The Secretary of the Interior seeks to eliminate derogatory place names in the United States-by Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland officially announced on Friday that "squaw" is a derogatory term and said she is taking steps to remove it from the federal government and replace other derogatory place names.
Harland is ordering a federal team responsible for naming geographic locations to implement procedures to eliminate what she calls racist terminology used by the Federation. The decision provided the impetus for a campaign that included the removal of other historical landmarks and monuments considered offensive across the country.
Harland said in a statement: "Our country's land and waters should be a place to celebrate outdoor activities and our common cultural heritage, not to perpetuate oppressive heritage." "Today's action will accelerate the coordination of derogatory place names. An important process and marks an important step in commemorating the ancestors who have managed our land since ancient times."
Harland is the first Native American to lead the cabinet, from Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico.
The US Senate confirmed Charles F. "Chuck" Sams III as the head of the National Park Service on Thursday, making him the first Native American to hold this position. Harland has previously stated that Sams (Cayuse and Walla Walla) of the Union tribe of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon will be an asset because the government is working to make it easier for everyone to enter the national park.
The Native American Rights Foundation praised Harland’s efforts to resolve derogatory place names, saying that the federal government should have taken action long ago.
"Names that still use derogatory terms are the embarrassing legacy of colonialism and racism in this country," said John Echohawk, the organization's executive director. "As a country, it's time for us to move forward, go beyond these derogatory terms, and show equal respect to indigenous people-and all people."
Environmentalists also praised this action, saying it marked a step towards reconciliation.
According to Harland’s order, a federal task force will find an alternate name with the word "squaw" on federal land, which has been used for defamation, especially against indigenous women. The database maintained by the Geographic Names Council shows that more than 650 federal site names contain the term.
The working group will be composed of representatives from the federal land administration agency and experts from the Ministry of the Interior. Tribal consultations and public feedback will be part of this process.
The process of changing American geographical names can take several years, and federal officials said there are currently hundreds of proposed geographical name changes pending consideration by the committee.
Harland also called for the establishment of an advisory committee to solicit, review and recommend changes to other derogatory geographical and federal names. The group will be composed of tribal representatives and experts in civil rights, anthropology and history.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Geographical Names Committee took action to eliminate the use of derogatory terms for blacks and Japanese.
The board of directors also voted in 2008 to change the name of the famous Phoenix Mountain from Squaw Peak to Pietewa Peak to commemorate Army Spc. Lori Piestewa was the first Native American woman to die in combat during her service in the US Army.
In California, Squaw Valley Ski Resort was renamed Palisades Tahoe earlier this year. The resort is located in Olympic Valley, which was called Squaw Valley before the 1960 Winter Olympics. For decades, tribes in the area have been demanding that the resort be renamed.
The Colorado consultant naming team also recommended that Squaw Mountain near Denver be renamed in honor of a Native American woman who served as an interpreter for tribes and white settlers in the 19th century. Members of the Northern Cheyenne tribe also submitted an application to the Federal Naming Committee to change the name of the mountain.
Congress has yet to pass legislation to address derogatory names on geographical features on public land. From Oregon to Maine, states have passed laws prohibiting the use of the word "squaw" in place names.
New Mexico sees television technology as a way to solve the K-12 Internet divide-by Cedar Attanasio, AP/US report
Internet problems continue to drag down many students in New Mexico, the United States, but a pilot project using television signals to transmit computer files may help.
On Thursday, state public education officials distributed equipment to eight families in Taos, allowing the school to send them digital files via television. A box the size of a deck of cards allows a digital TV receiver to connect to a computer using a technology called data broadcasting.
Many rural areas in New Mexico are too far away from Internet infrastructure such as fiber-optic cables and cell phone towers, but they can receive TV.
In October, the local broadcasting branch of New Mexico PBS completed a test of this technology to ensure that they can set aside bandwidth not occupied by TV broadcasts and dedicate it to broadcasting downloadable digital files.
