Good Morning, NUNAverse,
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta is being rightly decried as undermining tribal sovereignty. In Castro-Huerta, the Supreme Court abandoned years of precedent and clear congressional direction, holding that the federal government and the state of Oklahoma have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Natives against Natives in Indian Country. This is a major departure from well-established federal Native law and is an attack on tribal sovereignty. While Castro-Huerta dealt a blow to tribal sovereignty, tribes have tools to respond and repair the damage done by the majority opinion. There are two viable options for tribes, neither of which is mutually exclusive: (1) federal legislation to clarify tribal jurisdiction and (2) intergovernmental agreements with state and local authorities that address criminal jurisdiction. While this decision focuses on criminal jurisdiction, tribal jurisdiction over other areas — from taxation to zoning to fishing — could be further eroded unless tribal leaders and those supporting tribal sovereignty develop a vigorous response to this decision.
After a memorial service on June 27, the families of Paul Wheelock and Frank Green buried the remains of the two Oneida children in the church’s cemetery. Over 120 years ago, Wheelock and Green were buried at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. After a memorial service, the congregation gathered by two open graves. Drumming and singing rang out from a group of mourners standing deeper in the cemetery. After the caskets were lowered into the ground, mourners came forward with offerings of tobacco or earth for the graves. Wheelock and Green were buried next to Ophelia Powless, whose remains were reclaimed from Carlisle in 2019 along with the remains of two other teenage Oneida students. In a statement on Thursday, the Office of Army Cemeteries said that it has finalized its fifth disinterment project in returning seven Native or Alaska Native children to their families, and that many have already been buried on their Native homelands. When an eighth grave was disinterred, the Army found remains that did not match the child that records said had been buried there.
Much of the land that belongs to Natives is held in a trust for tribes or individuals by the US government. So depending on exactly how the land is held, getting a mortgage might not be an option. “It’s impossible, actually, in many regards, to get a traditional mortgage loan on reservation land,” says Lori Garza, vice president and retail mortgage production manager at Chickasaw Community Bank, a Section 184 lender. Section 184 loans enable lenders to finance home purchases on Native lands and help make homeownership more attainable for Natives. Without this program, many tribal communities wouldn’t be able to access financing to purchase a home, shutting many of them out from homeownership and the wealth-building that comes with it. Section 184 loans are mortgages that can be used to purchase homes both on and off reservations. These loans were created to increase access to mortgage lending for property on Native lands, and they offer an affordable way for Natives and Alaska Natives to become homeowners.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Native Mascots:
Michigan Schools Ditching Native Nicknames, With Casino Fund Aid
Bridge Michigan, Jared Ramsey, July 11
The sports teams of Saranac Community Schools, near Grand Rapids, have been known as the R*dsk*ns since the school adopted the nickname in the 1930s. But starting in August, Saranac will be replacing all of its teams’ uniforms, old signs around the school and releasing new school apparel with an updated logo — the Red Hawks. The district voted in October to retire the nickname. As of this summer, there is only one Michigan school district that continues to use that nickname, which is considered a slur among Natives. According to a 2020 list of Michigan school nicknames compiled by the MHSAA, Camden-Frontier is the last school left using the nickname, and the Hillsdale County district is considering whether to drop the name. More and more Michigan school districts are moving away from Native-based nicknames and mascots, a trend that is also happening nationally. In Michigan, Saranac is among districts that are receiving financial help in those transitions from tribal casino funds. The Native American Heritage Fund announced that it would distribute grants totalling over $400,000 to four school districts; Saranac, Lansing, Hartford, and Chippewa Hills. The money is being given to “support community projects, academic programming updates, mascot changeovers and other projects that honor Native culture and history” according to the Heritage Fund press release.
Law:
Congress Should Fix High Court’s Tribal Sovereignty Error
Law 360, Sarah Murray, June 11
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta is being rightly decried as undermining tribal sovereignty. In Castro-Huerta, the Supreme Court abandoned years of precedent and clear congressional direction, holding that the federal government and the state of Oklahoma have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Natives against Natives in Indian country. This is a major departure from well-established federal Native law and is an attack on tribal sovereignty. While Castro-Huerta dealt a blow to tribal sovereignty, tribes have tools to respond and repair the damage done by the majority opinion. There are two viable options for tribes, neither of which is mutually exclusive: (1) federal legislation to clarify tribal jurisdiction and (2) intergovernmental agreements with state and local authorities that address criminal jurisdiction. While this decision focuses on criminal jurisdiction, tribal jurisdiction over other areas — from taxation to zoning to fishing — could be further eroded unless tribal leaders and those supporting tribal sovereignty develop a vigorous response to this decision.
Lake Andes Arsonist Sentenced To Prison For Setting Fire That Destroyed Native Resource Center
Mitchell Republic, Hunter Dunteman, June 11
A Lake Andes man will spend just over five years in prison for committing an act of arson that destroyed the Native Women’s Health Education Resource Center (NAWHERC). Donavon Sully, 27, of Lake Andes, was sentenced in a Charles Mix County courtroom on Friday to 10 years in prison, with four years suspended and credit for 200 days of time already served, in connection with the arson. Sully was originally charged with a host of crimes after he turned himself in to authorities, but a plea agreement led him to plead guilty only to one count of second-degree arson and one count of reckless burning or exploding. The NAWHERC was home to a food bank, community radio station and a gathering place for Natives in the area. In addition to the destruction of the building, Charon Asetoyer told the Mitchell Republic in January that the loss of recorded interviews with tribal elders and other historical Native artifacts was a devastating, invaluable loss.
