Latest news with #IndigenousAmericans
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Leprosy Was Lurking in The Americas Long Before Colonization, Study Finds
Historians have for a long time believed that leprosy was introduced to the Americas by European settlers, but the latest research offers strong evidence to the contrary – suggesting that Indigenous Americans had already been dying of the disease for centuries. The primary cause of leprosy is a bacterium called Mycobacterium leprae, and the researchers still think this was introduced to America by Europeans. However, it seems a lesser-known culprit was already established by that time. A new study from an international team of researchers found that another bacterium, Mycobacterium lepromatosis – a less common cause of leprosy infection – was present in the DNA of ancient human remains from Canada and Argentina dating back at least a thousand years. "This discovery transforms our understanding of the history of leprosy in America," says genomicist Maria Lopopolo, from the Institut Pasteur in France. "It shows that a form of the disease was already endemic among Indigenous populations well before the Europeans arrived." The M. lepromatosis bacteria was first discovered in a patient in the US in 2008, and since then it's also been found in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the UK. It may well have spread from the US to the UK in the 19th century, the researchers suggest. In partnership with local Indigenous communities in terms of handling ancestral remains, the researchers analyzed the DNA from a total of 389 ancient and 408 modern human samples. From the results, they put together a genetic family tree of leprosy bacteria. Even though they were thousands of kilometers apart, the ancient Canadian and Argentinian samples were remarkably genetically similar. That points to a rapid spread of M. lepromatosis across the American continents. Based on the timeline put together from the DNA, the different strains of M. lepromatosis would have split from a common ancestor more than 9,000 years ago. With that many millennia of evolution under its belt, the team says there are likely even more diverse forms of the bacteria still waiting to be discovered in the Americas. "We are just beginning to uncover the diversity and global movements of this recently identified pathogen," says biologist Nicolás Rascovan, from the Institut Pasteur. "The study allows us to hypothesize that there might be unknown animal reservoirs." This all adds a valuable extra layer to our understanding of the history of the Americas, and of leprosy. It gives researchers some incredibly useful data points in terms of the progression and diversification of the disease. Infectious diseases play an important part in the story of North, South, and Central America, with the arrival of Europeans introducing a host of new pathogens that Indigenous communities weren't biologically prepared for. Now we know that the leprosy part of the picture is a lot more complicated than we previously realized. Around 200,000 new cases of the disease are reported worldwide every year, though it can now be treated and cured with modern drugs. "This study clearly illustrates how ancient and modern DNA can rewrite the history of a human pathogen and help us better understand the epidemiology of contemporary infectious diseases," says Rascovan. The research has been published in Science. Does Retinol Reverse Signs of Aging? Here's The Science. Meditation And Mindfulness Have a Dark Side We Often Overlook A Specific Kind of Birth Control May Increase Stroke Risk
CBS News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Chicago Park District to loan Columbus statue to Italian American group for museum, end lawsuit
The Chicago Park District said Thursday that it has reached a deal to end a lawsuit over the removal of Chicago's Christopher Columbus statues. The City of Chicago, which owns the statues, will not be bringing the statues back to their former sites in Grant Park and Arrigo Park. But the city will loan the statue that was removed from Arrigo Park, at Polk and Loomis streets in Little Italy, to the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. The statue will be displayed inside a building in Chicago that the joint civic committee is redeveloping to be a museum. The museum is set to open in six months, Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans President Ron Onesti told CBS News Chicago. Meanwhile, the Columbus statue that once stood in Grant Park will not be back. The plinth that had anchored the statue will be removed, and a new process will determine what piece of public art will replace it. Rather than Columbus, an Italian American will be honored at Arrigo Park, according the Park District. Onesti said this statue would depict "a person of Italian descent such as Mother Cabrini." "The Chicago Park District is committed to diversifying our statuary to ensure we are honoring Chicago's rich history and diversity," said Chicago Park District Genera Supt. and Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said in a news release. "To that end, we look forward to convening the process to determine which Italian American will be honored at Arrigo Park, and which artworks will replace the Grant Park plinth. Throughout these processes, we will continue to engage Chicago's diverse communities." Back in 2020, then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had the Grant Park and Arrigo Park Columbus statues — and one more in South Chicago — taken down. For all the time since, Italian American groups in the city had been fighting to put them back. This came after a group of protesters clashed with police officers at the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park on July 17, 2020. Some of the protesters tried to wrap a rope around the statue and tear it down. A week later, the Grant Park Columbus statue was removed, to the cheers of people who said monuments to Columbus are insults to Indigenous Americans. The Columbus statue in Arrigo Park, and another one that was part of a fountain at 92nd Street and Exchange Avenue, followed soon afterward. In August 2022, a panel created by Mayor Lightfoot called the Chicago Monuments Project recommended that the three Columbus statues should be removed permanently — along with several other public monuments they deemed as "problematic" on the grounds that they honor white supremacy or disrespect Indigenous people. No other monuments have been removed in the years since. The choices to find a new public artwork for the Grant Park space is in accordance with the Chicago Monuments Project recommendations, the Park District said.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico creates turquoise alert for missing Indigenous Americans