The Taos pilot project relies on the broadcast of KNME, a PBS subsidiary in northern New Mexico, while the other two companies are planning to launch pilot projects in Silver City and Portales.
Distance learning during the pandemic highlighted the digital divide among students in New Mexico. Many of them had to use paper bags to study while their peers could participate in virtual courses via video chat.
Even if the school re-offers face-to-face courses, Internet inequality still exists when students do their homework after class and when students are quarantined due to virus problems.
Even if the family is located in the Internet coverage area, it is not always sufficient to meet the needs of the entire family.
"It's slow, and I have a lot of students," said Ofelia Muñoz, the mother of four children of Ranchos de Taos and a monthly subscription to wired internet service. "It's bad when they have to do homework."
One of her children is a college student, and most of his courses are online and will not be connected via TV broadcast. However, if his younger siblings can access the virtual school database through the new device, their overall bandwidth burden will be reduced.
"It will be easier when they can work at the same time," she said.
New Mexico is not the first state to experiment with data broadcasting. Some schools in South Carolina were using it last year.
This technology has limitations and cannot replace the Internet. On the one hand, data broadcasting is currently one-way, and students are not allowed to send data back to the school. This means that you cannot video chat with teachers or access emails.
"Before fiber optic cables will bring broadband Internet to every corner of New Mexico, we will need patchwork solutions, and it looks like data broadcasting may be one of them," said New Mexico Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus.
Earlier this week, Governor Michelle Lujan Grishamn appointed a consultant for the newly formed state broadband office. A representative of the consultant at the meeting said that under optimistic circumstances, it will take three years for all New Mexico residents to have access to high-speed Internet.
The pandemic has caused education officials around the world to scramble to make distance learning possible, usually in areas with limited or no Internet access. Some countries-including Mexico and Thailand-broadcast courses on public television channels, but they have not set up a way to transfer files.
According to UNICEF, since March 2020, approximately 131 million children worldwide have missed three-quarters of face-to-face teaching, and nearly 77 million of them have missed almost all courses.
Cannabis depression on Aboriginal lands highlights legal divisions-Morgan Lee Associated Press
The federal raid on family cannabis gardens on tribal lands in northern New Mexico is sowing uncertainty and dissatisfaction with the United States’ anti-drug enforcement priorities on Native American reservations, as more and more states have launched legal cannabis sales markets.
In late September, officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs confiscated nine cannabis plants in Picuris Pueblo’s home garden, which was cared for by Charles Farden, a local resident who is not Native American. The 54-year-old participated in the state's medical marijuana program to relieve post-traumatic stress and anxiety.
Faden said that when federal officials confiscated mature plants full of flower buds, he was shocked when he was handcuffed—according to estimates, this was a personal one-year supply.
New Mexico first approved the drug for medical use in 2007, and Picuris Pueblo legalized medical marijuana for members in 2015. A NSW law in June legalized adult cannabis and authorized each family to grow up to 12 native plants for personal use. There is no weight limit.
Speaking of what happened on September 29, Faden said: "I just met the police directly and frankly. When he asked me what I was growing, I said,'My vegetables, my medical marijuana'." "He It's like,'This may be a problem.'"
The raid casts a shadow over cannabis as an economic development opportunity for indigenous communities, as Picuris Pueblo’s tribal government and at least one other reservation seek to reach an agreement with New Mexico to allow them to open cannabis businesses. The state has 23 federally recognized Native American communities. Its goal is to start retail cannabis sales in April.
More than two-thirds of the states legalized marijuana in some form, four of which approved recreational marijuana in the 2020 general election, and four more states passed legislation this year. Although the possession, use or sale of this drug is still illegal under federal law, the US government has not cracked down on it.
The September raid conducted some scrutiny of its practices on tribal lands such as Picuris Pueblo, where the Bureau of Indian Affairs provides police services to enforce federal and tribal laws in arrangements common in the Indian state. Other tribes operate their own police forces under contracts with BIA.
