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Anchor: Antonia Gonzales
Astronaut Nicole Mann (Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes) made history by becoming the first Native American woman to go to space.
Mann is part of the NASA Space-X Crew-5 which launched to the International Space Station on Wednesday.
This is Mann’s first spaceflight since becoming an astronaut in 2013. Mann is the spacecraft commander.
In August, she talked to National Native News about the mission.
“I will fly myself and three other crewmates. We will launch from Kennedy Space Center in a dragon spacecraft, which is built by SpaceX. We will take a day or so to get to the International Space Station and we’ll stay on board for about six months to execute our mission. Our spacecraft will stay attached the entire time and then at the end of the mission we’ll come back home and we’ll splash down off the coast of Florida.”
Mann says she’s proud to represent Native people.
“I think your background and your heritage is an important part of who you are and your family and the community that brought you up. I think it’s also important to then share with our communities, what amazing things our people we grew up with are executing, and what they’re doing. Hopefully there are some young Native kids that are looking and see what amazing things, amazing opportunities that they have in front of them, and a lot of those barriers that used to exist are being broken down.”
Mann is responsible for all phases of flight from launch to reentry. She’ll serve as flight engineer aboard the station.
The public can follow the SpaceX Crew-5 Mission at nasa.gov.
The Yurok Tribe hosted the first statewide policy summit on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People on Tuesday.
The Northern California Tribal Summit on MMIP brought together tribal leaders, law enforcement officials, and survivors, as well as state and federal lawmakers, and academic researchers.
Victim advocates were also in attendance.
At a press conference after the summit, Yurok Vice Chairman Frankie Myers says addressing MMIP needs a holistic approach.
He adds that action needs to start now and include a number of partners- tribes, law enforcement, governments and the non-profit community.
Myers says MMIP did not happen overnight it’s an issue continuing for years. He urged the community to take MMIP seriously.
“These are our people, these are our children, they’re our families. I look forward to the actions to come.”
The summit examined the historical and present-day contributing factors to issues involving MMIP, and explored remedies to reduce risks to Indigenous people in the U.S.
Watch the Yurok MMIP Summit Press Conference
Members of the Yakama and Grand Ronde Nations asked the U.S. Supreme Court this week to hold the federal government accountable for bulldozing sacred sites to add a turn lane to a road in Oregon near Mount Hood.
The Native plaintiffs are seeking repair of the site, including removing an embarkment, replanting trees, and allowing the reconstruction of a stone altar.
Plaintiffs say the area includes a burial ground.
Tribal members say they’ve long used land around Mount Hood to hunt and fish, and for burials and ceremonies.
The site at issue is along an old trading route now followed by U.S. Highway 26.
The tribal plaintiffs say they have long urged for protection.
In 2008, the government bulldozed the site for the turn lane.
After failed negotiations with the government to restore the site, they pursued claims in federal court arguing protections under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and environmental laws.
Lower courts have sided with the federal government.
They’re now taking their claims with Becket Law Firm to the Supreme Court.
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