Good morning, NUNAverse:

The MIT Solve 2021 Indigenous Communities Fellowship is looking for its next class of Fellows! Six to eight fellows are chosen every year and receive a $10,000 award along MIT Solve support. Join us today from 4:00 to 4:45 PM EST for the second of four Community Engagement Clinics leading up to the application deadline. Register to learn more about the Fellowship and application process here. 

Yesterday, the White House announced that anyone who needs help traveling to get a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get a free trip from the ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber. People who want to use the program would need to select a vaccination site near them and then redeem the companies’ offer of a free ride. The two ride-sharing firms will promote the offer in their apps.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will host an oversight hearing, “Examining the COVID-19 Response in Native Communities: Native Tourism Economies One Year Later,” today at 2:30 P.M. EST. The Committee will hear testimony from the heads of the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, the Huna Totem Corporation, and representatives from the Departments of Commerce and the Interior. The hearing will focus on infrastructure needs in Native communities and how resources in the American Rescue Plan Act and the NATIVE Act help support Native tourism economies as they recover from the impacts of COVID-19. 

The Bay Mills Indian Community tribal council voted to banish Enbridge’s Line 5 pipelines from the reservation as well as lands and waters of their ceded territory as efforts grow to fight the controversial Michigan project. The resolution, approved by the tribe’s executive council on May 10, comes on the eve of a shutdown order issued by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer that would terminate Enbridge’s 1953 easement to cross the lakebed under the Straits of Mackinac. According to a statement issued by the tribe, the Treaty of 1836 has reserved the right for tribal citizens to hunt, fish, and gather in ceded territory for all time. This includes the waters of Lake Superior, Huron, and Michigan which comprise the Straits of Mackinac.

A judge has ruled against the Klamath Tribes in a lawsuit that accuses federal regulators of violating the Endangered Species Actby letting water levels fall too low for sucker fish to spawn in a lake that also feeds an elaborate irrigation system along the Oregon-California border. The ruling comes as the region confronts one of the driest years in memory, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation last month announced that farmers who irrigate from its Klamath Project water-management area will get so little water that farming may not even be worthwhile this summer. At the same time, the drought has brought to a head a conflict between the water needs of two protected fish species in the region after decades of instability. The Klamath Tribes consider the federally endangered sucker fish central to their creation story and culture, while the Yurok Tribe hold the threatened coho salmon in the lower Klamath River sacred and rely on them as a critical food source.

Keep reading for a full news update.

Politics:

Senate Committee On Indian Affairs To Hear Testimony On Covid-19 Impact On The Native Tourism Economies

Native News Online, May 11

The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will host an oversight hearing, “Examining the COVID-19 Response in Native Communities: Native Tourism Economies One Year Later,” on Wednesday, May 12 at 2:30 p.m. – EDT. The Committee wants to learn about infrastructure needs in Native communities and how resources in the American Rescue Plan Act and the NATIVE Act help support Native tourism economies as they recover from the impacts of Covid-19. During the hearing, testimony from representatives from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Indian Economic Development, and leaders in the Native American tourism industry.

Law:

Judge Rules Against Klamath Tribes

AP News, May 11

A judge has ruled against the Klamath Tribes in a lawsuit that accuses federal regulators of violating the Endangered Species Act by letting water levels fall too low for sucker fish to spawn in a lake that also feeds an elaborate irrigation system along the Oregon-California border. The ruling comes as the region confronts one of the driest years in memory. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation last month announced that farmers who irrigate from its Klamath Project water-management area will get so little water that farming may not even be worthwhile this summer. At the same time, the drought has brought to a head a conflict between the water needs of two protected fish species in the region after decades of instability. The Klamath Tribes consider the federally endangered sucker fish central to their creation story and culture, while the Yurok hold the federally threatened coho salmon in the lower Klamath River sacred and rely on them as a critical food source.

Federal Bill To Address Criminal Jurisdiction In Oklahoma

AP News, Sean Murphy, May 11

Two of the most powerful Native American tribes in Oklahoma said Monday they’ve reached an agreement on federal legislation that would address concerns over criminal jurisdiction in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. The leaders of the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations said the bill expected to be introduced in Congress Tuesday by Rep. Tom Cole would authorize the two tribes to reach a compact with the state over criminal jurisdiction. Cole’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the legislation, with a spokeswoman saying Cole planned to release a statement on Tuesday. Dubbed the McGirt decision, the July ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the reservation of the Muscogee Nation was never disestablished by Congress and that Oklahoma prosecutors lack jurisdiction over crimes within the historic reservation boundaries in which defendants or victims are tribal citizens.

COVID-19:

Uber And Lyfy Will Give Free Rides To COVID-19 Vaccination Spots, White House Says 

NPR, Bill Chappell, May 11 

Anyone needing a ride to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot will be able to get a free trip from the ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber, the White House announced Tuesday, in the latest push to encourage Americans to get vaccinated.