Politics:
How Section 184 Loans Can Help Natives And Alaska Natives Become Homeowners
Inside, Molly Grace, July 11
Much of the land that belongs to Natives is held in a trust for tribes or individuals by the US government. So depending on exactly how the land is held, getting a mortgage might not be an option. “It’s impossible, actually, in many regards, to get a traditional mortgage loan on reservation land,” says Lori Garza, vice president and retail mortgage production manager at Chickasaw Community Bank, a Section 184 lender. Section 184 loans enable lenders to finance home purchases on native lands and help make homeownership more attainable for Natives. Without this program, many tribal communities wouldn’t be able to access financing to purchase a home, shutting many of them out from homeownership and the wealth-building that comes with it. Section 184 loans are mortgages that can be used to purchase homes both on and off reservations. These loans were created to increase access to mortgage lending for property on native lands, and they offer an affordable way for Natives and Alaska Natives to become homeowners.
Boarding Schools:
‘I See Our Last Names’: Oneida Families Bury Children Taken To Boarding School
Native News Online, Andrew Kennard, June 11
After a memorial service on June 27, the families of Paul Wheelock and Frank Green buried the remains of the two Oneida children in the church’s cemetery. Over 120 years ago, Wheelock and Green were buried at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. After a memorial service, the congregation gathered by two open graves. Drumming and singing rang out from a group of mourners standing deeper in the cemetery. After the caskets were lowered into the ground, mourners came forward with offerings of tobacco or earth for the graves. Wheelock and Green were buried next to Ophelia Powless, whose remains were reclaimed from Carlisle in 2019 along with the remains of two other teenage Oneida students. In a statement on Thursday, the Office of Army Cemeteries said that it has finalized its fifth disinterment project in returning seven Native or Alaska Native children to their families, and that many have already been buried on their Native homelands. When an eighth grave was disinterred, the Army found remains that did not match the child that records said had been buried there.
Episcopalians To Study Their Role In Native Boarding Schools
AP News, Peter Smith, June 11
A fact-finding commission of the Episcopal Church will research the history of the denomination’s role in operating boarding schools for Native children — part of a system the church now acknowledges was rooted in white supremacy and caused generations of trauma. The denomination’s General Convention, meeting in Baltimore, approved the commission’s formation by acclamation in votes Friday and Saturday in its two legislative houses. The votes followed a series of emotionally potent comments from Indigenous and other church members at the convention. Bishop Carol Gallagher, regional canon for the Central Region of the Diocese of Massachusetts, spoke in favor of the measure and was encouraged by the vote. Gallagher, who is Cherokee, told the convention that her grandfather had attended a boarding school and her family witnessed how the schools had badly damaged Native children’s ties to their families and tribes. The Episcopal Church and other denominations operated many of the boarding schools established in the 19th and 20th centuries under a U.S. policy that sought to sever Native children from their families, languages and cultures and to assimilate them into the mainstream Christian society.
Education:
Native Health Professional Training Keeps Growing With $3.4 Million Award
OHSU News, Franny White, July 11
More Natives will be encouraged and supported as they pursue careers in health care, thanks to renewed federal funding for a unique Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) program. The Northwest Native American Center of Excellence at OHSU is receiving a total of $3.4 million over five years from the Health Resources & Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The funding is a competitive renewal of the initial federal grant that enabled the center’s founding in 2017, and complements other support the program has received in recent years.“We’re determined to break down the many barriers that prevent Natives like me from becoming doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and more,” said Erik Brodt, M.D., an Ojibwe family medicine physician who is the center’s founding director and is also the assistant dean for Native health in the OHSU School of Medicine.
Other:
Mine Near Boundary Waters Would Pose “Disproportionate” Danger To Natives And Low-Income Communities
The Wilderness Society, July 11
You’ve probably heard this colorful phrase before: “[poop] rolls downhill.” If so, allow the U.S. Forest Service to introduce a similar, if more urgent, corollary: “toxic mine waste flows downstream.” A recent environmental review by the agency confirms it. Specifically, they say that’s the problem with sulfide-ore mining in the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest. Findings show acid mine drainage from that proposed development would permanently taint the area, the only large temperate lake-land wilderness in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and cause “disproportionate adverse risk to Natives and low-income communities.” These communities would face high risks “indefinitely,” the report says, because they rely on harvesting wild rice and gathering fish and fowl from the region. Pollution from mining would reduce the amount of food available and could lead to food contamination from mercury and other toxic metals. Indigenous leaders and scientists have been warning about these dangers for years. The Forest Service analysis agrees with them, and is yet another piece of evidence that mining cannot be allowed near the Boundary Waters. You can act now and sign the petition.
National Congress Of American Indians Loses Another High-Ranking Staffer
Indianz.Com, Acee Agoyo, July 11
The National Congress of American Indians is bidding farewell to one of its highest-ranking employees this week. Yvette Roubideaux (Rosebud Sioux Tribe) is due to step down as director of NCAI’s Policy Research Center (PRC) on Friday, July 15. She has served in the leadership role since 2017, one in which she oversaw a small staff that focuses on the ways in which tribal, federal and state policy affect Indian Country. Roubideaux’s departure has long been in the works, owing primarily to family obligations. An NCAI spokesperson confirmed that she is leaving to take care of her elderly mother, as indicated in a resignation letter she previously submitted to the largest inter-tribal advocacy organization in the United States. Quoting from the resignation letter, the NCAI spokesperson told Indianz.Com that Roubideaux, who previously served as director of the Indian Health Service, is “leaving to ‘focus and take care of her 91-year old mother.’”
A New Nyc Met Exhibit Explores The Complicated Role Water Plays For Indigenous Groups
NPR Morning Edition, Jennifer Vanasco, July 11
A new exhibit at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art explores how Natives have used water and highlights the politicization of the resource. Listen here for the 3-minute interview with the artists.