News Summary Diary for posting Sunday, March 14th


Please post your news headlines and links below for oke to gather, edit and post once a week.

23 Comments

  1. Navajo Nation May Get Cutting-edge LTE Network

    PC World

    The network, backed up by a 550-mile fiber backbone and microwave links, could make the Internet bloom for about 30000 households in the Navajo Nation, …

    Navajo Nation bridging broadband divide with LTE

    ConnectedPlanet (blog)

    Instead the ZTE base station was switched on in Fort Defiance, Arizona, in the heart of the sprawling Navajo reservation. The Navajo Tribal Utility …

    Navajo Nation explores 4G with DragonWave

    TeleGeography

    Canadian equipment supplier DragonWave has announced that it has been contracted by the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) to deploy a commercial Long …

    Court denies review of uranium mining permit in NM

    KOLD-TV

    … challenged the NRC’s approval of permits for Hydro Resources Inc. to do in-situ leach mining near the Navajo communities of Crownpoint and Church Rock. …

    Court denies review of uranium mining permit in NM

    Forbes

    HRI believes the mining is safe and environmentally friendly and will bring economic benefits to the Navajo community, he said. …

  2.  

    Today’s Headlines –

    Monday, March 8, 2010

    Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs a keynote speaker at DOJ symposium

    Today’s Headlines –

    Wednesday, March 10, 2010

    Mohegan Tribe names woman as lifetime chief for first time in 300 years

  3. ….

    WASHINGTON – Indian leaders are increasingly weighing in on President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for 2011. A general sense of satisfaction is in the air – especially given an overall federal focus to clamp down on spending – although desired areas for improvement are becoming clear.

    Soon after the president released his proposed budget the week of Feb. 1, it was apparent that the administration plans to maintain and strengthen support for a variety of Indian country programs.

  4. Lawmakers OK Navajo trust fund settlement

    Salt Lake Tribune

    The Utah Legislature has signed off on a court settlement sending $33 million to the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation for alleged state …

  5. News:  Santo Domingo Pueblo is no more.  As San Juan Pueblo (now “Ohkay Owingeh”) before them, they’ve chosen to go to a traditional name:  Kewa Pueblo

  6. However, a state request for individual assistance programs was denied.

    Are homes on the reservations owned in any public sense that would allow FEMA $ to be used? Or is this as bad as it looks?  

  7. The Ontario government has taken the final legislative step in relinquishing Ipperwash Provincial Park to Aboriginal control.

    This was one result of the Ipperwash Inquiry released in 2007.  …  Another was creation of a stand-alone Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs:

    “The complexity and importance of Aboriginal issues have outgrown the institutional arrangements dedicated to them within the provincial government…”Creating this ministry would go a long way toward ensuring that Aboriginal issues receive the priority and focus they deserve, and it would also herald a commitment by the province to a new constructive relationship with Aboriginal People.”

    Background info:

    Dudley George…and other First Nations men, women and children occupied Ipperwash Provincial Park… primarily to protest the federal government’s refusal to return the Stoney Point Reserve. The federal government had appropriated this reserve as a military training site in 1942 pursuant to the War Measures Act and had promised to return it to the Aboriginal people after World War II. Frustration steadily increased for over five decades.

    The occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park…occurred in the early evening of September 4, 1995. Two days later, a confrontation occurred between the Ontario Provincial Police and the Aboriginal people outside the park. Dudley George was shot by the police and died.

  8. on FEMA. She would probably be able to answer this, but I haven’t seen her online much lately. You might have to wait a bit or ask her in thread on DKos where she posts pretty frequently.

  9. bit more positive, because I remember SarahLee – one of our advisors on Rosebud –  saying it would be a good idea to point out what’s good about the reservations, too. She felt it was important for Native American youth – if they stop by here – to see upbeat postings, things they could also feel good about, as they are at such high risk for suicide as it is. At least, that’s how I interpreted her post in the first community diary here (the introduction to NAN when the group was just getting started a month or so ago). If I’m wrong, please correct me.  

