Good Morning NUNAverse,
A key Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Thursday unanimously recommended giving booster shots of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to people ages 65 and older and other vulnerable Americans. The vote was a crucial step before the U.S. can start administering third shots to some of the more than 69 million people who originally received that vaccine. The nonbinding decision by the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee would bring guidelines for Moderna in line with third shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Indian Country Today reports on a recent animated short video released by Comedy Central that was created by Cowlitz comedian Joey Clift. The video, ‘How to Cope with Your Team Changing Its Native American Mascot’ and it’s a comedy PSA about sports fans whose teams just changed their Native mascots. “I wrote, directed and star in it and I’m so proud of this thing,” said Clift. “It also features the super funny Jana Schmieding and Tai Leclaire from ‘Rutherford Falls’ on Peacock and John Timothy from ‘Spirit Rangers’ on Netflix, so it’s got an all Native American voice cast (which I think is a first for Comedy Central), and we had the badass Indigenous cartoonist Marie Bower design all of the weird Native mascots faces.”
A Fort Peck tribal board member and U.S. Army veteran will serve as part of an advisory committee for the VA as it extends its outreach into Indian Country. Jestin Dupree, who served for 16 years as an infantryman, will be one of 15 people on the recently launched VA Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs. The committee will act as a direct line of communication between VA Secretary Denis McDonough and the roughly 160,000 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian veterans in the United States.
The American Indian Graduate Center has announced the creation of the Miller Indigenous Economic Development Fellowship, a $190K program dedicated to Native research that was created with the support of Alumnus Robert J. Miller (Eastern Shawnee Tribe). The American Indian Graduate Center is one of the largest scholarship providers to Native Americans in the U.S. The fellowship is meant to empower Native doctoral students who are currently conducting research in the data collection or analysis phase, whose work centers on economics and economic development impacting Native communities.
Keep reading for a full news update.
COVID-19:
FDA Panel Unanimously Recommends Moderna COVID Booster Shots for At-Risk Adults
CNBC, Berkeley Lovelace Jr., October 14
A key Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Thursday unanimously recommended giving booster shots of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to people ages 65 and older and other vulnerable Americans. The vote was a crucial step before the U.S. can start administering third shots to some of the more than 69 million people who originally received that vaccine.
Native Mascots & Representation:
Native Comedians Collaborate with Comedy Central
Indian Country Today, Vincent Schilling, October 15
This is not Cowlitz comedian Joey Clift’s first time at the Comedy Central animated short video rodeo. But it is the first time the video is about an actual Native mascot change, and for that, he is grateful. Earlier in October, when the then Cleveland Indians played their last game with that name, (they have changed their name now to the Cleveland Guardians) Clift, in collaboration with Comedy Central, released his latest video that he wrote, directed and starred in.
Politics:
Fawn Sharp Re-Elected to Second Term as President of National Congress of American Indians; More NCAI Election Results
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, October 14
Fawn Sharp was re-elected to serve as president of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the largest national American Indian organization in the United States, on Wednesday, October 13, during the virtual NCAI 78th Annual Convention.
Fort Peck Tribal Member Tapped to Serve on National VA Advisory Committee
Independent Record, Paul Hamby, October 14
A Fort Peck tribal board member and U.S. Army veteran will serve as part of an advisory committee for the VA as it extends its outreach into Indian Country.
Law:
Two Men Charged Federally with Murder After Weekend Killing of Native American Man West of Turley
Tulsa World, October 14
Two men have been charged with murder in Indian Country after a man was found stabbed to death in his front yard west of Turley, according to an affidavit filed in the federal Northern District of Oklahoma.
Other:
MIT Grapples With Early Leader’s Stance on Native Americans
AP News, Philip Marcelo, October 15
As the third president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Francis Amasa Walker helped usher the school into national prominence in the late 1800s. But another part of his legacy has received renewed attention amid the nation’s reckoning with racial justice: his role in shaping the nation’s hardline policies toward Native Americans as a former head of the U.S. office of Indian Affairs and author of “The Indian Question,” a treatise that justified forcibly removing tribes from their lands and confining them to remote reservations.
Protesters Arrested After Occupying Interior Dept. Lobby
AP News, Matthew Daly, October 14
Protesters held a sit-in Thursday at the Interior Department building in downtown Washington and clashed with police as they challenged fossil fuel projects and called for the declaration of a climate emergency. Multiple arrests were reported.
‘Our Chief Loved Us’: Blackfeet Nation Mourns the Loss of Chief Earl Old Person
Great Falls Tribune, Nora Mabie, October 14
The Blackfeet Nation has suffered a tremendous loss with the passing of Honorary Lifetime Chief Earl Old Person. Old Person served on the Blackfeet tribal council and was chairman for 34 years. He was president of the National Congress of American Indians, he met every U.S. president from Harry Truman to Barack Obama and he served in countless other leadership roles where he tirelessly advocated for Native people.
New Fellowship for Native Doctoral Students
Native News Online, October 14
The American Indian Graduate Center has announced the creation of the Miller Indigenous Economic Development Fellowship, a $190K program dedicated to Native research that was created with the support of Alumnus Robert J. Miller (Eastern Shawnee Tribe). The American Indian Graduate Center is one of the largest scholarship providers to Native Americans in the U.S.