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In the ongoing election turmoil in Guatemala, thousands of Indigenous groups came out to protest and block highways.

This was in response to actions over the weekend by the country’s justice department to confiscate dozens of containers of voting material. Protesters say it’s an effort to use the judicial system to block a president-elect seeking reform from taking office.

Maria Martin reports.

They held up traffic in at least eight important crossroads in Guatemala.

Thousands of Indigenous protesters blocked highways to defend democracy and fight against what President Bernardo Arévalo calls a “coup in progress” by a corrupt ruling elite.

At another protest in Guatemala City, Indigenous leader Rosa Castro said Guatemalans are tired of rulers who have robbed people of decent health and education, making millions in private profit during the pandemic, and are now trying to pass legislation that would harm Maya communities.

The protesters are calling for the resignation of the attorney general and others involved in what one electoral magistrate called “nothing short of an assault” on democracy.

The influential Maya groups 48 Cantones (48 Villages) say they’re prepared to blockade indefinitely as their one option for having their voice heard.

The federal government is taking new steps to preserve the oral history of Native American boarding schools that were run by governments and churches.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more.

For more than 150 years, hundreds of thousands of Native American children were forced to attend boarding schools created to strip them of their culture.

The children’s hair was cut off, their traditional clothes were burned, and many were beaten.

Now, the government is giving nearly $4 million to a coalition focused on boarding school healing.

The group will create a collection of survivors’ stories – testimonies that tribal governments, policymakers, and the public can access.

The group also wants Congress to establish a commission to investigate and document the past injustices of boarding school policies.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk/D-KS) spoke about that proposal in a recent webinar.

“We can make sure that this legacy, this history, the full truth of these policies is not just acknowledged, but that we do something to start to address that chapter of our legacy.”

So far, the commission bill has not passed either chamber in Congress.

Three Democratic U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation to officially recognize the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the federal level.

U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and U.S. Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), introduced the bill.

The bill would also replace any mention of Columbus Day in all federal laws or regulations with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

According to the lawmakers, more than a dozen states across the country have already made this change, including New Mexico.

The lawmakers say recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a federal holiday is a step to address generations of trauma and inequity.

Tribal leaders and executive officers of Native organizations are among those supporting the bill.

In the Senate, the bill is cosponsored by 11 Democratic Senators who often advocate for Native issues, including members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

 

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Native groups and their allies are calling on officials to condemn violence against Indigenous people and to keep a suspect charged with attempted murder in jail.

The Red Nation, Three Sisters Collective, Kiva Club, NDN Collective, and their allies say last week’s shooting at a prayerful event in New Mexico, celebrating the halt of the replacement of a Juan de Oñate statue, was a racist attack.

Witnesses say before the shooting the suspect was seen antagonizing the crowd gathered at the Rio Arriba County Annex Building in Española.

Video recorded at the event shows the suspect wearing a hoody and red “Make America Great Again” hat scuffle with people at the rally before pulling out a gun and shooting one person and pointing the gun at another before fleeing.

Police identified the shooter as 23-year-old Ryan Martinez.

He was arrested and charged with attempted murder in the first degree and aggravated assault – use of a deadly weapon.

Martinez is due to appear in court Monday.

Native groups and their allies are calling on officials to not release him and to recognize the shooting as a racially motivated hate crime.

The person shot was identified as 42-year-old Jacob Johns.

An online donation page set up for his medical bills says he’s Hopi and Akimel O’odham and has dedicated his life to Indigenous and climate justice.

The statue was previously removed from a different location in 2020 and was set to be reinstall last week at its new location in front of the county building, but was postponed.

Members of the Native groups against the Oñate statue say he was a brutal Spanish colonizer and the statue represents violence and genocide.

Listen to previous National Native News coverage of this statue
Demonstration celebrates statue of Spanish colonizer taken down

Canada’s western province of Manitoba could make history.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, it could elect its first, First Nations premier to lead the provincial government.

Wab Kinew is the leader of the New Democratic Party.

