Good morning, NUNAverse:
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland joined other Native leaders and activists at the National Mall on Thursday to accept the delivery of a totem pole transported across the country as part of a push to protect sites that are sacred to Native people. The event was the final stop in the “Red Road to DC,” a two-week tour from Washington state to Washington, D.C., with visits to sacred locations throughout the U.S. Speaking at the event Thursday, Haaland called for greater inclusion of Native voices in lawmaking in order to protect the sites. Advocates warn that a number of sacred locations across the U.S. are threatened by government actions, which they say violate prior peace treaties.
On Wednesday, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) charged a Red Lake tribal citizen for the alleged killing of a Red Lake tribal police officer. David Brian Donnell, Jr., 28, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s office in federal court with one count of second degree murder and four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in connection to a shooting that resulted in the death of Red Lake Tribal Police Officer Ryan Bialke on Tuesday, July 27. The incident occurred at Donnell’s residence in Redby, Minnesota on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Mi’kmaw harvesters are back on the water fishing for lobster and following their own food, social, and ceremonial fishery plan. Tribal members report that officers around the wharf monitor their actions every day, claiming that the large contingent of officers is intimidating and infringing on their treaty rights. Last fall, the community launched their Moderate Livelihood fishery Plan and non-Indigenous fishermen reacted with violence, saying that the fishery will put the lobster at risk. Vehicles were burned, people were assaulted and intimidated with racial slurs, and a lobster pound that stored Mi’kmaw lobster was burnt to the ground. The police and fisheries officers were criticized for standing by.
Two tribes who joined a legal battle over plans to build a mine at the largest known U.S. deposit of lithium urged a judge on Thursday to temporarily ban digging for an archaeological survey that they said would desecrate sacred tribal lands in Nevada. The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Atsa Koodakuh Wyh Nuwu (People of Red Mountain) are intervening in a lawsuit that four conservative groups have filled against the Lithium Nevada Corporation. The tribes say their ancestors were massacred in the late 1800s at the proposed Thacker Pass site that would mine the lithium, a key component in electric vehicle batteries. Demand for the material is expected to triple over the next five years.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
Tribes Seek Order Banning Digging AT Nevada Lithium Mine
AP News, Scott Sonner, July 30
Two tribes that joined a legal battle over plans to build a mine at the largest known U.S. deposit of lithium urged a judge Thursday to temporarily ban digging for an archaeological survey that they say would desecrate sacred tribal lands in Nevada near the Oregon line.
Red Lake Man Charged With Murder In Death Of red Lake Tribal Police Officer
Native News Online, Darren Thompson, July 29
On Wednesday, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) charged a Red Lake tribal citizen for the alleged killing of a Red Lake tribal police officer. David Brian Donnell, Jr., 28, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s office in federal court with one count of second degree murder and four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in connection to a shooting that resulted in the death of Red Lake Tribal Police Officer Ryan Bialke on Tuesday, July 27.
From Washington D.C., This Message To Biden Is To Work With Tribes And Honor Treaties
Tri-City Herald, Natasha Brennan July 29
Native activists from across the nation completed a cross-country tour from Whatcom County, Wash., to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the protection of sacred sites where Indigenous communities are leading efforts to halt resource extraction and industrial development. “The Red Road to D.C.” totem pole journey concluded with a rally at the National Mall featuring remarks from tribal leaders, Native activists, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp. The pole, accepted by Haaland, is a gift to President Biden from the Lummi House of Tears Carvers and a message to his administration to work with tribes and honor treaties.
Other:
‘We Just Want To Be Welcomed Back’: The Lenape Seek A Return Home
WHYY, Kenny Cooper July 30
More than 1,000 miles from his ancestral homeland, Curtis Zunigha’s gravelly voice managed to drown out the incessant static of a phone line. All the way from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, you could hear Zunigha’s passion for the countless stories he carries with him of his people, the Lenape. “I’m preserving in a dynamic way our culture and our history and our traditions, so that I could pass that on to a younger generation and they can keep going, because that’s our obligation to the creator and to the ancestors, for the gift of our culture and our language and our knowledge of who we were and who we are,” he said.
Strong Earthquake Rattles Alaska Villages
AP News, Mark Thiessen, July 30
The largest earthquake in the United States in the last half century produced a lot of shaking but spared Alaska any major damage in a sparsely populated region, officials said Thursday. The magnitude 8.2 earthquake was reported about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, and it struck just south of the Alaska Peninsula, nearly 500 miles (804.67 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. The quake was about 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) offshore and 29 miles (46 kilometers) below the surface of the North Pacific Ocean, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The late Wednesday quake produced a lot of shaking. But the director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said Thursday no major damage was reported anywhere in the nation’s largest state.
American Indian Actor Saginaw Grant, 85, Passes Away
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, July 29
Legendary American Indian actor Saginaw Grant walked on to the spirit world Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Grant was a widely respected elder in Indian Country. He was the hereditary chief and a respected citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma with blood ties to the Iowa and Otoe-Missouria Nations. He was 85. Born in Pawnee, Okla. in 1936, Grant did not become an actor until later in life. However, once he took up acting, he felt enormous pride in sharing culture through films, television programs and public speaking. He admitted that he never aspired to be an actor, but when someone approached him to ask him to be a part of a Chrysler automobile commercial, he said yes and his acting career was launched. Since that day, he has starred in many films like the “Lone Ranger” with Johnny Depp, “Breaking Bad” and “The World’s Fastest Indian” with Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins.
Lakota Culture And History To Be Featured On National Television
Native News Online, Darren Thompson, July 29
The annual Days of ’76 Parade and Rodeo in Deadwood, S.D. started earlier this week with days of celebrations that includes an award-winning rodeo, a beauty pageant, parades, and a curated live performance showcasing Lakota and Native culture. Highlights of each day, including a curated Native Lakota production, will be broadcasted nationally on The Cowboy Channel this Friday, July 30 and Saturday, July 31. The storied past comes to life at the Days of ’76 through a week of events featuring parades, a nationally acclaimed rodeo, and recently, a stage venue focusing attention on the Native Lakota culture. For the celebration, the city has produced Native talent at centrally located Outlaw Square, a new public venue on the corner of Deadwood and Main streets.
Mi’kmaw Harvesting Lobster Near Nova Scotia Under Heavy Police, DFO Presence
APTN News, Angel Moore, July 27
Mi’kmaw harvesters are back on the water fishing for lobster and following their own food, social and ceremonial fishery plan. But the large contingent of police and fisheries officers is intimidating and infringing on their Treaty Rights.