Native American representation

Native American writer and director Billy Luther will be screening his latest film “Frybread Face and Me” in Santa Fe this Friday. The film is a coming-of-age- story about an urban Native American kid trying to reconnect with his culture and family who live on the Navajo Nation.

Cherokee writer and audio journalist Rebecca Nagel’s recently published book “By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land” explores the forced removal of Native people and the Supreme Court case that resulted in the largest restoration of tribal land in U.S. history.

Native American students in New Mexico will be able to wear their tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies this spring after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill into law on Wednesday.

A bill that would prohibit school boards from banning tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies unanimously passed its first committee on Tuesday. The bill stems from an incident that happened last May in Farmington, NM. A Native American high school graduate was told to remove their embellished graduation cap that had an eagle plume and beads.

There’s been a recent surge in authentic depictions of Native American people and stories in pop culture. In honor of Native American Heritage Month, KUNM discussed this shift with author and filmmaker Ramona Emerson, and the struggle she faced as a Diné writer to get her debut novel published.