News: Navajo Nation hit hard by COVID-19; Smithsonian won’t repatriate Seminole ancestors’ remains, and more

In this blog:

• Navajo Nation hit hard by coronavirus, NM Gov. warns it could be ‘wiped out’
• Smithsonian won’t repatriate Seminole ancestors’ remains; Seminole Museum withdraws as Smithsonian affiliate
• The big emergency: A critique of media coverage of Standing Rock and DAPL
• Mining and Petroleum Workers: ‘Essential’ or ‘an Enormous Risk’?

Amid health crisis, Trump administration finds time to attack Indigenous rights and the environment

With the coronavirus dominating the daily news, with much of the country in virtual lock down, with the federal government struggling to coordinate an effective pandemic response, the Trump administration is quietly attacking Indigenous rights and the environment.

Reads: Homeless Native Americans and the coronavirus; The census and shifting definitions of race; and more

In this blog:

• Homelessness, Native Americans, and the coronavirus
• The census and shifting definitions of race
• Tar sands oil price tanks

Reads: Bois Forte faces casino boycott over anti-mining stance; Trump gets one vote from Red Lake Nation presidential primary; and more

In this blog:

• Bois Forte Band of Chippewa faces casino boycott over its anti-mining stance
• Trump got only one vote in Red Lake Nation’s presidential primary
• Bad River Band in Wisconsin demands Enbridge pay millions in damages for its crude oil pipeline’s trespass
• Los Angeles clean energy priorities are making changes in Navajo economy
• Application withdrawn for $20 billion Alberta tar sands mining project

Weekend Reads: Trump wall blasting destroys sacred sites; South Dakota poised to approve Oceti Sakowin schools; and more

In this blog:

• Trump wall blasting destroys sacred sites
• Native nations can’t afford to lose National Environmental Policy Act
• Lakota Law Project finds threats of uranium, mercury in surface ground water in western South Dakota
• South Dakota Senate passes bill for Oceti Sakowin schools
• South Dakota again kills bill to extent time period allowing Indigenous survivors of Catholic school abuse to sue

News and Events: We Are Still Here Conference March 11, Maine becomes first state to ban Native American mascots, and more

News and events in this blog:

• We own this now: A play about love of land, loss of land, and what it means to “own” something. Feb. 28
• We Are Still Here Conference, March 11, and the We Are Still Here Advocacy Day, March 12
• Maine becomes first state to ban Native American mascots
• Canada attempting to change citizenship oath to include respect for Indigenous treaties

Weekend reads: The Episcopal Church hires racial reconciliation staff; Efforts to strip Medals of Honor from Wounded Knee Massacre, and more

In this blog:

• Episcopal Church appoints Rev. Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg (member of Rosebud) as officer for racial reconciliation
• Remove the Stain Act introduced in Congress, an effort to strip Medals of Honor from soldiers participating in the Wounded Knee Massacre
• Chief Standing Bear, a civil rights hero, honored with a statue in Washington D.C.’s National Statuary Hall