Good Morning NUNAverse,
The White House held its last day event of the tribal nations summit earlier this week. Tribal leaders were invited to participate in the two-day virtual event to discuss how the federal government can invest in and continue to strengthen the nation-to-nation relationships and ensure progress in Indian Country. Day 2 of the summit began with a policy panel and three more continued about climate change; treaty rights and sacred lands; economic and workforce development; and infrastructure, housing, and energy. Notably, an administration listening session received the most tribal leader participation as nine tribal leaders spoke to officials. At the listening session, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the first Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee at the Department of the Interior. It will allow tribal leaders to have a forum directly with Secretary Haaland and future secretaries. Additionally, there will be tribal leader engagement sessions throughout the White House Council on Native American Affairs beginning in January and will be held three times per year.
Tribes welcomed an infusion of money in the massive infrastructure bill to expand broadband coverage, fix roads and address water and sanitation needs, but they say real change will come only with sustained investment. President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion deal earlier this week that includes about $11 billion in benefits for Indian Country, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. About one-third of that, $3.5 billion, will go to the Indian Health Service, the federal agency tasked with providing healthcare for more than 2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. The funding is enough to address more than 1,560 projects on the agency’s list of water and sanitation deficiencies in 12 regions, estimated to cost nearly $2.6 billion. Projects in Alaska and the Southwest region that covers the Navajo Nation — where many tribal members live without running water and indoor plumbing — collectively have the largest price tags.
No one knows how many students died at the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School in Nebraska, though thousands are believed to have passed through its doors. Government documents have proved elusive or obfuscated an accurate death toll. Graves have not been found on the grounds. But, using digitized government records and newspaper clippings, researchers recently pieced together part of the history of the Genoa School, which operated from 1884 to 1934 and once sprawled over 30 buildings and 640 acres. The researchers confirmed that at least 87 children died at the school, and identified 50 of the students, whose names have not been made public. The true death toll is probably much higher, they said. The researchers may publish the names of students who died after consulting with their families and local leaders. The Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs is leading a search for graves at the Genoa School site, where only one building and two barns remain.
Keep reading for a full news update.
White House Tribal Nations Summit:
Day 2 Takeaways From Tribal Nations Summit
Indian Country Today, Kalle Benallie, November 7
The White House held its last day event of the tribal nations summit Tuesday. Tribal leaders were invited to participate in the two-day virtual event to discuss how the federal government can invest in and continue to strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship and ensure progress in Indian Country. Day 2 of the summit began with a policy panel and three more continued about climate change; treaty rights and sacred lands; economic and workforce development; infrastructure, housing and energy. Notably, an administration listening session received the most tribal leader participation as nine tribal leaders spoke to officials. At the listening session, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, announced the first Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee at the Department of Interior. It will allow tribal leaders to have a forum directly with Haaland and future secretaries. Additionally, there will be tribal leader engagement sessions throughout the White House Council on Native American affairs beginning in January and will be held three times per year.
Tribes Welcome Infusion Of Money In Infrastructure Bill
AP News, Felicia Fonseca, November 17
Tribes welcomed an infusion of money in the massive infrastructure bill to expand broadband coverage, fix roads and address water and sanitation needs, but they say real change will come only with sustained investment. President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion deal earlier this week that includes about $11 billion in benefits for Indian Country, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. About one-third of that, $3.5 billion, will go to the Indian Health Service, the federal agency tasked with providing healthcare for more than 2 million Native American and Alaska Natives. The funding is enough to address more than 1,560 projects on the agency’s list of water and sanitation deficiencies in 12 regions, estimated to cost nearly $2.6 billion. Projects in Alaska and the Southwest region that covers the Navajo Nation — where many tribal members live without running water and indoor plumbing — collectively have the largest price tags.
Navajo Nation President Talks About COVID-19’s Impact On Navajo Nation During The White House Tribal Nations Summit
Native News Online, November 17
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, joined by his wife, First Lady Phefelia Nez, spoke about the COVID-19 pandemic on the Navajo Nation on Tuesday during the last day of the White House Tribal Nations Summit. At one point during the first months of the pandemic, the Navajo Nation served experienced some of the COVID-19 cases in the world. Since it began reporting the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, on March 17, 2020, the Navajo Nation has reported almost 38,500 cases and over 1,500 deaths on the country’s largest Indian reservation. Nez reported that the Navajo Nation received $714 million in CARES Act funds, which allowed over 700 Navajo families to receive electricity, over 300 off-grid solar installations, 117 water and waste water upgrades and replacements, 105 water cistern system installations, 30 waterline connections to homes, 139 broadband installations and upgrades, and four new broadband/cell phone towers.
