Good morning, NUNAverse:
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that they would temporarily block a decision from an Oklahoma court that threw out a state conviction of a death row inmate who’s victims were Native after the state court said the Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma required the move. The order suggested that the court might reconsider or narrow its 5-to-4 decision last year in the McGirt case, though the Supreme Court said the ruling would remain in force while the court considered whether to hear the state’s appeal. The court’s three liberal members — Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — dissented.
As part of a U.S. Department of Justice pilot program, the Bay Mills Indian Community and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa released a Murdered & Missing Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Tribal Community Response Plan on Tuesday. The goal of the tribal community response plans is to ensure that tribes have a plan to improve the handling of emergent missing person cases by outlining how tribal governments, law enforcement, and other partners can best work together. The MMIP Tribal Community Response Plans consist of four main components that include law enforcement, victim service provider, public and media communications and community outreach.
The Washington Post published an article covering how tribes have found success in vaccinating their populations, including the Navajo Nation where about 70 percent of citizens are fully vaccinated, the Blackfeet Nation where 95 percent of citizens have received at least one vaccine dose, and the Sac and Fox Tribe where about 70 percent of its eligible citizens are fully vaccinated. Tribal leaders attribute this success to several factors, including tribal sovereignty, which gave tribes the flexibility to create their own methods of distributing the vaccine, and cultural values that prioritize elders and community.
The U.S. Small Business Administration will host a live online panel session in celebration of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Month to discuss economic recovery with a dynamic group of small business owners from various sectors, utilizing SBA resources, and critical financial lifelines to pivot during the pandemic. The panel will take place later today, May 27, from 1:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M. EST.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
Supreme Court May Revisit Ruling On Native American Rights In Oklahoma
The New York Times, Adam Liptak, May 26
The Supreme Court, confronting the consequences of its ruling last year that much of eastern Oklahoma falls within an Indian reservation, said on Wednesday that it would temporarily block a decision from an Oklahoma court that threw out a state conviction of a death row inmate. The state court had said the Supreme Court’s ruling required the move. The court’s three liberal members — Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — dissented from the Supreme Court’s order, which gave no reasons and said it would remain in force while the court considered whether to hear the state’s appeal. But the order suggested that the court might reconsider or narrow its 5-to-4 decision last year in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which said that a vast chunk of Oklahoma, including much of Tulsa, the state’s second-biggest city, was made up of Indian reservations. The decision barred prosecutions of Native Americans on those lands by state or local law enforcement, saying they must instead face justice in federal or tribal courts.
Justices Signal They Could Limit Indian Country Ruling
AP News, May 26
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted Oklahoma’s request to retain custody of a man who has been on death row for killing three Native Americans, a sign the court may be willing to limit the fallout from last year’s ruling that much of eastern Oklahoma remains a tribal reservation. The action came in the case of Shaun Bosse, whose conviction and death sentence for the murders of Katrina Griffin and her two young children were overturned by a state appeals court. The order makes it likely that the high court will weigh in soon on the extent of its 5-4 ruling last year in McGirt v. Oklahoma. The state court had held that state prosecutors had no authority to try Bosse for the killings, which took place on the Chicksaw Nation’s reservation, based on the McGirt decision. Oklahoma argued to the Supreme Court that it can prosecute crimes committed by non-Native Americans like Bosse, even if the scene of the crime is on tribal land. The state also said there might be technical legal reasons for rejecting Bosse’s claims.
MMIW:
Sault Tribe And Bay Mills Indian Community Unveil Murdered & Missing Indigenous Persons Response Plans
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, May 26
As part of a U.S. Dept. of Justice pilot program, the Bay Mills Indian Community and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa released Murdered & Missing Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Tribal Community Response Plans on Tuesday at the Kewadin Casino’s Dream Makers Theater in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. In attendance were several dozen tribal, federal, state and local law enforcement leaders to hear the key components of the tribal community response plans. The MMIP Tribal Community Response Plans consist of four main components that include law enforcement, victim service provider, public and media communications and community outreach. The intention of the tribal community response plans is to have tribes have in place the plan to improve the handling of emergent missing person cases by outlining how tribal governments, law enforcement, and other partners can best work together to respond to such cases.
