Good Morning NUNAverse,
New York officials have confirmed five cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the New York City metropolitan area, Governor Kathy Hochul announced late Thursday, hours after cases were detected in Minnesota and Colorado. One case was discovered in Suffolk County on Long Island and four New York City: two in Queens, one in Brooklyn, and another in the city, Governor Hochul said at a press briefing. Minnesota health authorities confirmed the second U.S. case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant earlier Thursday, in a resident who recently returned from New York City.
Tribes, states, and U.S. territories will receive $7.4 billion in 2022 to improve water quality and access, the first installment from the infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed into law last month, the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday. The legislation commits $50 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure over five years, with $15 billion allocated for removing lead pipes and $10 billion to address contamination from toxic chemicals frequently used in cookware, carpets, firefighting foams, and other products. The federal government cannot dictate how that money is spent, but the EPA says it is urging local administrators to prioritize sending money to historically underserved communities that have long faced challenges in accessing clean water. Of the $7.4 billion headed to tribes, states, and territories, $2.9 billion will help pay for the replacement of lead pipes and service lines, and $866 million is meant for addressing contaminants in water.
Dozens of local activists and tribal members in Nevada are camping out at Peehee Mu’huh, or Thacker Pass, to protest the extraction of lithium from one the largest deposits in the world. The Bureau of Land Management in January approved the Thacker Pass Lithium Project, granting Lithium Americas and its subsidiary, Lithium Nevada, exclusive rights to mine there, despite the fact that it’s home to one of the local community’s most sacred sites. But large companies like Lithium Americas aren’t backing down. Lithium can be used to power rechargeable batteries for things like electric cars and mining it can be a lucrative opportunity for those looking to benefit from the electric vehicle revolution.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Health:
New York Officials Confirm 5 Cases Of Omicron COVID Variant In NYC Metro Area
CNBC, Annika Kim Constantino, December 2
New York officials have confirmed five cases of the omicron Covid-19 variant in the New York City metropolitan area, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced late Thursday, hours after cases were detected in Minnesota and Colorado. One case was discovered in Suffolk County on Long Island and four New York City: two in Queens, one in Brooklyn and another in the city, she said at a press briefing. Minnesota health authorities confirmed the second U.S. case of the omicron Covid variant earlier Thursday, in a resident who recently returned from New York City.
‘The Fire That’s Here’: US Is Still Battling Delta Variant
AP News, Heather Hollingsworth, December 2
While all eyes are on the new and little-understood omicron variant, the delta form of the coronavirus isn’t finished wreaking havoc in the U.S., sending record numbers of patients to the hospital in the Midwest and New England. The U.S. recorded its first known omicron infection on Wednesday, in a fully vaccinated person who had returned to California from South Africa, where the variant was first identified just over a week ago. Two more U.S. cases were confirmed Thursday. One was in a Colorado woman who had recently traveled to southern Africa. The other was in a Minnesota man who had attended an anime convention in New York City just before Thanksgiving that drew an estimated 50,000 people. Minnesota officials said he had no history of international travel. That would suggest the variant has begun to spread within the U.S. For now, the extra-contagious delta variant accounts for practically all cases in the U.S. and continues to inflict misery at a time when many hospitals are struggling with shortages of nurses and a backlog of patients undergoing procedures that had been put off early in the pandemic.
Politics:
Majority-Minority State Redraws Political Map, Alliances
AP News, Morgan Lee, December 2
Political boundaries are being redrawn by New Mexico’s Democrat-led Legislature in a sparsely populated state where Hispanics and Native Americans account for roughly six in 10 residents. The Legislature convenes Monday at noon to forge new district boundaries for three congressional districts and 112 seats in the state Legislature, along with a Public Education Commission that oversees charter schools. The process will reshape a congressional swing district in southern New Mexico that flipped to Republican control in 2020. Republicans need a net gain of just five seats to take control of the U.S. House and effectively freeze President Joe Biden’s agenda on climate change, the economy and other issues. The share of New Mexico residents who identify themselves as Indigenous by race or by combined ancestry is 12.4%. The state is home to 23 federally recognized tribes, whose growing political clout is reflected in the election of Laguna Pueblo tribal member Deb Haaland to Congress in 2016 and her promotion this year to secretary of the Interior.
