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Family support and adjusting expectations help Native grads facing historically high unemployment

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by Christine Trudeau

At 26, Megan Heller has not one, but two master’s degrees from Eastern Washington University. But after classes moved online early and a virtual graduation in the spring because of the pandemic, Heller had no luck finding a job. 

 “I probably applied for about fifty jobs,” Heller said. “I got a lot of ‘positions were canceled due to funding limits.’ Entry level jobs that I applied for said I didn’t have enough experience or I didn’t meet the qualifications or they just didn’t get back to me.”

Heller, a citizen of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians near Spokane, Washington, moved back in with her parents following graduation. She was able to save a little money living rent free and babysitting for family members as they went to work. Like many graduates this spring, Heller was left with very few options.

Donna Feir, a Research Fellow with the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said that those entering into the labor force just out of school are doing so at a particularly bad time. 

“Obviously unemployment rates rose dramatically in April after the onset of pandemic,” says Feir, “this is particularly challenging for Indigenous Americans where unemployment rates increase much more dramatically than any other demographic group.”  

An August report by Feir found that despite a slight rebound to the employment rate since April, employment for Native Americans is still well behind that for the white workforce. Feir’s survey focuses on people over 25 years of age. She said through no fault of their own, young people having difficulty finding work might be affected throughout their careers. 

“Unemployment rates generally rose very dramatically and we know if you are an individual who is entering the labor force in an economic downturn this can sometimes have a permanent impact on your wages and attachment to the labor force throughout your life course,” Feir said. 

Across the country tribes and Native communities are pulling together,

Ashley Nicole Hamilton, 22, with her new dog, Winnie, works remotely this year from her parents’ home in South Sioux City, Neb.

accessing traditional family and community support to cope with the virus threat and the ongoing economic setbacks. Food donation and delivery drives, youth-led initiatives to provide masks, hand sanitizer, and information on social distancing and other preventative measures, and tribal officials closing reservation borders have all helped keep people alive and afloat.

Heller counts herself among those relying on that family support. So does Ashley Nicole Hamilton, who is also back at home after graduating from Harvard University in the spring. Unlike Heller, Hamilton, 22, had a fellowship lined up after receiving her bachelor’s degree in sociology. A citizen of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Hamilton started in June as the Wilma Mankiller Fellow in Tribal Governance with the National Congress of American Indians.

“I recognize that I’m in a very unique situation to, one, get a job during a pandemic, but also be able to keep it and know that I’ll be able to have this job,” Hamilton said.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. When Harvard closed down in March, college officials gave students living on campus five days to vacate their dorms. With no financial help from the school and unable to get storage nearby, Hamilton said it made more sense to rent a truck and drive to to her job in Washington, D.C.  At the time, she thought she’d be starting her job in person, but NCAI decided she should work remotely for the foreseeable future. She returned to South Sioux City, Neb. and says, in the months since, working from home has been good, allowing her to reconnect with family.

 “I feel like I’ve healed in a way from the four years of being away,” said Hamilton. “Healing mentally, physically, and emotionally and learning more about myself. Like what situations I thrive in. What situations I don’t thrive in. Understanding that having my family, having a good community around is necessary. I’m not saying that at Harvard I didn’t have a great community of friends, I just think that the lifestyle of living in the dorms, not being able to cook my own food, not being connected to my food and to more of a home routine really affected me a lot. Being home has healed that in a way, and especially being close to my family.”

Hamilton also got a dog over the summer named Winnie, who has been a companion between work and occasionally grocery shopping.

 “I think because Nebraska never really issued any sort of lockdown stay-at-home orders statewide, the pandemic has felt very consistent for me and in the sense that I’m still following the same guidelines that I was following in March,” Hamilton said.

Thankfully, Hamilton said, COVID-19 case numbers have remained relatively low for her tribe. When her fellowship finishes up in May, she has her heart set on studying Indian law, but remains cautious. 

