ThinkProgress Logo

Stories tagged with “Native Americans”

Alyssa

The NFL’s Military Tribute And The Washington Redskins

By Travis Waldron on Nov 8, 2012 at 2:13 pm

Fresh off its pink campaign to bring awareness to breast cancer, the National Football League is now embarking on another uniform-related campaign to highlight and pay tribute to America’s military members ahead of Veterans Day. Last week, NFL players wore camouflage-pattered ribbon stickers on their helmets and coaches wore ribbons attached to their shirts.

Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, as Uni-Watch’s Paul Lukas noticed, didn’t wear the ribbon on his sweatshirt last week, but the team is paying tribute to the military by draping its official web site in camouflage, as this screen shot shows:

Paying tribute to the U.S. military is an easy decision for most of the NFL’s franchises, but for Washington, the decision would seem to be much more complicated. Native Americans have served in every major American war, and according to the U.S. Navy there are at least 190,000 Native American military veterans. But native tribes also spent decades fighting against the United States and were very nearly eradicated by the same military to which the NFL and subsequently the Washington Redskins are now paying tribute.

The Redskins, of course, haven’t acknowledged the long, complicated history the team’s namesake has with that military, much as they have refused to acknowledge much of the controversy (which now includes a lawsuit brought by Native Americans) surrounding the use of an offensive name and offensive imagery. Washington’s football franchise paying tribute to the U.S. military wouldn’t be controversial whatsoever if the team realized or acknowledged such facts. That the team doesn’t understand that moves like this will invite further controversy, though, seems yet another indication that neither the franchise nor the league understand that use of the name “Redskins” and the accompanying imagery don’t just represent a team name and a logo, but a people who have a deep-rooted and complicated history with our country.

Justice

Montana Judge Won’t Ease Native Americans’ Access to Polls

By Guest Blogger on Nov 1, 2012 at 3:00 pm

A federal judge in Montana rejected an emergency request Tuesday by 15 Native American plaintiffs who argue the lack of polling places on reservations violates the Voting Rights Act and amounts to discrimination. The judge, Richard Cebull, acknowledged Native Americans do not have equal access to the polls, but said the plaintiffs were unable to prove “that they can’t elect the candidates of their choice.”

I’m not arguing that the opportunity is equal for Indian persons as it is to non-Indians . . . Because of poverty, because of the lack of vehicles and that sort of thing, it’s probably not equal. However, you have to prove … that they can’t elect candidates of their choice.

The emergency ruling means the state will not set up satellite voting stations on reservations for this November’s election. The lawsuit, however, will continue after the election. The Native American vote is crucial to the reelection of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and maintaining the Senate’s Democratic majority.

Most Native Americans in Montana — of which an estimated 30,000 are eligible voters — live on reservations that lack voting stations. As a result, some have to travel more than 120 miles to complete voter registration and fill out early voting forms. With higher than average poverty and unemployment rates, it is likely some Native Americans lack the resources to travel such distances.

The state claims the tribes did not give enough notice for anything to be done, but the plaintiffs sent a letter to Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch in early May requesting assistance. They also offered to cover the cost of setting up the satellite stations. The Department of Justice supports the Native Americans’ lawsuit and says, “Without an injunction, Native Americans in Big Horn, Blaine, and Rosebud counties will not have the same electoral opportunities as their white counterparts.”

– Greg Noth

Election

Montana Tribal Members Sue For Equal Access to Polls

By Guest Blogger on Oct 11, 2012 at 3:57 pm

Our guest blogger is Erik Stegman, Manager of the Half in Ten campaign for the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

By artist Steven Paul Judd for the Native Vote Campaign

Angry about a lack of voting services in their communities, a group of Montana tribal members filed suit in federal court on Wednesday seeking an order for local election officials to provide satellite voting stations on their reservations. The plaintiffs, members of the Crow, Northern Cheyenne and Fort Belknap tribes, allege under the Voting Rights Act that it is discriminatory to make them drive long distances to county seats to exercise their right to vote. In some cases, they have to drive as far as 113 miles round trip to vote.

The suit alleges:

“Allowing a non-Indian majority county to establish in-person absentee locations at county courthouses but denying the same level of voter access to Indian majority communities is evidence of an invidious discrimination by state and county officials.”

