JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

Judge rules national archives will stay in Seattle for now

by Leave a Comment

With the support of dozens of tribes, a lawsuit successfully halted the sale of the national archives building last week.

When expedited plans to sell Seattle’s National Archives building first surfaced in January, dozens of tribes joined Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit to stop it. It worked: Last Friday, a judge granted a preliminary injunction to keep the National Archives building in Seattle — for now.

The judge’s order halts the imminent sale of the building and removal of archival documents. A written order filed Tuesday morning details the decision, explaining that the federal government can’t move forward with the sale until the court issues an ultimate determination, which could be some time away.

“This was a gigantic victory,” says Brandon Reynon, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ historic preservation officer. “But we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

Read more here.

After Court Rules Dakota Access Pipeline Operating Illegally, Dems Demand Biden It Shut Down

by Leave a Comment

Five Democratic lawmakers on Friday encouraged President Joe Biden to order an immediate shutdown of the Dakota Access pipeline after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week delivered a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe by ruling that DAPL is operating illegally.

The three-judge panel upheld a lower court’s ruling that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it granted an easement for DAPL to cross a federal reservoir along the Missouri River, less than a mile from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The court ordered a full environmental impact statement examining the threats posed by the oil pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, as the Democrats’ letter to Biden notes, “rightfully fears an oil spill could disproportionately affect their drinking water, as well as hunting and fishing rights.”

Read more here.

Podcast | Past the dams, tribes help the Columbia River roll on

by Leave a Comment

Few rivers define a region like the Columbia, where tribal scientists are making headway in bringing back its most important species: salmon.

Few rivers define a region like the Columbia. Since time immemorial, it’s been a food source, a dividing line and a driver of culture and politics throughout the Pacific Northwest. And since humans have lived on it, we’ve sung about it — from Native hymns to Woody Guthrie’s “Roll On, Columbia.”

Ever since white settlers first came west, people have gone from relying on its seasonal bounty to attempting to tame it for their own purposes. Of those efforts, nothing has transformed the Columbia like the 18 dams that generate low-cost electricity and create reservoirs that support Washington’s year-round agricultural industry. Woody even wrote a song about the largest of those dams, the Grand Coulee — a 500-foot-tall, nearly milelong wall of concrete that is among the largest objects built by human hands.

Read and listen to more here.

Billy Frank Jr. could replace Washington’s statue of Marcus Whitman

by Leave a Comment

Efforts to take down the missionary’s statue have resurfaced this year with a proposal to replace it with the renowned Nisqually activist.

On-and-off efforts to memorialize the Nisqually activist have bubbled up in recent years, with some tribes and school districts celebrating Billy Frank Jr. Day as a way to recall his legacy. This year, a state bill could make these efforts for recognition national.

Read more here.

In Hard-Hit Indian Country, Tribes Rapidly Roll Out Vaccines

by Leave a Comment

The United States recognizes 574 tribal nations, which have roughly 2.6 million enrolled members. Based on treaties that many tribes signed when they ceded their land, the U.S. government has a legal trust responsibility to provide health care to tribal citizens. The federally funded Indian Health Service provides care on many reservations, while also distributing money to tribes that run their own health programs. Urban Indian Organizations provide care to the Native American populations in some cities.

When tribes began preparing for the vaccine rollout, they were given the choice to receive their doses either from their state’s allotment or directly from the Indian Health Service. Many tribes that chose IHS have been pleased with the distribution so far, saying the centralized health care system has been more effective than the fragmented approach seen in many states. Some state governments, including those of Alaska and Washington, also have drawn praise for their vaccine coordination efforts with tribes.

Read more here.