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Morning Word
SCOTUS affirms Indian Child Welfare Act
The US Supreme Court yesterday upheld in a 7-2 vote the constitutionality of the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which established standards for removing Native American children from their families, and created a preference for placing those who are removed with either relatives or other Native American families. As reported by SCOTUSblog, the US Supreme Court agreed in February 2022 to hear arguments in Haaland v. Brackeen and three consolidated cases following a mixed ruling out of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority in yesterday’s ruling, in a 34-page opinion; Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito each filed separate dissents.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna), who defended the law in the suit, released a statement following the court’s decision describing it as a “welcome affirmation across Indian Country of what presidents and congressional majorities on both sides of the aisle have recognized for the past four decades.” Haaland’s statement also referenced the decades of federal policies that removed Native American children from their homes as a “targeted attack” on Native Americans that led to enduring trauma. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also acknowledged the historic harm the child welfare system has perpetrated on Native children and their families “by disregarding and disrespecting their culture…Today, the court recognized what we already know—the critical importance of sustaining a child’s connection to their cultural identity. That’s why in 2022 the Legislature passed, and I signed the Indian Family Protection Act, codifying the federal Act in our state. By upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act, we ensure this connection is protected today and for future generations. The Supreme Court made the right decision by acknowledging the importance of this Act and its positive impact on children, families, communities, and sovereign nations.”
Abortion, gun laws take effect today
More than 115 laws passed during the most recent legislative session take effect today, including ones that protect reproductive health services and strengthen the state’s gun control. House Bill 7, the Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act, prevents local jurisdictions from prohibiting health care services, including abortion. Several smaller towns and municipalities in the state have challenged that law by passing ordinances that undermine its tenets, prompting an ongoing legal battle with Attorney General Raúl Torrez. The state Supreme Court in April agreed to stay—or suspend—those ordinances as it evaluates the legal arguments from all sides. As the Albuquerque Journal reports, other attempts to repeal the law via referendum have failed. House Bill 9, also known as “Bennie’s Bill,” which creates criminal penalties in some cases for negligently storing firearms in such a way as to make them accessible to children, also takes effect today, and continues to draw opposition from Republicans and other gun-reform opponents. The bill’s name honors Albuquerque middle school student Bennie Hargrove, who was fatally shot in 2021 by a classmate using his father’s improperly stored gun. Less controversially, Senate Bill 188, which makes the smell of roasting green chile the official state aroma, becomes law today and is not expected to have any notable impact beyond the national attention it already has drawn.
Boldly go
Virgin Galactic announced yesterday its first commercial spaceflights will begin at the end of this month with Galactic 01, a scientific research mission, targeting a flight window of June 27-30 for its three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy, who will be conducting microgravity research. “With scientific payloads on board, the spaceflight will showcase the value and power of the unique suborbital science lab that Virgin Galactic offers,” a news release states. Galactic 02, for “private astronauts,” will launch in early August, with monthly commercial flights thereafter; the company will have livestreams for both Galactic 01 and 02 on its website. “We are launching the first commercial spaceline for Earth with two dynamic products—our scientific research and private astronaut space missions,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement. “This next exciting chapter for Virgin Galactic has been driven by innovation, determination and a commitment to delivering an unparalleled and truly transformative customer experience.” Reservations on the commercial spaceflights cost $450,000, which “includes more than a spaceflight,” the company’s brochure notes. “You’ll enjoy a Future Astronaut community membership, a multi-day training and preparation retreat at Spaceport America with family and friends, bespoke flightwear, astronaut insignia, photographs and video, opportunities to give back to future generations and more.”
Drive around
One person’s trash is another person’s new ride. Or something along those lines might be said regarding the City of Santa Fe’s a public auction this weekend at the city’s impound lot at the intersection of South Meadows Road and Camino Entrada. Auction gates will open at 8 am tomorrow (June 17) and the auction will begin at 9:30 am for various surplus vehicles, buses, heavy equipment and other “unique items,” the city says in a news release (view the catalog here). Walk-throughs will be available from 9 am to 4 pm today—with prospective bidders allowed to view four vehicles each—and from 8 am to 9:30 am tomorrow. Online bidding has already begun; for instance, a 2020 Ford Explorer formally used as a police vehicle, with 37,283 miles, receiving seven bids, including a top $200 bid. Lest that seem like a deal too good to be true, the vehicle has extensive body damage. Bids all start at $1. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that city Fleet Manager Dave Jaramillo says he and his team have been preparing for the auction—run by Bentley’s Auctions of Albuquerque—by cleaning the vehicles and removing all city decals and equipment. “If you know how to process these vehicles, there’s a lot of value, even if on the surface they look like they’re in tough shape,” Jaramillo told the paper.
