More Native Americans Named to Key Posts in Biden Administration
In a slow rollout of appointments since taking office last month, President Joe Biden has added an additional three Native American members to various department and task force positions in February, making good on “the Biden-Harris commitment to diversity.” Department of the Interior On Feb. 3, former…
Indigenous community wins recognition of its land rights in Panama
A ruling by Panama’s Supreme Court of Justice in November 2020 led to the official creation of a comarca, or protected Indigenous territory, for the Naso Tjër Di people in northern Panama. The 1,600-square-kilometer (620-square-mile) comarca is the result of a decades-long effort to…
Philippines: Drop murder charge against indigenous rights defender, UN experts urge
GENEVA (28 January 2021) – UN human rights experts today called on Philippine authorities to drop a reportedly unwarranted murder charge against an indigenous rights defender who submitted himself to police after a “shoot to kill” order had been issued if he resisted arrest,…
Indigenous Lawyer to Lead USDA’s Tribal Relations Office
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday that it has appointed Heather Dawn Thompson, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, as Director of the Office of Tribal Relations (OTR), which reports directly to the Secretary of Agriculture. Thompson is a graduate…
Joe Biden: ‘Tribal sovereignty will be a cornerstone’
The third of four executive orders signed by President Joe Biden on Tuesday focuses on strengthening the nation-to-nation relationships with tribes. It’s only one presidential action of many taken by the administration in week one. Biden signed a presidential memorandum that requires all federal agencies and…
President Joe Biden rejoins the Paris climate accord in first move to tackle global warming
President Joe Biden signed an executive order to rejoin the U.S. into the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday, his first major action to tackle global warming as he brings the largest team of climate change experts ever into the White House. The Biden administration also intends…
The Amazon is Dirty, Our Rivers and Fish are Contaminated, Everyone is Sick
“The Amazon is dirty, our rivers and fish are contaminated, everyone is sick. We no longer feel safe in the forest, in our home.” — Alessandra Munduruk, Munduruku Mother The Yanomami, Munduruku, and Kayapo Peoples share how the Bolsonaro government is worsening their situation and…
Biden signals plans to halt oil activity in Arctic refuge
U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Alaska waits for guidance on presidential order President Joe Biden’s administration announced plans Wednesday for a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after the Trump administration issued leases in a part…
U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Shoshone-Bannock Tribe
FORT HALL, Idaho — The United States Supreme Court on Monday rejected FMC Corporation’s final appeal to contest the jurisdiction of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to regulate storage of approximately 22 million tons of hazardous waste on the Fort Hall Reservation at the Eastern Michaud…
Returning the Land
Indigenous leaders on the growing ‘landback’ movement and their fight for climate justice. For many first peoples, Mount Rushmore stands as a monument to oppression. Carved into stolen land as a shrine to American exceptionalism by a sculptor who sympathized with the Ku Klux Klan,…