Good Morning, NUNAverse,
In the more than 30-year battle between tribes seeking the repatriation of their ancestors’ remains and cultural items and the institutions holding them, there are several excuses institutions use that do little to facilitate respect for tribes and compliance with federal law. Museums say they are short-staffed, or their budget is limited, or that limited documentation makes it difficult to identify where some remains and items originally came from. One museum in the Midwest told Native News Online in early January that it is averaging one repatriation per year due to budgetary constraints. At that pace, it will take them 25 years to clear their inventory. experts agree. Native News Online spoke with a handful of federal, tribal, and institutional experts to break down the cost of a repatriation and provide information for institutions and tribes about where they can gain access to funding to facilitate the return of remains and cultural items, both out of respect for tribes and to be in compliance with federal law.
The city of Phoenix outlined how it will voluntarily contribute water to a regional plan to shore up the country’s largest reservoir that delivers Colorado River water to three states and Mexico. The city joins tribes with the announcement. In December, Colorado River water users gathered for a conference in Las Vegas to discuss the water future in the west. Multiple water agencies and tribes signed the “500+ Plan”. The Phoenix City Council voted unanimously in January to enter into an agreement with the Central Arizona Water Conservation District. As part of the “500+ Plan,” the district will pay Phoenix more than $4 million to conserve just under 16,000 acre feet of water. The entire “500+ Plan” will cost $200 million and is not part of the Drought Contingency Plan. It is a voluntary water reduction measure brought on by increasing strains on the Colorado River’s system.
One year ago, President Joe Biden took the oath of office to become the 46th President of the United States. In anticipation of the first year of the Biden-Harris administration, Native News Online on Wednesday interviewed Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs Libby Washburn (Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma) in a video call. Topics discussed include success stories as well as plans to address ongoing issues in Indian Country. Read the full discussion here.
A Hia-Ced O’odham woman was found not guilty Wednesday on federal misdemeanor charges stemming from an incident that occurred along the border wall construction on her tribe’s ancestral land. In September 2020 Amber Ortega and Nellie Jo David rushed to Quitobaquito Springs, “without hesitation” to protect the sacred area from border wall construction in southern Arizona. Both women faced what they said were trumped-up federal charges for praying at the site which they had been doing long before construction reached the spring. Ortega’s acquittal came after a magistrate judge reversed her previous ruling that Ortega couldn’t use the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as her defense. Ortega’s lawyer asked the court to reconsider the ruling last month and the judge ultimately decided the prosecution imposed a substantial burden on her exercise of religion.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Politics:
Special Assistant To The President On Native Affairs At The White House Libby Washburn On Biden’s First Year In Office
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, January 20
One year ago, today, President Joe Biden took the oath of office to become the 46th President of the United States. In anticipation of the first year of the Biden-Harris administration, Native News Online on Wednesday interviewed Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs Libby Washburn (Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma) in a video call. Topics discussed include success stories as well as plans to address ongoing issues in Indian Country.
Law:
Hia-Ced O’odham Woman Acquitted In Border Wall Protest
Indian Country Today, Carina Dominguez, January 20
A Hia-Ced O’odham woman was found not guilty Wednesday on federal misdemeanor charges stemming from an incident that occurred along the border wall construction on her tribe’s ancestral land. In September 2020 Amber Ortega and Nellie Jo David rushed to Quitobaquito Springs, “without hesitation” to protect the sacred area from border wall construction in southern Arizona. Both women faced what they said were trumped-up federal charges for praying at the site which they had been doing long before construction reached the spring. David said the legal system purposefully wanted her to “have such a traumatic experience that it’s going to scare other people that even think of doing the same thing we did.” For that reason, David took a plea deal last year while Ortega was waiting on the acquittal that was announced on Wednesday. Ortega’s acquittal came after a magistrate judge reversed her previous ruling that Ortega couldn’t use the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as her defense. Ortega’s lawyer asked the court to reconsider the ruling last month, the judge ultimately decided the prosecution imposed a substantial burden on her exercise of religion. House Natural Resources Committee Chair Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, said he supports Ortega’s actions against the “construction of an illegal, wasteful border wall and the Trump administration’s abuse of power in order to protect a sacred site integral to the Tohono O’odham Nation.
Boarding Schools:
What Is Ground Penetrating Radar, And How Is It Used At The Sites Of Former Indian Boarding Schools?
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, January 20
When the news broke last May of a First Nations tribe in Canada using ground-penetrating radar to discover 215 unmarked graves of children at the site of a former Indian residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia, major media outlets all over the world picked up the story, but very few explained what ground-penetrating radar actually is and how it’s used. Native News Online included. Now, with the federal initiative underway and an increasing number of tribes doing their own work to locate unmarked gravesites at former boarding schools, it’s time for an in-depth explainer on what exactly ground-penetrating radar—called GPR for short—is, how it works, and how tribes can gain access to a unit. Native News Online spoke with Marsha Small (Northern Cheyenne), a doctoral candidate at Montana State University who has been working with ground-penetrating radar for almost a decade. She is researching its use to locate and document deaths at two Indian boarding-school cemeteries: Chemawa Indian School, north of Salem, Oregon, and another school, located on-reservation, where Small agreed with the tribe she’s working with to keep their identity confidential.
