Good morning, NUNAverse:
NUNA’s media clips will be going on a brief hiatus starting tomorrow, August 18. We will resume our daily media update next Monday, August 23.
New legislation has been introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate that will protect and ensure equal access to the polls for Native peoples, Alaska Natives, and all who live on tribal lands. Congressional Native American Caucus co-chairs Kansas Representative Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk) and Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole (Chickasaw) introduced the Frank Harrison, Elizabeth Peratrovich, and Miguel Trujillo Native American Voting Rights Act of 2021 in the House. Companion legislation was brought forward by Democratic New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Luján.
Since its premiere last week, Reservation Dogs has received a wave of critical praise from a laundry list of major media outlets, including the New York Times, which wrote “the series forgoes the usual reductive clichés about reservation life — the show is neither pitying, nor mysticizing — in favor of a nuanced and comic realism.” The half-hour comedy show, streaming now via FX on Hulu, was developed by co-creators and executive producers Sterlin Harjo (Seminole Nation and Muskogee) and Taika Waititi (Maori), and follows four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma.
Child sexual abuse is a major problem in Indian Country, yet federal government data suggests hundreds of cases may be falling through the cracks, according to a new project from the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, a national reporting initiative at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The FBI and U.S. attorneys are responsible for investigating and prosecuting major crimes in Indian Country, such as child sexual abuse. But a Howard Center analysis of Justice Department data shows that the FBI has “closed administratively” more than 1,900 criminal investigations of child sexual abuse in Indian Country since 2011. Child sex abuse investigations accounted for about 30% of all major crimes on reservations closed by the FBI each year — more than any other type of crime, including murders and assaults, the Howard Center found.
Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner has been elected chairman of the Centers for Disease Control Tribal Advisory Committee, a national committee giving tribal input on health issues to the CDC, as well as the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Warner has been a representative to the CDC Tribal Advisory Committee for the Oklahoma area since 2017 when he served on the Tribal Council prior to his service as deputy chief. He was elected to serve as chairman with his term to last a year.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
New Legislation Protects Native Voting Rights
Indian Country Today, Kolby Kickingwoman, August 16
In a year where state governments have introduced legislation seemingly making it more difficult for people of color to vote, companion bills have been introduced in Congress that will work to protect voting rights for Native communities. The new legislation introduced Monday afternoon in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate will protect and ensure equal access to the polls for Native Americans, Alaska Natives and all who live on tribal lands. Congressional Native American Caucus co-chairs Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, and Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, Chickasaw, introduced the Frank Harrison, Elizabeth Peratrovich, and Miguel Trujillo Native American Voting Rights Act of 2021 in the House. Companion legislation was brought forward by Democratic New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján.
Representatives Cole And Davids Lead Native American Voting Rights Act Of 2021 Legislation
Native News Online, August 16
The two co-chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), a tribal citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, and Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS), a tribal citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, joined to introduce the Frank Harrison, Elizabeth Peratrovich, and Miguel Trujillo Native American Voting Rights Act of 2021 (NAVRA). The legislation will protect the sacred right to vote and ensure equal access to the electoral process for Native Americans. Companion legislation was introduced by U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), who previously led the House re-introduction of NAVRA during the 116th Congress. The United States has a trust responsibility to enact voting rights legislation to protect the constitutionally-guaranteed right of Native Americans to vote. However, Native American voters have historically faced unique challenges when exercising their right to vote, according to Rep. Davids. During the past decade, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has documented and fought against the targeted, present day obstacles that Native voters face when trying to cast a ballot.
2020 Census:
Behind The Surprising Jump In Multiracial Americans, Several Theories
The New York Times, Sabrina Tavernise, Tariri Mzezewa, Giulia Heyward, August 15
The Census Bureau released a surprising finding this week: The number of non-Hispanic Americans who identify as multiracial had jumped by 127 percent over the decade. Americans who were mixed race recorded a wide range of identities. People who identified themselves as both white and Asian made up about 18 percent of the total number of non-Hispanic multiracial Americans in 2020. Those who reported their race as both white and Black accounted for 20.5 percent. Americans who were both white and Native American were 26 percent of the total, according to Andrew Beveridge, who founded Social Explorer, a data analytics company. Part of the rise in people identifying as multiracial was simply the growing diversity of the American population.
Other:
‘Reservation Dogs’ Receives Ample Critical Praise From Mainstream Media
Native News Online, August 16
Since its premiere last week, Reservation Dogs has received a wave of critical praise from a laundry list of major media outlets, including the New York Times, which wrote “the series forgoes the usual reductive clichés about reservation life — the show is neither pitying, nor mysticizing — in favor of a nuanced and comic realism.” The acclaim doesn’t stop there, and Reservation Dogs has the 100-percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes to prove it. The half-hour comedy show, streaming now via FX on Hulu, was developed by co-creators and executive producers Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, and follows four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. The group pulls all sorts of hijinks, including clumsily (yet hilariously) stealing a hot-chip truck in order to save money to move to the faraway land of California.
Howard Center Investigation Examines Child Sexual Abuse Cases In Indian Country
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, August 16
Child sexual abuse is a major problem in Indian Country, yet federal government data suggests hundreds of cases may be falling through the cracks, according to a new project from the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, a national reporting initiative at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Deputy Chief Warner Named Tribal Advisory Committee Chairman
Cherokee Phoenix, August 16
According to a Cherokee Nation press release, Deputy Chief Bryan Warner has been elected chairman of the Centers for Disease Control Tribal Advisory Committee, a national committee giving tribes input on health issues to the CDC, as well as the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Warner has been a representative to the CDC Tribal Advisory Committee for the Oklahoma area since 2017 when he served on the Tribal Council prior to his service as deputy chief, the release states. It also states he was elected to serve as chairman in August, with his term to last a year.