Unheralded.fish welcomes three contributors aboard our ship.

We believe you’ll enjoy reading blogs from Clay Jenkinson, John Strand and Russell J. Myhre.

Here’s some background on each, plus an excerpt from one of their recent blogs. All three men have joined other Fish bloggers who’ve provided exclusive, complete, accurate, relevant and thought-provoking stories about the ongoing saga connected to the Dakota Pipeline Access story in western North Dakota.

Clay Jenkinson is a public humanities scholar who lives and writes in Bismarck, N.D. He grew in western North Dakota, not far from Theodore Roosevelt’s Badlands. He attended the University of Minnesota, the University of Colorado and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He also is the host of the “Thomas Jefferson Hour,” a syndicated public radio program dedicated to the search for truth in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson.

Here’s an excerpt from Clay’s blog: “In the southern heart of North Dakota, we may be witnessing the beginning of a national and international pan-Indian renewal of First Peoples, Indigenous Peoples, Native Americans. Anything that helps rebuild Indian pride, cultural confidence and a firm and solid assertion of Native American rights is a good thing for all of us, for all Americans.”

John Strand, co-owner of the High Plains Reader newsweekly in Fargo and former editor of the Grafton (N.D.) Record, currently serves on the Fargo City Commission. He was elected in June 2016 after serving two terms on the Fargo Board of Education. A native of Crystal, N.D., he graduated from Valley High School in Hoople, N.D., and received a bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University in 1977. In between two stints as editor of the Grafton paper, he spent 13 years in specialized orthopedic medical sales in Fargo and Rochester, N.Y. As a city commissioner, he’s the board’s liaison with the Human Relations, Native American Commission, Historic Preservation, Library, and Arts and Culture commissions, as well as the Board of Health and Fargo Youth Initiative.

John visited the Sacred Stones Camp in western North Dakota last week. Here is one story sample:

“The main campground became visible from the highway. It resembled a small city, hundreds and hundreds of tents. Conversations stopped; we fell silent.

“The roadway into the Sacred Stones Camp was lined with dozens of tribal flags from across the Northern Hemisphere, and at least one from South America; and inside, license plates from practically every state in the nation, as well as Canada.

“In light of outside reports of illegal activity and unruly behavior by the protectors, it was reassuring to see quite the opposite. The people — all the people of all walks of life, races and religions — were peaceful. The atmosphere was mournful, solemn, prayerful and heartfelt: families, children, elders, all as one.”

Russell J. Myhre is an attorney in Valley City, N.D. Early in his career, he was an assistant Sioux County State’s Attorney, Public Defender for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court and later the Tribal Prosecutor and Chief Law Enforcement Officer for the Tribe. He registered voters on South Dakota reservations and was involved in a successful federal lawsuit brought under the Voting Rights Act. He was married to a Native activist and has children who are enrolled with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. He is the adopted brother to the late Isaac Dog Eagle Jr., a Lakota tribal leader and a direct descendent of Sitting Bull.

Russell provides some personal perspective and observations about the Dakota Access Pipeline developments.

“After all these years, most people have forgotten the racial tensions in South Dakota about four decades ago. In those days, AIM was considered to be a domestic terrorist organization. In fact, after every time I had gone to pick Bennie (his wife) up on a date, I had received a telephone call from the United States Marshals and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to interview me. It’s tough enough to be interrogated by your date’s father. Imagine what it was like being interviewed by the feds after every date.”

We hope you enjoy reading these guys and continue visiting Unheralded.fish to keep read the other outstanding bloggers you’ll find listed on the left side of this page.

If you’re new to our site and have had a taste or two of what we offer, thanks for visiting. I think you will agree with me: we are not mainstream media; we are The Fish.