Native Americans
Native American news roundup August 11-17, 2024
Researchers debunk myths about ballot collection on Indian reservations
A study by the University of Utah’s College of Social & Behavioral Science reveals that ballot collection on Native American reservations effectively lowers voting barriers without evidence of vote fraud.
Ballot collection is a system by which voters rely on third parties to collect and submit their absentee or mail-in ballots. Distances, poor mail service, bad roads and lack of transportation mean that Native Americans on rural reservations rely more on ballot harvesting than other voter blocs.
Despite its benefits, ballot collection faces opposition and restrictions in several states, including Utah, where it has been banned. Critics argue it is vulnerable to fraud, though the study finds no documented cases of such issues.
A father-son pair of researchers analyzed data from the conservative Heritage Foundation. They found that voter fraud related to ballot collection is extremely rare, occurring only in 0.00006% of votes cast – that is, six cases of proven fraud for every 10 million votes cast in the U.S.
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Child rights advocate: boarding school abuses continue globally
The U.S. Department of the Interior recently released the second volume of its investigation into the federal Indian boarding school system, revealing that at least 900 Native American children died in these schools after having been forcibly separated from their families, communities and cultural heritage.
An editorial in The Hill this week argues that residential schools, including modern orphanages and children’s homes, still cause harm across the world today.
“Residential education in many cases fulfills the definition of an institution and causes similar harm to children,” writes contributing author and British child rights advocate Enrique Restoy. “Children in residential facilities face an increased risk of abuse and often have a damaged sense of belonging and emotional health.”
Adding to the problem, Restoy says boarding schools are typically regulated by government ministries of education and often located in remote locations without proper oversight, which “intrinsically lends itself to students enduring abusive practices of various kinds from staff, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse.”
The writer calls for a shift in support towards keeping children within their families while providing education, rather than separating them for care and schooling.
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Clergy want role in boarding school truth and reconciliation process
In a related story, as Congress considers legislation that would create a federal commission to address the trauma from Native American boarding schools, U.S. Catholic bishops are calling for an amendment that would allow religious communities a role in the process.
The proposed Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act would set up a commission and various advisory committees to investigate and acknowledge past injustices at these schools. The bishops argue that since many of these schools were run by Catholic and Protestant groups representatives from these religious communities should also be included.
The bishops' letter, sent on July 25 to key congressional sponsors and signed by several high-ranking church officials, stresses that including religious communities is crucial for comprehensive healing and reconciliation. They also advocate for voluntary cooperation rather than broad subpoena powers, as they claim to have already been transparent and cooperative.
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Cheyenne Arapaho writer honored as part of unique literary project
Native American author Tommy Orange has already begun thinking about a new novel that none of us will live to read.
Orange, a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma born and raised in California, has been selected as the next writer for the Future Library Project (FLP).
An initiative launched by Scottish artist Katie Paterson in 2014, FLP aims to collect an original work by a popular writer every year for a century. The works will remain unread and unpublished until 2114, when they will be printed on paper made from trees the artist planted in Norway a decade ago.
Orange is the author of two novels exploring urban Native American identity. His 2019 debut novel “There There,” an examination of urban Native identity, earned him a Pulitzer nomination; his follow-up novel “Wandering Stars,” is on this year’s Booker Prize longlist.
He tells the Guardian newspaper that being involved in the Future Library means he still has hopes “that we will have a world to live in with books in it in a hundred years, or 90 I guess, and I think I need to keep that hope alive, need to actively cultivate that kind of hope in the longevity of the human project.”
Orange isn’t sure what kind of book he will write for the FLP and wonders what kind of reception it will get from critics in the 22nd Century.
“I think it’s a little scary writing for people who will most definitely deem us stupid and inferior in many ways just as when we look back a hundred years, we can see clearly all the problems we had just being decent human beings,” he said.
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Native American tribe closer to acquiring more land in Arizona after decades of delay
Federal officials have joined with the state of Arizona to begin fulfilling a settlement agreement that was reached with the Hopi Tribe nearly three decades ago, marking what tribal officials described as a historic day.
Government attorneys filed condemnation documents on Friday to transfer dozens of square kilometers of state land into trust for the Hopi. The tribe will compensate the state nearly $4 million for more than 80 square kilometers of land near Winslow.
It could mark the first of more transfers of land into trust to help eliminate the checkerboard of ownership that characterizes much of the lands used by the tribe for ranching in northeastern Arizona.
A long time coming
Friday's filing was born out of the 1996 passage of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act, which ratified an agreement between the Hopi and federal government that set conditions for taking land into trust for the tribe.
The wrangling over land in northeastern Arizona has been bitter, pitting the Hopi and the Navajo Nation against one another for generations. The federal government failed in its attempt to have the tribes share land and after years of escalating conflict, Congress in 1974 divided the area and ordered tribal members to leave each other's reservations.
