July 2020 Newsletter 

AIPI Featured in Virtual Town Hall on COVID-19 in Indian Country  

Indian Country continues to battle the negative effects COVID-19 has had on tribal economies as well as the health of tribal citizens. ASU’s Construction in Indian Country hosted a Virtual Town Hall June 19, which brought tribal leaders together with scholars and industry experts to discuss the current situation and how Indian Country can rebound from the pandemic. 

“Our role at ASU is to not only help fulfill the immediate needs of these communities but also to think about, 'What does recovery and renewal look like as we come out of our current state?'” said Jacob Moore, associate vice president for tribal relations at ASU. Moore said ASU has a lot to offer tribes, including COVID-19 research, test kits, PPE, supply chain management, public health support, and wastewater monitoring. 

The call was hosted by CIIC Program Manager Marcus Denetdale and featured AIPI Executive Director Traci Morris, AIPI Research and Policy Analyst Brian Howard, and Willmeng Construction Chief Executive Officer James Murphy. Among the tribal leaders were Chairman Larry Wright Jr., of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; President Martin Harvier, of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community; and President Jonathan Nez of the Navajo Nation.

AIPI’s expertise and experience in researching broadband disparities on tribal lands has become increasingly valuable as the coronavirus pandemic has illuminated the need for further investment in rural broadband infrastructure. 

“We have 162,000-plus people living on tribal lands that either are underserved or unserved when it comes to telecommunications infrastructure needs,” Morris said. “It was stunning to me that it took a pandemic to draw attention to the fact ... of the digital divide.”

Read more about the town hall in this article by ASU Now.
 

The Arizona Department of Education has formed a new task force to address the digital divide and the technology needs of schools. Technology inequalities existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rapid transition to online school revealed the deep disparities between people with and without adequate broadband internet access. 

“Access to technology and broadband internet is an issue of educational equity,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman. 

“The group will work to find innovative solutions to address the extreme digital divide across Arizona,” according to the press release. It will also look for ways to expand public-private partnerships and support state Education Technology and Computer Science Standards. 

The Technology Task Force is made up of 32 individuals committed to addressing the needs of Arizona students and schools. AIPI Executive Director Traci Morris is among the members who have been appointed to the task force. 

“I’m passionate about digital inclusion and bridging the digital divide. I welcome the opportunity to work with this stellar task force in making sure all students receive access to the educational opportunities they deserve.”  

Last month, AIPI co-authored an open letter with other American Indian Service Constituencies at ASU affirming our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. 

In the letter, which is available in its entirety on our blog, we join calls for justice and equity for people of color; we acknowledge the realities of historic and systemic injustice that those in the Black community and other people of color face on a regular basis; and we call for an end to normalized racist practices that pervade our society. 

Our hope is that the attention currently being given to race and injustice on a national level will inspire substantive positive changes in both our systems and in individuals. Furthermore, we hope that this conversation does not become a fading memory or a passing phase. A window has opened in our society; it is time to seize the moment, have difficult conversations, and bring about real changes. 

We also hope that as the dialogue around the BLM movement progresses, we as a society can broaden the scope of our newfound cultural lens to include discussions about equity for Indigenous people and other people of color. Already, we are seeing a radical shift that has led to the removal of statues of dishonorable historic figures and the most forceful call to #ChangeTheName of the Washington football team that we have seen in years. 

At AIPI, we support necessary and just changes in our country that advance parity and equity for Indigenous peoples and all people of color. Black Lives Matter. Keep the conversation going.

It’s pretty much official: America is in the midst of a seismic cultural revolution. So I ask you, what are you doing to embrace the change? How are you challenging yourself and your beliefs? I’ll tell you about my process if you challenge yours. 

George Floyd’s death was the straw that broke the camel’s back. As Black Lives Matter protests continue, glimpses of meaningful responses have begun to emerge. Mississippi is changing its flag, the last to have a confederate symbol on it. NASCAR has banned the confederate flag at events and the only black driver has a car emblazoned with BLM decals. Monuments of an idealized American past that normalize racism are coming down at the request of communities all over the nation, not just protesters pulling them down. Major corporations are retiring images featuring racist depictions of black people in their brands, such as Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Mrs. Butterworth. In the meantime, however, the Washington football team remains obstinately silent in the face of calls for change.

We are in a fragile state right now. The Coronavirus is surging again and the wearing of a mask is so politicized that it is taking lives. But in the middle of this mayhem, a change in the fundamental nature of what it means to be American is taking place. We all have a part to play in pushing forward into this new era. We can hide and lament as a small but vocal part of the population is. Or we can challenge ourselves to be part of the change. 

I have never been adverse to change; I always welcomed it. Though I realize now, that as I became a professional and expert in my field, I had less time to keep up on new and emerging changes. When I graduated with my Ph.D. in 2005 in Comparative Cultural and Literary Studies and American Indian Studies my work was significantly focused on issues of representations of American Indians (not Native Americans) as informed by Post-Colonial theory. My theoretical perspective was largely based on experiences by scholars in India such as Homi Bhabha. Critical Indigenous Studies and Settler Colonialism as theoretical perspectives were not yet in print, though I know now they were in process. I am an avid Twitter user as of late. So many young Indigenous scholars are on Twitter and I have followed them and listened to their words.  I learned about Settler Colonialism from them, but I did not understand its relationship to post-colonial theory. I do now.

My challenge to change has come in the form of learning these new theories and how they are informing the larger cultural movement happening in America today. I’m taking this time during the pandemic to up my game and learn these new theories so I can be a better ally to the burgeoning movement and to the younger Indigenous scholars coming up. I’m reading the materials and I’m speaking to the scholars. I’m informing my knowledge base so I can be a better administrator, scholar, academic partner, community partner, and boss. I’m committed to change, how are you committed to change?