  10. From Indianz.com:

    …on February 9, the First Lady unveiled a nationwide campaign – Let’s Move! – to fight the epidemic and improve the health of children. An integral part of the First Lady’s campaign will be to work with American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities, where childhood obesity rates are particularly high.”

    While nearly one third of children in the United States are overweight or obese – a rate that has tripled in adolescents and more than doubled in younger children since 1980 – the overweight/obesity rate is even higher among AI/AN children, approaching 50%. This figure is particularly alarming given studies showing that obese children have a very high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other associated health problems such as hypertension and heart disease later in life…

  11. Albuquerque, NM, March 2, 2010 – Rock The 9 Native Music Festival is an annual rock and roll music showcase to be held in Albuquerque, NM from April 22nd through April 24th, 2010. The festival features the music and comedy of many aspiring Native American musicians, bands, and comedians as well as some of its most distinguished visionaries.

    More info about festival: …

  12. about how the declaration and the application were worded.  As long as it took for Rounds to do his damn job, I can easily see him making sure that it covered only the minimum required –  and things that could be extended to non-rez areas.  I’d love to get my hands on the actual docs.

  13. Three months after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama announced Thursday the 10 charities that will benefit from his $1.4 million cash award… Six charities working to prepare students for higher education and help them pay for it will each get $125,000: the American Indian College Fund, the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, College Summit, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Posse Foundation and the United Negro College Fund.

    the Denver-based American Indian College Fund is the nation’s largest provider of private scholarships for American Indian students, providing more than 5,000 scholarships annually for students seeking to better their lives and communities through education at the nation’s 33 accredited tribal colleges and universities. For more information about the American Indian College Fund or to make a donation, visit .

  14. but just for a fun, here’s a “blog” about the dangers of governmental intervention in areas like this:

    Did George McGovern make us fat?

    Mitchell,SD (his hometown/current residence) newspaper’s “Republic Insider” blog

  15. Here’s the opening text, which came in from a mining activists email list.  I’ll try and remember to watch for more:

    By Marjorie Childress 3/11/10 2:47 PM

    Churchrock Uranium Tailings Spill

    A federal appeals court this week moved to allow uranium mining operations in Churchrock, a Navajo community just east of Gallup, New Mexico.

    The decision by the Federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals comes at a time of increased financial incentives for uranium mining-but also intense opposition from many communities, including the Navajo Nation, which outlawed uranium mining in 2005.

  16. Might be a good action item?

    EARTHWORKS is working with a broad coalition of groups to pressure the EPA, Army Corp of Engineers and CEQ to keep mining wastes out of our waters by changing the definition of “fill” material. This rule, changed by the Bush Administration in 2002, allows mining waste to be dumped in rivers, lakes and streams, impacting both coal mining operations ()

    and hardrock mines ().

  17. Something that potentially affects everyone:

    ….

    …The studies linked the skewed sex ratios with human exposures to PCBs and other persistent organic chemicals.

    Following a report that some Arctic indigenous communities are among the most exposed populations to persistent toxic substances, the Indigenous Peoples Organization initiated the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program Programme in 2004.

    Their assessment concluded, “Any threat to continued consumption of their foods, including chemical contamination, is not only a potential threat to the health of the individual, but also to the social structures and entire cultural identity of these indigenous peoples…”

    So much for more upbeat news items, ugh. The really critical stuff is not very positive, unfortunately…

  18. Plus, for items related to Indian Country, there’s a terrific website that’s kind of a clipping service (with a very few stories they do themselves.)

    indianz.com

  19. while awaiting a ruling about releasing 259 other secret documents that would allow a trial seeking  compensation, this information from a 1985 report was presented at a hearing this week:

    It lays out how the Manitoba government wanted to build the dam as fast and as cheaply as possible, stifling even internal dissent from staff who feared the economic future of the Cree would be severely damaged…The government floods over 1.5 million acres of trapping ground, killing off all the wild muskrat, beaver, moose and other animals and completely destroying one of the largest nesting areas for ducks and geese in all Canada.

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