COVID-19 Daily News Digest – August 2, 2020
Northern Manitoba First Nation blocks rail line over lack of access
War Lake residents were not able to purchase train tickets to Ilford because Via Rail has been selling most of their tickets to tourists heading to Churchill, according to War Lake First Nation Chief Betsy Kennedy.
“This affects our medical patients who go to Thompson to attend their appointments. We can’t keep postponing appointments because we don’t have any seats for passengers,” she said.
Brazilian Amazon fires are surging, particularly on Indigenous lands
Under international pressure, Mr Bolsonaro has deployed the army to fight the fires and declared a moratorium on burning. But activists say that does not go far enough to address the roots of the problem.
Fires rose 77 per cent on Indigenous lands and 50 per cent on protected nature reserves from July 2019, environmental group Greenpeace said, showing how illegal activities are increasingly encroaching on those areas.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/brazilian-amazon-fires-are-surging-particularly-on-indigenous-lands
TRUMP’S PICK TO MANAGE PUBLIC LANDS HAS FOUR-DECADE HISTORY OF “OVERT RACISM” TOWARD NATIVE PEOPLE
As the region became a hotbed for Covid-19 cases in the U.S., Pendley’s BLM was finalizing a resource management plan for the area. Rather than rescheduling public meetings regarding the plans, the bureau transferred them online, to take place while many of those most impacted were scrambling to manage the health emergency wreaking havoc on the community.
https://theintercept.com/2020/08/01/william-perry-pendley-blm-native-americans/
Celebrating indigenous traditions with mishoon’s launch
Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of what would have been Nolumbeka’s eighth annual Pocumtuck Homelands Festival in Turners Falls, organizers found a way to safely hold the long-awaited launch of a traditional dugout canoe, called a mishoon.
“Originally, (the launch) was supposed to coincide with the Nolumbeka Festival,” Perry said of the festival, which was expected to take place Saturday and Sunday at Unity Park Waterfront