Good morning, NUNAverse:
Yesterday’s Google Canada Doodle honored the life and legacy of Mary Two-Axe Earley (Mohawk), a First Nations women’s rights activist, on the 36th anniversary of the Act to Amend the Indian Act in Canada. The Indian Act was amended after nearly two decades of Two Axe Early’s activism against provisions that stripped First Nations women of their Native status when they married non-Native men. Two-Axe Early was a “key figure” in Canada’s women’s rights movement and helped establish the Equal Rights for Indian Women organization, spoke out at the 1968 Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Ottawa, and fought for First Nation women’s rights “through associations, impassioned speeches, and letter campaigns.”
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed a bill into law that will strip 12 local communities of state funding if they keep names or images appropriating Native culture. The new law, part of an 837-page implementor budget, was introduced by State Senator Cathy Osten whose district includes the states’ two federally recognized tribes, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribal Nations. Osten said she forwarded the legislation in response to requests from all five tribal governments — including three that are state-recognized — in Connecticut. The money at stake comes from two of the state’s highest grossing casinos, owned by the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribal Nations. The Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casinos contribute $300 annually to state coffers, of which $52 million is distributed to communities around the state.
In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis signed two bills into law that will require certain colleges and universities to offer in-state tuition to American Indians, and ban the use of discriminatory mascots in public schools. SB21-029, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, would require public state colleges and universities to offer in-state tuition to students who are a member of a tribe with historical ties to Colorado, and SB21-116, sponsored by Senator Jessie Danielson, would prohibit the use of Native imagery as mascots in Colorado public schools.
Two men linked to Enbridge’s construction of a new Line 3 were arrested over the weekend in a human trafficking sting operation. In total, six men were arrested on Sunday, June 27, for various sex crimes in Bemidji, Minn., in a two-day sting operation led by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force (MNHITF) and the Tribes United Against Sex Trafficking (TRUST) Task Force. Two of the arrested were confirmed by an Enbridge spokeswoman to Native News Online as employees of a sub-contractor working on Line 3.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
Connecticut To Withhold Funding From Towns Appropriating Indigenous Culture Under New Law
Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, June 28
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont last Wednesday signed a bill into law that, beginning next year, will strip 12 local communities of state funding if they keep names or images appropriating Native American culture. The new law, part of an 837-page implementor budget, was introduced by Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, whose district includes the states’ two federally recognized tribes, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribal Nations. Osten said she forwarded the legislation in response to requests from all five tribal governments—the remaining are state-recognized—in Connecticut. The money at stake comes from two of the state’s highest grossing casinos, owned by the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribal Nations. The Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casinos contribute $300 annually to state coffers, of which $52 million is distributed to communities around the state.
Bills To Grant In-State tuition To American Indians & End The Use Of Discriminatory Mascots Become Law
EIN Presswire, Colorado Senate Democrates, June 28
Today, the governor signed two bills into law that aim to support Colorado’s American Indian population. The first would require certain colleges and universities to offer in-state tuition to American Indians, and the other would ban the use of discriminatory mascots in public schools.
Two Enbridge Line 3 Workers Arrested In Human Trafficking Sting Operation In Northern Minnesota
Native News Online, Darren Thompson, June 28
Two men linked to Enbridge’s construction of a new Line 3 were arrested over the weekend in a human trafficking sting operation. In total, six men were were arrested on Sunday, June 27, for various sex crimes in Bemidji, Minn., in a two-day sting operation led by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force (MNHITF) and the Tribes United Against Sex Trafficking (TRUST) Task Force. Two of the arrested were confirmed by an Enbridge spokeswoman to Native News Online as employees of a sub-contractor working on Line 3.
Native Mascots:
Pittsburgh School District’s Retirement Of Mascot
The Butler Eagle, Alex J. Weidenhof, June 28
Seneca Valley School District’s move June 14 to retire its Native mascot and imagery, while trending away from the district’s nearly 50-year-old imagery, is part of a larger national trend for school districts. Although more than 1,000 school districts continue to use Native logos, imagery or nicknames, according to the National Conference of American Indians, 70 districts in the United States retired such “themed” school mascots. As of June 8, the NCAI states, 12 additional districts have retired their American Indian-themed imagery. Two of those dozen districts were in Pennsylvania, according to NCAI — Susquehannock Township School District in Dauphin County and Southern York County School District. In one instance, the district took similar steps to Seneca Valley’s, retiring its mascot and imagery, but retaining its branding, and received similar feedback from students, alumni and other stakeholders.
Other:
First Nations Women’s Rights Activist Commemorated In Canada Google Doodle
Native News Online, Andrew Kennard, June 28
Monday’s Google Canada Doodle honors the life and legacy of Mary Two-Axe Earley (Mohawk), a First Nations women’s rights activist, on the 36th anniversary of the Act to Amend the Indian Act in Canada. The Indian Act was amended after nearly two decades of Two Axe Early’s activism against provisions that stripped First Nations women of their Indian status when they married non-Indigenous men. In a Google guest blog post, Montour said that Two-Axe Early was a “key figure” in Canada’s women’s rights movement. She noted that Two-Axe Early helped establish the Equal Rights for Indian Women organization, spoke out at the 1968 Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Ottawa, and fought for First Nation women’s rights “through associations, impassioned speeches, and letter campaigns.”
Teen’s Death Highlights Free-Roaming Dogs On Tribal Land
AP News, June 28
A lone dog with sad eyes and no collar trotted up a dusty dirt road in a hardscrabble community near the southeast corner of the Navajo Nation. In a flash, a pack of other free-roaming, collarless dogs scurried up the same road. One lunged at the lone canine, unleashing a ferocious attack with bursts of snarling, growling and barking that sent them all fleeing in different directions. The scene isn’t unusual here or in nearby communities where an estimated 250,000 of the animals referred to as “rez dogs” roam unchecked. Sometimes, with deadly consequences. Tribal lawmakers recently passed a resolution to establish criminal penalties for vicious dog attacks like the one that Lyssa Rose Upshaw’s family believes killed her. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez later vetoed the resolution, saying it didn’t go far enough and needs more input.
2 Nunavut Communities Cancel Canada Day Parades
APTN National News, Kent Driscoll, June 28
Following the discovery of hundreds of children’s graves at former residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, communities across the country are deciding how to celebrate Canada Day this year. In Nunavut’s two biggest communities, the celebrations are going to be very different than before.