Honoring the legacy of native Americans in the West

Denver Post: Honoring the legacy of native Americans in the West

 

For six years, the Martin Luther King Jr. African-American Heritage Rodeo of Champions has honored the history of the black cowboy in the West. Monday night at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, the event goes farther to include the legacy native Americans in the American West. The rodeo is at 6 p.m. in the Denver Coliseum at Interstate 70 and Brighton Boulevard. Seats range from $13 to $35 and include grounds admission to the rest of the Stock Show.  "What we've learned is the true role of the American Indian is often left out of the history books, just like Bill Pickett​ was," said Denver resident Lu Vason, who puts the National Western's annual tribute and has produced the national William "Bill" Pickett

 

Al Jazeera: Mexico's indigenous tribe battles drought

 

A severe drought in northern Mexico, being said to be the worst in 70 years, has left many thousands in the area without enough food and drinking water. The Raramuri indigenous people, living in the highlands of northern Chihuahua state, have long been battling malnutrition, and lack of rainfall will further worsen the situation. Emergency aid is beginning to reach this northern Mexico highland, but the fear of a humanitarian crisis still looms.

 

LA Times: Cabazon tribe agrees to air quality monitoring

 

Environmental regulators will be allowed to enforce air quality laws on the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians reservation in the Coachella Valley, an agreement reached seven months after noxious odors from a recycling facility sickened nearby schoolchildren. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, inspectors from the South Coast Air Quality Management District will have the authority to enter sovereign tribal land to monitor environmental laws on a reservation industrial park and issue violations. In May, an investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that Western Environmental Inc., which recycles toxic soils on the reservation site, was the primary source of noxious odors that sent teachers to the hospital and sickened children at an elementary school in Mecca.