Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Anchor: Daniel Montaño
Authorities say they’ve arrested all three suspects in the shooting deaths of two people, and the shooting of an officer after a daylong, multi-agency search on the Colville Reservation in Northeast Washington.
KHQ News reports the search began after the Colville Tribal Police Department responded to a call about a shooting in the small community of Keller on Thursday.
Police found two people dead at the scene.
A tribal officer pursued a vehicle that matched the description provided by witnesses. He was shot in the arm during the chase. A news release from the tribe says he was transported to a hospital for medical care and is now in stable condition.
The campaign manager for an Arizona candidate for governor is drawing backlash for a tweet that included an illustration of a bloody ancient human sacrifice along with the words “Happy Indigenous Peoples Day”.
The Arizona Mirror reports Colton Duncan, who works for republican candidate Kari Lake, posted the image October 10 of a bygone ritual by a Mesoamerican civilization that lived nearly two thousand miles away.
Lake has previously described Duncan as “the most important person” on her campaign.
The tweet went largely unnoticed until a Democratic lobbyist and campaign consultant called attention to it.
Native leaders condemn the tweet and are calling for a public apology from Lake.
Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis called it “racist garbage” and says “Arizona’s Native peoples deserve better.”
National committeewoman for the Arizona Democratic Party Debbie Nez-Manuel, who is Navajo, says the tweet is inexcusable. Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes.
Former Arizona state Representative and Navajo tribal member Sylvia Laughter has died.
As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, she represented part of the Navajo Nation at the state capital for six years and was the first Navajo woman to serve as a lawmaker from her district.
Laughter was first elected in 1998 to the Arizona state House and represented a vast swath of rural northern Arizona that included many of the tribal lands in the state.
According to Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez’s office, she obtained crucial funding for programs that benefitted tribal members.
Laughter was the founder of the Navajo Code Talker Memorial Foundation and led the effort to construct bronze monuments to the revered soldiers in the tribal capital of Window Rock, AZ, as well as the city of Phoenix, the state capital.
She also sponsored legislation to create the state’s Navajo Nation license plate that still provides transportation revenue.
Navajo Nation Council Speaker Seth Damon says Laughter pursued justice and accountability and fought for her community and the tribe during her tenure.
He says Laughter secured more than 20 million dollars for education, veterans and elders.
According to a family GoFundMe site, Laughter had battled COVID-19 for 10 months before her unexpected death on October 15.
They write that Laughter was a quote, “advocate for freedom and truth.”
Funeral services were held over the weekend.
Marjorie Mejia, longtime tribal chairperson for the Lytton Rancheria of northern California, passed away unexpectedly of natural causes last week.
She was in her 60s.
The Richmond Standard reports during her 27-year tenure as chair, Mejia helped develop the small Sonoma County tribe.
She established the San Pablo Lytton casino, which made the tribe self-sufficient.
She also secured a homeland by building a master-planned community in Windsor.
Mejia helped expand infrastructure, businesses, investments, housing and healthcare.
She was recognized across the country as a distinguished leader for her hard work and devotion to advancing her tribe.
Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our newsletter today.
