Author: jeff

MADISON, Wis. — The biggest issues and concerns facing Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribes were front and center Tuesday as lawmakers gathered for the annual State of the Tribes address.

What You Need To Know

• Lawmakers heard about the biggest issues impacting Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribes during Tuesday’s State of the Tribes Address
• This year’s speech was delivered by Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians President Shannon Holsey
• Each year, the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council chooses a different member to give the address
• The address has been given annually since 2005

From the pandemic response to participation in democracy, the president of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, Shannon Holsey, called for less division from lawmakers as tribal nations struggle with infrastructure, discrimination, and civic participation.

Holsey told a joint session of the legislature she learned many lessons from the pandemic.

“I will no longer accept the things I cannot change,” Holsey said. “I will change the things I cannot accept.”

Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians President Shannon Holsey delivers 2022 State of the Tribes address. (Spectrum News/Anthony DaBruzzi)

One of the things Holsey made clear she was unwilling to accept was Republican-backed legislation that would change the state’s election process. Holsey said tribes want to help America heal, possibly referring to former President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to accept defeat in the 2020 election.

“The loss of the right to vote is the loss of the voice in the democratic process,” Holsey said. She went on to tell lawmakers that democracy cannot be defeated.

During last year’s address, tribal leaders called for more mental health resources as many issues were exacerbated by the pandemic. This year, Holsey praised tribes for how seriously they have taken COVID-19 and the challenges they…

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Recent attention to the country’s meatpacking plants has illustrated that when the four dominant companies face disruptions to processing, smaller, independent operations don’t have adequate capacity to pick up the slack.

That’s part of the reason the federal government has decided to invest in upgrades to some of those local shops. Plus, when those smaller businesses are federally inspected, producers will be able to market their own branded meat products across state lines.

Still, it will be a tall order to compete in the marketplace, which several senators allege is already not operating in a transparent and consistently fair way.

The White House has put out a comprehensive plan to improve competition in the meat sector, specifically naming as priorities increasing and diversifying processing capacity, improving farmer and rancher income, and promoting state, tribal and private investment. USDA already has awarded $32 million from its Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant (MPIRG) program, intended to help meat and poultry processing businesses expand, improve or update their abilities.

“It’s big providing the dollars. It’s not a small action, it’s a big action,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told Agri-Pulse. “We also need to make sure that folks aren’t violating the antitrust laws that we have in this country.” Tester said industry consolidation that has led to the four large companies controlling about 85% of the beef market is devastating small farms and ranches. “I’ve got cow-calf operators that are going broke because of that consolidation.”

Tester, one of the few farmers in Congress, joined Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in sponsoring the Cattle Market Transparency Act with the goal of improving price discovery and ensuring transparency so the large companies are held accountable. That could mean better prices at…

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The Department of the Interior is now seeking public comment surrounding the word “squaw”

February 24, 2022 6:36 am

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The Department of the Interior is now collecting name replacements for more than 660 geographic features that use the word squaw.

Leaders called it a historically “offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women,” in a new report by NPR.

They say it originated from the Algonquian word for “woman” but has been twisted by white people for centuries.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland adds, “Words matter, particularly in our work to make our nation’s public lands and waters accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds. Consideration of these replacements is a big step forward in our efforts to remove derogatory terms whose expiration dates are long overdue.”

Here in Nebraska we have several bodies of water that include the word squaw in addition to a mountain peak and a lodge.

You can weigh in right now by submitting a comment here.

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