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Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mark Bennett: A voice that spoke up in 2020 reflects on a summer of dissent
A lone protester stood quietly holding a small sign on a Washington, D.C., street several years ago. Curious, Dominique Morefield took a closer look to read the sign. That moment proved pivotal for her. The sign's wording protested the Dakota Access pipeline, a project that would move oil from a North Dakota oil field to an Illinois refinery. Native American groups opposed the project as a threat to native lands and the waters of the Missouri River. MET 060920 YOUNG MOREFIELD 01 FILE Dominique Morefield talks about the alternatives to arrests during a demonstration by the Reform Movement of Terre Haute in front of the Vigo County Annex on June 9, 2020. At the time, Morefield wasn't aware of that situation. Later that day, she began reading about it. Soon, she saw reports about the pipeline on TV news. 'I saw how one person, silently standing with a piece of paper' could stir interest, Morefield recalled this week. 'Just something that simple stuck in my brain, and seeing it transpire on the national news was very inspiring, as well.' Morefield, a Terre Haute native, was working as a nanny in Washington that year before returning to her hometown. She witnessed numerous marches and rallies there. 'Being in the nation's capital, I saw protests and demonstrations almost daily,' she said. 'Seeing it in D.C. made such a difference.' A few years later, Morefield's voice was among those leading the 'Walk for CommUNITY' through downtown Terre Haute on a hot day — June 6, 2020. She also became an organizer of the Reform Movement of Terre Haute. Terre Haute's June 2020 demonstration was one of many marches around the country in response to the death of a black Minnesota man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer, as well as similar incidents of racial injustice and excessive police tactics. Floyd was pinned to ground while handcuffed as the officer pressed a knee on the back of Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, despite the man's pleas for help. Video of Floyd's death on May 25, 2020 was seen worldwide. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder and is serving a 22 1/2-year sentence in prison, and later pleaded guilty to violating Floyd's civil rights and is serving a 21-year federal sentence for that, according to the St. Cloud Times. MET 053020 FLOYD WABASH MARCH FILE Protesters march down Wabash Avenue on Saturday, May 30, 2020, to protest the death of George Floyd. Hundreds gathered near the Vigo County Courthouse and marched several times throughout the area. The vast majority of the summer of 2020's thousands of protests nationwide and beyond occurred peacefully, as was the case in Terre Haute. Then-Terre Haute Police Chief Shawn Keen said the walk was 'peaceful, organized, and I thought everybody looked out for one another in the heat.' The marchers were black and white, kids and adults. Many carried signs ranging from 'Black Lives Matter' to a Martin Luther King Jr. quotation: 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' Among those speaking to the crowd from the steps of City Hall were rally organizer Erick Beverly, College Football Hall of Famer and Terre Haute native Anthony Thompson and Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt. Morefield spoke, too. She shared a poem, and also urged the crowd to continue the momentum behind the rally. The five-year anniversary of Floyd's death and the quest for racial justice is a topic of reflection around the country. Morefield is now 29 and recently moved to Indianapolis, where she works as program events director and partnership manager for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Indiana. Speaking as an individual, and not in her role with Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Morefield sees the June 2020 march in Terre Haute as a moment when concerned citizens felt free to express themselves. The large turnout played a part in that. 'I think being able to see the support of other community members made it easier for people to feel like they can speak up,' Morefield said by phone from Indianapolis. The march also revealed that Morefield had found her niche for public speaking, community organizing and social justice advocacy. 'It definitely did. I have always known I care for marginalized communities, but I didn't know the depth or power of my voice,' she said. 'It really propelled my career and fueled my passion to serve marginalized communities.' Dominique Morefield in 2022 In this 2022 photo, Dominique Morefield stands near the intersection of Third Street and Wabash Avenue on Wednesday where Black Lives Matter marches were held in the summer of 2020. She grew up attending Terre Haute schools — Crawford and Dixie Bee elementaries, Sarah Scott Middle School and Terre Haute South High School, and then studied English and communications at Ball State and Indiana State universities. Morefield didn't complete her degree, but her campus activities and education were followed by jobs serving young people. Much national discussion on the five-year anniversary of Floyd's death centers on whether progress has been thwarted by the Trump administration's push to dismantle programs and entities committed to diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI. Morefield believes whatever progress that was made was real, and that it can't be erased by the ongoing anti-DEI presidential executive orders. 'The progress has been made where it's been made, and I don't think the president signing as many executive orders as he can is going to stop that progress,' she said. Standing up for causes has been a constant for Morefield. She remembers distributing her first petition as a fourth-grader. At age 12, she made national headlines after chasing a man — who robbed her lemonade stand of its $17.50 in profits — into a building, where police eventually arrested him. 'Just having a strong sense of right and wrong has definitely guided me in my life,' Morefield said. 'There's probably nothing that upsets me more than injustice.'