In a recent letter to the Picuris Pueblo tribe governor Craig Quanchello obtained by the Associated Press, a BIA agent stated that the agency would not tell its officials to step down in the Indian state-possession and cultivation of marijuana is still an issue. Federal crimes, despite changes in state and tribal laws.
"Notifying enforcement actions in advance is usually inappropriate," the letter said. "The BIA Office of Judicial Services is obliged to enforce federal laws and will not instruct its officials to ignore the violations of federal laws by the Indian state."
Officials from the BIA and its parent agency, the Department of the Interior, declined to comment, nor did they respond to the Associated Press’s request for details of the raid and its impact. Farden has not yet been charged and does not know whether there will be further consequences.
President Joe Biden this week ordered several cabinet departments to jointly combat human trafficking and crime on Native American lands, where the violent crime rate is more than twice the national average.
He did not specifically mention marijuana, although he has stated that he supports the legalization of the drug and the elimination of past convictions for marijuana use. He has not yet accepted the federal legalization of marijuana.
Leland Berger, a Portland-based criminal defense lawyer, advised the Oglala Sioux tribe after he passed the marijuana ordinance last year. He pointed out that the Department of Justice, under President Barack Obama’s leadership, outlined the national marijuana priorities in India in writing. It was overthrown under the leadership of President Donald Trump, and since then there has been very little written public guidance.
"I heard that the BIA is enforcing the Federal Controlled Substances Act on tribal land, and the tribe has issued an ordinance to protect its activities, which is great for me," he said.
Across the United States, tribal companies have taken a variety of approaches in crossing state and federal laws and jurisdiction issues to gain a foothold in the cannabis industry.
In Washington, the Suquamish tribe played a pioneering role under a contract with the state in 2015 to open a marijuana retail store from Seattle across Puget Sound on the Port of Madison Reservation. It sells cannabis from dozens of independent producers.
Several Nevada tribes operate their own law enforcement agencies to help ensure compliance with state and tribal marijuana programs, including local medical marijuana registries. The taxes collected at the tribal pharmacy remain in the tribe and used for community improvement plans.
In South Dakota, Oglala Sioux became the only tribe without similar state regulations to establish a cannabis market in early 2020, supporting medical and recreational uses in a referendum on Pine Ridge Reservation. A few months later, a statewide vote in South Dakota legalized marijuana. The government of Republican Gov. Kristi Noem challenged it, which is currently pending in the state Supreme Court.
The U.S. government recognizes that Native American tribes have "inherent and inalienable" autonomy rights. But Berger said that federal law enforcement agencies still selectively intervened to enforce the marijuana ban.
"Tribes are sovereign nations. They have signed treaties with the United States, and in some cases have common jurisdiction.... It's a bit like this kind of hybrid," he said.
At the end of 2020, with the approval of the Navajo President, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies jointly raided a huge cannabis farm with temporary greenhouses in northwestern New Mexico. The authorities seized more than 200,000 plants. At the time, New Mexico restricted the cultivation of marijuana to 1,750 plants per licensed medical marijuana producer.
In Picuris Pueblo, Quanchello stated that the cannabis industry provides economic prospects for tribal lands that are too remote to support a mature casino. Picuris runs a smoking shop on a roadside trailer and is about to open a gas station with a sandwich shop and mini grocery store.
"We are born farmers. This is what we can do here and be good at it," Quanchelo said. "We don't want to miss it."
He described the BIA raid as an offense to Picuris Pueblo. In 2018, federal law enforcement uprooted about 35 marijuana plants grown in the tribe to get involved in medical marijuana.
In 2019, state legislators passed uniform regulations on medical marijuana on tribal and non-tribal lands.
When decriminalizing recreational marijuana this year, the New Mexico Democratic-led legislature and governor Michelle Lujan Grisham emphasized the need to create jobs, increase national income, and address concerns about the harm caused by drug convictions to minorities.
Judith Dworkin, an attorney who specializes in Native American law in Scottsdale, Arizona, said that tribal cannabis companies are less risky of interference from federal law enforcement because states have strong legal markets for cannabis.