“I know with the pandemic anything can change in an instant, and so I want to start planning for options so I don’t end up in a position where I don’t have a plan or I don’t have a job or anything like that,” she said. “I just want to know what my options are, but I’m not really getting my hopes up on any of them because, you know, there’s a pandemic. So, I’m just ready for anything to change in an instant.”

Reconnecting with family and community is also a source of healing for Megan Heller.

“I’ve been trying to tell myself that it was an extended vacation, like a reset from school, because school was so stressful,” says Heller. “I would spend a lot of time outside, whether it’s just walking around or going for hikes in the nearby area.”

Washington was the first state hit hard by COVID-19. Gov. Jay Inslee enacted stay-at-home orders early. Heller credits the Kalispel Tribe for taking quick, providing antibody testing, giving out masks and other measures. When supplies were scarce, they organized donation drives to local food banks to help those in Spokane County, both tribal members and non-members alike.  

“I think it’s been going relatively well, considering the situation,” Heller said. “My immediate family, we’ve all been safe as well as my extended family who are up here in Washington. Everybody’s been good about social distancing and wearing masks.”

Four months into her job hunt, fortunes finally turned. She started a new job as the Human Resources Compensation Specialist this week for her tribe. Though not her dream job yet, Heller says the position provides some financial security and a foot in the door. Down the line, she hopes the Kalispel Tribe opens a position for economic development and environmental protection when they are able to resume normal operations.  Heller’s degrees are in public administration and urban and regional planning. Her thesis was on tribes planning for climate change. She is eager to put her passions to work and looks forward to the day she can help her tribe diversify economically and plan for a sustainable future. But for the moment she’s just glad to get back to work.

“I’m eager to get back to having a routine, letting go of the stress and worries I was having about not knowing what the future will hold, ” Heller said. “Not that I know now, but about the way that bills weren’t going to be paid, or what I was going to do if I couldn’t find a job for a long time. Now I can focus on my professional development… and my professional goals, where I want to go one day within the tribe and the kind of career path I want.”

This story is a collaboration between National Native News and the Solutions Journalism Network

Native solutions to tackle COVID-19

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Family support, adjusting expectations help Native grads facing historically high unemployment
Megan Heller has not one, but two master’s degrees from Eastern Washington University. But after graduating in the spring she had no luck finding a job.  “I probably applied for about fifty jobs,” she said. “I got a lot of ‘positions were canceled due to funding limits.’ Entry level jobs that I applied for said I didn’t have enough experience or I didn’t meet the qualifications or they just didn’t get back to me.” New research by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis finds those entering the labor force just out of school are doing so at a particularly bad time. Ever after a slight rebound, Native American unemployment rates remain well behind those for the population as a whole. Heller and other Native graduates find family support and a flexible outlook are helping them navigate through.

Navajo Nation marks significant COVID-19 milestone
Sept. 10, 2020

The Navajo Nation reported its second day of no additional COVID-19 deaths in three days. After months of strict lockdowns, curfews and public admonishments from tribal leaders, tribal health officials report dwindling numbers of new cases. Twice within a matter of days, the Navajo Nation marked a significant milestone that the Nation’s largest reservation hasn’t seen since March. It’s all the more important as the tribe continues to climb toward a total that nears 10-thousand COVID-19 deaths. The Nation once outpaced every state in the country for the number of deaths from the disease.

‘Unprecedented’ donation to offset student COVID-19 challenges
August 4, 2020

The American Indian Graduate Center is among the non-profits benefiting from a major philanthropic effort by writer MacKenzie Scott. The donation given by Scott, ex-wife to Amazon CEO, billionaire Jeff Bezos, is an unprecedented $20-million.  It’s the largest individual donor gift in unrestricted funds over AIGC’s 50-year history.