Native Mascots:
New Hampshire Lawmakers Weighing Ban On Native American Mascots
The Center Square, Christian Wade, January 20
New Hampshire lawmakers are weighing a proposal to outlaw the use of Native American mascots in public schools, including colleges and universities. Sponsors of House Bill 1261 say the mascots are “derogatory” and teach people “that it is acceptable to participate in culturally abusive and prejudicial behaviors,” according to introductory language in the legislation. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gerri Cannon, D-Strafford, told the Education Committee on Tuesday that studies have shown mascots have a negative impact on Native Americans and proliferate negative stereotypes. She noted that national groups such as the American Psychological Association have called for doing away with Native American mascots. The proposal has support from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, which testified in support of the measure during Tuesday’s hearing. Nobody spoke in opposition to the proposal during Tuesday’s public hearing, but one Republican committee member questioned whether the bill would be a state mandate on local governments.
Other:
Repatriation Delays A Matter of Priorities, Not Funding, Experts Say
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, January 20
In the more than 30-year battle between tribes seeking the repatriation of their ancestors’ remains and cultural items, and the institutions holding them, there are several excuses institutions use that do little to facilitate respect for tribes and compliance with federal law. Museums say they are short-staffed, or their budget is limited, or that limited documentation makes it difficult to identify where some human remains and items originally came from. One museum in the Midwest told Native News Online in early January that it is averaging one repatriation per year due to budgetary constraints. At that pace, it will take them 25 years to clear their inventory. The bottom line is that repatriating human remains held by institutions is a matter of institutional priorities, not of funding, experts agree. According to Bernstein, administrators at university anthropology departments are often ignorant about happenings in their department. Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw), chief executive and attorney for Association of American Indian Affairs—the nonprofit group that’s been zeroing in on the repatriation issue for decades said the problem is what an institution is prioritizing its staff to do, not financial constraints.
Phoenix Joins Tribes, Vows To Prop Up Key Reservoir
Indian Country Today, Carina Dominguez, January 20
The city of Phoenix outlined how it will voluntarily contribute water to a regional plan to shore up the country’s largest reservoir that delivers Colorado River water to three states and Mexico. The city joins tribes with the announcement. In December, Colorado River water users gathered for a conference in Las Vegas to discuss the water future in the west. Multiple water agencies and tribes signed the “500+ Plan”. The Phoenix City Council voted unanimously in January to enter into an agreement with the Central Arizona Water Conservation District. As part of the “500+ Plan,” the district will pay Phoenix more than $4 million to conserve just under 16,000 acre feet of water. The entire “500+ Plan” will cost $200 million and is not part of the Drought Contingency Plan. It is a voluntary water reduction measure brought on by increasing strains on the Colorado River’s system. The strained river has been over-allocated since settlers first began stealing land in the West and the situation has become dire in the last few years.
Native American Tribe, New Mexico Ink Water Leasing Deal
AP News, Susan Montoya Bryan, January 20
A Native American tribe has agreed to lease more of its water to help address dwindling supplies in the Colorado River Basin, officials announced Thursday. The agreement involves the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission and The Nature Conservancy. The tribe has agreed to lease up to 6.5 billion gallons (25 billion liters) of water per year to the state to bolster flows for endangered species and increase water security for New Mexico. The water would be released from the Navajo Reservoir in northwestern New Mexico to feed the San Juan River, which flows into the Colorado River. New Mexico is among the seven Western states that rely on the Colorado River. Water managers elsewhere already have had to come up with contingency plans as less snow, warmer temperatures and water lost to evaporation have affected the river’s ability to meet demands.
Proposed Alaska Gold Mine Worries Area Tribes
Indian Country Today, Joaqlin Estus, January 20
Two Alaska Native corporations are working to develop what would be one of the world’s largest gold mines while some of their shareholders oppose it and more than a dozen area tribes have joined in a lawsuit against it. The Donlin Gold mine would be situated on a tributary of the Kuskokwim River, 275 miles west of Anchorage. Several Alaska tribes are concerned about harm to the river. The river provides habitat for salmon, a key subsistence food for more than a dozen Yup’ik villages downriver. Three federally recognized tribes held a virtual press conference last week with the Center for Science in Public Participation, and Earthjustice Alaska. The tribes represent the communities of Bethel, Chevak, and Kasigluk.
Bethel is one of the communities downriver, 73 miles from the proposed mine. It has a two thirds Yup’ik population of 6,500 and serves as a regional hub for transportation, medical services, fuel, and groceries. Participants urged mine opponents to ask the Biden administration and the state of Alaska to stop further permitting and development of the Donlin mine.