Good Morning NUNAverse,
Last week, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed that the Quapaw Nation reservation in northeastern Oklahoma was never disestablished by Congress and has existed without abrogation since 1833. The decision was by a 4-0 vote. Thursday’s decision comes on the heels of last year’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court McGirt v. Oklahoma decision in July 2020, affirming the Muscogee Creek Nation’s Reservation status as Indian Country under federal law. This is the first Tribal Reservation in Oklahoma, outside of the Five Tribes, to be affirmed using the McGirt application.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe announced it has received an $82,609 federal grant in support of its work to preserve Native languages. The Administration for Native Americans Emergency Language Preservation Grant was made available as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families. The project is called Nuskeehchooun (“our medicine”), a term for the healing that occurs when a people learn, share, and exist within the language of their ancestors. The Nuskeehchooun project will create Pequot language resources and make them available to all ages of the Mashantucket Pequot tribal community.
Ana Cuddington, the student services Manager at Scottsdale Community College and a member of the Akimel O’otham tribe Gila River Indian Community, is raising awareness for SCC’s poster campaign “My Culture is Not a Costume.” This is the seventh year that SCC is participating in the nationally recognized campaign. Native SCC students, faculty, and staff sent in photos of themselves in their traditional Native attire. The campaign showcased the photos online through the college’s website on Oct. 18 just in time for the upcoming Halloween festivities. The poster campaign will also run through November for Native American Heritage Month.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Law:
Oklahoma Appeals Court Affirms Quapaw Nation’s Reservation
Native News Online, October 22
On Thursday Oct. 21, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the Quapaw Nation reservation in northeastern Oklahoma was never disestablished by Congress and has existed without abrogation since 1833. The decision was by a 4-0 vote. Thursday’s decision comes on the heels of last year’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court McGirt v. Oklahoma decision in July 2020, affirming the Muscogee Creek Nation’s Reservation status as Indian Country under federal law. This is the first Tribal Reservation in Oklahoma, outside of the Five Tribes, to be affirmed using the McGirt application.
Apaches Ask Court To Back Bid To Save Oak Flat
AP News, Anita Snow, October 22
An attorney for citizens of the San Carlos Apache tribe on Friday asked the the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to back their efforts to halt the transfer of central Arizona land that they consider sacred to a copper mining company. An attorney for the U.S. government argued the land transfer must go ahead because it was part of legislation approved by Congress. The land has been set to be transferred to Resolution Copper, as part of a provision in a must-pass 2014 defense bill, once the final environmental impact statement is published. The three-member panel did not immediately release a ruling. The judges will now confer in private and write a decision that may not be issued for as long as three months.
Health:
Osage Named Rural Physician Of The Year
Osage News, Shannon Shaw Duty, October 23
The Rural Health Association of Oklahoma has named Dr. Matthew Cameron Rumsey the 2021 Rural Physician of the Year. Rumsey, Osage, is a family medicine specialist who brings almost a decade of medical experience to his role as Cohesive Healthcare’s Chief Medical Officer at the Pawhuska Family Medical Clinic. He also serves as chief of staff and medical director at Pawhuska Hospital and medical director for the Osage County Health Department. When the Pawhuska Family Medical Clinic first opened in 2018, Rumsey said it was he and his staff’s hope to restore a great healthcare system for Pawhuska and to expand their staff and services to have a positive impact in the community.
COVID-19 Cases Rising Faster On Reservations In Minnesota
AP News, October 22
Native Americans have contracted COVID-19 at two to three times the rate of white Minnesotans over the past month, according to state health officials. There are large pockets of unvaccinated people in the 18 to 49 age range in Minnesota’s tribal communities and across the country, according to Mary Owen, director of the Center for American Indian and Minority Health at the University of Minnesota medical school. Owen says that’s especially concerning because Native Americans have high rates of health disparities that put them at higher risk for serious COVID-19 illness, such as diabetes, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.
Native Mascots:
‘My Culture Is Not A Costume’: How A College In Arizona Is Addressing Halloween Stereotypes
AZ Central, Shanti Lerner, October 22
A Halloween costume can be removed when the night is over. But someone’s culture is something that can’t ever be taken off. That’s how Ana Cuddington explains it. Cuddington, who is the student services Manager at Scottsdale Community College and a member of the Akimel O’otham tribe Gila River Indian Community, is raising awareness for SCC’s poster campaign “My Culture is Not a Costume.” This is the seventh year that SCC is participating in the nationally recognized campaign. SCC students, faculty and staff sent in photos of themselves in their traditional Native attire. The campaign showcased the photos online through the college’s website on Oct. 18 just in time for the upcoming Halloween festivities.