O.J. Seamans (Lakota), Executive Director of Four Directions, a national voting rights organization and party to the suit, said the organization offered to help pay for the satellite voting offices, but county officials refused. “Right now, practically speaking, most Native American Indians in Montana have one day to vote in person—November 6—and no more days to late-register. White people have 20 days. That’s not equal access,” Seamans told Indian Country Today Media Network.

While registered voters in most large cities in Montana are able to vote early at their local county clerk and recorder’s office 30 days before election day, those voters are mostly non-Indian. There are almost 50,000 voting age American Indians in Montana, representing 6.5% of the state voting age population. According to the most recent census, the poverty rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives (28.4%) is nearly double the national rate (15.3 %).

This comes during an election where the stakes are high for tribes in Montana. Recent polls place current Senator and member of the Indian Affairs Committee, Jon Tester in a statistical dead heat with candidate Denny Rehberg. And, President Obama was officially adopted as a member of the Crow Tribe in 2008—one of the tribes with plaintiffs bringing the suit. Both Obama and Tester were supporters of legislation important to tribes such as the Tribal Law and Order Act and the SAVE Native Women Act. Due to their unique nation-to-nation relationship as sovereign governments with the President and Congress, federal elections are especially important for tribal members.

Nationally, tribes have been organizing their members to turnout through efforts like Native Vote.

LGBT

REPORT: Transgender People From Native Populations Face Increased Injustice

By Zack Ford on Oct 9, 2012 at 4:15 pm

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has released its fourth and final report analyzing the intersection of race and gender identity among transgender and gender non-conforming people who completed the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. As has been evident with other racial groups, transgender American Indians and Alaskan Native respondents experienced unique levels of discrimination because of their overlapping identities:

  • Native trans people faced incredibly high rates of extreme poverty, with 23 percent reporting a household income of less than $10,000 per year, compared to 15 percent of all trans people, 8 percent of the general native population, and 4 percent of all U.S. citizens.
  • Native trans people faced higher rates of HIV infection (3.24 percent) and not knowing their status (8.53 percent).
  • Over half (56 percent) of all American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender respondents have attempted suicide, compared to 41 percent of all student respondents.
  • Native trans people face inordinately high rates of unemployment (18 percent), and many have lost a job due to bias (37 percent) or were not hired due to bias (60 percent).
  • 34 percent of native trans people have been refused medical care due to bias.

Read the full report for additional data about the inequities faced by transgender Native Americans, and revisit past reports about trans Asian American, Latino, and black respondents.

LGBT

Tribal Marriage Equality Inspires New Comprehensive LGBT Toolkit For Tribal Leaders

By Guest Blogger on Sep 28, 2012 at 1:11 pm

Our guest blogger is Erik Stegman, Manager for the Half in Ten campaign at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The award-winning documentary about two-spirit people in Navajo culture.

Inspired by the Coquille and Suquamish Tribes’ recent landmark decisions to recognize same-sex marriage, a cutting-edge legal guide has been developed to help tribal legislators strengthen LGBT equality in their governments and communities.  The guide, “Tribal Equity Toolkit: Tribal Resolutions and Codes to Support Two Spirit and LGBT Justice in Indian Country,” is a first-of-its-kind collection of legal resources that helps tribal government officials identify discrimination in tribal codes and regulations and offers draft language to strengthen and promote LGBT equality.  The toolkit was developed by the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program at Lewis and Clark College in partnership with the Native American Program of Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon, and the Western States Center.  The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians also offered technical support to the project.

Although the final toolkit won’t be released until November, the project’s authors had a unique opportunity to present a draft to the general assembly of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, which is an association of the leadership 57 Northwest tribal governments.  The toolkit covers a comprehensive range of legal areas where tribal leaders can improve the lives of LGBT tribal members.  The family law section provides guides and sample language for marriage equality, adoption codes, visitation for LGBT parents, and even ways to strengthen the environment for LGBT native youth in the juvenile justice system.  Other sections of the toolkit include employment nondiscrimination approaches, hate crime legislative options, housing nondiscrimination policies, and options to improve education, and health care.

Se-ah-dom Edmo, director of the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program at Lewis & Clark College, stold the Indian Country Today Media Network that “our hope is to begin to construct a cohesive narrative about Two Spirit & LGBT Natives within our own Tribal communities and for those stories to compel us to take action.”

Basic Rights Oregon also produced a new video called “Our Families: LGBT Two Spirit Stories,” which tells the stories of LGBT tribal members and their families.

