The boyfriend of a Navajo woman has been convicted of fatally shooting her in emblematic case
The boyfriend of a Navajo woman whose case was emblematic of a movement launched to draw attention to an epidemic of missing and slain Indigenous women was convicted of first-degree murder in her fatal shooting.
Tribes credited with elevating vaccinations in rural Arizona
In a pandemic that has seen sharp divides between urban and rural vaccination rates nationwide, Arizona is the only state where rural vaccine rates outpaced more populated counties according to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Human rights panel to hear Navajo uranium contamination case
A group representing Navajo communities is presenting its case to an international human rights body, saying U.S. regulators violated the rights of tribal members when they cleared the way for uranium mining in western New Mexico years ago.
NASA uses Navajo language to name interest points on Mars
As a way to honor Native Americans -- and, particularly, a Navajo engineer on the Mars Rover Perseverance team -- NASA is naming points of interest on Mars using the Navajo language. The latest NASA rover to land on Mars is currently focusing on a rock named after the planet itโs on -- but in Navajo. The rock is called โMaaz,โ which means โMarsโ in the Navajo language. The Navajo engineer on the Perseverance team helped get permission and collaboration from his tribe to use the names. Listen: NASA Perseverance rover captures audio from MarsAdNASAโs Mars Rover Perseverance successfully landed on Feb. 18 near an ancient river delta in the Jezero Crater to search for signs of ancient microscopic life.
Tribes try to shield elders and their knowledge from virus
That means losing elders to the virus could wipe out irreplaceable pieces of culture. Concern for elders is also apparent in the tribe's COVID-19 vaccine-distribution plans. Roy Boney Jr., who manages a Cherokee language program, said the vast majority of Cherokee speakers are elders. Pequot elders play an important role in the effort to revive the tribe's language, which is no longer widely spoken. Karen Ketcher was among 28 Cherokee Nation elders who have died from the coronavirus.
Navajo man asks to halt execution while seeking clemency
Mitchell was the first Native American sentenced to death since the resumption of the federal death penalty in 1994 and the only Native American awaiting his punishment. (Courtesy Auska Mitchell via AP)WASHINGTON The only Native American man on federal death row is asking a judge to halt his execution until he receives a determination to his clemency petition from the Justice Department and President Donald Trump. Mitchell submitted a clemency petition to the Justice Department after his execution was scheduled earlier this summer. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mitchell was the first Native American sentenced to death since the resumption of the federal death penalty in 1994 and the only Native American currently awaiting execution.
Outbreak on edge of Navajo Nation overwhelms rural hospital
In this photo taken May 8, 2020, medical staff from Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital including Chief Medical Officer Val Wangler, center, hold a protest over working conditions and depleted staff in Gallup, N.M. To care for that influx, any available doctor was pressed into service, including those who normally don't handle critically ill patients, Patel said. Patel has since left to work at Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona. It was an easy decision because it was the right thing to do for patients, said Patel, whose wife is Navajo. As the Navajo have suffered in this pandemic, so, too has Gallup, whose fate has long been tied to the neighboring Navajo Nation.