He was born in Ontario and lived on the Onigaming First Nation. His father was a survivor of the residential school system and Kinew says he passed the Kinew the importance of Anishinabe culture and language. During a recent televised debate Kinew blasted the former premier of Manitoba for closing emergency rooms.

“I don’t think too many of us understood how having to drive further was going to get you seen quicker. We have a plan to fix it. Let me be clear this is going to be hard work. It has to start with staffing up the health care system, and then once the staffing is stabilized two years from now we put shovels into the ground to build a new ER starting in south Winnipeg.’

If elected Kinew would become the first first nations premier, but not the first indigenous premier. John Norquay, who was Metis, was the Manitoba’s fifth premier until 1887.

Kinew says there are still historic barriers to overcome the main reason few indigenous people enter provincial politics.

Soem analysts say if Kinew becomes premier it would be significant because there are still dominant stereo types that see indigenous people in a negative way so, it’s important for other indigenous people to what that it’s possible to succeed at the highest levels.

Manitobans go to the polls on October the third.

The memorial at Wounded Knee, one of the most prominent landmarks on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, was recently vandalized.

C.J. Keene has more.

The memorial was placed in the early 1900’s by Joseph Horn Cloud – a direct descendent of victims of the Wounded Knee Massacre.

The damages were limited to the topmost piece of the monument structure.

The site is under the management of the Oglala Sioux Tribal government, which has indicated plans to increase efforts to protect the memorial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eliot Neal has been picked to represent Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) for the Southwest Region.

The region includes New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona.

Neal is one of five MMIP Assistant U.S. Attorneys who will provide support to U.S. Attorneys’ offices to address MMIP issues.

His background and experience includes working with tribes.

 

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The Washington State Department of Commerce has awarded seven grants for clean energy projects around the state.

Steve Jackson reports.

The money comes from the Clean Energy Fund, created by the state legislature ten years ago, says Jennifer Grove, managing director of energy programs in communities at the Department of Commerce.

“The state has invested close to $290 million through the Clean Energy Fund, in a variety of projects around the state, from energy storage, renewable generation, manufacturing, grid modernization.”

Grove says the projects approved this year include those that will improve air and water quality or soil health, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Spokane tribe was one of seven groups that was awarded a grant.

They received nearly $1 million to overhaul systems in the Tribal Administrative Building in Wellpinit.

Director of Public Works Maria Cullooyah says an energy audit determined the building wasn’t very energy efficient, and an upgrade in the H-VAC system was needed.

“If we didn’t do our part to upgrade and do an overhaul, and move into a new system, that by the time we did have to maintain these systems, the fluids and everything they run on would probably not even be made because they are not very efficient”

It’s estimated the improvements to the building will save $30,000 annually through reduced utility bills.

Money from a previous Clean Energy Fund grant is also being used to help develop a mini grid system in Wellpinit utilizing solar power and battery storage to help in the event of a power outage in the rural community .

The Alaska Federation of Natives has sided with the federal government in a legal battle over salmon management on the Kuskokwim River, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports.

A report from the Alaska Beacon says AFN filed a motion this week to intervene in a federal lawsuit against the state.

In its filing, AFN said the state’s position is attacking its interests and those of its members.

After a series of failed salmon runs, communities along the Kuskokwim river have struggled to feed their families, prompting the federal government to sue in May to stop state-authorized fishing on the stretch of the Kuskokwim that flows through a federal wildlife refuge.

Federal officials limited subsistence fishing to only rural residents, but the state opened the river to all Alaska residents.

Federal managers won an injunction to block open-access fishing, based on provisions under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).

The state filed a motion earlier this month, arguing that the federal government lacks authority to regulate fishing on the Kuskokwim and that the state has a duty to protect subsistence fishing for all Alaskans, both urban and rural.

In its motion to intervene, AFN said the state’s latest motion threatens ANILCA’s long-established rural subsistence priority and has “clear implications for the entire statewide population of Alaska Natives.”

The Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, the Association of Village Council Presidents, and the Ahtna Corporation are also siding with the Federal government.

