Good Morning NUNAverse,
Hundreds of square miles in New Mexico will be withdrawn from further oil and gas production for the next 20 years on the outskirts of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, the Biden administration ordered last week. The new order applies to public lands and associated mineral rights within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of the park. It does not apply to entities that are privately, tribal, or state owned. Existing leases won’t be impacted either.
Aja DeCoteau (Yakama Nation) will become the first Native person to serve on the National Park System Advisory Board, the Department of the Interior announced last week. DeCoteau currently serves as the director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) where she coordinated fisheries restoration and watershed protection activities and climate change research response on behalf of the Yakama, Nez Perce, Umatilla, and Warm Springs tribes.
An appeals court ruling has revived an anti-discrimination lawsuit accusing an Albuquerque teacher of cutting off one Native girl’s hair and asking another if she was dressed as a “bloody Indian” during class on Halloween. A lower court had determined that a public high school does not qualify as a “public accommodation” under the state’s civil rights law. The appellate ruling returns the lawsuit to state district court for a hearing on its merits.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
Biden Orders 20-Year Ban On Oil, Gas Drilling To Protect Tribal Sites Outside New Mexico’s Chaco
AP News, Morgan Lee, June 2
Biden Admin Issues 20-Year Oil Drilling Ban Near Indigenous Site, Ignoring Pleas From Native Americans
FOX News, Thomas CatenaccI, June 2
Rights Upheld, Lawsuit Revived Against Teacher Accused Of Cutting Native American Student’s Hair
AP News, Morgan Lee, June 2
California Bill Aims To Increase State Funding For Tribal Housing
Native News Online, Chez Oxendine, May 31
Government:
House Passes Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Deal; How Native American Members Of Congress Voted
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, May 31
History Made As First Navajo Appointed U.S. Federal Judge In California
Native News Online, Neely Bardwell, May 31
Boarding Schools:
The Remains Of Five Native American Children Who Died At An Indigenous Boarding School Are Being Returned To Their Tribes Over A Century Later
CNN, Alaa Elassar, June 4
Other:
Two Black Members Of Native Tribes Were Arrested. The Law Sees Only One As Indian.
The New York Times, Chris Cameron, June 3
‘It Healed Me’: The Indigenous Forager Reconnecting Native Americans With Their Roots
The Guardian, Samuel Gilbert, June 3
Native Americans, Far From Their Tribes, Build Community Around A Drum
The Washington Post, Dana Hedgepath, June 2
Aja Decoteau To Become First Native American To Serve On National Park System Advisory Board
Native News Online, June 2