Good Morning NUNAverse,
Late last Friday, the House of Representatives approved a $1.85 trillion package for road and other infrastructure projects after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates. Approval of the bill, which would create legions of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies, and other public works, whisked it to the desk of President Joe Biden. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes funding for Native communities that addresses broadband, climate and energy resilience, water settlements, drought mitigation, mine and well cleanup, water and sanitation, transportation, wildfire mitigation, and ecosystem restoration. Read more about the tribal provisions in the bill here.
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Minnesota based Native Sun Community Power Development over $6.5 million for what’s being touted as the Upper Midwest Inter-Tribal Electronic Vehicle (EV) Charging Community Network. The funds will be used to purchase a fleet of electric vehicles to be maintained and charged for official use by the Red Lake Tribal Nation in northern Minnesota and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North and South Dakota. At least 19 new electronic vehicles with related equipment by tribal governments, utilities, schools, and businesses will be purchased for use.
Native News Online published an opinion piece from Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. celebrating Cherokee heritage during Native American Heritage Month, and laying out the important steps that the Cherokee Nation is taking to grow their education programs. Chief Hoskin writes, “Growing our language offerings is especially significant this year, the bicentennial of the Cherokee syllabary. The new school site at the 13-acre Greasy School campus in Adair County will enable Cherokee youth in and around Adair County to study the Cherokee language full time. They will read, write and speak in Cherokee. Scheduled to open in 2022, it will be the tribe’s second Cherokee immersion school, joining the original institution in Tahlequah. As more of our young people receive language education, they will grow better prepared to carry on our culture and lifeways in the coming years.”
Riverside educators have announced steps they have taken to confront a North High School teacher’s dressing up as a Native person and acting out a mock chant while teaching a math class. Those steps have included emphasizing to North High teachers “the need to immediately address insensitivity and bias,” and providing content for events such as Halloween and Thanksgiving to make sure they are observed in an accurate historical context that respects various cultures, according to a statement from the Riverside Unified School District board and Superintendent Renee Hill. The district also is “convening an action team” to develop a plan for expanding diversity, equity and inclusion training, the statement said. As for the math teacher involved, she remains on leave, according to the statement, which was released late Friday, November 5. The district has not confirmed her identity nor stated whether the teacher is being paid while on leave.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Native Mascots:
After Riverside Teacher’s Mock Native American Chant, Officials Announce Plan
The Press Enterprise, David Downey, November 8
Riverside educators have announced steps they have taken to confront a North High School teacher’s dressing up as a Native American and acting out a mock chant while teaching a math class. Those steps have included emphasizing to North High teachers “the need to immediately address insensitivity and bias,” and providing content for events such as Halloween and Thanksgiving to make sure they are observed in an accurate historical context that respects various cultures, according to a statement from the Riverside Unified School District board and Superintendent Renee Hill. The district also is “convening an action team” to develop a plan for expanding diversity, equity and inclusion training, the statement said. As for the math teacher involved, she remains on leave, according to the statement, which was released late Friday, Nov. 5. The district has not confirmed her identity nor stated whether the teacher is being paid while on leave.
Other:
Infrastructure Bill Includes Investment In Tribal Nations
AP News, Alan Fram, November 8
The House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects late Friday after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates, notching a victory that President Joe Biden and his party had become increasingly anxious to claim. Approval of the bill, which would create legions of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies and other public works, whisked it to the desk of president Joe Biden. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes funding for Native communities that addresses broadband, climate and energy resilience, water settlements, drought mitigation, mine and well cleanup, water and sanitation, transportation, wildfire mitigation and ecosystem restoration.