The toolkit is especially timely for the Northwest because of Referendum 74, a state ballot initiative in Washington State that would uphold marriage equality.  Washington State has 29 federally recognized tribes, one of which, the Suquamish Tribe, has legalized same-sex marriage.  There are 566 federally recognized tribes in the United States.  As sovereign governments, tribal leaders have wide-ranging opportunities to promote LGBT equality in their agencies, police systems, courts, schools and business relationships.  The final toolkit will be available on November 1.

 

Election

Chief Of Cherokee Nation Blasts Brown Staffers: ‘Downright Racist’

By Annie-Rose Strasser on Sep 26, 2012 at 12:15 pm

The Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation on Wednesday released a statement condemning the employees of Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) after a video surfaced of three campaign staffers mocking Brown’s opponent’s Native American heritage.

“The conduct of these individuals goes far beyond what is appropriate and proper in political discourse,” said Chief Bill John Baker in his statement, “The use of stereotypical ‘war whoop chants’ and ‘tomahawk chops’ are offensive and downright racist.”

Baker called on Brown to “apologize for the offensive actions of his staff and their uneducated, unenlightened and racist portrayal of native peoples,” and said, “A campaign that would allow and condone such offensive and racist behavior must be called to task for their actions.”

Warren’s Cherokee and Delaware Native American ancestry has been a frequent line of attack for Brown, with the campaign even running ads on the topic. The Senator did say Tuesday, however, that he did not “condone” their actions.

Election

Racial Politics: Scott Brown Staffers Mock Warren With ‘Tomahawk Chop’ And ‘War Whoop’

By Annie-Rose Strasser on Sep 25, 2012 at 10:55 am

As part of his re-election campaign, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has attacked his opponent for mischaracterizing herself as Native American. Elizabeth Warren does have Cherokee ancestry, but Brown claims she abused that to gain a professional advantage by listing herself as a minority.

Perhaps Brown’s sensitivity to the issue ends there. On Tuesday, a video surfaced of Brown staffers doing a ‘tomahawk chop’ and making ‘war whoop’ sounds at Warren supporters, an apparent allusion to the dust up over Warren’s heritage. The incident occurred outside of a pub in Boston on Friday.

Watch it:

According to News Center 5 in Boston, the video captures three Brown staffers: “Deputy Chief of Staff Greg Casey, Constituent Service Counsel Jack Richard, and GOP operative Brad Garrett.”

Warren’s mother is part Delaware and part Cherokee.

Update

Brown told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he did not support his staffers’ actions, but quickly turned the conversation back to an attack on Warren, saying that was “the real issue”:

“Well, I haven’t seen it, this is the first I’m hearing of it,” Brown told reporters. “But … if you’re saying that, certainly that’s not something I condone. It’s certainly something that if I am aware of it, I’ll tell that [staff] member to never do it again. But the real issue here is, and the real offense is the fact that Professor Warren checked the box. She said that she was white, and then she checked the box saying she was Native American.”

Economy

RNC Official: New Mexico Is ‘Going to Hell’ For Hosting Meeting With American Indians About Economic Development

By Guest Blogger on Aug 28, 2012 at 12:50 pm

Our guest blogger is Erik Stegman, Manager of the Half in Ten Campaign at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

An executive member of the Republican National Committee said that his home state of New Mexico is “going to hell” because an annual meeting between the governor and the state’s 22 American Indian tribes dishonored the memory of Gen. George Armstrong Custer, who is widely known for his bloody campaigns against Plains Indians in the late 1800’s. Mandated by New Mexican law, the governor meets on a yearly basis with cabinet officials and tribal government leaders to address issues of mutual concern.

American Indians represent 10.1 percent of New Mexicans. What was on this year’s agenda? Sessions about improving education, healthcare, economic development, and infrastructure.

After Governor Susana Martinez (R) announced the upcoming Tribal Leaders Summit, Pat Rogers, a partner with the Modrall law firm, lobbyist, and member of the RNC executive committee, decided to share a piece of his mind with the governor’s staff over email, which was originally publicized by Progress Now New Mexico:

Quislings, French surrender monkeys, secret supporters (all along) of JAJ [Janice Arnold Jones]

The state is going to hell. Col. Weh would not have dishonored Col Custer in this manner.