Dancers and drummers clad in feathered and beaded regalia gathered for a pow-wow to honor Native students and the role of education in empowering tribal communities.

Becky White is the equity manager for the 4J NATIVES program, and is of Cherokee, Cheyenne, and Arapaho heritage.

She says altogether, about 600 people attended the event. And she’s excited for the school year ahead.

“We’re going to have artists of all different disciplines. Culinary arts, performing arts, and fine arts. And teach our students what they do and how they got to where they are. Because we really want our students to understand that nothing is out of their reach.”

White says there’s plans to do another pow-wow in the spring.  Roughly 1% of students in the district are Native American.

 

 

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Indigenous people in Winnipeg are continuing to raise concerns and call on officials to search landfills for their missing and murdered relatives.

Among the Indigenous women they want found and brought home are Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26.

Police believe the women are victims of an alleged serial killer and that their remains could be in a landfill.

Two camps have been set up in efforts to keep pressure on officials and draw awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Two Spirit, and Gender-Diverse People.

On an August morning, firekeeper Shining Gold Star, who lives in Winnipeg, talks about Camp Marcedes, named after Marcedes Myran.

He’s been there since it was first set up in July in the city, next to the Canadian Museum For Human Rights.

“It’s to honor the missing and murdered especially the landfill, its focus is on search the landfill.”

Gold Star walks around the camp where there are a handful of tents and a camp kitchen.

Signs are posted all around – some read “we are not garbage,” “search the landfills,” and “no more stolen sisters.”

There are red handprints and art drawn on sidewalks and benches along walking paths near a river and park.

There are also a number of empty red dresses displayed, symbolizing those who’ve gone missing and murdered.

“The government does not want to look, not only are they in there, there are other people in there and they’ll have to explain things… I’ve had people come up to me with shovels from every community – black, white and blue – and they all say the same thing, we’ll do it.”

A more than 30 minute drive from Camp Marcedes is the city operated Brady landfill where distress flags fly at Camp Morgan, named after Morgan Harris.

There are also red dresses positioned around the camp, tents, a wigwam, and teepees.

Some people say they’ve been in the area since December while others like Ida Manuel, from British Columbia, felt compelled to come here this summer.

“My heart, going out to the families affected and I just had to answer that call. How could you, how could you be human any other way?”

Remains of Rebecca Contois, 24, another victim, were found at Brady last year.

A blockade at the road leading up to the landfill had previously been set up, but was dismantled.

Now, dumping continues.

“For us to stand and say we are not trash and still not be heard. You know, it really needs to be connected – Canada’s lack of respect… with colonialism set out to do to Indigenous.”

The other landfill, Prairie Green, is privately operated outside of Winnipeg.

The Manitoba government is citing costs, and health and safety concerns for not conducting a search at Prairie Green for Harris and Myran.

Advocates say they’re prepared to camp through the winter.

They’re also hoping new leadership of the province will be elected in October to offer assistance.

Last year, Jeremy Skibicki, 35 at the time, was charged for the murder of the three women and a fourth unidentified woman.

The Winnipeg Police Service are asking anyone with information about this investigation to contact the Homicide Unit at 204-986-6508.

NNN stringer Rhonda LeValdo contributed to this story. Photos taken at both camps and the Prairie Green landfill featured in slideshow:

The overall number of maternal deaths nationwide rose from more than 500 to more than 1,200.

That’s according to a recent study in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Black and American Indian and Alaska Native mothers had the highest number of deaths per 100,000 live births.

The rate for Black moms rose from about 27 to 55. The American Indian and Alaska Native rate rose from 14 to about 49.

Health experts say many factors play into these numbers, like a lack of services.

 

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A first-of-its-kind report on missing persons in Alaska has been released.

The State Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police Department collaborated to collect this data.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has more.

Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Public Safety Department, says the report maps out hundreds of cases going back to 1960.

“We think this is a good first effort, and we’re definitely interested in adding additional data points.”

McDaniel says the work, which is an outgrowth of Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK)’s People First Initiative, will be updated every quarter and can be found online.