New Mexico became the fourth state in the nation to create an alert system for missing Indigenous Americans after its governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, signed legislation creating a 'turquoise alert' on Monday. The act, which passed both chambers of the state legislature unanimously during the state's recent legislative session, symbolizes the growing attention that a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people – most often women and girls – has received in recent years. 'Communities like mine are all too familiar with the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. For years now, we have stepped up on our own to help locate our missing brothers and sisters through coordinated local efforts and on social media,' said the state representative Michelle Paulene Abeyta, who is Diné and one of the bill's sponsors. 'Establishing the turquoise alert will allow the state to amplify these community-led efforts to better ensure the protection and safe return of our loved ones.' Related: California university to expand student minds with new psychedelic studies course Indigenous American and Alaska Native communities experience rates of murder, rape and violent crime all above the national average. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice found that four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, including more than half who have experienced sexual violence. But less than half of violent crimes against women are ever reported to police. In 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing Native American women and girls to the US Department of Justice, but only 116 of those cases were logged in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. According to the New Mexico department of justice, there are approximately 200 missing Indigenous people in the state, on average of more than 1,600 days missing. 'Too many Native American families have faced crisis and the heartbreak of a loved one disappearing without the swift response they deserve,' said Josett D Monette, cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Indian affairs department. 'The turquoise alert system is a critical step forward in ensuring that missing Native American people are prioritized in the same way as other emergency alerts. This legislation reflects New Mexico's unwavering commitment to justice and the safety of our Indigenous communities.' The turquoise alert system – named for the sacred stone popular in Diné jewelry – will function much like an 'Amber' or 'silver' alert. Cellphones will receive an alert when law enforcement are notified of the disappearance of a Native American. California, Washington and Colorado have already implemented similar alert systems – and after the brutal death of San Carlos Apache teenager Emily Pike, Arizona lawmakers are considering following suit. Since Washington's alert system went into effect in 2022, the state patrol had issued 114 such alerts and located 101 of the missing individuals. New Mexico is home to 23 federally recognized tribes – giving it one of the largest Indigenous American populations per capita of any state. In 2020, after then president Joe Biden appointed her the first Indigenous cabinet secretary in the United States, former New Mexico congresswoman Deb Haaland created a Missing and Murdered Unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In February, Haaland announced her run to replace Lujan Grisham as New Mexico's governor when the Democrat's term expires in 2026.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Eugenics ideas and a Natal Conference don't belong at the University of Texas
Years ago, I took a class at the University of Texas called anthropological genetics. Deborah Bolnick, an anthropologist and geneticist, taught us how humans have constructed and deconstructed our various groups. We learned that the racial categories of the United States Census have shifted several times. We learned that humans have more genetic diversity within a defined racial group than between them. And very critically, we learned about eugenics, the notion that certain 'kinds' of people are better suited to reproduce. We learned how this was a guiding doctrine of Nazi science and the Jim Crow South, and was intertwined with similar dictums such as pronatalism — the idea that the 'right kind' of people should reproduce as much as possible. (You know which kind.) The class gathered three times a week in a sunny room in Painter Hall, a 15-minute walk from the AT&T Hotel & Conference Center — another university-owned venue where later this week a conference on natalism and eugenics will be held. But bafflingly, this week's Natal Conference seeks not to decry eugenics, but to celebrate it. At first glance this may not seem so bad. Survival of the fittest, after all? But the key question to ask here is this: Who gets to decide who the fittest are? And on which criteria? Are people of a certain race inherently better? Which combinations of nucleotides mark the best people? Consider the speaking lineup for this conference. Instead of demographers — scientists who study populations and how they change — the lineup features far-right gadflies and prominent proponents of eugenicist ideas and practices, all with a stated aim to 'improve' future generations, not by investing in communities and the health and well-being of