Good Morning, NUNAverse,
Three tribes have asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to exempt tribal citizens living and working within their own reservations from personal state income taxes. The tribes argue that because Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizen Alicia Stroble lives and works within Indian Country, she is immune to state income tax under federal law, but in fall 2022, the tax commission rejected her exemption claim.
Native peoples experienced the highest increase of suicide deaths in the nation from 2020-2021, according to a report published recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the new report, after a two-year decline, suicide deaths in the United States increased overall by 4.79% between 2020-2021. Between 2018 and 2021, increases in age-adjusted suicide rates were highest among Native people at 26%, followed by Black Americans (19.2%) and Hispanics (6.8%).
The U.S. Department of the Interior has named a Native attorney as a top policy adviser to Secretary Deb Haaland. Lynn Trujillo, who directed New Mexico’s Indian Affairs Department, was announced as senior counselor to Secretary Haaland on Friday. Trujillo, a member of Sandia Pueblo, and also part Acoma and Taos Pueblos, worked for four years as a State Cabinet Secretary in the administration of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Government:
Native American Attorney Named Top Policy Adviser To DOI
Native News Online, February 15
Native Mascots:
Legislation Would Pay Pennsylvania Schools to Eliminate Native Mascots
Native News Online, Darren Thompson, February 16
Native Americans Grapple With Chiefs Super Bowl Celebrations
AP News, Terry Tang, February 15
Health:
Mental Health App For Native Veterans Wins $3m VA Grant
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, February 17
Post-Roe, Native Americans Face Even More Abortion Hurdles
AP News, Laura Ungar, February 14
CDC: Native Americans See Highest Increase Of Suicide Deaths
Native News Online, February 14
Law:
In Good Faith: The Repatriation Of A Massive Collection Of Native Ancestors And Artifacts By The FBI May Be A Model For NAGPRA’s Future
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, February 18
Cherokee Nation Argues For Indian Country Income Tax Exemption Case
Cherokee Phoenix, Chad Hunter, February 15
Bill Aims To Improve Lawmakers’ Grasp Of State-Tribal Issues
Missoulian, Nora Mabie, February 14
Tribes In Maine Left Out OF Native American Resurgence By 40-Year-Old Federal Law Denying Their Self-Determination
The Maine Monitor, Joseph Kalt, Amy Besaw, Jonathan B. Taylor, February 14
Post-Roe, Native Americans In South Dakota, Other Conservative States Face More Abortion Hurdles
DRG News, Jody Heemstra, February 14
House Committee Hear Bills To Preserve American Indian Culture
NBC Montana, Joshua Margolis, February 13
MMIW:
Thousands March For Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women
Cascadia Daily News, Charlotte Alden, February 16
Other:
A Landscape Shared By Native Americans And The One Per Cent
The New Yorker, Robert Sullivan, February 17
Washington University Hasn’t Returned Majority Of Indigenous Remains
Cascadia Daily News, Hailey Hoffman, February 14
For Native American Chefs, Recognition Inspires A Wider Reckoning
The Washington Post, Richard Morgan, February 15
‘Welcome To Indian Country’ Concert Celebrats Indigenous Art
The Miscellany News, Madi Donat, February 15
Strengthening Ties Between Harvard, Nation’s Native Communities
The Harvard Gazette, Niki Rojas, February 15