Good morning, NUNAverse:

First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff visited the Isaac Middle School in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday in an effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations throughout Arizona, including tribal communities. Among the guests were several tribal leaders, including Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis, San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Terry Rambler, Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., and Ak-Chin Indian Community Chairman Robert Miguel.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that two Arizona voting laws discriminate against American Indians, Hispanics, and African Americans voting in the state. The justices split 6-3 down ideological lines. The conservative leaning justices concluded that disparate impacts on minority groups would typically not be enough to render voting rules illegal under the Voting Rights Act. At issue were two laws: one bars the counting of provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct; the other bars collection of absentee ballots by anyone other than a family member or caregiver. 

Six Yukon communities have announced they will not be celebrating Canada Day in light of the recent residential school gravesite discoveries across the country. Within the last few days, Dawson City, Carmacks, Haines Junction, Mayo, Watson Lake, and Teslin have posted on Facebook they will not be going ahead with Canada Day celebrations due to the findings, as well as the fact the territory is grappling with a COVID-19 outbreak. Wayne Potoroka, mayor of Dawson City, says Canada Day is usually a day of celebration, but he says his community, which is also home to Tr’ondëk Hwëchin First Nation (THFN) doesn’t feel like celebrating this year.

In Maine, Governor Janet Mills has vetoed a bill that would have given permissions to tribes in the state to open and run gaming businesses on their own lands. The bill was approved in Maine’s legislature with an overwhelming majority in June, but Mills’ administration had “serious concerns” about a bill seeking to reinstate tribal rights. In a statement released on Wednesday, Mills said that since the start of her governorship that it has been her priority to repair the relationship between the tribes and the state, but she said the bill was plagued with issues. Mills wrote that her concerns with the bill regarded the lack of “limitations on where tribal gaming may occur, or on the size of each facility.”

Keep reading for a full news update.

Low:

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Two Arizona Restrictive Voting Laws

Native News Online, July 1

The U.S. Supreme on Thursday overturned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that two Arizona voting laws discriminate against American Indians, Hispanics and African American voting in the state. The justices split 6-3 down ideological lines. Republican-appointed justices, now in the majority, concluded that disparate impacts on minority groups would typically not be enough to render voting rules illegal under the act. At issue were two laws: one bars the counting of provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct; the other bars collection of absentee ballots by anyone other than a family or caregiver. Today’s ruling raises concerns of more restrictive state voting laws that are aimed to reduce voting by American Indians and other minority groups in the United States.

Tribes Say Voting Access Hurt By US Supreme Court Ruling

AP News, Felicia Fonseaca, July 1

The largest Native American reservation in the U.S. includes parts of three Arizona counties, all of which had different approaches to precinct voting in the 2020 general election. Voters in Apache County had to cast ballots at the polling location they were assigned. People registered in Navajo County could vote anywhere in the county. Coconino County used a hybrid model. The Navajo Nation has long argued the approach is inconsistent and confusing, leading to ballots being rejected and tribal members being denied the same opportunity to vote as others in Arizona.

Governor Vetoes Native American Casino Ownership Bill

AP News, July 1

Maine Gov. Janet Mills has vetoed a bill that would have given permissions to Native American tribes in the state to open and run gambling businesses on their own lands. The bill was approved in Maine’s legislature with an overwhelming majority in June, but Mills’ administration had “serious concerns” about a bill seeking to reinstate tribal rights. In a statement released on Wednesday, Mills said that since the start of her governorship that it has been her priority to repair the relationship between the tribes and the state, but she said the bill was plagued with issues. Mills wrote that her concerns with the bill regarded the lack of “limitations on where tribal gaming may occur, or on the size of each facility.”

Children Of Native American Man Shot By Poulsbo Police Sue

AP News, July 1

The children of a Native American man killed by police in Washington state two years ago are suing, saying his death was unnecessary. Stonechild Chiefstick, a member of Montana’s Chippewa Cree tribe who had close ties to the Suquamish Tribe in Washington, was shot and killed while attending an early Independence Day celebration in the city of Poulsbo on July 3, 2019. He had reportedly been menacing people with a screwdriver at the crowded event. When officers moved in to arrest him, a scuffle ensued. Chiefstick scrambled away, and the lead officer, Craig Keller, shot and killed him from about 9 feet away. The encounter lasted about 13 seconds and occurred among people who had laid out blankets to watch a fireworks display.

