Latest news with #NativeAmerican
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
‘America has to come first': Trump wins favour with Native Americans
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Navajo Nation resident Gilberta Cortes, 42, who uses a generator for electricity, outside her home in Cameron, Arizona, as she waits for electricity from the power grid to reach her residence. TUBA CITY, Arizona - Fed up with rising gas prices, Ms Nita Mexican voted in November 2025 for Mr Donald Trump, who is increasingly popular among Native American communities which have long supported the political left. 'A lot of the younger ones are for him now, including friends of our grandkids,' the 77-year-old member of the Navajo Nation reservation told AFP. As a Republican voter, Ms Mexican was used to being in the minority in Tuba City, a small, remote hamlet in the Arizona desert, located on a plateau part of the vast Native American reservation. But in recent years, she has witnessed a change in attitudes towards the divisive US president. Like her, some neighbours have begun to blame immigration from Latin America for the unemployment and drug trade plaguing the impoverished reservation. 'Trump is cleaning up America, it's a good thing,' said Ms Mexican, a former power plant employee who praised Mr Trump's hardline deportation policy. 'America has to come first,' she said. 'Us Natives, we are Americans and we should have the jobs first.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 1 in 3 vapes here laced with etomidate; MOH working with MHA to list it as illegal drug: Ong Ye Kung Singapore HSA extends hotline hours, launches new platform to report vaping offences Singapore Tampines regional centre set to get more homes, offices and public amenities Multimedia How to make the most out of small homes in Singapore World Diplomats dismissed: Inside the overhaul reshaping Trump's foreign policy Life US tech CEO Andy Byron resigns after viral Coldplay 'kiss cam' video Opinion I thought I was a 'chill' parent. Then came P1 registration Singapore 'God and government are the only things beyond our control,' says Group CEO Rising inflation is an enduring concern in this isolated region, where cars are essential for getting around. Ms Mexican and her husband Joe spend US$40 (S$51) a day on gasoline to tend to their sheep, which are kept in a pen some 40km away. The couple also provide financial support for some of their unemployed grandchildren. 'Sometimes we don't have enough to get groceries for the both of us,' Ms Mexican said, adding that she would like Mr Trump to 'slow down' on his tariffs targeting multiple imported products . Surprising inroads Spanning the southwestern states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the Navajo Nation is the largest Native American reservation in the United States. Mr Trump made surprising inroads in the 2025 presidential election in the region that has been a Democratic stronghold since the 1980s. The Republican leader notably won by 17.1 points in Navajo County, double his margin of victory from four years earlier, and lost by just 19 points in Apache County, down from 33.6 in 2020. A similar trend was observed nationwide, from North Carolina to Montana, with Native American voters overall backing Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, but with much less enthusiasm than in the past. Like with Latino voters, more men than women from the minority group voted for Mr Trump, according to polls. At her home, which does not get electricity, Ms Gilberta Cortes said she 'butts heads ... all the time' with her 21-year-old son, who voted for Trump. 'He talks about inflation, he says that cartels are ruining everything for Native Americans,' Cortes said. The 42-year-old mother is not as impressed by the billionaire president. She resents his mockery of the Native American origins of Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, whom he regularly refers to as 'Pocahontas'. 'Favouritism' Laws enacted by Mr Trump during his first term to probe the disappearance of thousands of Native American women did not persuade her either. 'It was just favouritism so that he would get our votes,' said the left-wing voter. And the president's anti-immigration rhetoric and policies have unsettled her further. Several Navajos have been stopped in recent months by immigration agents because of their skin color, according to some reservation officials. 'You see a lot of racism ... When I go out, I feel like I'm just walking on eggshells,' said Ms Cortes. Mr Trump's climate change skepticism is also a concern, with many Native Americans claiming a spiritual connection to the environment. Ms Cortes has had to forbid her children from playing outside in the summer because of heat waves, which are growing more intense in the Arizona desert. 'If he drills oil like crazy and he makes cuts to environmental agencies, it's gonna make things worse in the long run,' Ms Cortes said. Mr Elbert Yazzie thinks some of his friends will soon regret their decision. Mr Trump's recently passed signature spending bill is expected to shrink the federal food assistance program, among other cuts that could hit out at low-income Americans. 'They voted for him because they thought there would be more jobs for us American citizens. But instead, he's cutting off food stamps,' Mr Yazzie told AFP from his caravan. 'That's going to affect a lot of people around here.' AFP