She said: "For a tribe, it is much easier for them to want to do something similar to a country." "There are still risks."
Quanchello said he believes that Picuris Pueblo's federal enforcement of cannabis laws is unpredictable and discriminatory.
"As a tribe, we might end up investing $1 million in a project, thinking it's okay. And because of rogue officials or people who don't believe something is right, it can be stopped," he said.
New Mexico hospital has no probation amid wave of patients-Associated Press
Officials at the two largest hospitals in New Mexico said on Thursday that despite the establishment of crisis care standards that allow them to focus only on patients who need immediate medical attention, they have yet to see the latest wave of patients in need of care eased.
Officials from the Presbyterian Healthcare Service and the University of New Mexico Hospital stated at a briefing that the number of patients is still high, about one-fifth of the hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, and most are receiving treatment for other diseases.
Officials also emphasized that they have not refused or rationed care in the past week.
They also admitted that there was a shortage of medical staff in New Mexico long before the pandemic.
Dr. Jason Mitchell, the chief medical officer of Presbyterian, said he believes that if more people get vaccinated and get booster shots, the suppression of the healthcare system can stop. He pointed out that the pace of vaccination in New Mexico has been slow, and changes in behavior have led to more people gathering and rejecting public health practices.
"It's a bit like watching a car accident in slow motion, you can see the path," he said after being asked if the hospital might need rationing care. "I don't know whether to rest for two months, three months or four months, but we must not stay on the same track."
State data show that currently nearly 74% of New Mexicans are considered fully vaccinated, but state officials are expected to change this definition in the coming weeks to include enhanced injections. At the briefing, hospital officials also emphasized the importance of boosting immunization for those who were vaccinated early.
The New Mexico Department of Health reported on Thursday that the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in New Mexico has now exceeded 300,000, with nearly 4% of the cases occurring last week. According to reports, the state-wide transmission rate is high, and health officials attribute part of the increase to reduced immunity from early vaccination.
Dr. Rohini McKee, Chief Quality and Safety Officer of UNM Hospital, said that a thorough and effective immunization program against COVID-19 has not yet been determined, but as experts around the world work to contain the spread, lessons are being learned.
New Mexico police look for boy in detention case-KOAT-TV, Associated Press
Police in New Mexico state that they are looking for a 10-year-old Albuquerque boy who is believed to be with his mother who no longer has custody of him.
They said that Nikolai Kuznetsov last appeared on November 5th, believed to be with Jacqueline Haymon. Albuquerque TV station KOAT reported that Haimen allegedly did not want him to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to court documents, the boy’s parents share custody.
But a district court judge issued an emergency order yesterday, which granted custody of the boy’s biological father out of serious concerns about the child’s well-being and safety, which led to the issuance of an Amber Alert.
The state police also stated that an arrest warrant has been issued for Haimeng.
Governor of New Mexico: Full vaccination also means booster-by Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said on Wednesday that she went further than federal guidance. She believes that full vaccination means three shots, and she has promoted all eligible for booster vaccines in her state. Adults.
She made the above comments in the virtual pandemic briefing, citing the increasing number of residents who were vaccinated more than six months ago with COVID-19.
Some cities and states have allowed all adults to be vaccinated with Pfizer, but this is not an official policy in the United States. Last week, California, New Mexico, Arkansas, West Virginia and Colorado expanded the scope of injections to all adults. New York City has taken similar steps.
State health officials have been concerned about the decline in immunity and its role in the recent increase in cases. The latest state data shows that nearly 29% of infections confirmed in the past 4 weeks were vaccinated people. Nonetheless, people who have not been vaccinated account for a higher proportion of those who are hospitalized or die from the virus.
The Democratic governor, who was running for reelection, blamed the unvaccinated people for the ongoing pandemic, but later admitted that vaccinated people can also contract and spread the virus. She said those who do this usually only have mild symptoms and will not eventually be hospitalized.