Boarding Schools:
Researchers Identify Dozens Of Native Students Who Died At Nebraska School
The New York Times, Christine Chung, November 17
On the edge of town in Genoa, Neb., a stone monument serves as a gravestone on the grounds of a government-run boarding school for Native Americans that has been shuttered for almost a century. No one knows how many students died there, at the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School, though thousands are believed to have passed through its doors. Government documents have proved elusive or obfuscated an accurate death toll. Graves have not been found on the grounds. But, using digitized government records and newspaper clippings, researchers recently pieced together part of the history of the Genoa School, which operated from 1884 to 1934 and once sprawled over 30 buildings and 640 acres.
The researchers confirmed that at least 87 children died at the school, and identified 50 of the students, whose names have not been made public. The true death toll is probably much higher, they said. The researchers may publish the names of students who died after consulting with their families and local leaders. The Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs is leading a search for graves at the Genoa School site, where only one building and two barns remain.
‘Night Raiders’ Is A Dystopian Future Of Residential School Horrors
Indian Country Today, Vincent Schilling, November 17
The Indigenous sci-fi thriller film “Night Raiders” that aired at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is gaining international recognition for its futuristic storyline that is based on the realities of residential school horrors of the past. Directed by Cree/Métis writer/director Danis Goulet and starring Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (“The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open,” “Blood Quantum”), and Brooklyn Letexier-Hart (“Burden of Truth”), “Night Raiders” explores the story of the world in 2043, where all children, in this case regardless of their race, become immediate property and wards of the government. Tailfeathers portrays Niska, an Indigenous woman frantically protecting her daughter Waseese, played by Letexier-Hart, from the government, who wishes to take her daughter and place her into the governmental children’s academy, a military-type schooling system bearing a close resemblance to residential schools that housed Indigenous children in the U.S. and Canada. The film addresses the concept of indoctrination and colonization by the government against the people, a concept Goulet says is the foundation of her work.
Other:
Indians Of All Tribes To Commemorate The 52nd Anniversary Of The Occupation Of Alcatraz Island On Saturday
Native News Online, Levi Rickert, November 17
Indians of All Tribes will commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the Native Student Occupation of Alcatraz Island on Saturday, November 20, 2021 on Alcatraz Island. For years, the island was home to a federal penitentiary. Called the “Rock,” the penitentiary’s most famous inmate was notorious gangster Al Capone. After the prison closed in 1963, Native Americans began to petition the federal government to put it into “Indian land.” It was on November 20, 1969 when a group of 89 Native Americans from many tribes landed by boat on Alcatraz Island and claimed the former prison as Indian territory. On Saturday, a program will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific Time,, that will include a welcome and land acknowledgement.
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Mourns Loss Of Oldest Citizen And Wwii Veteran Julia Kabance Who Passes Away At 111
Native News Online, November 17
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation is mourning the passing of Julia Kabance, who was the Kansas tribe’s oldest living citizen and a World II veteran. She died on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. Kabance was 111. Born on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation in 1910, she was the 11th out of 12 children. Kabance obtained her education at Haskell Institute, now Haskell Indian Nations University and later the University of Kansas. According the tribe, Kabance, on March 17, 1943 she joined the Women’s Army Corp (WAC) during World War II and was stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state in the Adjutant Corps.
Honorably discharged in 1945, she returned to civilian life where she continued to give of herself by volunteering for seventeen years at the Veterans Administration in Topeka, Kan. She was active with the Catholic Church and was a life-member of the American Legion We-Ta-Se Post 410.
Photographers Share Reflections On Their Identity During Native American Heritage Month
National Geographic, Tucker Toole, November 17
The celebration of Native American Heritage month allows time to not only honor the history and contributions of Native Americans to the United States but also to highlight their culture and heritage, which is deeply embedded in America’s core. The month-long recognition provides an opportunity to break down stereotypes and perceptions. Native American photographers working with National Geographic chose photos and shared personal reflections displaying the importance of their heritage and culture throughout the United States.
Program To Kill Grand Canyon Bison Nets Animals, Criticism
AP News, Felicia Fonseca, November 17
Up to 500 bison are roaming the far northern reaches of Grand Canyon National Park, trampling archaeological and other resources and spoiling the water, park officials say. Hunting pressure on the adjacent national forest has pushed most of the animals into the park. Critics say rather than killing the bison, the animals should be relocated to other areas or given to tribal nations under an existing effort. Lethal removal was one of the tools outlined in a 2017 plan approved after an environmental review, but the guidelines weren’t established until more recently with the pilot program this fall. Each volunteer selected up to three people who were on standby to help cut up the bison and pack the meat out. The groups that shot a bison divided the meat and donated parts of the animals to the Navajo and Zuni tribes in Arizona and New Mexico. A crew led by the National Park Service killed one bison in a trial run in August. The meat was given to the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians.