Good Morning, NUNAverse,
Peterson Zah, a monumental Navajo Nation leader who guided the tribe through a politically tumultuous era and worked tirelessly to correct wrongdoings against Native people, has died. Zah died last week at a hospital in Fort Defiance, Arizona, after a lengthy illness, his family and the tribe announced. He was 85. Zah was the first president elected on the Navajo Nation in 1990 after the government was restructured into three branches to prevent power from being concentrated in the Chairman’s office.
President Joe Biden’s nominee Patrice H. Kunesh (Standing Rock Lakota) for Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 by a 57-35 vote. The ANA is a program office within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. ANA works to promote self-sufficiency and economic opportunity for Native people by providing funding for community-based projects, training, and technical assistance to eligible tribal nations and Native organizations.
After Mark Pooley (Diné and Hopi) retired from law enforcement due to a rare blood cancer in 2020, he continued investigative work by launching a nonprofit to help find missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP). A former tribal prosecutor and longtime sergeant for the City of Tempe Police Department, he founded Mesa, Ariz.-based nonprofit Native Search Solutions to leverage new investigative tools and technology in helping resolve active and cold cases related to MMIP. Services to assist in finding missing people are provided free of cost.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Government:
Schatz, Murkowski: Senate Confirms Patrice Kunesh As Administration For Native Americans Commissioner
Lisa Murkowski, March 9
Patrice H. Kunesh Confirmed As Administration For Native Americans Commissioner
Native News Online, March 9
Health:
Native Americans Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Food or Insulin
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, March 6
IHS Announces Oglala Sioux Tribal Member As New Deputy Director For Intergovernmental Affairs
Native News Online, Chez Oxendine, March 6
MMIW:
Retired Police Officer Launches Nonprofit To Search For Missing Indigenous People
Native News Online, Darren Thompson, March 9
Boarding Schools:
Illuminative Launches Podcast About The Crimes Of Indian Boarding Schools
Native News Online, March 9
Intergenerational Trauma Often Hidden In The Numbers
Indian Country Today, Amelia Schafer, March 9
Law:
Tribal Education Reform Bills Stalled In New Mexico Legislature
Source New Mexico, Megan Taros, March 7
Other:
Peterson Zah Remembered As Inspirational Leader, Father
Indian Country Today, Noel Lyn Smith, March 12
Funeral For Peterson Zah A 100-Mile Procession To Mourn Navajo Nation’s First President
Native News Online, Darren Thompson, March 12
First Native American Woman In Space Back On Earth
Native News Online, March 11
Native American Powwow Returns To UMD. To Showcase Culture, History
The Washington Post, Dana Hedgpeth, March 11
Ex-Navajo President Zah, Guided By Love For People, Dies
AP News, Felicia Fonseca, March 9
Fact Sheet: President Biden’s Budget Delivers For Tribal Nations And Tribal Communities
The White House, March 9
Senate Committee On Indian Affairs To Meet To Set Priorities For The 118th Congress
Native News Online, March 8
‘White Saviors Are The Worst’: Minnesota Lawmaker Tells ‘White Christians’ To ‘Stop Adopting Native American Babies’ Because Changing Their Names And Identities Is ‘Genocide’
Daily Mail, Sophie Mann, March 6
A Top UC Berkeley Professor Taught With Remains That May Include Dozens of Native Americans
ProPublica, Mary Hudetz, March 5
A Hate Crime Lays Bare Hawaii’s Complicated Race Relations
AP News, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, March 5