UNITY conference goes virtual
July 8, 2020

The United National Indian Tribal Youth, organization, or UNITY, is going virtual for their annual conference this year because of the ongoing pandemic. UNITY Executive Director Mary Kim Titla says as Native youth continue to play a vital role in tribal communities combating COVID-19, it’s important for them to take time to connect with peers at workshops, share talents, and build on self-care techniques to help navigate stress and anxiety amid lock-downs and isolation.

Salish and Blackfeet hip-hop artist Shadow Devereaux, known as Foreshadow from the video for the song “Protect Your People,” part of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ COVID-19 youth outreach initiative.

Musical initiative offers safety message to young people
July 6, 2020

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation collaborated with local musicians to launch a COVID-19 youth safety awareness campaign. So far, following the release of their second hip-hop song, they’re seeing a successful response in their community’s youth. The series, with a targeted social media campaign, is aimed at 12 to 18-year-olds. In a written release, CSKT officials say the song series was “driven by concerns that youth may not be responding to COVID-19 prevention guidelines.”

 

 

Susan Harjo

Suzan Harjo says she’s twice tested positive for coronavirus
June 18, 2020

First tested on May 19, prominent Native American rights advocate Suzan Harjo says she’s tested positive for Covid-19Suzan Harjo has recently tested again and came up positive a second time for the coronavirus. Harjo is currently making her way through her second round of quarantine.

“I have been reading and writing and talking to people and working; you just continue your life,” Harjo said. “You continue your life with more care for others and prioritize your time.”

White Mountain Apache Tribe is upping strict safety measures as positive Covid-19 cases rise
June 15, 2020

The White Mountain Apache Tribe reached 1,259 reported positive COVID-19 cases. The sudden surge, according to Tribal Chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatewood, is likely due an increase in testing and contact tracing. The tribe is on stay-at-home orders, with an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, and is closed to non-tribal citizens and tribal members not living on the reservation.

Overcoming potential COVID-19 barriers to voting
June 10, 2020

The Native American Rights Fund outlines ways to avoid potential voting barriers as states consider safety options during the COVID-19 pandemic. NARF organizers say any move to an entirely vote-by-mail system would be a big problem for Native voters, with the potential to disenfranchise many. They point out it’s not uncommon for items to get misplaced or delivered to the wrong person in the process of picking up and distributing mail from a shared PO box, making the wait to get mail delivered longer, sometimes taking up to a month.

Protecting Human Rights and sovereignty during the pandemic
May 27, 2020

The Native American Rights Fund and the University of Colorado Law School have teamed up and launched a new online legal resource to help Tribal self-determination efforts during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Native domestic abuse line adds service to help survivors during pandemic
May 20, 2020

As Covid-19 safety restrictions amped up across the country in March, StrongHearts Native Helpline initially saw a dip in their calls. The organization’s director points to the possibility that survivors sheltering in place at home with an abusive partner find it difficult to make a phone call when they need help. StrongHearts  launched a new online chat function to better assist Native American and Alaska Native people experiencing abuse.

 

Emergency aid for students helps with student housing, utilities and travel
May 15, 2020

When schools started shutting down back in March, the American Indian Graduate Center began a designated Student Emergency Fund outside of their initial awarded scholarship dollars.

“It comes down to student emergency needs,” Executive Director Angelique Albert said. “They are no longer on campuses, so they are no longer in the dorms, so they have housing needs, they have food needs, and we’re having to respond to make sure that they can just say in college.”

 

 

 

 

 

Native rights organization lists recommendations to fix voting barriers

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By Christine Trudeau
This story is a collaboration with National Native News and the Solutions Journalism Network.

The Native American Rights Fund is outlining ways to avoid potential barriers for Native American as the nation prepares for the 2020 election. The recommendations in NARF’s new report address safety measures states are considering in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

NARF staff attorney Jacqueline DeLeon says an entirely vote-by-mail system would be a big problem in Indian Country, with the potential to disenfranchise many Native voters. DeLeon is co-author of NARFs recent voting rights report detailing multiple voting barriers that Native Americans face. Some states are considering a mail-only voting option to lower the chances of voters getting infected at polling places. DeLeon says inconsistent mail service makes that idea problematic for Native voters.

