Leger Fernandez, whose district includes Navajo Nation and several Pueblo reservations, wants to pass universal healthcare and improve infrastructure in tribal and rural communities.
It’s the first time in modern history that the federal government has executed a Native American for a crime committed against another Native American on tribal land, his attorneys say.
The execution of Mitchell against the will of the Navajo Nation only perpetuates the U.S.’s dreadful history of colonial violence and oppression of Indigenous peoples.
The July 4th event will only serve to endanger the Black Hills National Forest, spread contagion, and continue the president’s pattern of sowing hatred and division.
While 80 percent of state health departments are recording race as part of their COVID-19 statistics, around half are not including Natives and are simply labeling them as “other.”
‘This is by far, by far, the biggest impact on our people since our return from the Long Walk in 1868,’ a Navajo Nation leader said.
Governor Kristi Noem’s threat to sue two South Dakota tribes shows the callousness of her coronavirus plan, which seems to encourage exposure and prioritize the economy over the lives of at-risk Natives.
Tribal jurisdiction over intimate partner and sexual violence was created in the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and advocates argue it is necessary for accountability and safety.
Attorney General William Barr has ordered the resumption of executions by the federal government. Five executions were scheduled for December and January before a federal appeal court granted a stay in the case of Lezmond Mitchell.
Nearly half of all arrests in the state are drug or alcohol related, compared to just 29 percent nationally.