The Sun
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Trump gains Native American support amid economic concerns
TUBA CITY: Rising gas prices and economic frustrations have led some Native American voters to shift their political allegiance toward US president Donald Trump, marking a surprising trend in traditionally Democratic-leaning communities. Nita Mexican, a 77-year-old Navajo Nation resident, voted for Trump last November, citing his hardline stance on immigration and focus on American jobs. 'America has to come first,' she told AFP. 'Us Natives, we are Americans and we should have the jobs first.' Mexican, a former power plant worker, lives in Tuba City, a remote Arizona desert town within the vast Navajo reservation. She and her husband spend $40 (RM170) daily on gasoline to tend to their sheep, a financial strain worsened by inflation. 'Sometimes we don't have enough to get groceries for the both of us,' she admitted. Trump made notable gains in Navajo County during the last election, doubling his margin from 2020. Similar shifts were seen in other Native American communities, where economic concerns outweighed traditional Democratic loyalty. However, not all residents support Trump. Gilberta Cortes, a 42-year-old mother, criticises his policies and rhetoric, including his mockery of Senator Elizabeth Warren's Native heritage. 'You see a lot of racism,' she said. 'When I go out, I feel like I'm just walking on eggshells.' Others worry about Trump's environmental policies and potential cuts to federal assistance programs. Elbert Yazzie, a Navajo resident, fears reduced food aid will hurt low-income families. 'They voted for him because they thought there would be more jobs,' he said. 'But instead, he's cutting off food stamps.' - AFP
USA Today
20 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Remembering a Washington legend
Hey, Commanders fans, do you recall Zema Williams? Or perhaps you might remember him better if I were to refer to him as "Chief Zee?" Yes, that Chief Zee! For those unfamiliar with this part of Redskins history, Williams passed away on July 19, 2016, nine years ago today. Williams, better known as "Chief Zee," is reported to have begun attending Washington Redskins games during the 1978 season. By the way, that season was one of the most disappointing for me while growing up in northern Virginia. You see, the Redskins started that season 6-0, only to finish the season with a record of 8-8. One of the primary reasons that occurred was that Joe Theismann was injured and attempted to play through it, but his performance was severely hindered. Back to Chief Zee. He would appear at home games wearing a full feathered headdress and a Native American costume, complete with a toy tomahawk. Local news media in print and television broadcast stories on him, and pretty soon, the entire DMV fan base loved Chief Zee. Some may even recall how he became friends with his Dallas Cowboys counterpoint, Wilford 'Crazy Ray' Jones. The two teams would visit each other's stadiums and get together to put on a show for the fans of both teams. Crazy Ray in his Cowboys attire and Chief Zee wearing his Redskins attire. Chief Zee would become such friends with Jones that Chief Zee determined to skip a Redskins home game in 2007. Redskins fans learned after the fact that Chief Zee felt it would be a higher priority for him to attend the funeral of 'Crazy Ray' and honor his friend. It was only the second game he had missed since the 1981 season, when his own father had died. When watching one of those NFL Films productions of the Washington Redskins 1982 season, you will see Chief Zee all the way out in Pasadena to cheer on his favorite team at Super Bowl XVII in a 27-17 win over the Miami Dolphins, and in his own Redskins uniform, of course. Some may recall Chief Zee riding around FedEx Field on his moped in his later years. At that point, Chief Zee had suffered one of his big toes being amputated. But still wanting to attend the games, cheer on the team, and interact with fans, the Redskins helped and purchased the moped for him. When things got tough for Williams and he was only living off his Social Security, some fans united together via a GoFundMe campaign, paying both back rent and some future rent as well. reported on July 20, 2016, that Williams had died the previous night in his sleep and that he had been suffering from bad health for his last months.
