Indian Country News

US national parks told to remove signs on mistreatment of Native Americans, climate, Wash Post reports:

U.S. officials this month ordered national parks to remove dozens of signs and displays related to the mistreatment of Native Americans by settlers, as well as about climate change and environmental protection, the Washington Post reported. The move is part of President Donald Trump's campaign to reshape public spaces and museums in a way that rights advocates say could undo decades of social progress. The National Park Service staff last week removed an exhibit on slavery from a Philadelphia historic site in line with Trump's claims, rejected by civil rights groups, of "anti-American ideology" at historical and cultural institutions. The removal orders include a display at the Grand Canyon about the forced removal of Native Americans, the Post reported, while at Glacier National Park, Trump administration officials flagged a brochure and a sign about climate change. The U.S. Interior

Department, which oversees the National Park Service, said in a statement that it was carrying out Trump's executive order on "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." Source: Reuters.

Wife of accused Minnesota lawmaker killer says husband's actions were "a betrayal"

The wife of Vance Boelter, the man accused in the deadly Minnesota lawmaker shootings, released a statement on Thursday calling her husband's alleged actions "a betrayal." Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed inside their Brooklyn Park home in the early morning hours of June 14. Their golden retriever, Gilbert, was also shot and later died from his injuries. Also targeted in the shootings were Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who were attacked inside their Champlin home about 90 minutes before the Hortmans were killed. Boelter, 57, faces federal and state murder and attempted murder charges. He was captured some 36 hours after the shootings near his home in Green Isle, about 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis, in what officials say was the largest manhunt in state history. Jenny Boelter's full statement, released on her behalf by her legal team: "On behalf of my children and myself, I want to express our deepest sympathies to the Hortman and Hoffman families. Our condolences are with all who are grieving during this unimaginably difficult time, and we are praying daily for them."

Source: CBS News.

‘As vulnerable as a plant can be’: New study finds climate change largely to blame for less wild rice:

A new study finds the availability of a wild rice in the Great Lakes region has been declining over the past 30 years, partially due to climate change. The decline, the study says, “has disrupted Ojibwe lifeways, family, and health.” Brandon Byrne, inland fisheries biologist at the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, or GLIFWC, coauthored and helped collect data for the study. Byrne said that the plant is most vulnerable during its early stages. “Not only is it vulnerable to weather or climatic variables, it’s also vulnerable to motorboat use. Its ecology is very delicate.” Rob Croll, coauthor of the study and commission policy analyst and climate change coordinator, said, “You have to look at manoomin and climate change holistically. It’s as vulnerable a plant as a plant can be. One of the things that we’re seeing — will continue to see — is our precipitation coming less frequently, but more intensely: much heavier rain storms, which can cause quick floods. During [early growth] stages, floods will uproot the plant. Later on in its growth, when there are seeds on the plant, big storms and heavy winds can devastate a rice bed just by blowing the stalks down into the water. Source: WPR Wisconsin Today.

White House budget request slashes funding for tribal colleges and universities:

In President Donald Trump’s budget request, he’s proposing slashing funding for tribal colleges and universities, including eliminating support for the country’s only federally funded college for contemporary Native American arts. If the budget is approved by Congress, beginning in October, the more than $13 million in annual appropriations for the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, would be reduced to zero. It would be the first time in nearly 40 years that the congressionally chartered school would not receive federal support, said Robert Martin, the school’s president. Source: APNEWS.