COVID-19:
Senate Committee On Indian Affairs To Hear Testimony On COVID-19’s Impact On Native Languages
Native News Online, May 26
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted tribes across Indian Country in ways beyond just the physical well-being of tribal citizens. With the loss of life during the pandemic came loss of culture, as well. Several tribal communities lost elders who were fluent speakers of their languages, which put tremendous strain on efforts to keep the Native languages alive. The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hear testimony on how the impact COVID-19 has had on tribal languages in a hearing entitled “Examining the COVID-19 Response in Native Communities: Native Languages One Year Later” and to receive testimony on S.989, the Native American Language Resource Center Act of 2021, and S.1402, the Durbin Feeling Native American Languages Act of 2021. The Committee will hear from the Department of Health & Human Services’ Administration for Native Americans and Native language leaders from Hawaiʻi, Alaska, and Indian Country on Covid impacts to Native communities’ language revitalization efforts, Native language resources in the American Rescue Plan Act, and the two bills on the legislative agenda.
How Native Americans Launched Successful Coronavirus Vaccination Drives: ‘A Story Of Resilience’
The Washington Post, Rachel Hatzipanagos, May 26
Native American tribes, among the hardest-hit by COVID-19, are celebrating a pandemic success story. Navajo Nation, the largest of the 574 Indian tribes in the United States, is now about 70 percent fully vaccinated, according to Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, and many other tribes are reporting similar numbers. Tribal leaders attribute this success to several factors, including tribal sovereignty, which gave tribes the flexibility to create their own methods of distributing the vaccine, and cultural values that prioritize elders and community. Local leaders said that many Indigenous people viewed the vaccination as a way to protect not only themselves, but their families, which reduced rates of vaccine hesitancy. An Urban Indian Health Institute survey found that 74 percent of Native Americans believe that getting vaccinated is their responsibility to their community.
Other:
SBA Celebrates Asian American And Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Month With Live Online Panel
Yahoo! Finance, May 26
The U.S. Small Business Administration will host a live online panel session in celebration of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Month to discuss economic recovery with a dynamic group of small business owners from various sectors, utilizing SBA resources and critical financial lifelines to pivot during the pandemic.
Defiant Fired CNN Commentator Rick Santorum Says He Was “Savaged” For Telling The Truth
Native News Online, May 26
Appearing on the Sean Hannity’s Fox show on Monday night, former Pennsylvania U.S. senator, twice failed presidential candidate, and now fired CNN commentator Rick Santorum reacted to his firing by CNN. Santorum defended his comments he made about Native Americans during an event on April 23 at a Young America’s Foundation event. Santorum told the impressionable youth that the United States was built on faith and freedom. He said the country was set up based on Judeo-Christian principles, and that white settlers “birthed a nation from nothing.” Santorum on Monday told Hannity while CNN had every right to fire him, he had been “savaged” for telling the truth.
Rebuilding For The Centuries: Adobe Block By Block
Indian Country Today, Kalle Benallie, May 26
Kewa Pueblo is restoring historic homes in its village with help from an architecture firm that’s pueblo woman-owned. Many of the homes in Kewa Pueblo were built hundreds of years ago. In the late 1600s and 1886, large floods from the Rio Grande destroyed many homes, so much so that the pueblo had to be rebuilt, according to the National Park Service. Preservation and being culturally sensitive are the most important aspects for a renovation project as unique as this one.
Billings Police Investigating Assault On Tribal Councilwoman
AP News, May 25
Billings police are searching for two women as they investigate an assault on a female member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council and a man at a downtown hotel, officers said Tuesday. Silver Little Eagle was taken to the hospital by ambulance after the May 16 assault, police said. Her family called the assault a “brutal unprovoked attack spurred by jealousy and hate.” Police said they are searching for two women, ages 25 and 27, for questioning. No charges have been filed and police said they would not provide information on the severity of injuries suffered by the victims. Little Eagle, the youngest person ever elected to the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council, was sworn in last November. She was 23.