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- By Native News Online Staff
Happy Holidays from Native News Online. We know our readers are busy during the holiday season — many of you may have attended your children’s or grandchildren’s sporting events. Here are some of the stories you may have missed over the weekend:
Wounded Knee Massacre Site Protection Bill Passes Congress
The U.S. Senate sent President Donald Trump a bill Thursday that would protect a portion of the Wounded Knee Massacre site on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, sponsored the legislation in the House, where it passed in January. Sen. Mike Rounds sponsored the legislation in the Senate, where it passed Thursday, with Majority Leader John Thune as a cosponsor. Both are Republicans from South Dakota.
Johnson released a statement saying “the time is now here to properly memorialize the lost and preserve the land.”
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Two Murdered on Colville Indian Reservation
Tribal officials say two people were fatally shot Thursday night in a double homicide that has left the tight-knit tribal community grieving.
In a news release issued on Friday, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation confirmed the victims were Laura Dick, a clerk for the Colville Tribal Court, and her son. No additional details about their identities or the circumstances of the shooting were immediately released Friday.
Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Colville Business Council, described the killings as a “senseless act of violence” and said the loss has deeply affected residents. Erickson said he had known Dick since childhood.
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Chairman Addresses Homeland Security Contract
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick released a YouTube video on Friday addressing concerns that surfaced after the announcement that KPB Services — a subsidiary of Prairie Band, LLC, the Nation’s economic arm — had received a $29.9 million Homeland Security contract.
Questions emerged because the contract calls for KPB Services to conduct early-phase planning, research, technical assessments, and concept designs for secure structures that meet U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operating requirements.
"We know our Indian reservations were the government’s first attempts at detention centers. We were placed here because we were treated as prisoners of war. So we must ask ourselves why we would ever participate in something that mirrors the harm and trauma once done to our people." Rupnick said.
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