Good morning, NUNAverse:

Following the arrests of close to 200 people on Monday, at least 200 water protectors are encamped near the headwaters of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota directly in the path of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline project. People at the encampment and a growing list of supporters are calling on President Joe Biden to stop Line 3, saying that it threatens northern Minnesota’s waters, the global climate, and Anishinaabe treaty rights. There are also now concerns about the treatment of organizers and activists who have been held for 16 – 20 hours without being booked and are being denied prescription medications and their 6th Amendment right to speak to an attorney, according to the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Montana Democrats say they’re taking a first-of-its kind approach to include more Native people in party decisions. The state party voted last week to establish tribal committees, like county central committees, whose delegates vote on the party’s platform, rules, and officers and nominate candidates for special elections. The move increases the number of Native people involved in decision-making to match their proportional share of Montana’s population, party officials announced. Executive Director Sandi Luckey said Montana’s Democratic Party is the first state party in the country to create a formal role for Native people based on population.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will host a hearing this afternoon to consider President Biden’s nomination of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan T. Newland to serve as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Dept. of the Interior. Newland is a tribal citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community, based in Brimley, Michigan, and most recently served as its President. More than 30 tribes and tribal organizations, including the United South and Eastern Tribes, the National Congress of American Indians, and the Alaska Federation of Natives, submitted letters in support of Newland’s confirmation. The hearing will begin at 2:30 P.M. EDT and will be livestreamed here. 

Keep reading for a full news update.

Politics:

Senate Committee On Indian Affairs To Host Hearing On Assistant Secretary For Indian Affairs Nominee Bryan Newland On Wednesday

Native News Online, June 8

The U.S. Committee on Indian Affairs on Wednesday afternoon will host a hearing to consider President Biden’s nomination of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan T. Newland to serve as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Dept. of the Interior (DOI). Newland is a tribal citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community, based in Brimley, Mich., and most recently served as its president. More than 30 tribes and tribal organizations, including the United South and Eastern Tribes, the National Congress of American Indians, and the Alaska Federation of Natives, submitted letters in support of Newland’s confirmation.

Montana Democrats Expand Native American Voice In Party

AP News, June 8

Montana Democrats say they’re taking a first-of-its kind approach to include more Native Americans in party decisions. The state party voted last week to establish tribal committees, like county central committees, whose delegates vote on the party’s platform, rules and officers and nominate candidates for special elections. The move increases the number of Native Americans involved in decision-making to match their proportional share of Montana’s population, party officials announced. Executive Director Sandi Luckey said Montana’s Democratic Party is the first state party in the country to create a formal role for Native Americans based on population.

COVID-19:

Broken System Can’t Keep Track Of Native Deaths

Indian Country Today, Jourdan Bennett-Begaye, June 8

In May of 2020, the Navajo Nation reported one of the highest per-capita COVID-19 infection rates in the United States. Since that milestone, official data reveals that the Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest-hit populations during the pandemic. The Navajo Nation boasts the largest population of any Indigenous nation in the United States, and thousands of Navajos live outside the nation, in towns along the border, cities across the country, and in other parts of the world, making it difficult to tally the virus’ impacts on Navajo citizens. It’s made worse by a labyrinthian system of local, state, federal and tribal data-reporting systems that often do not communicate with each other or share information. In an effort to come up with a more reliable fatality count, reporters with the Indigenous Investigative Collective made multiple public-records requests for death records held by state medical examiners of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

COVID-19 Devastated The Blackfeet Nation In Montana, But Now They’re Vaccinating Their Neighbours With Spare Shots

ABC, Barbara Miller, June 8

The Blackfeet’s experience is typical of Native American communities, which were disproportionately impacted by COVID. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that between March and October last year, more than twice as many Native Americans in Montana contracted the virus. Once they caught it, they were almost twice likely to die from it. Now the community has turned things around. These days, it’s not uncommon for there to be zero active cases and no hospitalizations or deaths. The majority of adults are now vaccinated and the tribe has launched a special pop-up clinic at the Canadian border to offer their spare shots to their northern neighbors who are facing longer waits for inoculation.

Other:

Oil Pipeline Foes Protest Enbridge’s Line 3 In Minnesota

AP News, Dave Kolpack, June 8

Hundreds of protesters vowing to do whatever it takes to stop a Canadian-based company’s push to replace an aging pipeline blocked a pump station Monday in northern Minnesota, with some people chaining themselves to construction equipment before police began making arrests. Environmental and tribal groups say Enbridge Energy’s plan to rebuild Line 3, which would carry Canadian tar sands oil and regular crude from Alberta to Wisconsin, would worsen climate change and risk spills in sensitive areas where Native Americans harvest wild rice, hunt, fish, gather medicinal plants, and claim treaty rights.

Line 3 Resistance Grows, Hundreds Camped At Mississippi As Hundreds Were Arrested In Hubbard County

Native News Online, Darren Thompson, June 8

Nearly 200 people were arrested at several locations on Monday, June 7, in northern Minnesota during the largest gathering to date of water protectors against the Enbridge Line 3 replacement project. In addition to those arrested, dozens were given citations at an Enbridge pump station in Two Inlets, Minn. There are also now serious concerns about the treatment of organizers and activists who have been held for 16 – 20 hours without being booked and are being denied prescription medications, according to the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Petroglyph Vandalism Is Not A Victimless Crime

High Country News,

In late April, at the site known as Birthing Rock near Moab, Utah, vandals defaced thousand-year-old petroglyphs, scrawling the words “white power” and other obscene graffiti, including an ejaculating penis, across the red sandstone. Only one of the boulder’s four petroglyph panels remained unscathed. The vandalism came just a few weeks after a rock climber bolted climbing routes over petroglyphs near the Sunshine Slabs, north of Utah’s Arches National Park. The recent acts of vandalism are a reminder of the need for greater protection and more education about public lands, Indigenous archaeologists say.