Good Morning NUNAverse,
President Joe Biden has announced 9 new federal judicial nominees, one of whom is a citizen of Navajo Nation. Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes would be the first Native
Article III judge in California, the first Article III judge from the Navajo Nation, and the fifth Native Article III judge actively serving in the United States. She is nominated for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Judge Sykes has served as a California Superior Court Judge on the Superior Court of Riverside County since 2013. She currently presides over a civil litigation department and is the presiding judge of the appellate division.
Two artists in Washington are facing federal charges after falsely representing themselves as Native to sell their work. Lewis Anthony Rath, 52, and Jerry Chris Van Dyke, 67, have each been accused of violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, a law passed in 1990 criminalizing the selling of counterfeit Native American artifacts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The artists separately sold their wares, including masks, totem poles, and pendants at art galleries in downtown Seattle.
NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led nonprofit organization dedicated to building Indigenous power, recently announced a Bush Foundation award of $50 million. The Bush Foundation, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, announced its creation in March of two community trust funds in the amount of $100 million to address wealth disparities in both the Native and Black communities in the tri-state areas that includes Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota. NDN Collective, based in Rapid City, South Dakota, was chosen to be a steward of funding for Native communities
Preliminary evidence indicates that COVID-19 vaccines may be less effective against infection and transmission linked to the Omicron COVID-19 variant, which also carries a higher risk of reinfection, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. The WHO, in its weekly epidemiological update, said that more data was needed to better understand the extent to which Omicron may evade immunity derived from either vaccines or previous infection.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Health:
COVID-19 Vaccines May Be Less Effective Against Omicron – WHO
Reuters, December 15
Preliminary evidence indicates that COVID-19 vaccines may be less effective against infection and transmission linked to the Omicron coronavirus variant, which also carries a higher risk of reinfection, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. The WHO, in its weekly epidemiological update, said that more data was needed to better understand the extent to which Omicron may evade immunity derived from either vaccines or previous infection.
Oneida Nation Says Its Vaccination Rate Is ON Par With Region
Observer-Dispatch, Edward Harris, December 15
Native Americans are among the most vaccinated ethnicity in the United States, but also face some of the most hardships due to the ongoing pandemic, according to various statistics. Nationally, Native Americans are included in the Alaskan Native and non-Hispanic/Latino group.
Law:
Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes, Navajo, Nominated For U.S. District Court
Native News Online, December 15
President Joe Biden has announced 9 new federal judicial nominees, one of whom is a citizen of Navajo Nation. Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes would be the first Native American Article III judge in California, the first Article III judge from the Navajo Nation, and the fifth Native American Article III judge actively serving in the United States. She is nominated for the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Two Washington Artists Have Been Charged With Faking Native American Identities To Sell Their Wares In Galleries
ArtNet, Taylor Dafoe, December 14
Two artists in Washington are facing federal charges after falsely representing themselves as Native American to sell their work. Lewis Anthony Rath, 52, and Jerry Chris Van Dyke, 67, have each been accused of violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, a law passed in 1990 criminalizing the selling of counterfeit Native American artifacts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The artists separately sold their wares, including masks, totem poles, and pendants, at art galleries in downtown Seattle.
State Supreme Court Weighs Counties’ Obligations To American Indian Children
Colorado Politics, Michael Karlik, December 14
A mother of two children struggled with substance abuse and was the victim of domestic violence. When the children’s father assaulted her and moved out, she abandoned the children at daycare. The matter culminated in a Denver judge terminating both parents’ rights in 2020. However, the child welfare case has now landed at the Colorado Supreme Court because of one detail that has major implications: the mother belongs to an American Indian tribe.
Legislation Would Let An Arizona Tribe Lease Its Water Allocation
Indian Country Today, Shondiin Silversmith, December 13
A new proposal in Congress would let Arizona’s Colorado River Indian Tribes lease portions of their federal Colorado River allocations for the first time, a move the tribes said would benefit both the river and tribal economies. “This legislation protects the life of the river, protects Arizona’s fragile groundwater resources, and, for the first time in more than 156 years, allows our people to receive the full benefit from our water rights,” Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores said in a press release. “The time has come for (Colorado River Indian Tribes) to have authority over its resources.”
Native Representation:
Canadian Museum Works to Reconcile Its Past
Indian Country Today, Miles Morrisseau, December 15
Julie White wishes she had her old job back. “I completely fell in love with it,” said White, Métis/Anishinaabe, “because I really believed that what we were doing was important.” White was recruited by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to work as an Aboriginal guide in 2015, one year after the museum opened. She was 25 years old, and in the next few years she learned more about herself, her people and her country than ever before.
Glasgow v Exeter: Al Kellock Asks Visiting Fans To Respect Warriors’ Position On Native American Imagery
The Offside Line, David Barnes, Decemer 13
Glasgow Warriors managing director Al Kellock has asked Exeter Chiefs supporters “not to attend the game on Saturday with faux Native American headdresses or chant the ‘Tomahawk Chop’ during the match”. “We are making this request out of respect for the Native American community around the world, whose views on the use of their imagery and cultural heritage we support, and the Glasgow Warriors supporters who have called for us to act on this matter,” he explained, in an open letter issued at lunchtime today [Monday].
Other:
NDN Collective Awarded $50M By The Bush Foundation
Indian Country Today, Mary Annette Pember, December 14
NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led nonprofit organization dedicated to building Indigenous power, announces a Bush Foundation award of $50 million. “The purpose of this grant is to close the racial wealth gap,” said Nick Tilsen, Lakota, director and CEO of the collective. “This is the largest amount of money we’ve received from a single funder; it’s very unusual.”
Native American Land Acknowledgement Resolution Passes Sacramento City Council
ABC10, Gilbert Cordova, December 14
A resolution establishing an official city of Sacramento Land Acknowledgment passed unanimously during Tuesday’s city council meeting. With its passing, this means a Land Acknowledgement statement would be read at the beginning of every Sacramento City Council meeting, its subsidiary committees, boards, and bodies and so on.
$1.1 Million In Grants And Awards Support Native American Entrepreneurs
Small Business Trends, Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead, December 14
The Small Business Association (SBA) has announced $1.1 million will be awarded in grants and contracts to promote the development, success and sustainability of native-owned businesses in the US. The awards are designed to address the challenges facing native American small business owners. Those selected for awards have a track record of service working with Native American small businesses. They also demonstrate they can provide the technical and management assistance service that small business need, especially during these difficult times.
Sterlin Harjo Can Do A Lot More than ‘Reservation Dogs’
The New York Times, Laura Zornosa, December 14
Sterlin Harjo has had a year. In August, FX on Hulu released the series “Reservation Dogs,” the acclaimed dark comedy about four Native American teenagers in rural Oklahoma that Harjo created with Taika Waititi. The next month, Harjo presented a prize at the Emmy Awards alongside the show’s four young breakout stars. Two days before I talked to him, “Reservation Dogs” won the Gotham Award for short format breakout series. (Was he expecting it? “I was not. I would have had less wine.”)