Good morning, NUNAverse:
Four Native Hawaiians arrested in 2019 while protesting against construction of a giant telescope on Hawaii’s highest peak were not guilty of obstructing the mountain’s access road, a judge ruled Friday. Judge M. Kanani Laubach issued her verdict after a trial that began in January 2020 and saw significant delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keli’i ’Ioane, Marie Alohalani Brown, Maxine Kahaulelio, and Ranette Robinson were the first to go to trial out of 38 mostly Native Hawaiian kupuna, or elders, who were arrested during a swelling effort to stop construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope. The other cases are pending.
One of Indian Country’s leading legal scholars, John Echohawk (Pawnee) recently addressed the Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT) on the topic of Native voting. Echohawk says it’s important for Congress to pass a comprehensive voting rights law to protect the Native vote. New Mexico Senator Ben Lujan plans to reintroduce the Native American Voting Rights Act (NAVRA) that was initially proposed in 2019. The legislation would ensure equal access to voting for all Native voters living on tribal lands and will empower tribal communities in their effort to improve access to voter registration.
The United Nations released its 6th Assessment on Climate Change yesterday, calling this moment a “code red” for the planet. The report describes extreme weather events brought by climate change, many of them compounded by their social and economic effects. In response, Indian Country Today published a piece covering how Indigenous people around the world are impacted by climate change, from wildfires to the lack of water for irrigation and drinking in the American Southwest. In a prepared statement, UN officials said “respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and enhancing their participation in climate policy is critical to achieving the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and fostering climate resilience.”
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
Not Guilty Verdict For Hawaiian Elders Protesting Telescope
Indian Country Today, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, August 9
Four Native Hawaiians arrested in 2019 while protesting against construction of a giant telescope on Hawaii’s highest peak were not guilty of obstructing the mountain’s access road, a judge ruled Friday. Judge M. Kanani Laubach issued her verdict after a trial that began in January 2020 and saw significant delays because of the coronavirus pandemic. Keli’i ’Ioane, Marie Alohalani Brown, Maxine Kahaulelio and Ranette Robinson were the first to go to trial out of 38 mostly Native Hawaiian kupuna, or elders, who were arrested during a swelling effort to stop construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope. The other cases are pending. Those who oppose the $1.4-billion project say it will desecrate land on Mauna Kea held sacred to Native Hawaiians.
Congress Needs To Pass The Native American Voting Rights Act
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, August 10
One of Indian Country’s leading legal scholars, John Echohawk (Pawnee) addressed the Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT) on the topic of Native voting. Echohawk says it’s important for Congress to pass a comprehensive voting rights law to protect the Native vote. New Mexico Senator Ben Lujan plans to reintroduce the Native American Voting Rights Act (NAVRA) that was initially proposed in 2019. The legislation would ensure equal access to voting for all Native voters living on tribal lands and will empower tribal communities in their effort to improve access to voter registration.
Politics:
A Michigan Tribal Leader Was Just Appointed To The Highest-Ranking Position In U.S. Indian Affairs
Michigan Live, Alyssa Burr, August 10
A Michigan tribal leader is returing to a federal government office with a much larger role. The U.S. Senate confirmed by voice vote Bryan Newland to be the Assistant Secretary of the Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior. Assistant secretary is the department’s highest-ranking, Senate-confirmed official in Indian Affairs. Under the Obama administration, Newland served as policy advisor in the same office he has now been closed to lead.
Boarding Schools:
Residential Schools Were A Key Tool In America’s Long History Of Native Genocide
Washington Post, David Love, August 10
The recent discovery of unmarked mass graves of 1,300 Indigenous children buried in five formal residential schools has forced Canada to come to grips with a legacy of cultural and physical genocide against Native people. In the 19th and 20th centuries, 150,000 children were separated from their families, language and culture and placed in government funded schools. They children were subject to torture, trauma, and death to “kill the Indian in the child.”
Other:
The Pandemic Knocked Many Native Students Off The College Track
The Hechinger Report, Charlotte West, August 10
In fall 2020, the number of Native students attending college for the first time fell by nearly a quarter compared with a 13 percent drop for all first-year, first-time students. Experts worry about the long-term impact economic impact on Native communities if students continue to forgo college in large numbers. Native college graduates often come back to their communities and work in schools and health clinics which had trouble attracting enough people even prior to the pandemic. Yet while the pandemic exacerbated barriers Native students already faced getting into college, many demonstrate great lengths to learn with the hope of improving their lives and those of their families.
Winona LaDuke Feels That President Biden Has Betrayed Native Americans
The New York Times, David Marchese, August 8
Right now in northern Minnesota, the Canadian oil-and-gas-transport company Enbridge is building an expansion of a pipeline, Line 3, to carry oil through fragile parts of the state’s watersheds as well as treaty-protected tribal lands. Winona LaDuke, a member of the local Ojibwe tribe and a longtime Native rights activist, has been helping to lead protests and acts of civil disobedience against the controversial $9.3 billion project. So far the efforts of LaDuke, who is 61 and who ran alongside Ralph Nader as the Green Party’s vice-presidential nominee in 1996 and 2000, have been in vain. The Biden administration declined to withdraw federal permits for the project,a stance that Line 3 opponents see as hypocritical given the president’s cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline as well as his vocal support for climate action.
‘Code Red’ On Indigenous People’s Day
Indian Country Today, Joaqlin Estus, August 9
This will be an Indigenous People’s Day to remember. The United Nations released its 6th Assessment on Climate Change on Aug. 9 calling this moment a “code red” for the planet. The report describes extreme weather events brought by climate change – heatwaves and droughts, flooding, storm surges, extreme rainfall, wildfires, and reduced snowfall – many of them compounded by their social and economic effects. Diminishing sea ice in the Arctic is affecting the northern hemisphere’s atmosphere and ocean currents.
South Dakota Cuts Indigenous And Tribal Issues From New Social Studies Teaching Standards, Overriding Dozens Of Experts
NY Daily News, Theresa Braine, August 10
Tribal and Indigenous learning objectives – arrived by dozens of teachers, museum experts and professors – fell prey to an overhaul of social studies teaching standards in South Dakota. The South Dakota Department of Education overrode the recommendations of experts who had spent months updating the curriculum that would have broadened South Dakota students’ understanding of Indigenous people in the state.