“The way mail works in Indian Country is if you’re getting mail at all, it’s likely gonna be at a post office through a post office box that you might be sharing with fifteen other people,” DeLeon said. “I mean, that is not unheard of just a lot of people sharing one post office box.”

She said that makes it easier for ballots to get misplaced or delivered to the wrong person, which could take weeks to correct.

In light of these and other challenges facing voters on access and safety, NARF is advocating specific changes that could help many Native voters, including maintaining in-person voting with the proper protections.

“An in-person voting option can be controlled,” DeLeon said. “You can have PPE sanitation practices; you can do curb-side voting. You can utilize Native community members and say that they’re the ones that are running the polls to reduce the introduction of outside people, and that kind of controlled environment is better than this hodge-podge way that people get mail in Indian Country now.”

NARF also recommends increasing the number of ballot collection boxes available through election day, allowing tribes to designate buildings to pick up and drop off ballots where they can also to register to vote if possible, allowing early voting hours for elders and people with compromised immunity, and creating a robust educational outreach campaign to tribal communities about any changes to the voting process.

 

Rapid City, S.D. caravan honors Indian Health Service workers

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by Chynna Lockett

Rapid City, South Dakota community members held a drive-by car caravan to thank Indian Health Service employees for their work during COVID-19.  People honked horns, waved out car windows and held signs thanking essential employees. Health care workers lined the sidewalks and waved back, their eyes grinning behind their face masks.

“We just wanted to find a way to thank and honor our friends and relatives who are working up here on the Sioux San Campus including the IHS, the Oyate Health Center employees and everyone else that has a job up here,” said Richie Richards, who organized the event.

Richards said healthcare can be especially stressful right now since people still have to show up to take care of medical issues not related to the pandemic. He decided the busy employees needed a morale boost and 30 cars showed up.

“And a good rally like this and showing support for them, it’s going to lift them up, lift their spirits up and give them that little extra motivation to come and show up like they do on a daily basis,” Richards said

The gesture was appreciated.

“Our job as administration is to give our front line workers the support and the resources they need to stay safe and to feel supported because they’re providing that to the community and they need that,” said Jerilyn Church, president of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board and Oyate Health Center on the Sioux San Campus.

Sioux San  is taking steps to direct patients showing potential symptoms of COVID-19 to designated areas to prevent spreading it.

Tribal stimulus money going to for-profit Alaska Native Corporations draws backlash

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by Savannah Maher, Wyoming Public Radio

Many tribal leaders are calling for Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) to be excluded from funding set aside for tribes in the CARES Act. Gerald Gray is Chairman of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa and the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leadership Council. He says ANCs for-profit corporation status should preclude them from accessing the $8 billion tribal stabilization fund.

“Alaska Native Corporations should not be getting any of the funding because they’re not tribes, Gray said. “We just basically don’t feel that it’s a good idea to be doing that.”

The Rocky Mountain Tribal Leadership Council urged the U.S. Treasury Department to exclude ANCs from the emergency funding.

The Great Plains Tribal Chairmen Association went a step farther, calling for the removal of Tara Sweeney as Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs. They say there’s a conflict of interest since she once worked for the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., one of the 13 ANCs.

But Shauna Hegna, President of Koniag, Inc., says Sweeney is simply following the law.

“Simply put, ANCs are eligible for funding under the CARES Act because we’re included in the law,” she said. “We’re gonna use the funding from the CARES Act to help our communities prepare and respond to COVID-19.

It’s not yet clear how the money will be divided up. The Alaska Resources Development Council lists the corporations’ combined annual revenue as at least $10.5 billion in 2018 and 2019.

Photo: Dept. of Interior Asst. Secretary of Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney during a 2018 congressional hearing (Credit: Jared King, Navajo Nation Washington Office).