Boarding Schools:

Yukon Communities Boycott Canada Day Celebrations In Lieu Of Residential School Gravesite Discoveries

APTN, Sara Connors, July 1

Six Yukon communities have announced they will not be celebrating Canada Day in light of the recent residential school gravesite discoveries across the country. Within the last few days, Dawson City, Carmacks, Haines Junction, Mayo, Watson Lake and Teslin have posted on Facebook they will not be going ahead with Canada Day celebrations due to the findings as well as the fact the territory is grappling with a COVID-19 outbreak. Wayne Potoroka, mayor of Dawson City, says Canada Day is usually a day of celebration that includes a parade, hotdogs and the cutting of a large Canada Day flag cake. But he says his community, which is also home to Tr’ondëk Hwëchin First Nation (THFN) doesn’t feel like celebrating this year.

Cancel Canada Day: ‘Stolen Indigenous Lives Are Not Things To Celebrate’

Native News Online, Andrew Kennard, July 1

Canadians have celebrated their country’s confederation on July 1, 1867 since 1868, but this year, planned celebrations of the holiday have led to cancellations and protests due to the discovery of hundreds of Indigenous children’s remains in unmarked graves at three former residential schools. At least 70 cities, towns, and villages across 10 Canadian provinces and territories have canceled, postponed, altered, or scaled back their Canada Day events in response to the discoveries, according to the municipalities and reporting from CBC News, CTV News, and other Canadian media outlets. The municipalities include Victoria, Penticton, and the Region of Durham and Durham municipalities.

Native Americans Gather On Alki Promenade To Honor Lost Children

Westside Seattle, July 1

Over the past month 1,148 unmarked graves of children from indigenous people have been found at the sites of three former residential schools in Canada. Some of remains are believed to be of children as young as three. Across that nation and on Thursday July 1, Native Americans and others gathered on the Alki Promenade to remember, mourn, call attention to, and honor all those lost. Led by Roxanne White, speakers took the microphone to sing, lead other voices in song, offer stories, poems and testimony about their own feelings and experiences throughout the event. The crowd, many of whom wore orange to honor those lost, gathered at the water’s edge where luminaria representing the children were lit and carnations were thrown in the water. Paper lanterns were lit and set aloft.

Texas Man Sentenced For Illegally Excavating Native American Artifacts

KXXV, July 1

A Texas man has been sentenced to two years in prison for illegally excavating artifacts from a Native American homestead in Amarillo. Jeffrey Alan Vance, 37, violated the Archeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA) that protects artifacts located in tribal lands from unauthorized removal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of Texas. Vance and 33-year-old Dax Wheatley excavated and removed artifacts from site 41PT109, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah; the site was a homestead for Native Americans of the Antelope Creek Culture in 1200-1500 A.D.

COVID-19:

Tribal Leaders Met With First Lady Jill Biden In Arizona To Discuss COVID-19 Vaccinations

Native News Online, July 1

First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff visited the Isaac Middle School in Phoenix, Ariz. on Wednesday to an effort to increase Covid-19 vaccinations throughout Arizona, including tribal communities. The fact that only 40 percent of Arizona has been vaccinated led to the effort to increase vaccinations in the state. Among the guests were several Arizona tribal leaders, including Navajo Nation Jonathan Nez, Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis, San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Terry Rambler, Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., and Ak-Chin Indian Community Chairman Robert Miguel.

Other:

‘Nobody’s Winning’ As Drought Upends Life In US West Basin

AP News, Gillian Flaccus, July 1

Just a few weeks into summer, a historic drought and its on-the-ground consequences are tearing communities apart in this diverse basin filled with flat vistas of sprawling alfalfa and potato fields, teeming wetlands and steep canyons of old-growth forests. Competition over the water from the river that snakes through it has always been intense. But this summer there is simply not enough, and the farmers, tribes and wildlife refuges that have long competed for every drop now face a bleak and uncertain future together.

More Opportunities, Less Colorado Barriers For Natives

Indian Country Today, Kolby KickingWoman, July 1

Tribal nations and Native people residing in Colorado have a lot to celebrate.

The state legislative session wrapped up in early June and a slew of bills benefiting tribes in the state were passed and signed into law as recently as this week. Gov. Jared Polis signed two bills on Monday: one extends in-state tuition to students who do not live in the state but are citizens of 48 tribes with historical ties to the state; and the second is the prohibition of the use of Native themed mascots by “public schools, including charter and institute charter schools, and public institutions of higher education.” The third bill was signed back in mid-May that allows for federally recognized tribes the ability to certify its own foster homes. Previously, only a county department of human or social services or a child placement agency had the ability to do so.