"We know that vaccination is the most effective tool to slow the spread of the virus and protect ourselves and our families," she said. "So we are analyzing what we can do to create these incentives-and potentially mandatory requirements-to ensure that people are fully vaccinated, which means three vaccines."
The Minister of Health and Human Services, Dr. David Sklas, said that changes to the definition of full vaccination are under discussion, and he expects the new public health order to be launched in the next few weeks.
This will mean some changes in the policies of hospitals and national institutions, as Lujan Grisham has mandated vaccinations for health care workers, educators, other school staff, and all national staff.
In recent months, some employers, such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, have also mandated that workers be "fully vaccinated."
Officials said that it is too early to say whether school-age children need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. They hope to obtain more data on children before the summer, which may help the decision-making process.
Schlass said that when the booster was announced, many medical staff were already in line, so he believed that the acceptance rate of the group would be high. He also pointed out that those workers who were vaccinated at the last minute to keep their jobs still have at least six months to consider boosters — if they were vaccinated against Johnson & Johnson, it would take two months.
According to current definitions, nearly 74% of adults in New Mexico are considered fully vaccinated. Data released during the briefing show that since August 1st, the state has injected more than 292,000 boosters. Officials said this puts New Mexico's administration of enhancers ahead of the national average.
The United States recommends that people who received a second Pfizer or Moderna injection at least six months ago are recommended to use boosters if they are 65 years of age or older or are at high risk of COVID-19 due to health problems or work or living conditions. It is also recommended that people who have received a single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago receive a booster dose.
Officials said that Lujan Grisham decided this week to make boosters available to all adults because the state is considered "high risk" given the reported transmission rate across the state. In the counties of De Barca and San Juan, more than 22% of the tests positive in the past two weeks.
State officials also vowed not to give up testing, saying it is a valuable tool to help track down the virus.
Navajo Nation reports 99 COVID-19 cases and 3 deaths-The Associated Press
The Navajo Nation reported 99 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the latest figures bring the total number of cases in the tribe to 38,616, and the known death toll is 1,518.
Tribal President Jonathan Nez said in a statement: “We need more Navajo people to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and booster vaccinations before the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.” “In the past, data shows that, After a major holiday where many families gather, we have experienced an increase in new infections."
Nez urged residents of the vast reserve to be careful when going to neighboring cities and states where security measures are not always so strict.
For most of the pandemic, the tribe has maintained the mission of masks.
The reserve covers an area of 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) and extends to parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
Court grants legislature the power to spend on pandemic relief-Morgan Lee Associated Press
The Supreme Court of New Mexico severely condemned Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday, ruling that the legislature should play a leading role in how the state government spends more than $1 billion in federal pandemic assistance.
The High Court unanimously supported the bipartisan team of lawmakers, who stated that Lujan-Grisham was wrong in making a decision on how to use aid without the opinion of the legislature.
Albuquerque’s Democratic Senator Jacob Candelaria and Republican Senate Minority Leader Belem’s Gregory Baca collaborated to initiate a constitutional conflict over executive and legislative powers.
Candelaria told the judges that in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and economic turmoil, the stakes are too high to allow one person-the governor-to decide how New Mexico spends approximately $1.6 billion in federal aid. He asked the court to pass ensuring legislative oversight, making mistakes in accountability.
"These funds can be allocated in a transparent, open and legislative appropriation process...or they can be allocated in a closed-door process. Only the governor can unilaterally decide how to allocate funds when it is not needed or inconvenient, public debate, committee hearings Or the majority of the Senate and House of Representatives bargain," Candelaria said.
Chief Justice Michael Vigil issued a short-worded order that freezes pandemic relief funds until legislative funding is obtained. The governor reserves the right to veto the spending legislation.
The judge plans to provide written opinions later, which may affect the future federal aid decision-making process.
