Here is a summary of some Native American-related stories making headlines this week:
Native American lawyer tapped as Haaland advisor
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has a new top policy advisor who is a Native American attorney. Lynn Trujillo, a member of the Sandia Pueblo in New Mexico with ties to the Acoma and Taos Pueblos, most recently led New Mexico’s Indian Affairs Department for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Prior to that appointment in Santa Fe, Trujillo worked with Native American tribes and organizations as a national Native American coordinator for USDA Rural Development programs. Her past experiences also include organizing in Tribal communities and practicing Indian Law in Washington D.C. and New Mexico.
Read more:
Kansas City Chiefs fans do the tomahawk chop during the Chiefs' victory celebration in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.
Native Americans: Time to Chop the Chop
The Kansas City Chiefs are National Football League champions, beating the Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona.
Native Americans were happy to see that this year’s marquee art—designed by Lucinda “La Morena” Hinojos, a Chicana artist who claims Yaqui, Apache and Pima heritage—paid tribute to Indigenous communities in Arizona. Further, during the pre-game ceremony, Navajo citizen Collin Denny signed “America the Beautiful” using a blend of American Sign Language and North American Indian Sign Language.
But many Native Americans were unhappy that despite long-standing objections to Native American mascots and iconography in sports, the Kansas City team has not changed its name. Nor have fans given up the so-called “tomahawk chop,” in which spectators hack at the air and sing a “war chant” rooted in a 1950s children’s cartoon show that stereotyped Indians.
The Chiefs banned headdresses and Native-themed face paint from the stadium in 2020. A year later, they retired their mascot, a horse named “Warpaint.” The Chiefs also said they would review other inappropriate practices, including the chop, which they renamed the “Arrowhead Chop.”
See this video report from USA Today:
Abortion Services Are Inaccessible to Many Native American Women
It was never easy for Native American women to access abortion services. The Indian Health Service, funded by the federal government, is not allowed to perform abortions except in cases of rape, incest or threats to a mother’s life.
Today, nearly eight months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion, states have imposed further restrictions, making access to abortion almost impossible.
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Joseph Louis Cook, or Akiatonharónkwen, Mohawk, was a commissioned officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and He became the highest-ranking Native American officer, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Museum to Digitize Records of Native, Black Revolutionary War Soldiers
The Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia is in the process of digitizing nearly 200 rare documents that detail the names of Native American and Black soldiers who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
"At least 5,000 men of color fought in the Continental Army, but their stories aren't as known as they should be," said museum president and CEO R. Scott Stephenson. "This archive allows us to explore the extraordinary lives of men who helped to secure independence, yet who have not received the recognition they deserve as American Founders.”
Once complete, the Patriots of Color archive will be free online thanks to funding from the Ancestry.com genealogy website.
The museum purchased the documents last year from a private collection.
Despite their efforts to remain neutral during the Revolutionary War, Native Americans were pulled into the conflict and ended up fighting on both sides — for both the colonists and for the British.
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2019 photo shows then-Chief Joe Bunch, left, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, then Principal Chief John Bill Baker, center, Cherokee Nation, and then-Councilman Richard French, center, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Which Cherokee tribe should send delegate to Washington?
The 1835 Treaty of Enchota promised that the Cherokees “shall be entitled to a delegate in the House of Representatives of the United States whenever Congress shall make provision for the same."
Nearly 200 years later, the Cherokee people are calling for Congress to make good on that promise. But there’s a problem. The U.S. federal government recognizes three Cherokee tribes: the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.
Which tribe should get the delegate seat? VOA reporter Maxim Moskalkov has this video report:
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Cherokee People Demand US Fulfill 200-Year-Old Promise