Good Morning NUNAverse, 

Prosecutors in New Mexico’s busiest judicial district and the state’s Indian Affairs Department are teaming up to create a special unit to focus on investigating cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous people. State Indian Affairs Secretary Lynn Trujillo and Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez announced a memorandum of understanding Thursday to form the investigative team. Under the agreement, the unit within the district attorney’s office will help a statewide task force with analysis, case investigations, and interventions. Officials said New Mexico has the fifth-largest Native population in the U.S. but the highest number of Indigenous people who have been killed or are missing in the country.

Federal authorities say 15 historical artifacts stolen almost a half-century ago from a number of Pennsylvania museums have been returned to the institutions. The FBI art crime team and other law enforcement agencies repatriated the 18th and 19th-century rifles and pistols as well as a Native silver concho belt in a ceremony Friday at the Museum of the American Revolution. FBI art crime agents and detectives from the Upper Merion Township Police Department recovered the artifacts as part of an investigation into the 1971 theft and 2018 sale of a rare 1775 rifle made by Pennsylvania master gunsmith Christian Oerter, officials said. Receiving the repatriated items were the American Swedish Historical Museum, the Hershey Story Museum (formerly the Hershey Museum), the Landis Valley Museum (formerly the Pennsylvania Farm Museum), the Mercer Museum, the Museum of the American Revolution, and York County History Center.

New York is among the four states that don’t protect all their dead from unintentional excavation – specifically those buried on private lands. There have been several examples of this over the last two decades, on Long Island, about 100 miles east of New York City. In 2003, a developer on Shelter Island, off the coast of Long Island, unearthed a mass Native burial site on his property, then built a horse barn over the site. In any other state – except New Jersey, Ohio, and Wyoming – the discovery of an unmarked gravesite would have set off a chain of commands codified by law: from notifying a local coroner who would then call the state archeologist if the remains were more than 50 years old, to establishing a link to a present-day tribe and entrusting the remains to that affiliated group, to criminal penalties for those who don’t comply with the law.

Keep reading for a full news update.

Health:

Moderna: Initial Booster Data Shows Good Results On Omicron

AP News, December 20

Moderna said Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine should offer protection against the rapidly spreading omicron variant. Moderna said lab tests showed the half-dose booster shot increased by 37 times the level of so-called neutralizing antibodies able to fight omicron. And a full-dose booster was even stronger, triggering an 83-fold jump in antibody levels, although with an increase in the usual side effects, the company said. While half-dose shots are being used for most Moderna boosters, a full-dose third shot has been recommended for people with weakened immune systems. Moderna announced the preliminary laboratory data in a press release and it hasn’t yet undergone scientific review. But testing by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, announced last week by Dr. Anthony Fauci, found a similar jump.

Politics:

Tribes Prevail As Redistricting Plans Advance

AP News, Morgan Lee, December 17

The Democrat-led New Mexico state Senate endorsed a new map for its own political boundaries Thursday that embraces recommendations from Native American communities for shoring up Indigenous voting blocs in the northwest of the state. In a 25-13 Senate floor vote along party lines, Republicans opposed the redistricting bill that would pit two incumbent Republican senators against each other in the same district for the next election cycle. The bill moves to the House, where major changes are unlikely. Democratic state Sen. Shannon Pinto, a Navajo Nation citizen from Tohatchi, described her vote for the bill as a gesture of appreciation for sovereign tribal nations and the state Legislature.

Law:

Navajo Ranchers Want Imported Beef Labeled

AP News, Vida Volkert, December 18

Continued drought and lack of precipitation in the Southwest has forced rancher Majorie Lantana to reduce the number of cows at the ranch she leases from the Navajo Nation. Lantana said she is a member of the New Mexico Beef Council and the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association. It is through these circles that she learned that beef from other countries is entering the United States and getting repackaged and labeled as a USA product. This, she said, is adding more challenges to a market already impacted by drought and pandemic lockdowns and regulations. It is adding more stress to ranchers and beef producers as they have to compete with cheaper products. In short, the legislation seeks to reinstate the mandatory country of origin labeling requirements for beef. The proposed Senate bill states that the current beef labeling system in the United States allows imported beef that is neither born nor raised in the United States, but simply finished in the U.S., to be labeled as a product of the USA.