I hope who ever recommended this is required to read the entire redist [redistricting law suit] transcript and sit through the entire meeting with the Gov.

“Quislings” is another term for traitor, referring to politicians who favor the interest of other nations over their own. And who are JAJ and Weh? Rogers blasted this email off two days after the state primary when Republicans confirmed former State Rep. Janice Arnold Jones as their nominee for a congressional seat. Retired Marine Corps Col. Allen Weh ran against Martinez in the 2010 Republican primary election

“I call upon the Republican National Committee to remove Mr. Rogers from his official capacity within the committee,” All Indian Pueblo Council Chairman Chandler Sanchez said in a statement Sunday. “His statement that Custer is some kind of hero demanding deference is offensive.” The All Indian Pueblo Council represents New Mexico’s 20 sovereign pueblo governments. A spokesman for Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly said, “It’s definitely something that is just insensitive and careless to even remotely joke about that in this day and age.”

Rogers told the Albuquerque Journal that his email was a “poor attempt at humor and apologized, but made no direct apologies to any tribes in the state.”

NEWS FLASH

Dem Senator: Obamacare Helps Indian Health Service That’s Facing ‘Serious’ Problems | At a Native American hospital in his home state, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said the Indian Health Service has “serious” problems, including a severe doctor shortage. According to The Hill, Baucus cited the hospital where he spoke as an example for refusing to provide rape kits to some female patients. But to help the system make improvements, Baucus noted that the Affordable Care Act permanently reauthorized the Indian Health Services Act, which provides health care to many Native Americans, and that President Obama has requested a significant budget increase for the program. “Our goal is to begin a new era of providing…quality health care,” Baucus said, “health care that can change the vicious cycles American Indians suffer daily.”

By Amanda Peterson Beadle on Aug 8, 2012 at 6:15 pm

Alyssa

Showtime Is Considering An Aztec v. Conquistadors Genre Show From Ron Howard

By Alyssa Rosenberg on Aug 1, 2012 at 3:38 pm

Deadline reported yesterday morning that Showtime is considering a show from Ron Howard that would tell the story of Hernan Cortés, the Spanish conquistador who scuttled his own ships so he’d have no option to retreat and eventually took the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán by siege. It’s not a story without risks—without making this a contest of equals and a genuine clash of sophisticated civilizations, such a show could devolve into a dull celebration of imperialism. But done right, it’s the kind of project that could provide great roles for people of color, and for women, including La Malinche, a woman born on the border between the Mayan and Aztec Empires, sold as a slave, given to Cortés as a gift, and who became his interpreter in Mayan and Nahuatl, and eventually the mother of his child.

Showtime president David Nevins, asked about the project, offered an explanation that was more non-commital than Deadline’s report—but in certain significant ways, intriguing:

I think there’s a very interesting show to be done about that has genre elements, has elements of supernatural and horror, really frightening, gruesome stuff, which is about the sort of encounter between these two very different cultures but were in a premodern time where magic and mysticism, I think, is in the core in the core of the belief system of the Spanish Catholics and the Aztecs. And it’s a very advanced civilization in a lot of ways, the Aztec civilization, advanced mathematics and science, but also really brutal and violent. So I think it’s got a mix. And it’s a kind of a period show that no one has done. So I’m always looking for something that feels like fresh territory. One of the reasons I hate talking about it is because other people can get the idea. But I think it’s it’s loaded with potential.

If Nevins wants to do a period drama with genre elements, he might consider eliminating the conquistadors from the equation. Showtime could adapt Clare Bell’s The Jaguar Princess, a fantasy about Aztec client states that involves a woman who can shape shift into a great cat, which the network could pitch as a mashup of Game of Thrones‘ feudal politics and True Blood‘s sex and magic. I don’t think Gary Jennings Aztec novels, in which Catholic invaders misread the civilization they were determined to destroy by sword and cross, have ever been adapted, and they could be rich territory as well. Ultimately, I doubt Showtime would ever ditch the conquistadors—a show this expensive would probably think it needs a Sean Bean-like famous-but-not-too-expensive white guy as a hook for an audience. But it would be nice to see a show about native peoples in the Americas that has the guts to treat its invading European as a villain rather than a hero, and to turn Aztec characters into rich and complex anti-heroes.

Older

Newer

Switch to Mobile
ThinkProgress Signup Overlay Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress

Sign Up