The resulting borders meant the Navajo Nation — the country's largest reservation at close to 70,000 square kilometers — surrounded the nearly 6,500-square-kilometer Hopi reservation.
Since the 1996 settlement, the Hopi Tribe has purchased private land and sought to take neighboring state lands into trust in hopes of consolidating property for the tribe's benefit.
A historic day
There have been many roadblocks along the way, including in 2018 when the tribe sought the support of local governments in northern Arizona to back a proposed transfer for land south of the busy Interstate 40 corridor. Those efforts were stymied by the inclusion of national forest tracts in the Flagstaff area.
Hopi Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma said in a statement Friday that he was grateful for everyone who worked to make the condemnation filing a reality and that the timing for this historic moment was fitting.
"Within Hopi, it is our time of the soyal'ang ceremony — the start of the New Year and the revitalization of life," he said.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, who first visited the Hopi reservation in 2023, acknowledged that the tribe has been fighting for its rights for decades and that politicians of the past had refused to hear the voices of tribal communities.
"Every Arizonan should have an opportunity to thrive and a space to call home, and this agreement takes us one step closer to making those Arizona values a reality," she said Friday.
More transfers and economic opportunities
In November, the Navajo Nation signed a warranty deed to take into trust a parcel of land near Flagstaff as part of the federal government's outstanding obligations to support members of that tribe who were forcibly relocated as a result of the Navajo-Hopi dispute.
Navajo leaders are considering building a casino on the newly acquired land, saying such a project would provide significant economic benefits.
For the Hopi, bringing more land into trust also holds the promise of more economic opportunities. The state lands near Winslow that are part of the condemnation filing are interspersed with Hopi-owned lands and have long been leased to the tribe for ranching and agricultural purposes, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Federal officials said Friday's filing is the first of an anticipated series of condemnation actions that ultimately would result in the transfer of more than 1440 square kilometers of state land into trust for the Hopi Tribe.
Media report: More than 3,100 Native American children died in US boarding schools
At least 3,104 Native American children died in boarding schools in the United States, taken from their families to be forcibly assimilated, The Washington Post reported on Sunday, with its estimate three times higher than that of the American government.
In these establishments, some of which were religious and which existed from the beginning of the 19th century to the 1970s, many children suffered physical, psychological or sexual violence, according to a recent government report which estimated that at least 973 students died there.
In late October, U.S. President Joe Biden apologized to Native American peoples, calling the atrocities "a sin that stains our souls."
According to The Washington Post, which conducted a year-long investigation, 3,104 students lost their lives in these schools between 1828 and 1970, in what the newspaper describes as "a dark chapter in American history that has long been ignored and largely covered up."
And the toll would actually be much higher according to historians, adds the newspaper.
The Washington Post says it has "determined that more than 800 of these students were buried in or near cemeteries at the schools where they attended, underscoring that, as in many cases, the children's bodies were never returned to their families or tribes."
According to documents seen by the daily, "The causes of death included infectious diseases, malnutrition and accidents."
Dozens of Native American students have died under suspicious circumstances, the article continues, "and in some cases, documents show indications of abuse or mistreatment that likely led to the children's deaths."
The boarding schools "were not schools" but "prison camps, work camps," Judi gaiashkibos, director of the Nebraska Commission on Native Americans and whose relatives were sent there, told the newspaper.
The Joe Biden administration has implemented a series of measures to support Native American nations and improve relations with the federal state.
In the United States, reservations now administered by Native Americans are predominantly poor, with high suicide and overdose rates.
In neighboring Canada, where the same practice of residential schools for young indigenous people existed, the country has also opened its eyes in recent years to this dark page of history.
Native American news roundup December 8-14, 2024
Tribal Nations Summit stresses federal responsibilities
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris showcased historic investments in Indian Country with speeches and a 96-page progress report at this week's White House Tribal Nations Summit.
As VOA reported, Biden announced a new national monument on the site of the Carlisle Indian boarding school in Pennsylvania, which served as the model for hundreds of residential schools that forced children to abandon their traditions and languages.
Another move announced at the summit is a 10-Year National Plan on Native Language Revitalization to invest $16.7 billion to protect and restore Native languages in all 50 states. Today, fewer than 200 Indigenous languages are still spoken, mainly by elders, and experts warn that if no action is taken, only 20 will remain by 2050. The plan will establish a new Office of Native Language Revitalization to coordinate efforts and manage funding.
The administration announced new guidance for federal employees on treaty and tribal consultation obligations, as well as strategies for addressing the chronic underfunding of tribal programs.
It also released further guidance on federal support for tribes facing natural disasters, public health emergencies, and climate-induced relocation challenges.
Biden honored with 'Lightning and Thunder'
At the summit, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland gifted President Biden a traditional wool blanket made by Eighth Generation, a Seattle-based company owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe.
The blanket was designed by artist and metalsmith Pat Pruitt, who, like Haaland, is a member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico. Pruitt named the design "Lightning and Thunder."
