About the owl in the GIF: I mean no harm to my Indigenous relatives who may receive owls as symbols of darkness or even death. My beliefs place owls as symbols of great strength. 🦉

It's the last and longest full moon all year, also known as the Cold Moon. For me, it made its magnificent debut Saturday at around 3pm Alaska time during the waning slice of daylight which currently lasts roughly 3.5 hours each afternoon.  By Tuesday, the moon is expected to reach its farthest tilt, 23.5 degrees away from the sun, according to NASA.  The transition makes for an official parting of autumn and a welcoming of winter. 

This shift is also when we start reflecting on where we've been and where we may be headed. I had plans to write more deeply about the stories that shaped Indian Country in 2021, but wonky Arctic Internet and Lucy's passing has directed me to more abbreviated plans. 

For me, the short version in the year of Indigenous affairs can easily be summed up with one major event: the historic helming of Deb Haaland at the Department of Interior. While only in office less than a year, the first Native American cabinet secretary ticked off a fairly intentional list of Indigenous-leaning actions including two issues that deal directly with our ancestral Pueblo homelands—the protection of Bears Ears and Chaco Canyon.  There's also the Indian boarding school investigation that is underway with findings anticipated for release, April 1.  Also looking ahead will be what comes of this week's swearing-in of Chuck Sams III to head the National Park Service, the first tribal citizen to lead the agency ever.  (Sams is enrolled with the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla.) 

There's of course more to say, but keeping it short, I'll close things out with a classic Deb Haaland holiday recipe:  the Pueblo-style Gingerbread House. 🙃  Published in New Mexico Magazine, December 1997, I came across it this year while researching and writing about her epoch-making hour as Madame Secretary; it says so much about her life prior to plunging into politics.  As far as cookie projects go, this one looks quite elaborate.  I'd be dying to know if anyone attempts it, so please, please send photos if you do! 

I'll likely be sending you one more email next week to share a longread I've been toiling over before taking a little break.  So check your inboxes, friends.  And until then... 

Safe travels and happy holidays,