Younger Adolescents Get Ready To Receive Covid-19 Vaccine

AP News, Heather Hollingsworth, May 11

Parents, schools and vaccine clinics rushed to begin inoculating younger adolescents Tuesday after U.S. regulators endorsed Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 12, a decision seen as a breakthrough in allowing classroom instruction to resume safely around the country. A handful of cities started offering shots to children ages 12 to 15 less than a day after the Food and Drug Administration gave the vaccine emergency use authorization for that age group. Most communities were waiting for a federal advisory committee that meets Wednesday to sign off on the move, while anxious families called clinics and pharmacies to ask about the soonest appointments.

MMIW:

Instagram Explains, Apologizes For MMIWG Erasures

Indian Country Today, Joaqlin Estus, May 11

Tens of millions of stories disappeared from Instagram last week. While the stories were from different parts of the world, they shared a common theme: protests against injustice, including posts about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, protests in Colombia, and unrest in East Jerusalem. Because of the common theme, people said the social posts removal was a deliberate action by Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. Instagram says that’s not so. Instagram described the problem as a global technical issue that affected re-shared posts, as well as archive and highlight functions. It said the issue had nothing to do with any one country or topic, and was not related to any hashtag used or specific content.

Other:

Michigan Tribe Banishes Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline

Indian Country Today, Mary Annette Pember, May 11

The Bay Mills Indian Community tribal council voted to banish Enbridge’s Line 5 pipelines from the reservation as well as lands and waters of their ceded territory as efforts grow to fight the controversial Michigan project. The resolution approved by the tribe’s executive council on Monday, May 10, comes on the eve of a shutdown order issued by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that would terminate the company’s 1953 easement to cross the lakebed under the Straits of Mackinac. According to a statement issued by the tribe, the Treaty of 1836 has reserved the right for tribal citizens to hunt, fish and gather in ceded territory for all time. This includes the waters of Lake Superior, Huron and Michigan which comprise the Straits of Mackinac.

Cherokee No Longer Largest Tribe

Indian Country Today, Kalle Benallie, May 11

The title of the largest tribe in the United States can now be given to the Navajo Nation thanks to the pandemic-related financial assistance that garnered thousands of documents to be sent in, verified and updated. The Navajo Nation Office of Controller said they received more than 293,000 applications that partially updated the total number of Navajo Nation members to 399,494 — a 30.4 percent increase. The tribe also has the largest tribal lands in the country. There are different data collections to report the number of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Tribal enrollment, or citizenship, numbers are determined by tribes. A second data set comes from the U.S. Census Bureau where there is a history of undercounting tribal citizens.

In Virginia, Locals Fight to Protect Disturbed African-American And Native Cemetery

Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, May 11

Last week, Prince William County supervisors in northern Virginia voiced support for the relatives of about 100 freed slaves and Native Americans whose gravesites were disturbed in a private property owner’s land clearing. The co-owner of the company that owns the parcel, Bill DeWitt— whose wife owns the brewery—said that last month, he cleared two and a half acres of forested land to plant crops of corn and sunflowers. DeWitt, who had no knowledge of the historic Scott Cemetery on the property at the time, asserted that no excavation took place. He said he used a skid steer forestry attachment to move 60 pounds of debris off the property, but that he didn’t see any rocks that could have been headstones. When the county’s archaeologist heard reports of clearing on the DeWitt’s property, he made a site visit, then put in a call to police to notify them of a non-permitted land clearing on what he knew to be a historic cemetery.

Advanced-Stage Kidney Cancer More Prevalent Among Hispanics And Native Americans

Doc Wire, Robert Dillard, May 11

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) risk is higher among Hispanic Americans and Native Americans than Whites, according to a recent study published in the journal Cancers. In this study, researchers assessed RCC health disparities in American Indians/Alaska Natives (AIs/ANs) and Hispanic Americans (HAs) with respect to disease stage and mortality. Population data were obtained from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) and Arizona Cancer Registry (ACR). The researchers used Logistic and Cox regression analyses to gauge the effect of race/ethnicity on disease stage and mortality, adjusting for neighborhood socioeconomic factors, rural/urban residence pattern, and other factors.

Dead Body Found On Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation

Native News Online, Darren Thompson, May 11

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that law enforcement discovered a deceased body on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation on or about May 2. The circumstances of the death is uncertain and details are scarce, but the death is considered suspicious and is being treated as a homicide. On or about May 2, police recovered a body inside a vehicle from Jarvis Lake on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Authorities secured the scene and contacted the FBI. Brandon Bave Gonzales, 36, from Williston, N.D. was identified from the location said an FBI spokesperson to Native News Online. He’s a non-tribal member.