The poster campaign will also run through November for Native American Heritage Month. Photos of faculty and staff who contributed can also be found on SCC’s social media platforms.
Other:
Fighting COVID With Traditional Healing And Western Medicine
Native News Online, October 24
Read our special three-part series about Native-specific healthcare organizations and their efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by offering traditional healing alongside Western medicine. Through the pandemic, the Native American Community Clinic (NACC) in Minneapolis, MN; the Native American Health Center (NAHC) in Oakland, CA; and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) have all provided culturally relevant healthcare options to Native people. For these clinics, traditional medicine propels community healing. Smudging with sacred medicines such as sage, prioritizing the Medicine Wheel and finding virtual spaces for ceremony are being implemented to address medical mistrust and fuel cultural connection.
A-Level Textbook Withdrawn Over ‘Shocking’ Native American Question
BBC, Harry Farley, October 24
An A-level history textbook has been withdrawn after a youth worker said she was “horrified” to discover an image asking whether the treatment of Native Americans had been exaggerated. The AQA-approved book asked students to balance “criticisms of treatment of Native Americans” with “defence” of their treatment in the late 1800s. The period saw some massacres of Native American tribes by the US government. The publisher Hodder has withdrawn the book. In one section the textbook – called The Making of a Superpower: USA 1865-1975 – asked students “to what extent do you believe the treatment of Native Americans has been exaggerated?” Hannah Wilkinson, who offers history mentoring sessions at Durham Sixth Form Centre, said the exercise was “quite problematic”.
Navajo Nation Pushes For Radioactive Waste Remnants To Be Removed
Source NM, Arlyssa Becenti, October 22
Navajo Nation continues to hold strong on its stance against radioactive waste being dumped near its lands, while also pushing for the waste to be removed completely. The Church Rock uranium mill site is owned by United Nuclear Corporation, and in 1979 this site is where 93 million gallons of radioactive tailings were released into the Pipeline Arroyo and Puerco River. This is the biggest radioactive spill in U.S. History. It’s well-documented how this spill has impacted the Navajo people, poisoning the water and land. But this is not a devastation of the past, because waste remnants still exist. Where to dump those remnants is the issue before the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency and the Red Water Pond Road Community Association today.
Mashantuckets Get Federal Grant For Preservation Of Native American Languages
The Day, October 22
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe announced it has received an $82,609 federal grant in support of its work to preserve Native American languages. The Administration for Native Americans Emergency Language Preservation Grant was made available as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families. The project is called Nuskeehchooun (“our medicine”), a term for the healing that occurs when a people learn, share, and exist within the language of their ancestors. The Nuskeehchooun project will create Pequot language resources and make them available to all ages of the Mashantucket Pequot tribal community.
Philadelphia School Works To Return Native American Remains
AP News, Claudia Lauer, October 22
The School District of Philadelphia is working to repatriate Native American skeletal remains found in a high school classroom closet this summer. A letter sent to parents of Central High School students Friday said the “human skeletal item” was previously used as a teaching aid and dated back to the 1850s. The district consulted with the Department of Interior, Temple University and other experts about how to handle the remains, Evelyn Nunez, the district’s chief of schools wrote in the letter to parents. In a statement Friday, the district said the remains were likely used in teaching through the mid-1900s at the latest, but the district’s schools have not used skeletal remains in classrooms for more than a decade.
Native Comedians Collaborate With Comedy Central
Indian Country Today, Vincent Schilling, October 22
This is not Cowlitz comedian Joey Clift’s first time at the animated short video rodeo. But it is the first time this Comedy Central video that 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 the first time ever collaboration with Comedy Central, released his latest video that he wrote, directed and starred in.
Southern Miss Displays Flags For Native American Nations
AP News, October 22
The University of Southern Mississippi is now displaying flags to recognize students enrolled there from six Native American nations. The flags were dedicated during a ceremony Oct. 15 in the student union building. They are for the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the United Houma Nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the White Earth Nation of the Ojibwe Tribe. Three years ago, the university placed flags in the union to recognize international students.