The Democrat Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection in 2022, has used relief funds to replenish the state unemployment insurance trust fund, provide millions of dollars in lottery prizes for vaccinated people, support agricultural wages and provide incentives for Chilean picking workers. The unemployed return to work. The decision to provide federal relief of slightly more than $1 billion for the State of New Mexico is still awaiting.
In a written court briefing, Lujan Grisham stated that a ruling by the state Supreme Court nearly 50 years ago upheld the governor’s discretion over federal funding for universities, and that it should be widely applicable to federal pandemic relief funds.
There was a two-hour discussion in court on Wednesday, discussing the principles of elementary school citizenship and esoteric public accounting terminology in the three departments of the state government.
In her question, Judge Shannon Bacon emphasized that unlike any federal funding for a specific agency or program, the state government has broad discretion in how to use federal pandemic relief funds.
"The FBI's money didn't say,'Dear Governor Lujan Grisham, this is your money.' It said it's state money, and I think this is an important difference," she said.
Four other long-serving Democratic senators joined the effort to control the governor's spending power.
Critics of the governor say that she has surpassed constitutional powers and prevented the legislature from expressing disagreements on how to use pandemic relief funds.
The legislature convened a special session on political re-division in December, and again held a draft national budget in January.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the governor expressed disappointment with the court's decision.
Lawsuit: Baldwin has no reason to fire in the "Rust" shooting-Andrew Dalton Ap Entertainment Writer
The lawsuit filed on Wednesday alleges that Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured him on the New Mexico set of the film "Rust" in New Mexico. To director Joel Souza (Joel Souza), he recklessly shot without asking in the script.
"There is nothing in the script about the shooting by the defendant Baldwin or anyone else," the script supervisor Mami Mitchell said in the lawsuit.
This lawsuit is the second lawsuit that originated from a shooting incident, and more are expected.
Like last week’s head of lighting, Serge Svetnoy, it has filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court and listed many defendants, including Baldwin, who is both a star and a producer; handed the gun to Baldwin’s associate director, David. Halls; Hannah Gutierrez Reed (Hannah Gutierrez Reed) is responsible for the weapons on the set.
Mitchell's lawsuit mainly focused on Baldwin's behavior. It said that she was standing next to Hutchins, less than 4 feet (1.22 meters) from the actor, and was stunned when he shot in the chapel at Bonanza Creek Ranch on October 21.
According to the lawsuit, based on the discussion before the shooting scene, it requested three tight-fitting shots of Baldwin: one on his eyes, one on the blood on his shoulder, and the other after he pulled the gun from the holster. Time on the torso.
The lawsuit stated that Baldwin was not required to point his gun at Hutchins and Suza, nor did he fire.
It claimed that Baldwin violated the agreement by not inspecting the gun more closely.
Mitchell’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, said at a press conference: “Mr. Baldwin chose to play Russian roulette. Did not do this in front of him."
Mitchell is an experienced script supervisor who has participated in the production of nearly 100 works. This is the first time he has appeared on the set since the pandemic began. The lawsuit stated that she was the first person to call 911 after the shooting.
The lawsuit stated that she suffered "severe physical trauma, shock and nervous system damage" but did not provide details.
Mitchell is seeking compensation and punitive damages, the amount to be determined.
The defendant’s lawyers and other representatives did not immediately comment.
Baldwin said in the October 30 video that the shooting was "one in a trillion incident." He said: "We are a very, very hard worker. We shot a movie together, and then it happened. This terrible event."
Mitchell’s lawsuit alleges that Gutierrez Reed, the armorer in production, had little experience and that she was hired as one of a number of cost-cutting measures that proved to be dangerous.
It said she allowed guns and ammunition to be left unattended during her lunch break, which violated the agreement.
Gutierrez Reed told the authorities that she did not know how the live ammunition fell into the gun. Her lawyer, Jason Bowles, said in a statement last week, “We are convinced that this is sabotage and Hannah is being framed. We believe that the scene was tampered with before the police arrived.”
Mary Carmack-Alteves, the district attorney for the Santa Fe area, said last week that investigators had not encountered any evidence of sabotage.