Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Possible outcomes of fiscal-cliff negotiations

JT Shining Oneside shared stories about her Ojibwe and Anishinaabe inheritance during the Native American Heritage Month Celebration on Nov. 15. She spoke about the coming-of-age and traditional birth ceremonies. (Photo credit/ Adrianna Adame)

Take care of Americans first
I see all about the taxes they want to raise and the programs they want to cut, but nowhere ever do I see anything about cutting some of our foreign aid [“Budget-crisis outlook comes in four flavors,” News, Dec. 5].

We could probably cut a tiny percent from all the billions that go overseas and not have to cut the programs that benefit the Americans who worked and paid for them. I’m a little incensed that the government doesn’t even mention foreign-aid reduction as an alternative to cutting domestic programs.

Why don’t we take care of our own first and then help other people?

– Laura Louie, Bothell


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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.