Nome prepares housing for regional patients needing self-quarantine

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by Emily Hofstaedter, KNOM

Most Alaska villages have some type of wording in their local travel ordinances that allow for patients to leave and re-enter for medical assistance, providing that they undergo self-quarantine when they return home. But in Western Alaska residents are also faced with overcrowded housing, reduced flight schedules out to the villages, and as always, the potential for weather delays. This means that during this pandemic, there are likely to be people stuck in Nome in need of a place to serve their quarantine.

Norton Sound Health Corporation is preparing living units all throughout Nome to help medical travelers undergo that process safely.

“These units are in a variety of locations,” NSHC Medical Director Dr. Mark Peterson said. “Some of them are very close to the hospital so we can access them very quickly and easily with staff. And some are located in other parts of the community, but they’ll all be very comfortable units that have bedroom, bathroom and other amenities.”

Peterson said NSHC has 150 living units prepared for patients in Nome. Some of those are currently vacant apartments and even potentially hotel rooms that are currently closed by city mandate.

The Norton Sound region has not yet had a confirmed case of COVID-19 but Peterson says that if and when that happens, the quarantine units are meant to be turned into full isolation units.

Right now, NSHC only has units available in Nome. Dr. Peterson explains that NSHC is also working with Kawerak, Inc., the local tribal consortium, to identify spaces in each of the Bering Strait communities that could be used as quarantine or isolation units locally.

“We also know that we have the schools available should we need them,” Peterson said. “So just like in Nome we’re getting quarantine and isolation units all on a master plan, we’re doing the same with the villages as well. So as soon they’re needed, we’ll know where patients can go if they can’t stay home.”

Government bureaucracy, lack of funding could hinder Grande Ronde tribe’s coronavirus response

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By Brian Bull

In Oregon, state funds are being sent to its nine federally recognized tribes. But it may not be enough.

The Oregon Health Authority announced it is allocating roughly $36,000 apiece to tribes and the Native American Rehabilitation Association in Portland. It’s part of a larger $4-million package.

Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy says the money will go to re-supply things like protective gear and hand sanitizer. But it will go fast.

“The other thing that we looked at doing is setting up a temporary hospital at Grande Ronde, and we would need more supplies and a space,” Kennedy said. “Whether that’d be those large tents which are very costly to rent and disinfect.”

Kennedy said most reservations are rural and isolated and not directly connected to major supply chains. She’s hoping to get more funds from the federal government.

“I have participated on calls to the White House,” she said. “They are our trustee. There have been appropriations identified for tribes, yet we have not received a dollar yet.  And I’m not saying that we won’t.  Every tribe has a federal ID number. There’s the mechanism.  Cut the red tape, get the funds out now.”

A tribal spokesperson said there have been COVID-19 cases in counties adjacent to the Grand Ronde native community, but there’s no reason to believe any were associated or had contact with the tribe

Alaska ACLU files suit against Nome on behalf of Nome sexual assault accuser

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by Emily Hofstaedter, KNOM

(Note: National Native News has a policy to not name sexual assault accusers, but in this case Clarice Hardy has shared her story publicly in a variety of sources, including public meetings, news outlets and social media. Her decision to go public has been instrumental in getting others to come forward and in holding officials accountable)

The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska filed suit against the City of Nome, former Nome Police Chief John Papasadora, and former Lieutenant Nicholas Harvey on behalf of former dispatcher, Clarice “Bun” Hardy. Hardy, an Alaska Native woman, reported her sexual assault In 2017, to then Lieutenant Nick Harvey. She said he failed to properly investigate her case.

