Good morning, NUNAverse:
The New York Times reports on the Shinnecock Indian Nation’s efforts to open the Shinnecock Hamptons Casino, which is expected to break ground on the tribe’s reservation on the East End of Long Island as early as 2023, and the opposition they are facing from some of their non-Native neighbors called the Hamptons Neighborhood Group. Gaming industry analysts believe the tribe’s proposal could cause enough of an uproar to pressure Governor Andrew Cuomo to offer the tribe a deal to build a more lucrative casino elsewhere.
Earlier this week, the Navajo Department of Health reported nine new COVID-19 cases for the Navajo Nation and no recent deaths, which marked the 10th consecutive day that there were no COVID-19-related deaths on the Navajo Nation. The total number of deaths remains 1,262 as previously reported. Reports indicate that 16,515 individuals have recovered from COVID-19, and 261,396 COVID-19 tests have been administered. The total number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Navajo Nation is now 30,380.
A totem pole carved by the Lummi Nation from a 400-year-old red cedar will begin a cross-country journey next month, evoking an urgent call to protect sacred lands and waters of Indigenous people. The journey, called the Red Road to DC, will culminate in early June in Washington, D.C.. The expedition will start at the Lummi Nation outside Bellingham, Washington, and will make stops at Nez Perce traditional lands; Bears Ears National Monument in Utah; the Grand Canyon; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; the Black Hills of South Dakota; and the Missouri River at the crossing of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This fall, the pole will be featured at the National Museum of the American Indian. A special exhibition was developed by The Natural History Museum and House of Tears Carvers at the Lummi Nation, which is gifting the pole to the Biden administration.
Variety published a piece covering Sierra Teller Ornelas, a Navajo and Mexican-American woman who is one of the co-creators of the new television show “Rutherford Falls,” which centers on the relationships between citizens of a reservation and the residents of the neighboring titular town. “We were very fortunate to show Native people as complex people who have multiple points of view,” Teller Ornelas said. “For us to be mundane, to not be trauma porn people, to just be human beings that are complex and have families and jobs and friends, that is revolutionary.” The “Rutherford Falls” writers’ room also includes Bobby Wilson, who is Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota; Tai Leclaire, who is Kanien’kehá:ka/Mi’kmaq; Tazbah Chavez, who is Nüümü/Diné/San Carlos Apache; and Jana Schmieding, who is Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux, among others.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Alaska Native Corporations Cares Act Case. Here’s What’s At Stake.
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, April 21
The United States Supreme Court on Monday appeared likely to rule that a portion of the $8 billion in federal virus relief funding directed to tribal governments was intended to include Alaska Native Corporations (ANC), according to an Anchorage-based attorney specializing in tribal law, Lloyd Miller. In oral arguments on Monday, Supreme Court Justices agreed hat, while Congress could have done a better job with their grammar in writing the CARES Act, they clearly intended ANCs to receive funding by their use of the Indian Self Determination Act.
Gov. Kevin Stitt Signs Ida’s Law To Address Missing, Murdered Indigenous Oklahomans
The Oklahoman, Carmen Forman, April 21
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed bipartisan legislation for the state to seek federal funding to address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous Oklahomans. Stitt on Tuesday signed Ida’s Law, which is named after Oklahoman Ida Beard, a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, who has been missing since 2005. The legislation has been praised by tribal members across the state as a concrete step to tackle an epidemic of violence against Native Americans. Oklahoma reportedly has one of the highest rates of missing or murdered Native American women, but it can be hard to get a full picture of the problem because of a lack of comprehensive data.
COVID-19:
10 Consecutive Day Of No COVID-19 Deaths On Navajo Nation
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, April 21
On Tuesday, the Navajo Department of Health reported nine new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and no recent deaths. Tuesday marked the 10th consecutive day that there were no COVID-19-related deaths on the Navajo Nation. The total number of deaths remains 1,262 as previously reported. Reports indicate that 16,515 individuals have recovered from COVID-19, and 261,396 COVID-19 tests have been administered. The total number of positive COVID-19 cases is now 30,380.
UMB Opens First Regional COVID-19 Clinic Exclusively For Native Americans
The University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) is now offering COVID-19 vaccinations to Native Americans living in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. According to UMB, the Native American community has the highest COVID-19 mortality rate compared to other ethnicities. Vaccines that were allocated to the Indian Health Service are being given to UMB’s vaccination clinic in an effort to reach more than 65,000 Native Americans who live in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan region that might not have access to tribal health programs.
Politics:
Haaland: Missing And Murdered Natives Unit Will Have Six Times Initial Budget Of Doj Task Force
The Hill, Zack Budryk, April 20
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said a new unit within the department focusing on missing and murdered Native Americans will have a budget of $6 million, six times that of a similar task force the Justice Department (DOJ) established in 2019. In a Tuesday House Budget Committee hearing on the Biden administration’s budget request for fiscal 2022, ranking member Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) said he was “encouraged” by Haaland’s announcement of a unit dedicated to missing and murdered indigenous people within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Haaland announced the creation of the unit on April 1, saying it would build on the work of the DOJ task force and establish a unit chief position to run point on policy.
Casinos:
Why The Shinnecock Tribe Is Clashing With The Hamptons’ Elite
New York Times, Corey Kilgannon, April 22
For two decades, the Shinnecock Indian Nation has tried and failed to open a casino near Manhattan in the hope that a gambling hall would be an economic engine to wrest them from poverty and fund social programs.
Other:
Lummi Nation Totem Pole Making Journey To Biden
AP News, April 21
A totem pole carved at the Lummi Nation from a 400-year-old red cedar will begin a cross-country journey next month, evoking an urgent call to protect sacred lands and waters of Indigenous people. The journey, called the Red Road to DC, will culminate in early June in Washington, D.C.. The expedition will start at the Lummi Nation outside Bellingham, Washington, and will make stops at Nez Perce traditional lands; Bears Ears National Monument in Utah; the Grand Canyon; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; the Black Hills of South Dakota; and the Missouri River, at the crossing of the Dakota Access Pipeline, where thousands protested its construction near Native lands. This fall, the pole will be featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. A special exhibition was developed by The Natural History Museum and House of Tears Carvers at the Lummi Nation, which is gifting the pole to the Biden administration.
Native News Online One Of 30 Publications Selected For Facebook Accelerator Program
Native News Online, April 21
Native News Online has been chosen to participate in an international program that helps publishers build sustainable news businesses, the Facebook Journalism Project announced Tuesday. Native News Online will be one of 30 North American media outlets participating in the 2021 Accelerator program, Facebook’s premier business training program for news publishers. The Accelerator is a 9-month program that combines workshops, coaching and grant funding to execute projects using lessons learned during the program. Accelerator participants from media outlets across North America also form a “community of shared practice,” working together and supporting each other’s progress.
‘Rutherford Falls’ Boss On Building Diverse Native American TeamsFor Peacock Comedy
Variety, Daniele Turchiano, April 21
When Sierra Teller Ornelas was in pre-production on her new Peacock comedy “Rutherford Falls,” she found inspiration in a quote she read from showrunner Prentice Penny describing his movie “Uncorked” as “This is Black people on a Tuesday.”