populations, but by developing policies of genetic selection that elevate and encourage the reproduction of white, abled people only. But gadflies, by definition, exist to annoy. Arguing with them yields limited returns. And much to my dismay, UT has welcomed this event to our campus. While I urge university leadership in the strongest possible terms to disavow this embarrassing spectacle and protect our community from people who tweet cheerfully about the "butt rape" of Indigenous Americans, I doubt they will respond. What we can do is this: Learn how horrific this movement is. Read about the nonconsensual sterilization of prisoners in California, which wasn't stopped until 2013. Read about the history of 'Mississippi Appendectomies,' the nonconsensual hysterectomies performed on Black women in teaching hospitals across the South. Learn about Carrie Buck, the young woman who became pregnant by rape and was sterilized by a pro-eugenics physician who treated his patients as if they were cats who needed spaying. Discuss these examples and their lessons with your friends and family. Do what you can with the emotional energy you have to counter this very ugly movement. Horrible things take root in ignorance. While eugenics has never gone away, those who support it are more comfortable and publicly accepted than they have been in decades. It is especially concerning that they find comfort on the campus of our state's most celebrated public university, which has said it cannot discriminate against the viewpoints of anyone wishing to use the AT&T Conference Center. The tacit approval of a race science conference at UT-Austin, alongside the large-scale defunding and muzzling of American science by a far-right regime, marks a very dark chapter of our history. It should worry all of us, not just academics, how quickly we've moved away from science, progress and the embrace of diversity. We won't win every battle in this war. But no one can force us to forget our richly and beautifully diverse backgrounds as Americans, and our values as human beings. Consider this quote from the late Stephen Jay Gould, a paleontologist and one of the most celebrated and widely-read scholars in modern history: 'I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.' Claire Zagorski is a graduate research assistant and PhD student in translational science at the University of Texas. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Natal Conference and eugenics don't belong at UT Austin | Opinion
CBS News
20-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Italian American group says Chicago Columbus statues need to be reinstalled as expressions of art
Back in 2020, then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had three statues of Christopher Columbus removed in Chicago. For all the time since, Italian American groups in the city have been fighting to put them back. They continue to do so, and now call the removal of the statues "selective censorship." A few weeks ago, there was an uproar at City Hall over a piece of art on display at the Chicago Cultural Center. The display, titled "U.S-Israel War Machine," is part of an exhibit on puppets, and a group of alderpeople have called it antisemitic and want it removed. At a City Council committee meeting earlier this month, "U.S.-Israel War Machine" sparked a heated debate about what should or should not be allowed on city property. But Ron Onesti of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans said there was no such debate about the Columbus statues. "There was no outrage by City Council back in 2020," he said. On July 17, 2020, a group of protesters clashed with police officers at the Christopher Columbus statue in Chicago's Grant Park. Some of the protesters tried to wrap a rope around the statue and tear it down. A week later, the Grant Park Columbus statue was removed, to the cheers of people who said monuments to Columbus are insults to Indigenous Americans. A Columbus statue in Arrigo Park at Polk and Loomis streets in Little Italy, and a third statue that was part of a fountain at 92nd Street and Exchange Avenue followed soon afterward. Ron Onestim, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, was infuriated. "How can you just flippantly remove something without any discussion?" he said. Onesti said it troubles him to see the site of the Grant Park Columbus statue still left as an empty pedestal five years later. "This is owned by the citizens, and this is artwork, and this is free speech," he said. The controversial puppet art at the Cultural Center was kept up in the name of art. This week, 10 aldermen supported an order that would get the Grant Park Columbus statue out of storage. The Columbus statue and other monuments would also get reinstalled for "expression of art." "The order put forth by Alderman [Anthony] Napolitano (41st) today really extends our emotions about this whole thing," Onesti said. "We're giving them 60 days to replace the statues based on the comments from the commissioner of DCASE [the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events] — the fact that controversial art should be protected by the city, and the government shouldn't get involved in any of this free speech stuff." Onesti argued the Columbus statue may be controversial to some, but for that reason, it falls under art protection. His organization has been fighting since 2020 with attorneys. "I think actually what we did back then kind of set the tone for what's going on now," Onesti said. Onesti said Italian Americans are long overdue to correct what he called a wrong, and said it is time for Mayor Brandon Johnson to take a stance. "He's been very specific about dodging it, frankly," Onesti said of the mayor. In August 2022, a panel created by Mayor Lightfoot called the Chicago Monuments Project recommended that the three Columbus statues should be removed permanently — along with several other public monuments they deemed as "problematic" on the grounds that they honor white supremacy or disrespect Indigenous people. No other monuments have been removed in the years since.