Other:
EPA Outlines $7.4b For Water Infrastructure Headed To Tribes, States
AP News, Suman Naishadham, December 2
States, tribal nations and U.S. territories will receive $7.4 billion in 2022 to improve water quality and access, the first installment from the infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed into law last month, the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday. The legislation commits $50 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure over five years, with $15 billion allocated for removing lead pipes and $10 billion to address contamination from toxic chemicals frequently used in cookware, carpets, firefighting foams and other products. The federal government cannot dictate how that money is spent, but the EPA says it is urging governors, mayors and other local administrators to prioritize sending money to historically underserved communities that have long faced challenges in accessing clean water. Of the $7.4 billion headed to states, tribes and territories, $2.9 billion will help pay for the replacement of lead pipes and service lines, and $866 million is meant for addressing per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminants in water.
Native Americans Fight To Save Sacred Lands Threatened By Lithium Miners
The Hill, Brooke Madigan, December 2
Dozens of local activists and Native American tribe members in Nevada are camping out at Peehee Mu’huh, or Thacker Pass, to protest the extraction of lithium from one the largest deposits in the world. The Bureau of Land Management in January approved the Thacker Pass Lithium Project, granting Lithium Americas and its subsidiary, Lithium Nevada, exclusive rights to mine there, despite the fact that it’s home to one of the local community’s most sacred sites. But large companies like Lithium Americas aren’t backing down. Lithium can be used to power rechargeable batteries for things like electric cars, and mining it can be a lucrative opportunity for those looking to benefit from the electric vehicle revolution.
Jingle Dress Aims To Heal, Amidst Two Pandemics A Century Apart
Native News Online, Darren Thompson, December 2
In the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Diné photographer Eugene Tapahe had a dream that brought healing to the people and the land. His dream was of jingle dress dancers approaching buffalo grazing in the Yellowstone National Park, and of buffalo joining the dancers in the well-known healing dance that has its origins during the Spanish flu of 1918 among the Ojibwe people. From his dream, Eugene Tapahe created the Jingle Dress Project last year with his two daughters, Erin and Dion Tapahe, and two family friends, Sunni and JoAnni Begay—all Diné. The project aims to bring healing to the land and to the people. Since the Jingle Dress Project was created, the Tapahe family has traveled to more than 20 national and state parks throughout the United States including Yellowstone, Yosemite, Central Park in Manhattan, and Mouth Rushmore National Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They dance to a song that was created by one of their family members. On November 15, 2021, the Jingle Dress Project was featured on Good Morning America and told the story of how the project came to be and its roots to Indigenous peoples history and, significantly, how the people heal from a pandemic.
Wet’suwet’en To Continue Resistance After Latest Rcmp Raid
APTN National News, Lee Wilson, December 2
For three consecutive years, the RCMP has raided Wet’suwet’en camps over the pipeline conflict in northern British Columbia. In the latest raid which included dogs and Mounties with high-powered assault rifles, Sleydo’, the spokesperson for the Gidmit’en Access Point was one of more than 30 people who were arrested. She and her family have lived in a land re-occupation for near a decade. Sledyo’ says the first land re-occupation was at Unis’tot’en which is associated with one of 13 house groups but falls under Gil-Seyhu Clan located 66 km up Forestry Rd. In 2018, Gidimt’en Access Point was built 20 km south as a part of the resistance to the pipeline. Coastal GasLink is building a 670 km pipeline that if completed will carry fracked natural gas from Dawson Creek in northeastern B.C., to a terminal in Kitimat on the coast. The company has signed agreements with 20 First Nation Indian Act bands, which have control over reserve land and not territory, along the route according to the company.
CGL says 50 per cent of the pipeline is complete. In a video posted to social media, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Woos said the hereditary chiefs were never consulted. Sleydo’ says they’re upholding Wet’suwet’en law.