Judge Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as the 115th Justice of the Supreme Court by the Senate in a 52 to 48 vote last night. Maine Senator Susan Collins was the only Republican who did not support Judge Barrett, and the confirmation marks the first time in 151 years that a Supreme Court Justice was confirmed without the support of a single member of the minority party.
Native News Online published an article comparing President Trump’s “Putting America’s First Peoples First: Forgotten No More!” and former Vice President Joe Biden’s “Biden-Harris Plan For Tribal Nations.”
A bipartisan group of Arizona lawmakers is demanding answers from the leader of the Indian Health Service after the Phoenix Indian Medical Center, which operates under the federal agency, shut down its inpatient obstetrics services in August 26. The closure was sudden and without public notice.
Tribal Chairman of the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe Len George penned an opinion piece in Indian Country Today criticizing Nevada State Senator Cortez Masto’s Northern Nevada Rural Land Management, Conservation, and Military Readiness Act, which would quadruple the size of the Naval Air Station Fallon so that it authorizes bombing or other military training on more than 800,000 acres of ancestral land.
COVID-19:
Navajo Nation Reports 76 New Covid-19 Cases On Sunday, As State Hospitalizations Surge
Native News Online, October 26
On Sunday, the Navajo Department of Health, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, reported 76 new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and no recent deaths. The total number of deaths remains 574 as previously reported last Monday.
2020 Elections:
Trump Vs. Biden: Here’s How Their Plans For Indian Country Compare
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, October 25
With the release of the White House’s Putting America’s First Peoples First – Forgotten No More! policy vision and the Biden campaign’s Biden-Harris Plan for Tribal Nations, both major presidential candidates have offered up plans for Indian Country. Both plans contain similar elements, such as increasing broadband across Indian Country, addressing the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls crisis, and improving American Indian education.
Law:
Senator Cortez-Masto’s New Bill Isn’t Good For All Tribes [Opinion]
Indian Country Today, Len George, October 26
Last week, Senator Cortez Masto rolled out legislation directly related to our community, our culture, our livelihood, and our future. The bill, the Northern Nevada Rural Land Management, Conservation, and Military Readiness Act, plans on quadrupling the size of the Naval Air Station Fallon so that it authorizes bombing or other military training on more than 800,000 acres of our ancestral lands.
Other:
Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee Vigorously Combats Theft Of Tribal Water
Indianz.com, October 26
The Ute Indian Tribal Business Committee is taking aggressive action to protect and defend the tribe’s reserved Indian water rights and resources and to seek recourse against those who have engaged in unlawful activities to interfere with the tribe’s reserved water rights. The Business Committee has long been aware of past illegal diversions, takings, and uses of Uintah Indian Irrigation Project tribal water that have occurred within and near the reservation, and is taking swift action to combat these threats to the tribe’s water resources.
FBI, Tribe Investigating Weekend Killing On Crow Reservation
AP News, October 26
The FBI and the Crow Police Department are searching for a suspect in a weekend killing on the Crow Indian Reservation in southern Montana, officials said. The Crow Tribe Executive Branch described the Saturday afternoon killing as an “ambush-style homicide.”
Lawmakers Demand Answers In Birthing Center Closure
Indian Country Today, Dalton Walker, October 26
A bipartisan group of Arizona lawmakers is demanding answers from the leader of the Indian Health Service after one of its largest hospitals stopped offering birthing services. The Phoenix Indian Medical Center’s closure was sudden and without public notice, leaving dozens of moms scrambling to find birthing services elsewhere.
The Fiery Clash Over Mi’kmaq Treaty Fishing Rights
Indian Country Today, Vincent Schilling, October 26
The Sipekne’katik First Nation, one of 13 First Nations communities in Nova Scotia, launched what it deemed a moderate livelihood lobster fishery along the Nova Scotia coastline. Though the fisherman used approximately 250 lobster traps, considered a small number by experts, the move by the tribe was met with outrage by non-Indigenous fishermen, who cut trap lines, removed traps from the water and attempted to block Sipekne’katik First Nation boats from entering fishing areas.
National Park Service Grant Awarded To Gun Lake Tribe
Indianz.com, October 26
Gun Lake Tribe’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office has been awarded a Tribal Heritage grant funded by the Historic Preservation Fund and administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior. The funds awarded through this grant will allow the Tribal Historic Preservation Office to develop an inventory of cultural and historical resources related to Gun Lake Tribe and successfully implement forms, policies and procedures related to the GIS inventory.