Modern-day Colonialism

"All records stemming from the redress process of the Indian residential school legacy should be public record and not subject to more legal wrangling," said Garnet Angeconeb, who attended Pelican Lake Indian Residential School, near Sioux Lookout and received the Order of Canada, in an email. "We often hear that the Indian residential schools legacy is our 'collective' or 'shared' history as a country. Why then is that one side is driving this contemporary history through the use of law? It looks like, smells like, feels like modern-day colonialism at its best."

READ: Ottawa's move to block statistical reports on residential schools 'modern-day colonialism,' says survivor | CBC News

How Being Separated From My Family and Tribe Affected Me

APRIL/16/2013 | Indian Child Welfare Act

By Jacqueline Davis, Activist          

Today the Supreme Court will hear Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, a case about a South Carolina Indian girl who the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the child must be returned to her Indian father. The child's mother ignored the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, a federal law designed to protect Indian families from "abusive child welfare practices that resulted in the separation of large numbers of Indian children from their families and tribes through adoption or foster case placement" and, as a result, both the tribe and the father were denied their rights under ICWA.
As the Supreme Court hears this case, the coverage has been largely one-sided. I thought it was important for people to hear my story, and how being separated from my family and tribe has affected me.

My name is Jacqueline Davis. I am one of six siblings affected by a decision made by the state of South Carolina. I am a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and my grandfather is Chief Dave Bald Eagle. My father, who is African-American, met my mom and married her while he was stationed in the Air Force. They eventually moved off the reservation to South Carolina. Their lives changed one day when my mother applied for WIC and the nurse realized that she spanked her children as a form of discipline. Their children were taken and placed in foster care. We were split in pairs. The charges were piled on, and our parents lost custody. The Bald Eagle family offered to take us on the reservation and for reasons I still don't know they were told our case had nothing to do with ICWA. I can remember my parents coming to visit us for years.

Read the rest here:
http://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/how-being-separated-my-family-and-tribe-affected-me

The Risk of Extinction due to #Covid-19

Native communities in the U.S. have suffered disproportionately from COVID-19, with higher rates of infection and death. The Navajo Nation has implemented a series of strict lockdown measures in an effort to protect its population, but health care facilities have still been overwhelmed. In fact, tribes across the country see the pandemic as representing an existential threat. Stephanie Sy reports.

Back in New Mexico, there are significant clusters of cases in the state's Pueblos. By one estimate, 11 percent of the Zia Reservation of only 646 members were infected. At that rate, leaders are concerned about the risk of extinction.

WATCH: Native communities have been hit hard by COVID-19 -- and fear for their survival

For more information on reports, helpful prevention tips, and more resources, please visit the Navajo Department of Health’s COVID-19 website at http://www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19.
To contact the Navajo Health Command Operations Center, please call (928) 871-7014.
For the latest news from the Office of the President and Vice President, please visit http://www.opvp.navajo-nsn.gov/ or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Rural Matters — Coronavirus and the Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation Doc: Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the New England Journal of Medicine, here.

The Navajo Nation, Diné Bikéyah, is 27,000 square miles of high-altitude desert, steep canyons, red rock spires, and extinct volcanoes, which, at this time of year, are still spotted with snow. The population density is among the lowest in the contiguous United States: seven people per square mile. If you didn’t know better, the vast landscape would seem a perfect setup for social distancing.

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Midnight Shine - Sister Love (Celebration of Sisters!) @midnightshineon

FUN FACTS: 

Ø  Adrian
Sutherland, Midnight Shine founder and frontman, wrote Sister Love from a poem written by his sister Iris Sutherland – she shares co-writing credit on the song. 

Ø  Adrian’s
Mom played acoustic guitar, keyboard, and sang, instilling in him his love of music, and inspiring him to play. 

Ø  Sister
Love is Midnight Shine’s 2^nd most streamed song on Spotify – second only to Heart of Gold (which now has more than 227,000 YouTube views).

Ø  Sister
Love reached #1 on Canada's Indigenous Music Countdown when it was released.

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Introduction to the Maine-Wabanaki: gkisedtanamoogk at TEDxDirigo

Coming Up: Native America Calling

Native America Calling is a national call-in program that invites guests and listeners to join a dialogue about current events, music, arts, entertainment and culture.

The program is hosted by Tara Gatewood (Isleta Pueblo) and airs live each weekday from 1-2 pm Eastern.