Leave the moon alone!
South Dakota Governor got banned from Pine Ridge Res, Truth and Healing legislation reintroduced to congress, and two US companies wanna turn the moon into a graveyard.
The last few weeks have been intense for many reasons; for one, I just returned from another quick trip to DC. Overall, it was good, and I learned a lot of priceless lessons from the frontline activists from Louisiana and Texas. I’m home now, and we’ve got to hit the ground running.
Governor Kristi Noem found out this week.
The South Dakota Gov got herself banned from the Pine Ridge Reservation last week due to the incredibly racist comments she made about the border. The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe banished Noem in a four-page statement, criticizing her for using the southern border as a campaign issue to help Trump get reelected and “in turn, increase her chances of being selected by Trump to be his running mate as vice-president.”
"Due to the safety of the Oyate [people or nation], effective immediately, you are hereby banished from the homelands of the Oglala Sioux Tribe!" Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said in a statement addressed on Friday to Noem.
The Oglala Sioux president says Noem is wrong about the immigrants seeking asylum in the United States when she said they need to be put into cages. Star Comes Out said many of the immigrants are Indians from places like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico who arrive at the southern border “in search of jobs and a better life.”
In the speech, Noem stated she wants to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to stop immigration to the U.S.-Mexico border. She also stated that a gang–allegedly tied to a cartel, calling themselves the Ghost Dancers are bringing drugs onto the reservation.
“I and the Oyate are deeply offended that you alleged ‘Ghost Dancers’ are affiliated with these cartels. Ghost Dance: one of the most sacred ceremonies was used with blatant disrespect and is insulting to our Oyate,” Star Comes Out wrote in his conclusion.
Seeing this unfold has been wild, and it’s not the first time the Tribe has stood up to Kristi’s awful behavior.
In May 2019, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council unanimously voted to tell her she is unwelcome on the Pine Ridge Reservation until she rescinds her support for anti-protest legislation. Two additional Sioux tribes — Cheyenne River and Yankton — expressed their solidarity with the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem had a showdown with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe when the two sovereign nations decided to close its reservations to non-Natives.
Subpena the Church
On 2/5/2024, co-chairs of the congressional Native American caucus reintroduced the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2024.
If passed, the act would establish:
a 10-member commission consisting of former students and truth & healing experts
the commission would develop recommendations for the government
the commission would also be empowered to subpoena records from private entities, including churches, as well as government records needed to locate and identify children who attended boarding schools, their tribal affiliations, and unmarked graves.
What about the Moon?
Over the last month or so a lot of discussion has been taking place about the ethics of sending human remains to be interred on the Moon.
Ultimately, I don’t think we need another useless industry reliant on spending a ton of money and using exorbitant resources to send ashes to the moon. The entire concept is frivolous. My opinion aside, below are the much more important potential cultural impacts from an Indigenous Navajo lens:
Stop sending human remains to the Moon - Alvin D Harvey, Nature
On 8 January, US space company Astrobotic launched the first commercial Moon lander, called Peregrine. Among the spacecraft’s 20 payloads were five instruments built by NASA. Other cargo included the cremated remains of at least 70 people and one dog, sent by two US companies, Celestis and Elysium Space, which give people the opportunity to be interred on the Moon.
The Moon is a shared cultural space for humanity. Many people might instinctively feel uneasy about its incipient commercialization, which has happened with little consultation and remains mostly unregulated. Many Indigenous Peoples, including Diné (the people) of the Navajo Nation such as myself, feel a whole other level of unease. For us, the Moon is an ancient relative — Grandmother Moon is a term of reverence shared by many Indigenous Peoples — and we should be careful, diligent and respectful when visiting her.
That is why, when Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren learnt of the plans shortly before the launch, he asked NASA and the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to halt the mission and consult with Indigenous Nations, in accordance with Navajo Nation law and US government policies.
Peregrine is now failing because of a propellant leak, Astrobotic says, and has “no chance of a soft landing on the Moon”. Members and leaders of the space community should use this opportunity to become well-informed and ethical space actors.
Nygren’s call to action is not about ownership of the Moon or to enforce Diné religious beliefs, but rather about the right to be consulted, to uphold Native American legal rights, to hold government agencies accountable and to safeguard the Moon for future generations.
After all the travel, I’m still getting my feet back under me, spending time with the kiddos while getting caught up on various topics. I can’t quantify what is in store for the rest of this year. So many details are constantly changing. Thank you to everyone who continues to support my journey and the content!
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