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Tribes say the U.S. misappropriated funds to pay for Native American boarding schools
Two tribal nations filed a lawsuit Thursday saying that the federal government used the trust fund money of tribes to pay for boarding schools where generations of Native children were systematically abused. In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Wichita Tribe and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California said that by the U.S. government's own admission, the schools were funded using money raised by forcing tribal nations into treaties to cede their lands. That money was to be held in trust for the collective benefit of tribes. 'The United States Government, the trustee over Native children's education and these funds, has never accounted for the funds that it took, or detailed how, or even whether, those funds were ultimately expended. It has failed to identify any funds that remain,' according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed against Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education. A spokesperson for the Interior declined to comment on pending litigation. In 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior, under the direction of Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to run the agency, released a scathing report on the legacy of the boarding school era, in which Native children were stolen from their homes, forced to assimilate, and in many cases physically, sexually and mentally abused. Countless children died at the schools, many of whom were buried in unmarked graves at the institutions. That report detailed the U.S. government's intentions of using the boarding schools as a way to both strip Native children of their culture and dispossess their tribal nations of land. The tribes are asking the court to make the U.S. account for the estimated $23.3 billion it appropriated for the boarding school program, detail how that money was invested, and list the remaining funds that were taken by U.S. and allocated for the education of Native children. Last year, President Joe Biden issued a formal apology for the government's boarding school policy, calling it 'a sin on our soul' and 'one of the most horrific chapters' in American history. But in April, the administration of President Donald Trump cut $1.6 million from projects meant to capture and digitize stories of boarding school survivors.
Reuters
07-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US judge to rule by May 14 on Rio Tinto copper project opposed by Native Americans
May 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge said he will rule by May 14 on whether to block the Trump administration from transferring Arizona land to Rio Tinto (RIO.L), opens new tab and BHP ( opens new tab to build a major copper mine opposed by Native Americans. The long-running and complex legal case pits the religious rights of Arizona's San Carlos Apache people against rising demand for copper for the energy transition and the geopolitics of China's wide control over the critical minerals industry. The dispute centers on the federally owned Oak Flat Campground where many Apache worship their deities. The site sits atop a reserve of more than 40 billion pounds (18.1 million metric tons) of copper, a crucial component of electric vehicles and nearly every electronic device. Rio and BHP's Resolution Copper project would, if built, cause a crater 2 miles (3 km) wide and 1,000 feet (304 m) deep that would slowly engulf that worship site. U.S. District Judge Steven Logan, who ruled in favor of the land transfer in 2021, held a nearly two-hour hearing on Wednesday to consider a fresh request that he block the land transfer temporarily while the U.S. Supreme Court deliberates. Logan, an appointee of former U.S. President Barack Obama, gave little indication as to how he would rule in the week promised but asked pointed questions about what harm the Apache could endure if the transfer were to occur before the Supreme Court rules. He also asked for data on Rio's maintenance costs for existing Resolution assets, which a Rio executive estimated at $11 million a month. Since 2021, courts have rejected a request by Apache Stronghold - a nonprofit group that includes the Apache and others - to block the land transfer needed for the mine. The rulings deferred to a 2014 decision made by the U.S. Congress and then-President Obama. President Donald Trump started the land transfer in his first term, a move undone by successor Joe Biden while the issue wound its way through courts. The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering whether to take the case. The Supreme Court has said at least 13 times it will continue to deliberate on the appeal request, an unusually long time frame. Meanwhile, Trump last month restarted the land transfer process, with his administration aiming to complete it as soon as June 16. The U.S. Justice Department, which has opposed the Apaches' request under both Biden and Trump, argued that Logan should stick with his 2021 ruling. "There is no basis for this court to issue a different result here," said Erika Danielle Norman, a Justice Department attorney. Apache Stronghold and their attorneys with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty said they were encouraged by the hearing. "All the Apaches are asking for is to put that land transfer on hold while the Supreme Court deliberates," said Becket's Joseph Davis. Rio Tinto said it appreciated the court's time and that Resolution is "vital to securing America's energy future, infrastructure needs, and national defense." BHP, which owns 45% of the project to Rio's 55%, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