In the last quarter, from April to June, 200 Alaska Native or American Indian people went missing in the state. Most of those have been found, except for 25.

The database has an important new feature.

It categorizes the circumstances surrounding the disappearances, identifying those which are suspicious.

As director of the Data for Indigenous Justice group, Charlene Apok welcomes the new report and says it’s what advocates for missing Indigenous people have been asking for – for years.

She worked on an earlier attempt to track their numbers.

“Sadly, I think what this really illustrates is a systemic issue of violence that’s being perpetrated in our community in the state of Alaska. And that should raise flags and alarms, and really start igniting justice.”

Apok hopes the database will continue to improve and provide more information about those missing, including their hometowns and Native cultural identities, so they become more than just points of data, but reminders of loved ones, lost to their families.

A Native youth group spent one week in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks reconnecting with their roots.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann reports.

13 Native youth from the Wind River Reservation and the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota explored the area alongside five traditional elders and teachers from the Lakota, Dakota, Northern Arapaho, Eastern Shoshone, and Blackfeet Nations.

Lynnette Grey Bull is the leader of the youth group, called Indigenous Youth Voices.

It’s the first time the group has hosted this kind of event. She says that sharing knowledge between generations is invaluable.

“Not only do we share our language and speak our language, but we also share things that they probably haven’t learned and won’t be able to learn in school. Some of our traditional and oral knowledge and historical knowledge, as many people know, is not told in the right way.”

The group spent the week kayaking, whitewater rafting, and traditional storytelling.

 

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A First Nation in British Columbia says it has found nearly 160 child deaths at four facilities in the province.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, most of the deaths occurred at a hospital.

The probe by the Stó:lō Nation in British Columbia focused on unmarked graves and missing children, going back to the 1860’s.

But representatives of the First Nation and its research and resource management center say the work is only beginning.

So far, obstacles have been the lack of access to information from Ottawa as well as religious institutions that were linked to residential schools.

The research, using ground penetrating radar, archives, and field work, was into three residential schools, cemeteries, and a First Nation hospital.

Most of the children died of diseases such as tuberculosis. Some from accidents.

Amber Kostuchenko is a researcher and the project manager.

“One child died because they were jumped on by another student. Another child was reported to have hit their head against the bed under unknown circumstances. And another was reported to have broken their spine while jumping rope.”

The institutions included the St. Mary’s Indian Residential School, the Coqualeetza Industrial Institute, and the Coqualeetza Hospital – all three in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.  And the fourth was the All Hallows School in Yale, BC.

Kostuchencko says her team is still gathering information and has only accessed about half of the 70,000 documents they need.

One of the lead researchers also says interviews with survivors suggested many atrocities committed against children, including sexual assaults, starvation, and secret burials.

Some survivors allege that the St Mary’s school was a place of punishment and starvation – and later when it moved to a second location, a place of pedophilia.

Photo: Emma VandenEinde / KUNC

For years, it was extremely difficult to find meals like bison pot roast or an elk taco at a restaurant.

Yet, Indigenous cuisine has been in the Americas for centuries.

KUNC’s Emma VandenEinde joined a chef in Denver community kitchen Same Day Café to see her approach to the cuisine.

Chef Andrea Murdoch (Indigenous Andean) is busy in the kitchen.

She’s baking her light blue sugar cookies with the help of some volunteer chefs.

“‘They’re like blue!’ ‘Yeah. They stay blue.’ ‘They do?’ ‘Yeah.'”

The color is made using Ute Mountain Ute cornmeal from Southwest Colorado.

“And blue cornmeal is something that’s very specific to the Four Corners region of the U.S. Like you will not find this easily out on the West Coast, out on the east coast.”

And this isn’t the first time she’s used unique ingredients.

“I sourced locally and indigenously to support those economies. Kroger doesn’t need my money.”

It all started when Murdoch expanded Four Directions Cuisine, her food business.

She wanted to create South American cuisine, and through her research, she found that ingredients representative of the culture were pre-colonial.

