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KENNEWICK, Wash. — The longtime leader of the Wanapum band of Native Americans has died.
Rex Buck Jr., 66, died Feb. 11 at his ancestral village of P’na at Priest Rapids on the Columbia River in Grant County, Washington, according to an obituary distributed by the Grant County Public Utility District on Monday. No cause of death was listed.
The Tri-City Herald reported that the Wanapum band lived at what is now the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site until the land was seized during World War II and the Wanapum were forced to resettle at their winter campsite in Priest Rapids. READ MORE — Associated Press
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed this week in its provisional death report that more than 10,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives and nearly 2,000 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders have died from COVID-19 complications.
Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oklahoma lead with the highest Native deaths from the virus.
Tribes continue to adjust to a pandemic that is stretching into its third year. The latest variant being omicron appears to have slowed since a jump during the holiday season. January began with a surge of a weekly moving average of more than 800,000 cases. On Feb. 14, it went down to 147,000 cases. READ MORE — Kalle Benallie, Indian Country Today
Canada’s Forgotten Olympian is forgotten no more.
Kenneth Moore, Peepeekisis Cree Nation, is being considered for induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame after a 90-year drought for recognition, hall of fame officials confirmed Thursday to Indian Country Today.
Moore, who played for the Canadian gold-medal hockey team in the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, is believed to be the first Indigenous person to have won gold for Canada at a Winter Olympics.
His nomination to the hall of fame will be considered this spring by the selection committee, according to Misty Kolozetti, the hall’s vice president for marketing, fund development and communications. READ MORE — Miles Morrisseau, Special to Indian Country Today
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Native COVID-19 deaths top 10,000. And more on tracking economic data in rural tribal territories. Plus, recognizing an Alaska Native civil rights activist, Valentine’s Day, and elders seeking to help balance the justice system
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- Recognizing healthy relationships for Native youth: February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
- Gambling center plan in Oregon unconstitutional: GRANTS PASS, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Justice has released an opinion that the planned gambling machines in an entertainment center next to the Grants Pass Downs horse racing track amount to a casino that would violate the Oregon Constitution.
- Ranger district provides firewood for Navajo community: DOLORES, Colo. — The Dolores Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest is providing firewood to help heat homes in the Chinle area of the Navajo Nation.
- Major League Baseball cancels spring games through March 4 due to lockout
- Canadian police begin arresting protestors, towing trucks in response to “Freedom Convoy”
- Provision to Violence Against Women Act could expand Alaska tribal court jurisdiction
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