Good morning, NUNAverse:

Pfizer and BioNTech requested on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration expand the emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine to permit its use in children ages 12 to 15. If the approval is granted, younger Americans could begin getting vaccinated before returning to school in the fall. The companies plan to request similar authorizations from health agencies around the world in the coming days, they said in a joint statement.

The Biden Administration revealed their first discretionary spending proposal on Friday, a preview to the full budget the President will release later this spring. The proposal includes $8.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Indian Health Service in 2022 – an increase of $2.2 billion – and includes an advance appropriation for IHS in 2023. Native News Online published a full breakdown of how the discretionary spending proposal would impact Indian Country over the weekend.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has delayed a decision on whether the Dakota Access Oil pipeline should be shut down while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts an environmental review on the project after lawyers for the pipeline asked for more time to outline the effects of recent changes in the economy. Boasberg granted the 10-day continuance after the Biden Administration declined to intervene in the case, which an attorney for the Standing Rock Indian Reservation said is “deeply” disappointing to the tribes.

In Massachusetts, a summit and trail on Monument Mountain are being renamed after more than a year of collaboration between the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans and the Trustees of Reservations, a conservation group that oversees the land. Indian Monument Trail is being renamed the Mohican Monument Trail, and Squaw Peak, a summit of Monument Mountain, is now Peeskawso Peak, according to a Friday announcement. The trustees are also working to reframe the area’s history to honor the Indigenous people who call it home. New signs are being installed this month to support that effort.

Prosecutors in Arizona have told the Arizona Supreme Court that they intend on soon seeking execution warrants for two death-row inmates in what would be the state’s first executions in almost seven years. Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office said that it’s asking the high court to set a briefing schedule before filing execution warrants for Clarence Dixon (Navajo), and Frank Atwood. Under the schedule suggested to the court by Brnovich, the executions could occur in as little as two months. The Navajo Nation declined to comment on Dixon’s case.

Keep reading for a full news update.

Politics:

A Proclamation On National Fair Housing Month, 2021

The White House, April 11

The purpose of the Fair Housing Act was to put an end to inequities in our housing system and eliminate racial segregation in American neighborhoods — and guarantee that all people in America have the right to obtain the housing of their choice, free from discrimination. The Fair Housing Act was created at a time when Federal and State policies held that dream at arm’s length from far too many Black, Brown, Native, and Asian American families through the insidious practices of redlining and lending discrimination. To affirm equal opportunity as the bedrock of our democracy — and to enlist the entire Federal Government to address entrenched disparities in our laws, public policies, and institutions — I signed an Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government on my first day in office.

Native American Healthcare Funds Increase In Biden Spending Proposal

Native News Online, April 10

President Biden revealed on Friday his administration’s first discretionary spending proposal, a preview to the full budget he will release later in the spring. The spending proposal shows an administration committed to invest in government programs aimed at boosting education, health care, housing and confronting climate change. The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) compiled the Indian Health provisions included across several agencies within the President’s proposed budget request, including $8.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS) in 2022.

Biden Budget Seeks More For Schools, Health Care And Housing

AP News, Josh Boak, April 10

President Joe Biden released a $1.5 trillion wish list for his first federal budget, asking for substantial gains for Democratic priorities including education, health care, housing and environmental protection. The request by the White House budget office Friday for an 8.4% increase in agency operating budgets spells out Biden’s top priorities as Congress weighs its spending plans for next year. The 2022 funding request includes a total of $8.5 billion for the Indian Health Service, which is an increase of $2.2 billion, according to IHS Acting Director Elizabeth Fowler, Comanche. Fowler said the request was developed in “close partnership” with tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, and other key stakeholders.

Law:

Judge Orders Delay Amid Debate Over Dakota Access Pipeline

AP News, James MacPherson, April 9

A judge on Friday delayed a decision on whether the Dakota Access Oil pipeline should be shut down while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts an environmental review on the project, after lawyers for the pipeline asked for more time to outline the effects of recent changes in the economy. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg granted the 10-day continuance after the Biden administration declined to intervene in the case, which an attorney for the Standing Rock Indian Reservation said is “deeply” disappointing to the tribes. Boasberg ordered the hearing mainly for the Corps to explain how it could proceed without a federal permit granting easement for the $3.8 billion pipeline to cross beneath Lake Oahe, a reservoir along the Missouri River that is maintained by the Corps.

COVID-19:

Stay-At-Home Order Reinstated For Navajo Nation Residents

Native News Online, April 10

The Navajo Nation has reinstated the “Stay-At-Home” order due to an increase of COVID-19 cases. Two weeks ago, there was one day with zero reported cases. On Friday, there were 26 reported new COVID-19 cases. On March 31, the Navajo Nation announced the first confirmed case of the U.K. variant followed by the first case of the California variant, B.1.429, on April 6. Citing the recent confirmed cases of two COVID-19 variants on the Navajo Nation and increasing numbers of variant cases in southwest states, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez vetoed a resolution on Friday which would have reopened Navajo Nation roads to all visitors and tourists.

Saturday Navajo Nation COVID-19 Update: 16 New Cases And Two More Deaths

Native News Online, April 10

The Navajo Department of Health reported 16 new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and two more deaths. The total number of deaths is now 1,262 as of Saturday. Reports indicate that 16,430 individuals have recovered from COVID-19, and 257,625 COVID-19 tests have been administered. The total number of positive COVID-19 cases is now 30,255, including one delayed reported case.

Pfizer and BioNTech Requested The F.D.A.’s Authorization To Us Their Vaccine In 12- To 15-Year-Olds. 