Euronews
21 hours ago
- General
- Euronews
Native American teens kayak US river to celebrate dam removals
As bright-coloured kayaks push through a thick wall of fog, voices and the beats of drums build from a crowd of onlookers who have formed on the beach. Applause erupts as the boats land on the sandy spit that partially separates the Klamath River from the Pacific Ocean in northern California. Native American teenagers from tribes across the river basin push themselves up and out of the kayaks and begin to cross the sand, some breaking into a sprint. They kick playfully at the cold waves of the ocean they've been paddling toward over the last month - the ocean that's seen fewer and fewer salmon return to it over the last century as four hydropower dams blocked their ideal spawning grounds upstream. 'I think our ancestors would be proud because this is what they've been fighting for,' said Tasia Linwood, a 15-year-old member of the Karuk Tribe, ahead of the group's final push to the end on Friday 11 July. The Klamath River is newly navigable after a decades-long effort to remove its four hydropower dams to help restore the salmon run - an ancient source of life, food and culture for these paddlers' tribes who have lived alongside the river for millennia. Youth primarily from the Yurok, Klamath, Hoopa Valley, Karuk, Quartz Valley and Warm Springs tribes paddled 499 kilometres over a month from the headwaters of the Wood River, a tributary to the Klamath that some tribes consider sacred, to the Pacific Ocean. The teens spent several years learning to navigate white water through Paddle Tribal Waters, a program set up by the nonprofit Rios to Rivers, to prepare local Native youth for the day this would be possible. During their last days on the water, the group of several dozen swelled to more than 100, joined by some family members and Indigenous people from Bolivia, Chile and New Zealand who face similar challenges on their home rivers. Dams built decades ago for electricity Starting in the early 1900s, power company PacifiCorp built the dams over several decades to generate electricity. But the structures, which provided 2 per cent of the utility's power, halted the natural flow of a waterway that was once known as the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast. With the dams in place, tribes lost access to a reliable source of food. The dams blocked the path to hundreds of miles of cool freshwater streams, ideal for salmon returning from the ocean to lay their eggs. Salmon numbers declined dramatically along with the water quality. In 2002, a bacterial outbreak caused by low water and warm temperatures killed more than 34,000 fish, mostly Chinook salmon. That galvanised decades of advocacy by tribes and environmental groups, culminating in 2022 when federal regulators approved a plan to remove the dams. Through protests, testimony and lawsuits, the tribes showcased the environmental devastation caused by the dams, especially to salmon. From 2023 to 2024, the four dams were dynamited and removed, freeing hundreds of miles of the Klamath. The renewable electricity lost by removing the hydropower dams was enough to power the equivalent of 70,000 homes, although PacifiCorp has since expanded its renewable sources through wind and solar projects. Two dams used for irrigation and flood control remain on the upper stretch of the river. They have 'ladders' that allow some fish to pass through, although their efficacy for adult salmon is questionable. On the journey, the paddlers got out of the river and carried their kayaks around the dams. For teens, a month of paddling and making memories The journey began 12 June with ceremonial blessings and kayaks gathered in a circle above a natural pool of springs where fresh water bubbles to the surface at the headwater of the Wood River, just upstream of the Klamath River. The youth camped in tents as they made their way across Upper Klamath Lake and down the Klamath River, jumping in the water or doing flips in their kayaks to cool down in the summer heat. A few kayakers came down with swimmer's ear, but overall everybody on the trip remained healthy. Nearly everyone had a story to share of a family's fishing cabin or a favorite swimming hole while passing through ancestral territory of the Klamath, Modoc, Shasta, Karuk and Yurok. More than 2,200 dams were removed from rivers in the United States from 1912 through 2024, most in the last couple of decades as momentum grows to restore the natural flow of rivers and the wildlife they support, according to the conservation group American Rivers. 'I believe that it was kind of symbolic of a bigger issue,' said John Acuna, member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and a leader on the trip. Removal of dams represents end of long fight with federal government The federal government signed treaties with these tribes outlining their right to govern themselves, which is violated when they can't rely on their traditional food from the river. Acuna said these violations are familiar to many tribal communities, and included when his great-grandmother was sent to boarding school as part of a national strategy to strip culture and language from Native Americans. That history "comes with generational trauma,' he said. Their treaty-enshrined right to fish was also blatantly disregarded by regional authorities in the 1970s but later upheld by various court decisions, said Yurok council member Phillip Williams. Standing on a fog-shrouded boat ramp in the town of Requa awaiting the arrival of the youth, Williams recounted the time when it was illegal to fish here using the tribes' traditional nets. As a child, his elders were arrested and even killed for daring to defy authorities and fish in broad daylight. Fifty years later, with the hydropower dams now gone, large numbers of salmon are beginning to return and youth are paddling the length of the Klamath. 'If there's a heaviness that I feel it's because there's a lot of people that lived all in these places, all these little houses here that are no longer here no more," said Williams. 'They don't get to see what's happening today. And that's a heavy, heavy, feeling.' Even as a teen, Linwood says she feels both the pleasure of a month-long river trip with her friends and the weight of the past. 'I kind of feel guilty, like I haven't done enough to be fighting,' she said. "I gotta remember that's what our ancestors fought for. They fought for that - so that we could feel this joy with the river.'