The Dead’s Right To Remain Buried: New York Tribal Members Advocate For Bill To Protect Unmarked Graves

Native News Online, Jenna Kunze, December 17

New York is among the four states that don’t protect all their dead from unintentional excavation—specifically those buried on private lands. There have been several examples of this over the last two decades, on Long Island, about 100 miles east of New York City. In 2003, a developer on Shelter Island, off the coast of Long Island, unearthed a mass Native burial site on his property, then built a horse barn over the site. In any other state — except New Jersey, Ohio, and Wyoming— the discovery of an unmarked gravesite would have set off a chain of commands codified by law: from notifying a local coroner who would then call the state archeologist if the remains were more than 50 years old, to establishing a link to a present-day Native American tribe and entrusting the remains to that affiliated group, to criminal penalties for those who don’t comply with the law.

Other:

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson buys 500 pairs of shoes for Albuquerque Native Youth, delivers 100 to Native American Community Academy

Native News Online, December 19

 Pueblo Governors, donors and community activists joined former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and students from the Native American Community Academy (NACA) at Indian Pueblo Cultural where students received 100 pairs of new Nike shoes last Friday. An additional 400 pairs of quality shoes, for a total of 500, are being ordered for Native students in need at other Albuquerque-area schools and will be delivered in January. Since 2020, the Fund delivered 450 pairs of shoes to eight schools in Shiprock, NM in September and schools in Crystal, Manuelito, Fort Defiance and Sawmill. With additional donations, students in Crownpoint, NM and Albuquerque will receive new shoes through January 2022. In total, the project is donating 900 pairs of quality shoes.

FBI: Artifacts Stolen From Museums In 1960s, 1970s Returned

AP News, December 19

Federal authorities say 15 historical artifacts stolen almost a half-century ago from a number of Pennsylvania museums have been returned to the institutions. The FBI art crime team and other law enforcement agencies repatriated the 18th- and 19th-century rifles and pistols as well as a Native American silver concho belt in a ceremony Friday at the Museum of the American Revolution. FBI art crime agents and detectives from the Upper Merion Township Police Department recovered the artifacts as part of an investigation into the 1971 theft and 2018 sale of a rare 1775 rifle made by Pennsylvania master gunsmith Christian Oerter, officials said.

Receiving the repatriated items were the American Swedish Historical Museum, the Hershey Story Museum (formerly the Hershey Museum), the Landis Valley Museum (formerly the Pennsylvania Farm Museum), the Mercer Museum, the Museum of the American Revolution, and York County History Center.

Indigenous Gamers Advocate For Representation And Education

Indian Country Today, Jessica Mundie, December 19

Marlon Weekusk, a citizen of the Onion Lake Cree Nation from Saskatoon, in central Canada, is known by his icon: a howling white wolf that has held significance for him throughout his spiritual journey as a Cree. Those who know him expect conversations about tokenizing Indigenous people and representation of Cree characters in the video games he plays for fun and profit — Call of Duty and Dead by Daylight. Weekusk is a streamer — an expert video gamer who plays for a public of mostly other avid gamers — and like other Indigenous streamers, he offers running commentary while he plays: critiques of popular games, opinions about streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming and stories about his culture and spirituality. As well known as Weekusk’s identity is to his fans in the small world of Indigenous gaming, he realizes that he and his culture go almost completely unrecognized in the greater gaming world. And he is determined to change that by educating the online world while empowering other Indigenous content creators.

New Mexico Unit To Specialize On Indigenous Crime Victims

AP News, December 17

Prosecutors in New Mexico’s busiest judicial district and the state Indian Affairs Department are teaming up to create a special unit to focus on investigating cases of missing or slain Native Americans. State Indian Affairs Secretary Lynn Trujillo and Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez announced a memorandum of understanding Thursday to form the investigative team. Under the agreement, the unit within the district attorney’s office will help a statewide task force with analysis, case investigations and interventions. Officials said New Mexico has the fifth-largest Native American population in the U.S. but the highest number of Indigenous people who have been killed or are missing in the country.

‘Historic’ Meeting Renews Push For Black Hills

Indian Country Today, Stewart Huntington, December 17

Tribal leaders from 12 Great Plains Native Nations conferred Friday in the Black Hills with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a meeting tribal leaders called “historic.” Several leaders brought up the long-standing issue over control of the Black Hills, the sacred Paha Sapa of the Oceti Sakowin tribes. Tribal leaders had a chance to state their individual concerns during a two-hour, closed meeting held at the Interior Department’s Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians in Rapid City. Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire said the meeting may have marked a turning point.