Like rabbit, bison, or other foods that existed in the Americas before colonizers arrived.

“I have this distinct privilege and honor to be able to take the teachings from others and translate that through menus.”

Along with sourcing food from local and Indigenous farmers, she forages around her for flowers and grasses, praying to the weather god Illapa for rain.

As she cooks, she taps into what she calls her “sixth sense” and connects with plants and animals that are seen as relatives in her culture.

“There’s an element of listening to the ingredients and understanding how you’re going to honor them best.”

Indigenous cuisine like Murdoch’s has recently grown in popularity, with many restaurants opening in cities like Minneapolis and Seattle.

And, for the second year in a row, a Native chef won a James Beard award – almost like the Oscars for cooking.

But it wasn’t always this way. And there’s still room to grow.

“We find food from all over the world in our amazing cities. And very seldom do we find food of where we happen to be standing that represents the land and the Indigenous communities and cultures.”

That’s Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota), head chef of Owamni in Minnesota and a multi-James Beard Award winner. 

“We should really be focused on what’s the true food of North America. And you can’t understand North American food unless you bring the Indigenous perspective into it.”

 

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In the aftermath of the fires that ravaged Maui, the struggle to protect the Native Hawaiians’ land continues. Matt Laslo reports from Washington.

In the nation’s capital, when people hear “Maui”, they think resorts, not Native Hawaiians.

“They are very important voices,” says U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) while riding the tram under the US Capitol.

Sen. Hirono bemoans the perpetual struggle for Native voices to be heard — a struggle that pre-dates the deadly fire.

Before the tragic inferno, many Native Hawaiians were vocal critics of where their traditional sources of water were diverted, including to tourism and sugar plantations. And there was also a housing state of emergency Gov. Josh Green (D-HI) declared ahead of the fire.

It upended traditional reviews focused on the cultural and environmental impacts of development — issues Sen. Hirono knows all too well.

“I think that is a big challenge, but, nonetheless, the sentiment is definitely there. They don’t want developers swooping in and getting hold of the property and doing whatever it is they want to do. There are also issues such as water, so limiting factor in terms of developing that area.”

As the rebuilding of lives, homes and land continues, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) cautions patience.

“I think we have to take a deep breath and allow FEMA and the EPA to clean up the site, and then we need to let individual landowners have access to their own properties so they can get closure and collect whatever personal effects might still be there. And then individual property owners are going to make individual decisions.”

Sen. Schatz says public officials have no say in some of these deeply personal matters.

“I think, you can’t force people to stay for some, they want to rebuild and for others, they want to rebuild their lives somewhere else. And I’m not here to judge any individual family for what they may want to do,” Schatz says.

As for Sen. Hirono, she promises “there’s not going to be a free for all landgrab in Lahaina.”

“I do not have the answers, but I do know that you there should not be a rush to figuring out what Layina is going to look like.”

A celebration of Indigenous music and culture took place in Juneau, Alaska last week packed with three days of music and 25 different acts.

As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports with help from KTOO’s Bostin Christopher, organizers say it’s the only global Indigenous music festival in the United States.

It all takes place in Juneau in Lingít Aaní, the Lingít homeland.

This is the second Áaw’k Rock Music Festival, now held every two years.

This year, it features 35 cultures from around the world.

Some the headliners are well known – Native American groups like Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Samantha Crain, a Choctaw Indie pop singer.

Stephen “Qacung” Blanchett (Yup’ik and African American), the creative director for the festival, says Áawk Rock has performances on multiple stages, as well as jam sessions.

“We’re not gonna have seats like the traditional seats, we’re gonna have places where people can just chill out. You might be able to, you know, hang out on a piece of like sea out or fur and just kind of lay out and relax or maybe even smudge with some sage. I’m imagining some organic, just amazing magic being made.”

Aaw’k Rock is co-sponsored by the Tlingit & Haida Tribes and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council.

 

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A first-of-its-kind skateboard competition is coming to Navajo Nation Saturday at the Two Grey Hills Skate Park.

