Native News Briefs | Shooting on Arizona reservation critically injures officer

CAMP VERDE, Ariz.
(AP)

Residents of a Native American reservation in Arizona were told to stay inside their homes as authorities searched Feb. 10 for a suspect who opened fire at tribal police officers, critically injuring one of them, authorities said.

Officers had responded to reported gunfire on the night of Feb. 9 on the Yavapai-Apache Nation in the Verde Valley region of north-central Arizona. The suspect got out of a vehicle and fled while shooting at officers, tribal officials said in a statement.

Sergeant Preston Brogdon was shot and in critical but stable condition at a hospital, the Yavapai-Apache Police Department said. The five-year veteran is expected to undergo several more surgeries.

Residents were told to stay in their homes until the suspect is caught, with bus service was canceled for two areas of the reservation.

KTVK-TV showed officers walking through tall brush and reported that they were searching for the suspect.

“The subject is considered armed and dangerous and the public is asked to stay out of the area until the search has ended,” the tribal statement said.

The FBI is overseeing the investigation with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.

Valentin Rodriguez, 39, was wanted for questioning in the shooting, FBI officials said in a statement.

Yavapai Silent Witness offered a reward up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Yavapai Nation welcomes new leaders

FORT McDOWELL, Ariz. – On Feb. 8, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation welcomed elected Vice President Paul Russell, Secretary Verlene Enos, and Council Member Albert Nelson.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the inaugural celebration was live-streamed from the We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort.

The festivities included a welcome address by President Bernadine Burnette, followed by the posting of colors by the Fort McDowell Yavapai National Veterans Association. Two members of the Youth Council led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Antonio Armenta, U.S. Army, then conducted the invocation, after which Election Board President David McLevain shared the official election results.

Interim Chief Judge Kerry Passey administered the oaths of office to Russell, Enos, and Nelson, followed by traditional and Christian blessings bestowed by tribal elder Raphael Bear and Pastor Randall Ruiz.

“Inauguration ceremonies aren’t just the formal introduction of tribal officers,” Burnette said. “They symbolize the peaceful transition of power, reflecting the political will of our tribal members.”

Tribes: Settlement in opioids case will foster healing

SEQUIM, Wash. – Cheryl Andrews-Maltais takes note of the heart-wrenching dates that remind Wampanoag families that they’re still in the midst of the opioid drug crisis — birthdays of loved ones lost, anniversaries of their passing.

Then she reaches out with a phone call to the grieving.

“And then you’re on the other side of it, and you’re bracing for another holiday or event you can’t share because of this,” she said.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, which Andrews-Maltais leads in Massachusetts, was among hundreds of Native American tribes that sued drug manufacturers and distributors over the role they played in the epidemic.

One study found Native Americans had the highest per capita rate of opioid overdose deaths of any population group in 2015.

Andrews-Maltais can think of 15 deaths among her tribe of about 500 alone.

Tribes settled with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and the three largest U.S. drug distribution companies this week for $590 million.

Lawyers representing tribes hope to reach settlements with others in the pharmaceutical industry, including remaining manufacturers and pharmacies.

Last year, the four companies announced a $26 billion settlement with state and local governments to end all suits. An overwhelming majority of governments have signed on; the companies are to decide this month whether it constitutes enough acceptance to move ahead.

The agreement with tribes is to be subtracted from those deals.

Each of the 574 federally recognized tribes are eligible for a share of the settlement money made public Tuesday. It’s unclear how quickly the money would flow to tribes, but it won’t be much and not until 95% of tribes and tribal

Native American statue’s placement in Atlanta reconsidered

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta’s leaders are rethinking plans to install a statue representing a Native American man lauded as a “co-founder of Georgia” following a report on the project by The Associated Press.

The Chief Tomochichi statue was conceived as the centerpiece of a park celebrating civil rights-era heroes.

Its placement is being reconsidered, however, now that city council members have a fuller understanding of historical facts about the Muscogee man who signed a 1733 treaty launching the Georgia colony, Councilman Michael Julian Bond told the AP.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, whose 93,000 citizens are descended from Georgia’s original inhabitants, wasn’t consulted before the $300,000 statue was unveiled pending a move to Atlanta’s new Peace Park.

Tribal historians were dismayed, calling it inappropriate and disrespectful.

“I don’t believe the city wants to be in a position where we are offending the Muscogee people, but we don’t own the statue now,” Bond said Thursday. “We have not accepted the statue, which is being donated to us, as yet.”

The council’s 2020 ordinance approving the park empowered an oversight committee to review every proposed element for historical “accuracy and authenticity,” but Bond said the city’s law department discovered last week, after inquiries from the AP, that its members never officially met in this capacity.

A review of scholarly works on the Muskogean-speaking Creek Indians would reveal that Chief Tomochichi had been banished by his people, lacked authority to give away land, and was known for delivering Native American enemies into human bondage.

Tomochichi’s promise to capture runaway African slaves and trade them to the British alive or dead is immortalized in Article Six of Georgia’s founding treaty.

South Dakota Senate OK’s funding for Oceti Sakowin schools

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Senate passed a proposal Feb. 9 to fund two new schools based around Oceti Sakowin language and culture.

The proposal, pushed by Democratic Sen. Troy Heinert, aims to address high dropout rates among some Native American students by structuring the schools around Lakota, Nakota and Dakota language, giving students and communities ownership over their education.

It passed the Republican-controlled Senate on a 22 to 13 vote.

“My community deserves a chance to change,” Heinert said, referring to how Indigenous students have lagged behind the rest of the state in standardized tests. “And we shouldn’t have to change who we are as Lakota people.”

The bill caps the number of schools that can be created at two in the next five years. It doesn’t specify where they would be located, but groups in Rapid City and on the Rosebud Indian Reservation are hoping to apply if the bill passes.

It’s the third year that Heinert has brought a similar proposal to fund the schools. He faces opposition from organizations representing school districts that say it would take money away from public schools.

They argue the Native American language immersion schools can be incorporated into public school districts.

“It is a private school that is receiving public funds,” said Wade Pogany, the director of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, during a hearing for the bill last week.

Native American educators have pressed state lawmakers this legislative session on several proposals to incorporate Oceti Sakowin language and culture, but met limited success in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

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