Recently in Native News

Native American voices are continuing to participate in national conversations surrounding ongoing social injustices and the global health pandemic. We’re sharing a compilation of news from the month of July that celebrates the positive momentum and addresses where there’s still room for change. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and stay up to date with the latest headlines all year long.

Supreme Court rules that about half of Oklahoma is Native American land via NPR

• “The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that about half of the land in Oklahoma is within a Native American reservation, a decision that will have major consequences for both past and future criminal and civil cases. The court’s decision hinged on the question of whether the Creek reservation continued to exist after Oklahoma became a state. ‘Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of fed­eral criminal law. Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word,’ Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.”

Native American artist/activist dies after contracting COVID-19 via ABC 15

• “One of the latest victims of COVID-19 in the Valley is a Native American man. He is now being honored for a life devoted to standing up for his culture, the environment, and future generations. Rance Sneed, 48, was an artist and activist who spent nearly 100 days with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota, protesting a pipeline cutting through their Sovereign lands. ‘As natives all across the continent, around the world, indigenous people, we are taught that Mother Earth is everything. Rance understood that as a very key part of his culture. Eminent domain was forced upon Standing Rock Sioux on their treaty land. It was about cultural existence and tribal sovereignty,’ said Keytha Fixico, a friend who spent months in Standing Rock with Sneed.

Black Lives Matter momentum propels more awareness of systemic issues afflicting Native Americans via WBUR

• “The last few weeks have been historic for Native Americans. First, a major Supreme Court ruling declared a significant part of eastern Oklahoma is under Native jurisdiction. And earlier this week, Washington’s NFL team dropped its name and logo, which was long seen as racist. Native American journalist Vincent Schilling, who is also an associate editor for Indian Country Today, says this sea change offers hope in now tackling some of the systemic problems in their community such as police brutality. This year’s racial justice protests have brought visibility and awareness to Native communities, who have been fighting for change for years, he says. The national attention is “unprecedented” in the two decades Schilling has been a journalist, he says.”