The Modern Matriarchs Skate Jam competition will bring together “Indigenous Girls, Women, Trans, Non-binary and/or Gender non-conforming skaters” as they put their hard work and practice to the test.

Amy Denet Deal (Diné) is the founder of 4KINSHIP, an Indigenous owned clothing brand, and organizer of the Diné Skate Garden project.

She says while spending a day at the skate park with one of her groups, one of the girls came up with the idea of having an all-women skateboard competition.

“I’m like, ‘Let’s do it!’ And they came up with the name. And they’ve all been working together these last few months to make it happen. It’s been a great experience.“

Deal said using skateboarding to bring the community together just made sense.

“I’m not a skater, but I’m executive from an active sports company, and I personally now so many athletes, and every single one says the same thing to me. ‘Amy, skateboarding changed my life, it saved my life.’ It’s like people that struggle with mental health issues, or just health issues, there’s always a place for them within this sport. It’s something you can do any time, you don’t have to be on a team, you can do it by yourself, you can do it with friends, it’s just a great way to process emotion that you go through during the day and things that you struggle with I knew it was just a great way to bring a really beautiful tool to the kids.”

The event will also raise awareness for the need for equipment for Diné youth and will help the organizations get to their goal of providing more than 2,000 youth on Navajo Nation with skate equipment.

“We made a beautiful partnership with a company called Monarch Skateboards. I just have to raise a lot money between now and the end of the year, and I’m down for that it’s just necessary for kids to be able to experience this sport. We have 25,000 left to fund before end of the year, but I know we can do it.”

Deal says they’re also helping raise funds to purchase skateboards and helmets for Native youth.

Over a dozen projects in Oregon have received funds as part of a federal initiative to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.

Altogether, 15 projects in eleven counties and two Native American tribes received money.

About $13 million have been made available for small urban and rural projects that cut greenhouse gases from transportation.

Ryan Webb is the engineering and planning manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which is getting almost $700,000 for four electric vehicles and two charging stations.

“People of this land have always been good stewards of it. And I think being able to be considerate of how we can limit the impact that that footprint has, is one component of what the tribe does when we look at kind of sustainable projects or our footprint on the land.”

The Oregon Department of Transportation says five years of federal funding will come to $82 million for state projects.

ODOT says it aims to lower the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60% (than what they were in 1990) by 2050.

The 8th president of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan. was sworn in this week.

Dr. Frank Arpan’s leadership comes as the tribal college is serving the most Native American students in 12 years.

Dr. Arpan was officially inaugurated in a ceremony along with his Yankton Sioux Tribal Council in attendance.

He says his focus is on a holistic environment.

Dr. Arpan stated that Haskell has more than 880 students representing 140 tribal nations at Haskell this year.

 

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Indigenous Guatemalans, who make up nearly half that country’s population, are protesting their government’s apparent actions to block the takeover of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, elected in a landslide last month.

This week, various Maya groups called for nationwide road blockades in protest, as Maria Martin reports.

The Indigenous organizations Codeca and 48 Cantones (48 villages) blocked traffic at more than a dozen crossroads and bridges throughout Guatemala.

They are calling for the resignation of justice department officials they accuse of interfering with the results of the recent presidential election.

This participant, blocking the highway in Totonicapán, says these corrupt government officials, including Attorney General Consuelo Porras, are harming the country.

Codeca leader Thelma Cabrera, whose own presidential candidacy was blocked by the courts earlier this year, says the blockades are the only option allowed Guatemalans whose popular will is being ignored.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government says it’s prepared to level sanctions against those who block Guatemala’s presidential transition.

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council is attempting to promote better relationships with external governments and agencies, including Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY)’s administration.

Last week, they had the opportunity to host New York State Deputy Secretary for First Nations Dr. Elizabeth Rule (Chickasaw) and voiced the need to rejuvenate their government-to-government relationship with the state.

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe hopes that through the Deputy Secretary for First Nations, Gov. Hochul’s administration will continue to give attention and distribute financial resources to address the challenges that face Tribal Nations across the state.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, held a hearing entitled “Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Tribal Communities.”