New York Times, Emily Anthes, April 9 

Pfizer and BioNTech requested on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration expand the emergency use authorization for their coronavirus vaccine to permit its use in children ages 12 to 15. If broadened, young adolescents could start getting vaccinated before going back to school in the fall.

Native Representation:

One Massachusetts Town Is Putting Its Native American Logo To A Vote. Residents Say The Debate Is Tearing The Town Apart.

The Boston Globe, Matt Stout, April 11

The candidates argued over how to pay for a new school and the best ways to address the prolonged street closure on Broadway. As far as town council debates go, the virtual event here could have played out in hundreds of towns across Massachusetts. Until, that is, it turned to the “logo issue.” There’s been harassment and cyberbullying; dueling lawn signs have sprouted across the town. The discourse in one virtual forum — where a resident drew a comparison between Indigenous people and animals — was “embarrassing,” another candidate charged. In this 27,000-person suburb north of Boston, the question of whether to eliminate Wakefield Memorial High School’s Native American Warrior logo has morphed from a school committee discussion into a full-fledged and vitriolic political campaign.

Summit And Trail Are Renamed After Native American Outcry 

AP News, April 9 

A summit of a Massachusetts mountain with a literary connection is being renamed, along with one of its trails, after outcry from Native American groups that call the area home.

Utah High School Announces New Mascot Following Backlash

AP News, Sophia Eppolito, April 9

A mostly white high school near Salt Lake City revealed its new mascot Friday that will replace its contentious Braves mascot, as school and professional sports teams nationwide face increasing backlash about using Native American names and symbols. The Redhawks will become Bountiful High School’s mascot starting next fall, Principal Aaron Hogge announced. The school is still designing its new official logo.

Other:

Enbridge Taps New Approach For Pipelines

Indian Country Today, Mary Annette Pember, April 11

To some, corporate social responsibility means companies will consider their impact on the local communities, economy and environment and mitigate any potential harm. To detractors, however, corporate social responsibility is all talk and no action, a smokescreen designed to obscure the ongoing historic exploitation of Indigenous lands, peoples and resources – a kinder, gentler form of imperialism. Kate Finn, executive director of the nonprofit First Peoples Worldwide, said the corporations largely use their resources to help themselves.

Ladonna Tamakawastewin Allard, Leader Of Standing Rock’s Fight Against The Dakota Access Pipeline, Passes On

Native News Online, Darren Thompson, April 11

LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, one of the leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s fight against the Dakota Access pipeline, a Standing Rock Sioux tribal citizen and an undisputed Lakota historian, passed away on Saturday from brain cancer. She was 64. Allard was one of the leaders of the one of the largest gathering of Indigenous peoples in over a hundred years. In April 2016, she was one of the founders of the Sacred Stones Camp, which was the first resistance camp aimed at stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline in Cannonball, North Dakota on her family’s land.

Abenaki Tribe Plans Tribal Center On Donated Land

Union Leader, Damian Fisher, April 11

The Ko’asek band of the Abenaki tribe is making plans to build a new home in Claremont after they were gifted an 11-acre parcel of land in the city. Local couple Rick Bascom and Jeanne Kennedy decided to give the land to the tribe after seeing the racial strife play out following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last summer, Chief Paul “Gwilawato” Bunnell. said. He said the land will give the band a chance to build something of a permanent home. He envisions a small museum and a place to store tribal archives, as well as hold meetings for the band.

Cherokee Ballerinas Chosen For Elite Russian Training Program

Cherokee Phoenix, April 10

Three Cherokee ballerinas from the Academy of Performing Arts in Tahlequah have been chosen to participate in an elite Russian ballet training program in Washington, D.C. The program is a rigorous, five-week long classical ballet intensive for serious dancers that will take place June 20 through July 25. “There were three girls that are currently training with the Academy of Performing Arts that have been selected to participate in the Kirov Summer Intensive.

Arizona’s Plan To Seek Execution Warrants Includes Navajo

Indian Country Today, April 9

The life of a Navajo man could be in the hands of the Arizona Supreme Court. Prosecutors have told the court that they intend on soon seeking execution warrants for two death-row inmates in what would be the state’s first executions in almost seven years. Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office said that it’s asking the high court to set a briefing schedule before filing execution warrants for Clarence Dixon, Navajo, and Frank Atwood. Dixon was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1977 killing of Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old Arizona State University student.

Navajo Nation Finalizes Solar Plant Leases On Tribal Land

AP News, April 9

The Navajo Nation is moving forward with two more solar plants on the reservation that are expected to generate millions of dollars in revenue for the tribe over the projects’ lifetimes. Tribal leaders met at the site of the larger solar plant in Cameron on Tuesday to finalize the lease for the Cameron Solar Generation Plant. A committee of the Navajo Nation Council had approved the lease in late March. The solar plant is expected to produce 200 megawatts of energy for one of Arizona’s largest utilities, the Salt River Project, though a power purchase agreement hasn’t yet been signed. About 400 people will be employed during construction.

Summit And Trail Are Renamed After Native American Outcry

AP News, April 9

A summit of a Massachusetts mountain with a literary connection is being renamed, along with one of its trails, after outcry from Native American groups that call the area home. Indian Monument Trail is being renamed the Mohican Monument Trail, and a summit of Monument Mountain is now Peeskawso Peak, according to a Friday announcement from the Trustees of Reservations, a conservation group that oversees the land. The conservation nonprofit said it made the changes after more than a year of collaboration with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans.