JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

New WA law helps Native voters this election. Is it enough?

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Washington lawmakers passed the Native American Voting Rights Act last year, but they couldn’t have expected the pandemic and wildfires to come.

Leaders of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are worried the challenges of the coronavirus and devastating wildfires may present too many hurdles for the people who live on this sprawling 2.1 million acre reservation in northeastern Washington.

“It seems like it’s been one thing after another,” said tribal Chairman Rodney Cawston. “These emergencies we’ve had to deal with couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

Cawston says the twin crises of 2020 have also made it harder to conduct adequate voter outreach to make sure people register and have the information they need to vote. Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Washington, the Colville Tribes closed their borders to most outsiders in hopes of halting its spread. Then, more recently, fires ravaged their reservation lands and burned down dozens of homes.

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Appeals court sides with tribes in COVID-19 funding dispute

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Alaska Native corporations (ANCs) are not entitled to shares of the $8 billion coronavirus relief fund, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said the for-profit corporations are not “recognized” tribes. As such, they do not qualify for the funds provided by Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act.“We hold that Alaska Native corporations are not eligible for funding under Title V of the CARES Act,” Judge Gregory Katsas wrote for the court.The 24-page ruling, accompanied by a two-page concurrence, comes just two weeks after the D.C. Circuit heard arguments in the closely-watched case. It marks a major victory for tribal nations in one of the most bitter Indian policy and legal disputes in recent history.

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Tribe returns to Seaquarium for annual quest to bring whale home

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KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – Many believe that Lolita, the whale that the Lummi Nation knows as Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, is finally getting a much-needed break as the Miami Seaquarium has been closed to visitors since March because of COVID-19.

This is the longest she’s gone without performing and Thursday marked 50 years to the day that a baby 4-year-old orca was bought to the Seaquarium after being forcibly taken from her family and sold here.

Tribal elders from the Lummi Nation, the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, were here in South Florida outside the seaquarium in a peaceful protest to continue their quest to liberate Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut. They came in prayer to mark, what is for them, a somber anniversary.

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Standing in Solidarity with Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut

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Please join us in standing in solidarity for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut at a virtual event on September 24th, the 50th anniversary of her captivity at Miami Seaquarium.

From Lummi leaders Squil-le-he-le (Raynell Zuni) and Tah-Mahs (Ellie Kinley):

We are traveling to Miami and holding ceremony as part of our Xa xalh Xechnging (sacred obligation) to care for our relation and work to bring her home. Estitem-sen (we are trying our best)!

This hour-long Zoom and Facebook LiveStream event will be held from 2-3pm ET / 11am-12pm PT,  and will feature:

• Seminole and Miccosukee opening prayer
• Water Ceremony for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut
• a short film about Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s history
• Statement of Solidarity from International Indigenous Leaders
• words from our partners at Earth Law Center, Northwest Indian College, Florida International University’s Global Indigenous Forum, and Whale Sanctuary Project
• Ways for the public to engage with and support the work
• the Blackhawk Singers of Lummi Nation

Event will also be viewable on the Facebook newsfeed on the SacredSea.org homepage.

Bringing Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut home will help heal her family and ours. Bringing her home will help heal the Salish Sea. Bringing her home be a step in upholding the rights of Indigenous Peoples throughout the world who are working to protect their homes, their relations, and their ancestral ways.

Hy’shqe (thank you)!

Read more here.

Fires Burn Over 80 Homes, 180,000 Acres on Colville Reservation

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OMAK & INCHELIUM — As of this print, the five fires that started during a wind event over the long Labor Day Weekend have destroyed over 80 homes and burned over 200,000 acres on the Colville Indian Reservation.

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Each of the fires started on Sunday, Sept. 6, along with a number of other fires around the state.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee published a tweet noting on Sept. 7 “330,000 acres burned in WA. That’s more than 12 of the last 18 entire fire seasons. In a single day.”

“The devastation wrought here and elsewhere around the state by wildfire is unimaginable,” said Hilary Franz, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands, speaking alongside Cawston. “What I saw on the ground and in the eyes of residents and tribal leaders was both heartbreak at the devastation and resolve to rebuild and respond to the needs of their neighbors during this crisis.”

Read more here.