The Hindu
a day ago
- General
- The Hindu
Rajasthan's forgotten geometry
The Art Deco movement brought with it a sense of glamour and opulence. It upheld geometric design and modern materials, and was inspired by the relics of Native American and Egyptian civilisations. It soon made its way from France to the shores of the United States. While New York went by the book, building incredible skyscrapers inspired by the original decorative phase, cities like Miami adapted the style as it saw fit, in keeping with the place. The intercontinental appeal of the movement fascinates me. As does its evolution. For instance, major events such as the Great Depression and World War II gave rise to an offshoot called Streamline Moderne — where designs were more subtle, and inspired by nautical and aerodynamic forms. With smooth flowing lines and creative typography, it acknowledged the era's progress in technology in its design. As it travelled to other parts of the world, Art Deco became an early symbol of ideals such as modernity and progress. India was no exception. Maharajas and merchants alike patronised the style. In fact, one of the first Art Deco buildings in the country was made in the sandy tracts of Rajasthan. So, why is its influence seldom discussed in the state? Could it be that amongst the multitude of forts and palaces, it was considered less relevant due to its relatively recent origin? Birth of Desert Deco Maharaja Umaid Singh was a royal patron of Art Deco. During a time of drought, the visionary ruler of Jodhpur-Marwar commissioned Chittar Mahal, a relief project to provide employment to his people. After his death, the monument was re-named Umaid Bhawan in his honour. While the inspiration behind the palace was the glamorous European movement, it blended architectural elements and motifs of Rajasthani palaces. Thus, Desert Deco was born. Many royals followed suit, patterning their ideas after the maharaja to build new palaces or remodel existing structures with added Deco elements. It was only after World War II and Independence that the movement spread beyond royal patronage in Rajasthan. While some people went for more affordable ways, superimposing Deco elements such as sunbursts onto existing facades, more affluent families built new structures. Merchants and businessmen, influenced by their exposure to Art Deco in the port towns and cities of Calcutta, Bombay and Surat, commissioned mansions in their hometowns. Thus, the second phase of Desert Deco was born, which merged local architectural design with Deco elements and motifs. Havelis and bhawans — such as Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh II's Rajmahal, an Art Deco remodel of the British Residency (formerly the garden retreat, Maji Ka Bagh, built in 1729) — were adorned with chevron patterns and sunbursts, which in turn interplayed with cultural and religious themes of the region. For instance, lattice screens or jaalis were carved, instead of perforated, with iconic Deco elements such as the frozen fountain motif with the sacred 'aum' or 'swastika' inscribed on it. Deco structures sprang up across the desert state, from cities such as Jodhpur, Jaipur and Bikaner, to smaller towns like Mandawa, Churu and Ladnun, and even in villages. The movement was not restricted to residential spaces, but included temples, public buildings, cinema halls, and at least one water station in Jaipur — with sharp geometric lines, zigzags, and stylised vents. I remember a friend telling me how many localities like Sardarpura, with their broad avenues and Deco houses built with local sandstone, along with the colours of Rajasthan, reminded him of a set in a Wes Anderson film. Overshadowed by palaces Today, despite advocacy and some success stories by a few organisations, Art Deco in Rajasthan continues to be overlooked. It is overshadowed by the bulk of beautiful forts, grand palaces and ancient temples that dot the landscape. Without formal recognition, the fate of these structures is bleak. Many lie in the path of developers, both private and public. Some lie forgotten, crumbling out of existence. But hope has no expiry date. It is why I started Jaipur Houses, a platform that works towards documenting and creating a digital archive of these fast vanishing structures. We will continue to advocate for its protection and preservation with the aim that one day these fabulous designs and structures will get recognised as a part of the state's architectural and artistic heritage. The writer is the founder of Jaipur Houses.
