Greetings, relatives.
A lot of news out there. Thanks for stopping by Indian Country Today’s digital platform.
Each day we do our best to gather the latest news for you.
Okay, here’s what you need to know today:
More than 90 federal agencies, including Cabinet level, released their “equity action plans” to address racial discrimination within the government.
The first-ever plans were announced on Thursday in a step towards fulfilling an executive order President Joe Biden signed on his first day in office 15 months ago.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, and National Congress of American Indians CEO Dante Desiderio, Sappony, spoke at the White House Convening on Equity.
Haaland says seats are being created at the table and investments in underserved communities are being made.
“Everyone takes this responsibility seriously, every day,” she said. “When it comes to tribal communities at Interior, we believe that honoring our relationship with tribes and upholding the trust responsibility is paramount to fulfilling this our department’s mission,” Haaland said. “And that means valuing and respecting Indigenous knowledge to create a more sustainable future.” READ MORE – Carina Dominguez, Indian Country Today
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After the U.S. government declined to intervene to stop evictions for potentially dozens of Indigenous people disenrolled from a Washington tribe, seven of the disenrolled citizens have filed a lawsuit in an effort to stay in their homes.
The lawsuit, filed in state court in Olympia, Washington, is the latest — and potentially a last-ditch — effort to stop the planned evictions by the Nooksack Tribe, which disenrolled more than 306 tribal citizens amid a political dispute in 2018.
In recent months, the tribe has moved to evict up to 63 from federally subsidized tribal housing. READ MORE– Chris Aadland, Indian Country Today and Underscore News
NABI, the Phoenix-based Native American youth nonprofit organization depends on donors to sustain its programs and sponsors and players representing a diverse group of leaders came out to support the foundation, which hosts an annual weeklong Educational Youth Summit & Basketball Invitational in the summer.
The NABI Golf Classic, held at Gila River, raised $56,000, according to a news release.
The program exposes student athletes to educational opportunities like the NABI College & Career Fair, NABI Educational Youth Summit, and the NABI College Scholarship fund.
More than 1,300 athletes compete in the weeklong event each year.
Oscar High Elk pleaded no contest to three charges including simple assault, eluding law enforcement and trespassing. Ten other charges were dismissed, according to a news release.
He will face one-year probation. He continues to stand in solidarity with Indigenous and Environmental Justice.
“They say they are doing their job, they are not upholding the constitution. It’s saddening. I will continue to fight in a good way for Unci Maka for all the oyate. I will be here until we get justice.” said High Elk. “I thought I could have faith in the system, but apparently, you can’t fix a broken system.” WATCH.
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On Thursday’s ICT Newscast, a bison herd faces a deadly disease and we discuss the economy of North Dakota’s oil fields. Plus, Indigenous Big Band Music.
WATCH:
There are now more Mexican gray wolves roaming the southwestern U.S. than at any time since the federal government started to reintroduce the endangered species, wildlife managers said.
The results of the latest annual survey of the wolves show there are at least 196 in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona — the sixth straight year that the wolf population has increased.
But officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the population’s growth in 2021 was tempered by higher than average pup mortality. Life was made more difficult for the wolves because of a persistent drought that has resulted in low precipitation and scant snowpack, the officials said.
Fewer than 40 percent of pups survived through the end of the year, though more breeding pairs were recorded in 2021. READ MORE – Associated Press
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- Farms, fish on dry California-Oregon border see scant water: Across the American West, a 22-year megadrought deepened so much last year that the region is now in the driest spell in at least 1,200 years.
- The toll of climate change:Time, tradition and trust: The Navajo Nation takes on a changing climate.
- Gasoline prices hurting consumers:Is drilling for oil the remedy?
- Economic growth: Fitting tribes into unfit programs:‘As tribal leaders it is our responsibility to provide for the social and economic welfare of our tribal members and those living within our communities.’
- Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band.
- An Alaska scientistwill fill the last vacancy at a key US Arctic research agency.
- ‘First Lady of Native Radio’ Peggy Berryhill on the Voices of Gualala.
We want your tips, but we also want your feedback. What should we be covering that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know. managingeditor@indiancountrytoday.com.
