation story in a way that transcends the traditional form of Native storytelling. “It was a beautiful story that I wanted to reference,” said Chacon.
Diné Bahane’ is a beautiful story told as a contemporary museum exhibit
Raven Chacon's culture has influenced his art throughout his career. His new exhibit is a retelling of the Navajo creation story in a way that transcends the traditional form of Native storytelling. “It was a beautiful story that I wanted to reference,” said Chacon.
A 'traumatic' and 'undeserving' arrest after police round-up in Arizona
News Maven Home News After working his normal night shift, Tremayne Nez went home to sleep in his Flagstaff, Arizona, home. Two hours later, he was woken up by his seven-year-old nephew. That's when the police showed up and arrested him thinking he was someone else. “I am afraid to be home now because, in my mind, they (police) could return,” said Nez, 25. “This was a very traumatic experience and it was so undeserving.
A 'traumatic' and 'undeserving' arrest after police round-up in Arizona
After working his normal night shift, Tremayne Nez went home to sleep in his Flagstaff, Arizona, home. Two hours later, he was woken up by his seven-year-old nephew. That's when the police showed up and arrested him thinking he was someone else. “I am afraid to be home now because, in my mind, they (police) could return,” said Nez, 25. “This was a very traumatic experience and it was so undeserving.
Rent-controlled tenants claim harassment, neglect from Veritas Investments
localPenny Schoner, 84, lived happily in her one-bedroom apartment she’d had since the 1980s. That changed in 2012, when Veritas bought her apartment building. Suddenly, she said, management ignored her requests for repairs including one to remove the wasp nest that sat outside her bedroom window. “They were in my hair and my clothing and I got stung a bunch of times,” Schoner said as she recalled the incident.
The ‘RV People’ Community of De Wolf Street
This is part of a collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism to look at inequality in the Bay Area. Five motorhomes and seven vehicles sit parked on De Wolf Street in the Outer Mission, under the Balboa Park BART Station rails. They face the back doors of six or seven homes. There’s a rattle at the second motorhome. David, 35, who declined to give his last name, opens the door and takes a backwards step onto the sidewalk.
Q&A WITH CHARLIE LEDUFF
I have to admit, I was intimidated when I was assigned to interview Charlie LeDuff, an investigative reporter for WJBK 2 News, the Fox affiliate in Detroit. LeDuff, who is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan, was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for a series on race when he was a reporter for The New York Times. His writing is legendary, and his personality larger than life.
FIRST LADY, "WE NEED YOU."
“I believe in you,” First Lady Michelle Obama said to Native youth at the first-ever White House Tribal Youth Gathering. More than one thousand youth members, representing for 230 tribes from 42 states gathered in Washington D.C. “Your customs, your values, your discoveries are at the heart of the American story,” she said, acknowledging the mistreatment of Native Americans, “America hasn’t always treated your people and heritage with dignity and respect.
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