Listen up
The new documentary Library Stories: Books on the Backroads, which recently began screening on PBS, explores the impact libraries have on New Mexico’s rural communities. KUNM News Director Megan Kamerick talks with filmmakers Ben Daitz and Mary Lance about the project, which grew out of discussions with New Mexico Rural Library Initiative Director Shel Neymark about a proposal to build a $50 million endowment in order to provide 50 community and pueblo libraries the funding they need for staffing and to continue providing central services—from internet access to Towa language classes to social services—to the residents they serve.
Celebrate Juneteenth!
Governments (and this newsletter) will be off work Monday due to the federal Juneteenth holiday. Sunday, we’ll party. Santa Fe’s Earthseed Black Arts Alliance will present its annual Juneteenth celebration from 3 to 9 pm, Sunday, June 18 on the Plaza with live performances headlined by legendary dancehall/reggae performer/DJ Sister Nancy, food, vendors, workshops and more. Earthseed Black Arts Alliance and the Santa Fe Community Foundation earlier this week announced the creation of the Earthseed Community Fund, dedicated to supporting Black life, arts and culture in New Mexico. Earthseed Black Arts Alliance founding member Raashan Ahmad will serve as chair of the fund’s advisory committee and said in a statement he was “indebted to my ancestors for their hard work and sacrifice. I am their wildest dream, and this fund will support our wildest dreams for what future generations can be, create and manifest.” According to a news release, donations this year will help seed the fund’s permanent endowment, and an inaugural grant will be made to celebrate Juneteenth in 2024. “As an African American woman, I am so honored to be a part of this transformative initiative,” SFCF Vice President of Development and Donor Relations Sandra Session-Robertson said in a statement. “Building a philanthropic legacy for our region’s Black communities is critical, and I look forward to working alongside Raashan and others to grow this fund into a lasting force for good.”
Keeping time
The New York Times takes a deep dive into watch accessories, specifically lavishly designed ones in silver and turquoise made by Native American artisans. The story opens in Albuquerque, where Andrew Thomas, a buyer at the Indian Pueblo Store in the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, discusses his plan to have a silver watch cuff custom-made in memory of his father, who wore one with a traditional Diné style to complement the Bulova timepiece he wore during his years working for the Santa Fe Railway. The story also features photographs of several watch cuffs from the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. “Nowadays, these types of lavishly decorated watch cuffs or watch bracelets in heavy-gauge silver are mostly sold as vintage pieces or made to order,” the Times notes, although some art galleries and stores in the Southwest—including the Indian Pueblo Store—still carry them. Albuquerque lapidary and silversmith Bennard Dallasvuyaoma (Hopi and Pima tribes of Arizona) tells the Times his special orders have become increasingly rare—and he personally wears an Apple Watch. Still, some Native American jewelers are also working to design accessories for digital watches. “Humans like things that are personalized,” New Mexico silversmith and rancher Shane R. Hendren (Diné) says. “As long as there’s guys like me that can make something custom, there’s somebody out there who’s going to find me.”
Wind up
The National Weather Service has issued another round of red flag warnings for today and tomorrow in Santa Fe and across southwestern, west central, central and portions of northeastern New Mexico, given the low humidity, high winds and unstable atmospheric conditions. Today in Santa Fe will be sunny with a high temperature near 81 degrees; northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west 15 to 20 mph in the morning and potentially gusting up to 30 mph. Saturday’s high temperature will be in the high 70s, with wind gusts up to 40 mph. Both Sunday and Monday could have temps reaching the mid 80s.
Thanks for reading! The Word returns Tuesday, June 20, and plans to re-read Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery” this weekend in honor of its 75th anniversary (here’s some fun backstory on the letters the New Yorker received after its initial publication).
