The Wrap: The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
National Day #NationalDay
Indigenous headlines for Friday, Sept. 30, 2022
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Minnesota commemorates day for US Indian boarding schools
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has designated Sept. 30, 2022, as a “Day of Remembrance for US Indian boarding schools.”
“Minnesota is committed to the truth and ensuring that the tragic history and ongoing legacy of Indian boarding schools are never forgotten. September 30 will now be observed as a Day of Remembrance for the Native American children – our babies – who died while attending a United States Indian boarding school,” Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, White Earth Band of Ojibwe, said. “Today, we recognize, honor, and support the survivors of Indian boarding schools, their families, and communities. This day provides an opportunity for everyone to recognize the genocide of U.S. Indian boarding school policies and actions.”
Deborah Parker, chief executive officer of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, is appreciative of their leadership.
“The irreparable harm cannot be undone, but we as a country can begin to formally acknowledge the truth about what happened to hundreds of thousands of our Native people. That is the foundation for a future of healing that our boarding school survivors and their descendants deserve,” the Tulalip citizen said.
Sept. 30 is also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, also known as Orange Shirt Day. It’s a day to recognize Indigenous children who endured the Canadian Indian residential school system. READ MORE
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INDIGENOUS A&E: Innovative painter, an electrifying athlete, mascot history
A biweekly column from ICT with the latest news from the arts and entertainment world. READ MORE — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT
Miccosukee police join hurricane recovery efforts
With tribal lands in Florida largely spared from the wrath of Hurricane Ian, the Miccosukee Tribal Police have joined the search-and-rescue efforts along the western coastline of the state.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida reported no damage, though the tribe’s Hard Rock Casino Resorts in Tampa and Orlando closed during the storm. The Miccosukee Tribe likewise reported no significant damage.
Curtis Osceola, the Miccosukee chief of staff, told ICT that a group of tribal officers have been assigned to strike teams, with two groups assigned to hard-hit Naples and and a third in Everglades City.
The search and recovery effort is now focused on people, he said.
“What happens during these storms is that a large number of 911 calls come in and they get a backlog,” Osceola said. “And so the reason why it’s important for law enforcement to band together and help is so they can clear those calls. A lot of what we’re doing is going in and clearing those calls, whether they’re calls for help or assistance or reporting crimes.”
The calls are numbering in the thousands now and continue to pour in. More than 500 people had been rescued as of Thursday afternoon, and deaths are being reported. READ MORE — Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT
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Idaho highway work mishap kills protected fish
Part of a yearslong project that is adding 11 miles of passing lanes to U.S. Highway 95 between Culdesac and Winchester in north central Idaho was temporarily halted last month following an incident that killed dozens of protected steelhead in Lapwai Creek.
According to Idaho Transportation Department spokesperson Aubrey Spence, contractor Knife River was excavating on Aug. 29 in preparation of placing a retaining wall adjacent to Lapwai Creek.
The digging caused water in one of the creek’s forks to sink and flow below ground. About 80 wild, juvenile steelhead in the area were left without adequate flows and perished.
Steelhead in the creek are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The transportation department has a permit allowing the work associated with the project to incidentally harm a small number of wild steelhead. But the steelhead that died following the incident exceeded the mortality allowed by the permit issued by NOAA Fisheries. READ MORE — Lewiston Idaho Tribune
Study links lack of running water to Alaska children ear infections
Bering Strait region children in households without running water are much more likely to get middle-ear infections, a newly published study confirmed.
Data from screenings of more than 1,600 schoolchildren in various communities in that part of western Alaska found that lack of running water – a chronic problem in rural Alaska – corresponded to a 53 percent higher rate of middle-ear infections, the study found. Young children, 3 to 6 years old, were most at risk, the study found.
The study, published in the journal Ear and Hearing, is part of a Norton Sound Health Corp.-supported program to address high rates of ear infections and the hearing loss that can result from them. Ultimately, the research should help health providers improve hearing screenings for children in the region, said co-author Samantha Kleindienst Robler, an audiologist at Norton Sound Health Corp. who is also an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
“Hearing screenings are an important element of the larger picture of ensuring children are ready to learn in the classroom and able to reach their full potential,” she said by email. READ MORE — Alaska Beacon
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