Native Americas, a journal published by Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University's American Indian Program, shared the top honor -- General Excellence -- with Tribal Colleges magazine in the Native American Journalists Association's annual awards, presented in Minneapolis June 20.

In addition to sharing the award for General Excellence, Native Americas was awarded first place for best editorial, which was a column by James Treat, "On Laughing and Praying." The editorial called for reconciliation and understanding between traditional and Christian Indians. The article appeared in the Fall 1996 issue.

Kallen Martin, a Cornell graduate student enrolled in Cornell's American Indian Program, also received a Special Citation for an article that examined New York state's attempts to tax Indian nations. The article, "Indians Not Taxed: Will Sovereignty Survive?" appeared in the Summer 1996 issue.

"We are delighted with these honors from our peers," said JosŽ Barreiro, associate director for extension at the American Indian Program. "Increasingly, Native Americas is being recognized for its deep understanding of the pertinent issues, trends and historical and cultural Indian contexts throughout the Western Hemisphere."

Cornell's Akwe:kon Press (pronounced ah-GWAY-go) started publishing the journal two years ago. Conceptualized by Barreiro, a Taino Indian, and Tim Johnson, executive manager of Native Americas and a Mohawk Indian, the journal has focused on issues such as casino gaming, taxation and federal trust responsibilities.

"Native Americas has drawn praise from educators, development professionals and policy-makers," said Barreiro. The journal routinely features overviews of national trends impacting Indian life in any country in the hemisphere where Indian peoples live and work to maintain their land, rights, freedoms and values. The journal also goes one step further by bringing its readers inside the social, cultural, political and intellectual workings and debates of the Indian nations themselves.