Good Morning, NUNAverse,
The Haskell Indian Nations University has received the largest research award ever granted by the National Science Foundation to a tribal college or university – a $20 million award that will be used for an Indigenous science hub project. The hub is planned to focus their research in four regions: Alaska (Arctic), Louisiana (Gulf of Mexico), Hawai‘i (Pacific Islands), and Puerto Rico (Caribbean Islands).
According to the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced Native life expectancy at birth from the already low 72 years in 2019 to about 67 years in 2020 and about 65 years in 2021 for both sexes combined. Native people experienced disproportionately high rates of deaths from COVID-19 due to poverty, crowded housing, high rates of chronic disease, employment in frontline jobs, and limited access to quality health care.
Last week, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals reinstated the child-abuse conviction and 35-year-prison sentence of Victor Castro-Huerta, a Tulsa man whose case led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision on criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. The court had vacated his conviction and sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the state lacked criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country in cases involving tribal citizens.
The Oglala Lakota Nation tribal council voted last month to exclude Matt Monfore, a non-Native from the Jesus is King Mission, from Pine Ridge lands, saying he was spreading hate by distributing pamphlets on tribal lands. In meetings July 26-27, the council also required any churches or missionaries conducting work on tribal lands to register with the tribe and to clear a background investigation.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
‘We Look Deeper’: The Native Court Settling Cases Outside The Justice System
The Guardian, Stewart Huntington, August 6
Pine Ridge Council Votes To Ban Missionary From Tribal Lands
Indian Country Today, Mary Annette Pember, August 5
Oklahoma Court Reinstates Sentence In Castro-Huerta Case
AP News, August 4
Oglala Sioux Ban Missionary, Require Ministries To Register
AP News, August 3
Tribe Claims Prejudice, Sues County For Diluting Native Vote
Buffalo’s Fire, Talli Nauman, August 3
Judges Finds New Montana Election Law Unconstitutional
AP News, Amy Beth Hanson, August 2
Sports Betting Law In Effect Soon But Wagering Months Away
AP News, August 2
Politics:
Choctaw Nation Citizen Seeks Reelection In Tennessee
Indian Country Today, Kalle Benallie, August 4
Jonathan Nez, Buu Nygren Advance For Navajo Presidency
AP News, Felicia Fonseca, August 3
MMIW:
Road To Healing Set For Pellston, Michigan
Native News Online, Neely Bardwell, August 2
Health:
Life Expectancy Drops For Native Americans Due To COVID-19
Science Daily, August 1
Other:
Concerns Voiced As Reenactors Replay Penn Township Battle Of British, Native Americans
Trib Live, August 6
60 Curators, 1 Show: Native Americans Pick Favorite Pottery
Indian Country Today, Morgan Lee, August 6
SUV Barrels Through Native American Parade; 15 Injured
AP News, Felicia Fonseca, August 5
New Mexico: Several Arrested After SUV Drives Into Native American Parade
The Guardian, August 5
Full Tuition Native American Basketball Invitational Scholarship Offered At University Of Phoenix
Native News Online, Neely Bardwell, August 4
Mammoth Bones And ‘Ghost’ Footprints Add To Heated Debate About First Humans In North America
NBC News, Tom Metcalfe, August 4
Haskell Indian Nations University Receives $20 Million For Indigenous Science Hub
Native News Online, Neely Bardwell, August 3
How ‘Reservation Dogs’ Became A Breakthrough Hit For Indigenous Representation
PBS, Adam Kemp, August 2