Native-Owned Renewable Energy Companies To Receive More Than $6.5 Million From Department Of Energy
Native News Online, Darren Thompson, November 8
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Minnesota based Native Sun Community Power Development over $6.5 million for what’s being touted as the Upper Midwest Inter-Tribal Electronic Vehicle (EV) Charging Community Network. The funds will be used to purchase a fleet of electric vehicles to be maintained and charged for official use by the Red Lake Tribal Nation in northern Minn. and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North and South Dakota. The Native-led project will fund the two tribes, who have opposed oil pipelines in recent years. At least 19 new electronic vehicles with related equipment by tribal governments, utilities, schools, and businesses will be purchased for use. Blake said they’re looking to purchase Ford F-150 Lightnings, Ford E-Transits, a Blue Bird electric school bus, and possibly Teslas.
Celebrating Cherokee Heritage And Growing Our Education Programs
Native News Online, Chuck Hoskin Jr., November 8
This Native American Heritage Month, I am especially proud that Cherokee Nation is expanding our language immersion school program by adding a second campus in Adair County. This is an important step towards the day when Cherokees all across our 14-county reservation are communicating in our language. Growing our language offerings is especially significant this year, the bicentennial of the Cherokee syllabary. The new school site at the 13-acre Greasy School campus in Adair County will enable Cherokee youth in and around Adair County to study the Cherokee language full time. They will read, write and speak in Cherokee. Scheduled to open in 2022, it will be the tribe’s second Cherokee immersion school, joining the original institution in Tahlequah. As more of our young people receive language education, they will grow better prepared to carry on our culture and lifeways in the coming years.
Are Carbon Markets The New Gaming For Tribes?
Indian Country Today, Mary Annette Pember, November 8
The complicated world of carbon markets could mean millions of dollars for tribal communities across Indian Country that are willing to sell carbon dioxide credits for their untapped lands and pristine forests. For some, carbon dioxide — a key component in climate change — could replace gaming as a key economic force. Others fear tribes are being manipulated to allow continuing destruction of the world’s climate. It’s a key point of discussion at the United Nation’s Climate Conference, known as COP26, underway now through Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland, where world leaders are working to find ways to halt the rapid changes in climate. A number of Indigenous activists and organizations will be on hand at COP26 for several days holding informational events and protests at the conference’s public Green Zone to call attention to what they describe as false solutions such as carbon markets to addressing climate change.
Latest New Mexico K-12 Curriculum Controversy
AP News, Cedar Attanasio, November 8
New Mexico officials have been inundated with critical letters on proposed K-12 social studies standards over the inclusion of racial identity and social justice themes in a majority Latino state where Indigenous tribes have persevered through war, famine, internment camps and boarding schools aimed at stamping out their cultures. If approved, the standards would require students starting in kindergarten to “identify some of their group identities” and “take group or individual action to help address local, regional, and/or global problems.” By high school, students would examine “factors which resulted in unequal power relations among identity groups.” New Mexico teachers already face a challenge explaining the region’s history and its evolving social structures. The state is a patchwork of 23 federally recognized Native American nations, tribes and pueblos.
American Indian Film Festival: 126 Films, 30 Nominees, 6 Winners
Indian Country Today, Vincent Schilling, November 8
The American Indian Film Festival kicked off its 46th year and annual showcasing of films in San Francisco and virtually Nov. 5. The festival is the longest-running Native American film festival in the country and was started by Native actor Will Sampson, well-known for his role in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and his close friend Michael Smith in 1975. The festival in San Francisco has screened well over 3,500 films since that time. In 2021, the festival hosted 126 films — 30 of them competing in six categories to include feature, documentary feature, documentary short, live short animated short, and music video. Past feature film winners include ‘Wind River” in 2017, “Barking Water” in 2009, and some of Indian Country’s favorites in “Smoke Signals” in 1998 and “Powwow Highway” in 1989.
In Alaska: Seven Stranded Hunters Rescued
Indian Country Today, Joaqlin Estus, November 8
In western Alaska, seven Yup’ik hunters, including a teenager, were stranded for a week after the Yukon River suddenly froze making boat travel impossible. A 3-day hunting trip ended up taking 12 days. They were rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter airlift. The hunters planned to make a 120-mile trip from their home village of Pilot Station to the Bering Sea in one day, spend a day hunting, and return on the third day. They were all experienced hunters and had made the trip many times.