Testimonies were given from tribal water experts, and stakeholders on a range of water-related issues for tribes in the United States, including lack of access to infrastructure, deferred maintenance of existing infrastructure, inadequate water quality, and workforce development shortfalls.

Sen. Padilla spoke about the statistics of running water and sanitation in Native American Homes.

“Native American households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack indoor pipes for running water and sanitation. Inadequate water supply, and deteriorating pipes can impact the public health. Education and economic development of tribal communities. If you can’t trust the water you’re drinking or the plumbing that keeps your home sanitary, it harms your quality of life.”(24 sec)

Jola WallowingBull is the director of the Northern Arapaho Tribal Engineering Department and is a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe from the Wind River Indian Reservation.

She states that the application approval process is delaying repairs, and is causing many Tribal homes to get worse while people wait for assistance.

“It often takes a long time to receive funding and put it to use. While we wait for applications to be approved, our work cannot and does not wait. Leaks and other issues continue while our requests slowly move through the approval process. We plug holes as best we can, but the review system ensures that we are always addressing emergencies rather than allocating our resources to planning future development.”

The Indian Health Service reports that approximately 17% of American Indian and Alaska Native homes lack adequate sanitation facilities.

 

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The percentage of female engineers varies by specialty, but 2021 figures show only 9% of Mechanical Engineers are women. A Native student at Arizona State University is working to change that, as Alex Gonzalez reports.

Claire Gunderson (enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Jemez and Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico) just started her first year at ASU studying mechanical engineering.

She says her passion for this field started by helping her dad with his cars in her hometown of Albuquerque, N.M. And while she’s disappointed to see a lack of diversity in the field, Gunderson says she’s optimistic about the future.

“I guess it’s a little sad, but like, more women aren’t involved in engineering and it just inspires me to pursue what I want to do and make connections with everybody around me, no matter if they’re male or female or whatever.

ASU awarded bachelor degrees in engineering to 460 women in 2021.

Gunderson is also a National Indigenous Recognition Scholar. She graduated high school with top academic standing.

Only 8% of ACT tested American Indian and Alaskan Native High School graduates meet college readiness and STEM benchmarks, according to the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.

During her time at ASU, Gunderson says she hopes to become a member of the Formula SAE club, which each year sets out to build a Formula-style race car to compete at an annual Formula student competition in Michigan.

She says she’s eager to see the process of building a prototype for anyone considering the engineering field.

Gunderson recommends taking time to explore your options and find the best fit.

“If you’re really into figuring stuff out and all that, like (there’s) bound to be something in engineering that you’ll be able to find, whether it’s like mechanical, electrical, or aerospace, anything like that, it’s just really fun.”

Gunderson and more than 144,000 other Sun Devils have begun their degree programs this fall at ASU campuses or online.

The largest student enrollment in the university’s history.

The Michigan Bar Association’s representative committee will grant its 2023 Unsung Heroes Award to the Honorable Melissa L. Pope, the Chief Tribal Court Judge of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi on September 24.

According to the Michigan Bar Association, the Unsung Hero Award is presented to a lawyer who has exhibited the highest standards of practice and commitment for the benefit of others.

September is Suicide Prevention Month and new data shows that the suicide rate in the US has increased dramatically over the past 20 years.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports, that’s especially true for Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

The analysis was done by Pew Charitable Trusts.

It found that from 2000 to 2020, the national suicide rate grew 30%. For Native American and Alaskan Native women, the rate spiked more than 130%. For men, it jumped over 90%.

Emily Edmonds Harrows is with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health.

She says a major factor is the historical trauma caused by colonization and the boarding school era.

“If a parent is traumatized because of these experiences and and experiences those things and not allowed to talk about it and not allowed to cope with it, they then pass along that trauma to their children and sort of this cycle perpetuates itself.”

She says there’s also a lack of funding for mental healthcare services in tribal communities.

But efforts to bridge the gap are coming from the Indian Health Service, which is training tribal members to respond to people in crisis

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the national suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.

 

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