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The Wilton Rancheria Tribe in California is facing flood damage on and around the tribe’s traditional site due to flooding of a river.
CBS 13 reports tribal burial grounds are being threatened and tribal officials are asking the public to report any sightings of remains or artifacts to the tribe.
The tribe is also seeking to work with local and state agencies on assistance for those impacted by the flooding.
A flood watch is in place for the Sacramento Valley as other storms are expected to hit Northern California this week.
The Wilton Rancheria is located in Sacramento County.
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota is continuing to recover from devastating winter weather.
The tribe has been dealing with a winter weather emergency from storms and extreme cold since December.
Tribal administrative leave was granted Tuesday and no travel advisories are in place.
Area schools are not expected to start until later this week.
Residents have faced power outages, food, wood, and propane shortages.
There have also been fatalities after people have been trapped in their homes buried by snow.
Rosebud officials told the Argus Leader last week that at least six people have died including a boy with health issues, elders, and those who were unhoused.
The tribe has been working with various agencies and organizations for assistance.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe has also been dealing with a winter weather emergency.
Last week, President Joe Biden declared a major disaster declaration for the Havasupai Tribe in Arizona.
The order helps with federal aid for the tribe’s response and recovery efforts from flooding in October.
The funding is available to the tribe and certain nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for work and repair of flood damage.
The declaration is issued as the reservation prepares to open for tourism.
The reservation has been closed to tourists since March 2020 due to COVID-19.
The 2022 flooding impacted trails and bridges needed for tourism.
Tourism is expected to re-open on February 1.
A popular tourist area is the tribe’s blue-green waterfalls located below the rim of the Grand Canyon.
The California Highway Patrol will be sending Feather Alert notifications to the public when an Indigenous person goes missing.
The Feather Alert Program is now available as a resource to law enforcement agencies investigating the suspicious or unexplainable disappearance of an Indigenous person.
The Feather Alert will provide immediate information to the public to aid in the missing person’s swift recovery.
State Rep. James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA) championed the Feather Alert bill.
Ramos says California has the greatest population of Native Americans in the nation and is the state with the highest rates of reported cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people.
Here’s Ramos last year at the state capitol in Sacramento talking about the bill, and missing and murdered Indigenous people.
“The rates of murdered and missing people in Native American communities is a shameful state and national tragedy that does not receive the scrutiny and attention it deserves. We are excited about this alert system, but even more excited about the growing momentum the momentum to tackle this issue not only from Indian Country by non-Native people, the California Highway Patrol, as well as the state legislature.”
The Feather Alert bill became law in 2022, and was supported by a number of tribes, law enforcement groups and Native health organizations.
Tribal leaders, advocates, and law enforcement officers met with Ramos in December for a roundtable to discuss the Feather Alter’s implementation in 2023.
MGM Resorts International has announced the sale of land where a 2017 mass shooting took place in Las Vegas to the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota, 8 News Now reports.
The property is a 15-acre open lot on the Las Vegas Strip.
The price for the lot was not disclosed.
It reportedly does not include a couple acres MGM gave to the county to house a permanent memorial.
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