Good Morning NUNAverse,
Charles “Chuck” F. Sams III (Cayuse and Walla Walla) is one step closer to becoming the first Native person to lead the National Park Service after Senators recently began formally considering his nomination. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources took the next step in the confirmation process during a hearing yesterday, where Senators asked about Sams’ priorities if confirmed as well as how his 25-year background in tribal administration and nonprofit natural resource and conservation management would apply to the job. He currently serves on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and is a Navy veteran.
The Indian Health Services (IHS) yesterday awarded $7.7 million over two years to 10 tribes and tribal organizations to support the expansion of the Community Health Aide Program (CHAP), a national program designed to increase access to culturally-sensitive health care across Indian Country. The Community Health Aide Program began in 1968 in Alaska as a response to a tuberculosis outbreak. The idea behind CHAP expansion is to train health aides in rural communities to work alongside licensed health providers. Congress authorized the program’s national expansion in 2010, but this is the first year the program has funding to award grants nationally.
Amazon is partnering with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians to open a massive sorting center on tribally owned lands near Tacoma, Washington according to a report in Tribal Business News. The 520,000-square-foot sorting center that’s currently being built will employ more than 500 people when it’s at full operation, according to the report. Additionally, the tribe told Tribal Business News it aims to find ways for its members to gain employment at the new facility. As part of the development, the company and the tribe signed a cooperative agreement in which Amazon supported the Puyallup Tribe’s Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance. It is unknown whether this is the first project for Amazon on tribal lands.
Early Saturday morning, October 16th, Bunky Echo-Hawk (Yakama/Pawnee) was traveling from Denver to Pawnee to take his 15-year old daughter Alexie Echo-Hawk (Yakama/Pawnee) to attend a tribal ceremonial dance at the Pawnee Nation in Oklahoma. Bunky and Alexie were hit in a head-on collision by a driver traveling the wrong direction on I-70 in western Kansas. Alexie passed away at the scene and Bunky sustained multiple serious injuries to his eye, knee, chest and foot. He was released from the hospital on Sunday with a long road ahead with needed surgery and months of recovery according to his doctors. If you are able, please consider donating to help with funeral expenses, healing, and recovery here.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Health:
Changing How Tribes Deliver Health Care, Using $7.7 Million From IHS
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, October 19
The Indian Health Services (IHS) yesterday awarded $7.7 million over two years to 10 tribes and tribal organizations to support the expansion of the Community Health Aide Program (CHAP), a national program designed to increase access to culturally-sensitive health care across Indian Country. The Community Health Aide Program began in 1968 in Alaska as a response to a tuberculosis outbreak. The idea behind CHAP expansion is to train health aides in rural communities to work alongside licensed health providers. Congress authorized the program’s national expansion in 2010, but this is the first year the program has funding to award grants nationally. Additionally, CHAP is intended to “cross pollinate” traditional healing with Western medicine, Galindo said. For example, behavioral health aides in Alaskan villages might combine patient intake with traditional berry picking.
Winnebago, Omaha Tribes See Value Of Vaccination
Flatwater Free Press, Tim Trudell, October 19
As Nebraska struggles to get its rural residents vaccinated, Native Americans living in rural places here have gotten jabbed at extremely high rates. Case in point: 76 percent of Winnebago Tribe citizens 12 and older are now fully vaccinated, according to the Twelve Clans Unity Hospital. The nearby Omaha Tribe has 75 percent of its eligible citizens fully vaxxed, including nearly every tribal employee, said Sarah Rowland, director of Macy’s Curtis Health Center. Those numbers are markedly higher than the United States as a whole, and stunningly higher than any single other rural Nebraska spot. Most rural Nebraska communities have vaccinated between a third and a half of their eligible residents, according to CDC data.
Other:
National Park Service Nominee Faces Questions In Hearing
Indian Country Today, Chris Aadland, October 19
Charles “Chuck” F. Sams III is one step closer to becoming the first Native American to lead the National Park Service after senators began formally considering his nomination. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources took the next step in the confirmation process during the Tuesday hearing, where senators asked about Sams’ priorities if confirmed as well as how his 25-year background in tribal administration and nonprofit natural resource and conservation management would apply to the job. He currently serves on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and is a Navy veteran. Sams is Cayuse and Walla Walla, of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, where he lives with his wife and family.
Senate Appears Poised To Advance First Native American To Lead National Park Service
The Hill, Zack Budryk, October 19
The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee appeared poised to advance the nomination of the National Park Service’s first Native American director, and the agency’s first permanent director in four years, at a hearing Tuesday. Charles Sams, President Biden’s nominee for the position, emphasized the urgent need to address staffing shortfalls at NPS.
Permanent employees at NPS declined about 6 percent over the last decade, according to data from the agency. In the meantime, however, attendance at national parks has spiked as pandemic restrictions are gradually lifted, particularly for outdoor activities. Sams also said he would emphasize tribal outreach and a “spirit of consultation” as director.
Washington Tribe Waits to Resume Whaling
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, October 19
An administrative law judge in Seattle, George Jordan, has made a non-binding recommendation that a waiver be granted to the Makah tribe allowing them to hunt three whales a year. Jordan’s recommendation will be sent to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ Assistant Administrator, Janet Coit, to put the waiver into effect. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for managing the nation’s marine fisheries, and for conserving and protecting marine species. Jordan sent his recommended decision—based on extensive scientific research— to Coit on September 23rd. On October 18, 2021, NOAA Fisheries announced a 25-day extension to the original 20-day public comment period, with a new deadline of November 13, 2021 to receive comments.
Makah tribal chairman Timothy Greene said he’s feeling “cautiously hopeful” his tribe will soon resume its hunt. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Animal Welfare Institute are the two main groups tribal members say have threatened and harassed them for their hunting practices for years, and who brought the initial lawsuit.
Amazon.com partnering With Puyallup Tribe To Build Sorting Center On Tribal Lands Near Tacoma, Wash.
Native News Online, October 19
Global e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. is partnering with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians to open a massive sorting center on tribally owned lands near Tacoma, according to a report in Tribal Business News. The 520,000-square-foot sorting center that’s currently being built will employ more than 500 people when it’s at full operation, according to the report. Additionally, the tribe told Tribal Business News it aims to find ways for its members to gain employment at the new facility. As part of the development, the company and the tribe signed a cooperative agreement in which Amazon supported the Puyallup Tribe’s Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance. It is unknown whether this is the first project for Amazon on American Indian tribal lands. The company did not respond to a request for comment at the time the report was published.
Georgia County To Remove ‘Genocide Cannon’ From City Square
Indian Country Today, October 19
A Georgia county unanimously voted Tuesday to remove a “genocide cannon” from a city square where it resided for more than a century. The cannon in Decatur, just outside Atlanta, has ties to the Indian War of 1836 and has become increasingly controversial, drawing criticism from local activists who say it represents the brutal suffering of thousands of Muscogee people who were removed from their Native lands. Approximately 3,500 Native Americans died during the bloody conflict and the ensuing Trail of Tears, the U.S. government’s forced displacement of Indian tribes from the Southeast. The cannon will be moved into storage within 90 days but the history and the ownership of it remains in question. In 1906, it was placed near DeKalb’s historic courthouse by a chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. However, there’s no paperwork showing it was donated to the county, the city of Decatur, or made public property, according to the Journal-Constitution.