The ACLU complaint calls Hardy’s case part of a “systemic and ongoing failure to protect Alaska Native women from sexual abuse and assault” on behalf of the City and Nome police. Kendri Cesar, one of the lawyers representing Hardy, spoke at a press conference in Anchorage the day the ACLU announced the lawsuit:

“As we proceed with our case, we will be seeking to learn through the discovery process just how deep and systemic these cases go,” Cesar said. “Our case is filed at a federal court in Nome and we have asked for a jury trial to be held there. Ms. Hardy and all the other women on whose behalf this lawsuit is filed deserve to have a jury in their community hear the claims and determine the outcome.”

Hardy is the only plaintiff listed on the complaint, but the ACLU believes her case is not isolated. Hardy says that since she went public with her experience, others have reached out to her.

“I can’t undue the harm done to the hundreds of women the Nome Police department has failed to help, but maybe I can stop this from happening again,” Hardy said.

Nome City Manager Glenn Steckman said he will not comment on any litigation, saying that is the responsibility of the City’s lawyers.

ICWA appeal goes before Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for a second time

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By Victoria Wicks

The closely-watched arguments for and against the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act are now in the hands of all 16 judges sitting on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The judges heard oral arguments Wednesday, January 22, after the court granted plaintiffs’ request for an en banc hearing. That action vacated the court’s previous decision in August by a three-judge panel affirming ICWA’s constitutional standing. The Fifth Circuit is determining whether or not to uphold a 2018 decision by a Texas district court judge that ICWA is based on race and therefore unconstitutional.

Navajo Nation Assistant Attorney General Paul Spruhan argued in defense of ICWA. He says the law fulfills treaty obligations, a purely political objective. He says that holds up even when examining racial terms “Indian,” “Indian child,” and “Indian tribe” in the Act.

“They are directly connected to membership in a sovereign tribal nation with a government to government relationship with the United States,” Spruhan said.

On the other side of the issue are the non-Native families who want to adopt or foster Indigenous children but have come up against ICWA regulations. Their attorney, Matthew McGill, ays ICWA preferences put his clients at the bottom of the list. He notes that under the law, consideration for a Native child’s placement goes first to the child’s family, then to the child’s tribe, then to other tribal affiliations.

“That is, in my view, just a naked and transparent racial classification and racial objective,” McGill said. “Simply to say we’re going to put any Indian child with any Indian family is the very definition of a racial categorization.”

Among those filing briefs supporting ICWA were 486 federally recognized tribes and 26 states. Among them is Mississippi, one of the states in the 5th Circuit. Texas and Louisiana are the other two states in the 5th Circuit. They, along with Indiana, are among the plaintiffs suing to overturn ICWA.

The appeals court opinion, when it comes, will apply only within the Fifth Circuit. Attorneys on both sides say the case could go to the the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nome rejects ACLU lawsuit settlement, police chief stepping down

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By Emily Hofstaedter

Nome rejected an initial offer from the ACLU to settle on behalf of an Alaska Native woman who claims police failed to properly investigate her rape allegations. The ACLU said the city sent what the ACLU calls an “extremely callous deflection” of the ACLU’s initial $500-thousand dollar settlement offer on behalf of Clarice ‘Bun’ Hardy.

“Presently our understanding is that Nome’s position is that if we want compensation or justice for Hardy, we will have to see them in court,” said Stephen Koteff, Legal Director for the ACLU Alaska.

The ACLU says Hardy’s case exemplifies the threat to countless Alaska Native sexual assault victims in Nome. Koteff says  Hardy has waited long enough for justice.

“While we do not have a timeline, we do not expect to add to that delay,” he said

Hardy claims police investigators failed to adequately follow up on her allegation she was raped in March 2017.

While the city’s most recent response acknowledges there may have been a failure of one police officer to adequately perform his job, they deny allegations the department deliberately neglected Native women.

The case is being handled by the city attorney and Nome’s insurance adjuster.

Meanwhile, the city’s police chief announced last week he’s stepping down after just over a year on the job. Chief Bob Estes had launched an audit of all department sexual assault cases going back to 2005. He has since put the review on hold because of a lack of investigators.

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