Yesterday morning Washington’s Football team announced they will be retiring their current name and logo, with the new name to be announced at a later date and speculation that the team is working through trademarks. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters during Monday’s daily press briefing that President Trump “believes that the Native American community would be very angry” about the decision to change the name while Indian Country Today compiled reactions to the name change from across Indian Country.
A man accused of killing his girlfriend, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in Tulsa has been charged with murder in federal court, following the landmark decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma from the Supreme Court last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that they will be upholding its trust responsibility in this case.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has ordered the Tesoro High Plains Pipeline Company LLC to pay $187 million for trespassing on the Fort Berthold Reservation. “The BIA has determined that a pipeline owned and utilized by Andeavor/Tesoro Pipeline is encroaching on trust lands without an approved right of way, resulting in trespass,” Great Plains Regional Director Timothy LaPointe wrote in the July 2 determination. The BIA’s order requires payment within 30 days.
As Alaska sees its highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases – 116 new cases this past Sunday – many small villages throughout the state have set up checkpoints that operate 24 hours a day to monitor and restrict who is able to enter their communities.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Washington Football Team:
NCAI Statement On The Washington Football Team’s Retirement Of Racist Mascot
July 13
Navajo Nation Statement On Washington Team Name
July 13
Reactions To The Washington Team Name Retirement
Indian Country Today, July 13
The racist name and logo promoted by the Washington NFL franchise for years is heading to a much-needed retirement.
Redskins To Drop Name, Yielding To Pressure From Sponsors And Activists
New York Times, Ken Belson and Kevin Draper, July 13
First, the city of Washington took down a tribute to George Preston Marshall, the founder of its N.F.L. team, that was in front of the team’s old home, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Then the team removed references to Marshall, who named his team the “Redskins,” from inside its stadium and at its training facility.
Washington Redskins To Drop Controversial Team Name Following Review
BBC News, July 13
The Washington Redskins American football team has said it will retire its name, long criticised as racist.
In a statement, the team said it would “be retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of a review” demanded by its sponsors.
Washington Redskins Name Changes Makes Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs And Others Look Clueless
Forbes, Terence Moore, July 13
Fifty, 24 or even a year from now, historians will shake their heads while wondering why the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, Florida State Seminoles and Cleveland Spiders (you know, the name of that Major League Baseball team after it went back to the future) took so long to do the obvious.
Indians, Braves and Chiefs: What Now For US Sports’ Other Native American Names?
The Guardian, Tom Lutz, July 13
Washington’s NFL team announced on Monday they will no longer be called the “Redskins”, a name long described as racist. However, there are a host of other teams that use language associated with Native Americans. Here’s where some of the biggest teams stand on their own names.
National Congress Of American Indians: “Today Is A Day For All Native People To Celebrate”
Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio, July 13
The President’s spokesperson said Monday that the President believes the Native American community will be “very angry” over Washington’s decision to retire its name. The group that represents the Native American community is actually very happy.
McEnany Says Trump Thinks Native Americans Will Be Angry Over Washington Name Change
The Hill, Joe Concha, July 13
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters during Monday’s daily press briefing that President Trump “believes that the Native American community would be very angry” about Washington’s NFL team changing its name.
Mascots Honor An Indian Who Never Was
Indian Country Today, Mary Annette Pember, July 13
Pop culture first created the mythical image of a universal Native American about 100 years ago. Now outdated and outed as a creation of white privilege, the myth is at last being abandoned.
National Protests:
Don’t Stop At Statues. Demand A Reconsideration Of Place Names Too
Time, Caleb Gayle, July 13
When I was growing up in Tulsa, my teachers would move quickly from the Trail of Tears that began in the 1830s to the oil boom in Oklahoma of the first half of the 20th century. During the early 19th century, the state of Oklahoma became the destination for Native American Nations who were forcibly removed from the south and southeastern United States, but no one drew a straight line from the marginalization of Native Americans to white men’s accumulation of land on which they could profit. The way history was taught, I assumed that the devastation happened so many years ago that it wasn’t relevant. I even had one teacher mention that Native Americans were “standing in the way of progress.” I didn’t know that that teacher was echoing the sentiments of the namesake of the town, Bixby.
COVID-19:
Guards Work 24 Hours A Day To Keep COVID Out Of Some Small Alaska Native Villages
KTUU, Sean Maguire, July 13
A guard sits in his car just off the Tok Cutoff, waiting to screen people trying to drive down to Mentasta Lake. The checkpoint has been operating 24 hours a day for months.
“Since we got the first few cases in Alaska,” said James Pitka. “It was when the snow was still here, it was just starting to melt.”
Alaska Reports 116 New COVID-19 Cases, Setting Another Daily Record
Anchorage Daily News, Tess Williams, July 13
A total of 116 new COVID-19 cases were reported across Alaska on Sunday, the highest daily increase so far in the state. There was one new hospitalization and no new deaths.
Law:
After A Trail Of Tears, Justice For ‘Indian Country’
New York Times, Joy Harjo, July 14
It was an ordinary July morning in the Arts District of the Muscogee Creek Nation territory here. Already hot and set to get hotter. I was inside my house fooling with some lyrics when my husband burst in. “We won!” he announced. The cellphone in his hand carried the breaking news. “We won the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision!”
Man Charged In Federal Court For Indian Country Killing
Associated Press, July 14
A man accused in the shotgun slaying of a Native American woman in Tulsa was charged with murder in federal court Monday in line with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Federal prosecutors charged James Michael Landry, 29, with first-degree murder for the killing of his girlfriend, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation identified in court documents only by her initials, C.B.
Other:
Bureau Of Indian Affairs Orders Pipeline Company To Pay $187 Million For Trespassing
Indianz.com, July 13
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has ordered a pipeline company to pay $187 million for trespassing on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, Buffalo’s Fire reports.
Tesoro High Plains Pipeline Company LLC failed to secure permission from the owners of land, Jodi Rave writes in the report. Most of the tracts are owned by individual Indians though some portions are also owned by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation.