Good morning, NUNAverse:
The Chief Medical Officer at the Indian Health Service, Michael Toedt, dispelled misconceptions published in the opinion section of Indian Country Today that claimed the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is less effective in Native populations. “I’m sure that many of you have seen recent opinions that have been published expressing concern about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in the American Indian and Alaska Native population,” Toedt said in a regularly scheduled press briefing. “The problem with that opinion is that there is no data to support it. The issues with interpreting the results for subgroups within a study with populations that are too small are well documented.”
The Montana State House Appropriations Committee voted Friday to restore funding for two positions within the state health department that are dedicated to serving Native communities. The Committee voted 15-9 to restore the $481,000 in state and federal funding for the jobs for the next two years. The proposed eliminations of the positions were among several moves made by the Republican-controlled Legislature this year that have triggered concerns from some Native people and their allies who fear they are losing influence and representation.
Last month, the Perseverance Rover landed on Mars and has been collecting data in and around the Jezero Crater. A number of the findings, through a collaboration with NASA, have been catalogued in Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language. The Perseverance team started with a list of 50 words and will expand the list as needed. According to a tweet from the rover itself, some features have already been used, such as tsé łichíí (red rock), yéigo (diligence) and séítah (amongst the sand). A press release from NASA said suggested terms included; ““tséwózí bee hazhmeezh,” or “rolling rows of pebbles, like waves.” Aaron Yazzie (Diné), a mechanical engineer on the rover, added suggestions like “strength” (“bidziil”) and “respect” (“hoł nilį́”) to the list. Perseverance itself was translated to “Ha’ahóni.”
The Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) gave more $583,561 last week to nine urban Native organizations across the U.S. to battle chronic disease in Indian Country. The grants are part of UIHI’s initiative that seeks to “build public health infrastructure among urban American Indian and Alaska Native organizations through the use of Indigenous methods, frameworks, and evaluation approaches,” the organization said in a statement. The community grants will provide the ability for organizations to build and sustain programs during the pandemic.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Politics:
All Three GOP Members Of Congress Who Are Native Americans Voted No On $31.2 Billion That Is Going To Indian Country
Native News Online, March 13
When casting their votes on the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion coronavirus package that allocated an unprecedented $31.2 billion for Indian Country, the six Native Americans serving in the 117th Congress cast their votes strictly down party lines on Wednesday. Among the many aspects of the comprehensive relief package, included are $1,400 direct payments to 85 percent of eligible Americans and a needed extension of unemployment benefits for millions of Americans who lost their jobs because of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the Wednesday vote, every Democrat in the House of Representatives voted in favor of the relief package. Every Republican voted no.
Committee Restores Funding For Native American Health Jobs
AP News, March 12
A Montana legislative committee voted Friday to restore funding for two positions within the state health department that are dedicated to serving Native American communities. Democratic Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy of Box Elder brought the amendment to restore the funding for the the American Indian health director and the tribal relations manager, saying the panel’s earlier elimination of two jobs held by Native Americans doesn’t “look good out there to Montana.” The House Appropriations Committee voted 15-9 Friday to restore the $481,000 in state and federal funding for the jobs for the next two years.
COVID-19:
Navajo Nation Reports 3 More Covid-19 Cases, No New Deaths
AP News, March 14
The Navajo Nation on Sunday reported three additional cases of COVID-19, but no new deaths. The latest numbers pushed the tribe’s pandemic total to 29,948 confirmed cases. The known death toll remained at 1,218. The Navajo Nation is planning a soft reopening Monday with 25% capacity for some businesses under certain restrictions. Still, mask mandates and daily curfews remain.
In A Pandemic, Navajo Community Steps Up For Its Vulnerable
AP News, Felicia Fonseca, March 13
For as long as Raymond Clark has lived alone on this quiet stretch of the Navajo Nation under the watch of the “Praying Mountain,” he has depended on everyone yet no one. The 71-year-old has no vehicle or running water but is content hitchhiking and carrying jugs down a dusty washboard road to replenish his supply. He works at home in Teesto painting murals and silversmithing, but friends often stop by. Or at least they did before the pandemic. Now, rides and visits are scarcer in an area with no grocery store or gas station and where homes sit far apart. The sense of community, though, never faded. With residents urged to stay home, tribal workers, health representatives and volunteers have stepped up efforts to ensure the most vulnerable citizens get the help they need.
IHS: Data Doesn’t Support Physician’s Claim Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Doesn’t Work In AI/AN Populations
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, March 12
Indian Health Service’s (IHS) chief medical officer Michael Toedt on Thursday dispelled misconceptions spread by a Seattle doctor column that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is less effective in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. The editorial column looked at the FDA’s briefing document for the newly approved, single shot vaccine. In clinical trials of more than 30,000 volunteers for the vaccine, only a small percentage of participants were Native Americans, thus skewing statistics, Toedt said.
Wisconsin Tribes Devastated By Covid-19 Roll Out Vaccine Quickly, But Native Americans’ Vaccination Rates Still Lag Behind Whites’
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sarah Volpenhein, March 12
COVID-19 vaccination rates among Native Americans in Wisconsin have been relatively high, a ray of optimism for a group that has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic — though vaccination rates still lag behind those for white Wisconsinites. About 12% of the estimated 92,000 people who identify as Native American in the state have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis. Tribes in Wisconsin receive vaccine from either the state or the Indian Health Service, a federal agency, and have scaled up their own distribution systems to make sure tribal members, descendants and others get a vaccine.
Native Mascots:
Camanche School Board To Discuss The Use Of “Indian” Nickname And Logo
KWQC, Montse Ricossa, March 14
The Camanche School Board is planning to discuss and possibly take action regarding the district’s use of a Native American mascot as their logo and as a nickname. Superintendent Thomas Parker commented to the school board in February’s meeting that he acknowledges the “Indian” mascot has been a part of the school district since 1961 but recognizes now there needs to be a respect for “cultural differences and sensitivities.” He goes on to say he does believe it is time to move on to their future and retire the “Indian” mascot at the end of the school year.
Other:
BIA Officer Shoots Male On Crow Indian Reservation
Native News Online, March 14
The FBI is leading an investigation into a Sunday morning shooting in Lodge Grass, Mont. on the Crow Indian Reservation involving a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) police officer and a male. This information was issued on Sunday evening by the Salt Lake City FBI Field Office in a press release. The male “left the scene and has not been located at this time,” according to the press release. The male has not been identified and his condition is not known. The FBI says the BIA officer sustained minor injuries during the incident.
Acjachmen Nation And 40 Groups Bring Litigation Against Cal State University Long Beach To Save Sacred Site Puvugna
Native News Online, Nanette Iron Eagle Deetz, March 14
A site sacred to the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation-Belardes (Acjachemen Nation) is now a 22-acre field adjacent to California State University Long Beach (CSU Long Beach). It sits at the very busy corner of Bellflower Blvd. and Beach Street. Since 1993 the Acjachemen Nation has been struggling with the Cal State system in order to stop development on this sacred site. This site is important also to the Gabrielino/Tongva and other southern California tribes. They have invited other tribal people displaced from their homelands throughout the United States to also join them as a place to connect with one another and the tribal nations of California. Once again, they are fighting to save this sacred site.
US Says Ranger Tried To Defuse Run-In Before Using Taser
AP News, Susan Montoya Bryan, March 12
A National Park Service ranger used a stun gun on a man who identifies as Native American after trying repeatedly to defuse a confrontation on federal land in New Mexico, according to an internal investigation released Friday. Video of the Dec. 27 run-in drew outcry from Indigenous activists as it showed a ranger at the Petroglyph National Monument asking Darrell House for identification. Authorities said House, who identifies as Navajo and Oneida, was seen climbing on petroglyph cliff features off-trail in violation of park rules. The agency determined that the ranger’s actions were consistent with policy and appropriate given the circumstances.
Urban Indian Health Institute Awards Over $500,000 For Chronic Disease Prevention
Native News Online, Alina Bykova, March 12
The Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) gave more $583,561 last week to nine urban Native organizations across the U.S. to battle chronic disease in Indian Country. The grants are part of UIHI’s initiative that seeks to “build public health infrastructure among urban American Indian and Alaska Native organizations through the use of Indigenous methods, frameworks, and evaluation approaches,” the organization said in a statement. The community grants will provide the ability for organizations to build and sustain programs during the pandemic.
Yá’át’ééh From Máaz
Indian Country Today, Kolby Kickingwoman, March 12
Native people have had ties to land in North America since time immemorial, now that connection is expanding to the cosmos. The Perseverance Rover has been on Mars for nearly a month, collecting data and making discoveries with each passing day. A number of the findings, through a collaboration with NASA, have been catalogued in Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language. The Perseverance team started with a list of 50 words and will expand the list as needed. According to a tweet from the rover itself, some features have already been used, such as tsé łichíí (red rock), yéigo (diligence) and séítah (amongst the sand).
Welcome To Máaz: NASA Names New Features On Mars In Navajo Language
Native News Online, Alina Bykova, March 12
The team behind NASA’s Perseverance rover has been naming “features of scientific interest” with words in the Navajo language, NASA said Thursday. The team has been collaborating with the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President. The first scientific focus of NASA’s Perseverance rover is a rock named “Máaz” – the Navajo word for “Mars.” Navajo
BIA Opens Public Comment Period For Moapa Band’s Proposed Solar Project
Native News Online, Alina Bykova, March 12
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians in Nevada announced on Thursday that they are seeking comments on potential environmental impacts of the tribe’s proposed Southern Bighorn Solar Project (SBSP). The project includes two solar energy ground leases providing for the “construction, operation and maintenance, and eventual decommissioning of two solar electricity generation and battery energy storage facilities,” the BIA said in a press release. The solar energy facilities will be located on tribal lands within the Moapa River Indian Reservation located in Clark County, Nevada, about 40 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
Scorsese’s ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ Announces Indigenous Cast Members
Osage News, Shannon Shaw Duty, March 12
For months, Osage tribal members have wondered who will portray Mollie Burkhart’s mother and three sisters in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming film, “Killers of the Flower Moon.” On Thursday, Apple Original Films exclusively announced to the Osage News that Indigenous actresses Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins and Jillian Dion will portray Lizzie Kyle, Anna Brown, Rita Smith and Minnie Smith. The four actresses will portray four Osage women who were murdered in the 1920s during the Osage Reign of Terror, a period of time when Osages were systematically killed for their oil wealth or inheritance.
Feeling The Heat Of Climate Change
Indian Country Today, Richard Arlin Walker, March 12
At any moment, on any school day, the entire future of the Quileute Tribe is at risk. The Quileute Tribal School is located within a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean, which has been a source of life for the Quileute people since the beginning of time. The Quileutes regularly harvest fish and shellfish off the coast of northwest Washington, and their ancestors hunted whales and traveled in ocean-going canoes from Alaska to California for trade. But the ocean is increasingly becoming a threat.