"I had no idea my blanket had been selected until friends sent me photos of the event," Pruitt said. "It is both humbling and meaningful to witness this recognition. As a former tribal leader, I deeply understand the significance of serving the people, as well as the hard work and sacrifices that come with it."
In many Native traditions, gifting a blanket is a gesture of respect for leadership and milestone achievements.
Texas high court to decide religious freedom case
The Texas Supreme Court was set to rule this week on whether the city of San Antonio's temporary closure of a park and plans to remove trees violate religious freedom.
For several years, the city of San Antonio has been fighting cormorants, large migratory birds that nest in the city's Breckenridge Park and cause damage to vegetation. City contractors have used chemical sprays, heavy pruning and aerial explosives to disrupt bird rookeries, but these methods failed.
Matilde Torres and Gary Perez, members of the Lipan Apache Native American Church, sued the city last summer, arguing the site is spiritually significant to their culture as it connects to their creation story. They say city plans would violate religious freedoms guaranteed by the Texas constitution.
The Lipan Apache is not a federally recognized tribe but was recognized by Texas in 2019.
The case made its way to the top court in Texas, which was expected to rule on Monday. At the time of this writing, a decision was still pending.
Wisconsin tribe agrees to end predatory lending in Minnesota
The Wisconsin-based Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (LDF) has agreed to stop short-term, high-interest loan operations in Minnesota and to forgive over $1 million in outstanding loans. LDF had been providing short-term loans since 2012, including through a dozen online loan operations.
A ProPublica investigation this year revealed that the tribe charged interest rates as high as 800%, violating Minnesota's usury laws. The investigation says many of those loans ended up devastating borrowers across the country.
"I borrowed $1100 and agreed to pay $272 bi-weekly, with the thought that I would have that paid off in under 4 months," one borrower complained. "To my shock, I logged on to my account shortly after receiving the funds and my balance due is over $4000!"
Minnesota sued the tribe's lenders, which led to this settlement stopping that lending and canceling over $1 million in outstanding loans.
"My approach to this case and other tribal lending is to stop violations and harm while also preserving and respecting the tribes' sovereign status," stated Attorney General Ellison. "I am grateful for the defendants' cooperation in this investigation and agreement to cease further lending and collection activity in Minnesota."
Biden designates national monument at site of Carlisle Indian school
President Joe Biden has created a new national monument on the grounds of a former Indian boarding school in Pennsylvania, which served as the blueprint for hundreds of similar institutions across the United States.
“I want everyone to know,” Biden said. “I don't want people forgetting, 10, 20, 30, 50 years from now.”
Indian children from 140 tribes were taken from their families, tribes and homelands and forced to spend years at the school in the borough of Carlisle, he noted.
“It was wrong, and by making the Carlisle Indian School a national monument, we make clear that [that's] what great nations do. We don't erase history. We acknowledge it. We learn from and we remember, so we never repeat it again.”
Biden told the 2024 Tribal Nations Summit in Washington Monday that the monument will encompass 10 hectares (24.5 acres) inside what is today the Carlisle Army Barracks, including historic buildings and structures that once made up the school’s campus. These will include the brick and marble gateposts at the school’s entrance, which Carlisle students built by hand in 1910.
The U.S. Army will maintain operational control over the site, which is now home to the U.S. Army War College. The Army will collaborate with the National Park Service to oversee the planning and management of the new national monument, consulting with federally recognized tribes to ensure that the monument accurately reflects historic and contemporary impacts of the boarding school system on tribal members and communities.
“This addition to the national park system that recognizes the troubled history of U.S. and Tribal relations is among the giant steps taken in recent years to honor Tribal sovereignty and recognize the ongoing needs of Native communities, repair past damage and make progress toward healing,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Northeast Oregon.
The announcement comes just six weeks after Biden’s visit to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. There, he gave a long-awaited apology to Native Americans for the boarding school era, calling it “one the most consequential things I've ever had an opportunity to do in my whole career as president of the United States.”
Earlier Monday, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland opened the summit with a speech focusing on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative she launched in May 2021.
The initiative resulted in a two-volume report that documented the history of the school system, accounting for 417 known schools and confirming more than 900 child deaths.
The initiative also included The Road to Healing, in which Haaland and Assistant Interior Secretary Bryan Newland traveled to 12 Native communities, giving survivors and their descendants an opportunity to share their boarding school experiences.
“So many of you spoke bravely and forthright[ly] … about the horrors you endured or the trauma that was passed down over generations. Those stories must continue to be told,” Haaland told the summit leaders.
As part of the initiative, the Interior Department engaged the National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition to conduct video interviews with boarding school survivors to create a permanent oral history collection.
Haaland announced that the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will partner to preserve their accounts for the public.
- By Anita Powell
Biden memorializes painful past of Native Americans
U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday presided over his final White House Tribal Nations Summit by reaching into the nation’s dark past and establishing a national monument to honor the suffering of thousands of Native children and their families in federal boarding schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington.