CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Ex-Morgan Stanley adviser arrested after allegedly defrauding NBA players out of millions
Chris Cwik
Sat, March 25, 2023
Former Morgan Stanley adviser Darryl Cohen was arrested Thursday after allegedly defrauding NBA players out of millions.
Cohen is accused of transferring roughly $13 million from his NBA clients into his personal accounts. Cohen was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. If found guilty, Cohen could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.
Cohen was also charged with one count of investment adviser fraud, which can result in a maximum of five years in prison, per the United States Department of Justice.
Cohen allegedly conspired with Brian Gilder, an independent financial planner, to allegedly defraud multiple athletes. Charles Briscoe, a former sports agent, and another man, Calvin Darden Jr., were also allegedly involved. All four men received one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Briscoe was also charged with one count of aggravated identity theft.
Milwaukee Bucks' Jrue Holiday is among the athletes involved in a lawsuit against former Morgan Stanley adviser Darryl Cohen. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
The athletes are not named by the Department of Justice. Milwaukee Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday and former NBA players Chandler Parsons and Courtney Lee are reportedly all part of a lawsuit against Cohen. In that lawsuit, Holiday and his wife, former soccer player Lauren Holiday, accused Cohen of giving $7.7 million of their money to "dubious individuals," per the New York Times.
The Department of Justice alleged Cohen used some of the funds acquired from players to renovate his house, which included allegedly building an athletic training facility on his property and getting work done on his pool.
Dogs rescued from China meat farms get new homes in US after arriving at JFK Airport
Ellen Moynihan and Leonard Greene, New York Daily News
Sat, March 25, 2023
NEW YORK -- Forty-four good boys and girls arrived at Kennedy Airport on Thursday on the last leg of a rescue journey from China.
After a grueling 19-hour flight with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, the pups were cleared by a vet and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on what was National Puppy Day, a day to raise awareness about pet adoptions and the plight of puppies.
The Malamutes, Labradors and Pomeranians were taken out of their crates to eat, go outside and even listen to music scientifically engineered to appeal to dogs.
“I started playing all the music as everyone got settled in and there was a good amount of silence once it started.” said Kiera Mejia of The Ark, the Animal Reception Center at JFK.
Then, one by one, the dogs emerged to be greeted, in some cases by their new owners.
“We’ve been waiting a long time,” said Mark Goldstein, 59, who drove from Brambleton, Va., that morning to take home Blossom the miniature poodle.
“She was in a bus or a truck on the way to the slaughterhouse,” said Goldstein, who works in healthcare. “She is going to be the most loved and spoiled little dog.”
The adoptions came courtesy of No Dogs Left Behind, an animal rights group that rescues dogs from slaughterhouses, dog traffickers and dog meat trucks in East Asia. Founder Jeffrey Beri, a New York native, has gone all over the world with his crew of volunteers, pulling pooches out of danger in places like China.
Beri says the dogs are bred for food, but sometimes stolen from their owners, with their leashes cut in backyards.
“Today is a very emotional day,” he said. “These are covert missions that are taking place. We are getting closer every day to ending the dog meat trade. We have activists and volunteers from all over. We have an underground army.”
They also have the cutest pups this side of the Westminster Dog Show. Just ask Amy Carrico, 48, of Syracuse, who was waiting for Rudy, a 2-year-old poodle.
Carrico already has three other poodles from China that were rescued by Beri’s group.
“They need it and we can, so we do,” Carrico said, explaining her motivation to help. “I work three days a week. My husband works from home. So he will get lots of attention.”
Thirteen of the tail waggers caught connecting flights to Los Angeles, Miami, Utah and Texas, and a few without foster or permanent homes were headed to a sanctuary No Dogs Left Behind recently opened in Canton, N.Y.
The lucky dogs were targeted for rescue by Beri and No Dogs Left Behind, with the adoptees signing up to take them home over the summer. The organization has also done rescue work in Ukraine since it came under invasion.
“I really wanted to foster and I applied to like five places,” said Ann-Marie Roach, 31, of Jersey City, who was adopting a dog related to a pooch she had already gotten from the rescue group.
“For us it was really just the mission and the horrifying aspect of the meat trade, and that it’s still happening in this day and age.”
Is the David porn? Come see, Italians tell Florida parents
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speak during a press conference in front of Michelangelo's "David statue" after their bilateral summit in Florence, Italy, on Jan. 23, 2015. The head of Florence’s Galleria del’Accademia on Sunday March 26, 2023 invited the parents and students of a Florida charter school to visit and see Michelangelo’s “David,” after the school principal was forced to resign following parental complaints that an image of the nude Renaissance masterpiece was shown to a sixth-grade art class. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
NICOLE WINFIELD and TERRY SPENCER
Sun, March 26, 2023
ROME (AP) — The Florence museum housing Michelangelo’s Renaissance masterpiece the David on Sunday invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign.
Florence Mayor Dario Nardella also tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he can personally honor her. Confusing art with pornography was “ridiculous,” Nardella said.
The board of the Tallahassee Classical School pressured Principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign last week after an image of the David was shown to a sixth-grade art class. The school has a policy requiring parents to be notified in advance about “controversial” topics being taught.
The incredulous Italian response highlighted how the U.S. culture wars are often perceived in Europe, where despite a rise in right-wing sentiment and governance, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, even its naked ones, are generally free of controversy. Sunday's front page of the Italian daily publication Corriere della Sera featured a cartoon by its leading satirist depicting David with his genitals covered by an image of Uncle Sam and the word “Shame.”
Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained about a lesson including a photo of the David, a 5-meter tall (17 foot) nude marble sculpture dating from 1504. The work, reflecting the height of the Italian Renaissance, depicts the Biblical David going to fight Goliath armed only with his faith in God.
Carrasquilla has said two parents complained because they weren’t notified in advance that a nude would be shown, while a third called the iconic statue pornographic.
Carrasquilla said in a phone interview Sunday that she is “very honored” by the invitations to Italy and she may accept.
“I am totally, like, wow,” Carasquilla said. “I've been to Florence before and have seen the David up close and in person, but I would love to go and be a guest of the mayor.”
Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia, where the David resides, expressed astonishment at the controversy.
"To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art,” Hollberg said in a telephone interview.
She invited the principal, school board, parents and student body to view the “purity” of the statue.
Tallahassee Classical is a charter school. While it is taxpayer-funded and tuition-free, it operates almost entirely independently of the local school district and is sought out by parents seeking an alternative to the public school curriculum.
About 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend the three-year-old institution, which is now on its third principal. It follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan frequently consulted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on educational issues.
Barney Bishop, chairman of Tallahassee Classical's school board, has told reporters that while the photo of the statue played a part in Carrasquilla’s ouster, it wasn’t the only factor. He has declined to elaborate, while defending the decision.
"Parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture,” Bishop said in an interview with Slate online magazine.
Several parents and teachers plan to protest Carrasquilla's exit at Monday night's school board meeting, but Carrasquilla said she isn't sure she would take the job back even if it were offered.
“There's been such controversy and such upheaval,” she said. “I would really have to consider, ‘Is this truly what is best?’”
Marla Stone, head of humanities studies at the American Academy in Rome, said the Florida incident was another episode in escalating U.S. culture wars and questioned how the statue could be considered so controversial as to warrant a prior warning.
“What we have here is a moral crusade against the body, sexuality, and gender expression and an ignorance of history,” Stone said in an email. “The incident is about fear, fear of beauty, of difference, and of the possibilities embedded in art.”
Michelangelo Buonarroti sculpted the David between 1501-1504 after being commissioned by the Cathedral of Florence. The statue is the showpiece of the Accademia, and helps draw 1.7 million visitors each year to the museum.
"It is incredibly sought-after by Americans who want to do selfies and enjoy the beauty of this statue,” Director Hollberg said.
The museum, like many in Europe, is free for student groups. There was no indication that any trip would be subsidized by the city or museum. ___
Spencer reported from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
AOC said the story of Rosa Parks is 'too woke' for the GOP after mention of her race was removed from teaching materials
Story by kvlamis@insider.com (Kelsey Vlamis) • Thursday
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a press conference urging the inclusion of the Civilian Climate Corps., a climate jobs program, in the budget reconciliation bill, outside of the U.S. Capitol on July 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images© Provided by Business Insider
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the GOP-backed Parents Bill of Rights Act on Thursday.
She said the bill could lead to banning books similar to legislation on the state level.
Her comments came after a publisher in Florida removed mention of Parks's race from draft teaching materials.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the story of civil rights icon Rosa Parks was "too woke" for the Republican party during an impassioned speech from the House floor on Thursday.
The New York Democrat was speaking out against the Parents Bill of Rights Act, which House Republicans are expected to pass on Friday. The education oversight bill seeks to give parents more of a say in education, and would require public schools to make materials like curriculum and library books available online, as well as the school budget.
"But before they claim that this is not about banning books and not about harming the LGBT community, let's just look at the impacts of similar Republican legislation that has already passed on the state level. Look at these books that have already been banned due to Republican measures," Ocasio-Cortez said before holding up several books.
"'The Life of Rosa Parks' — this apparently is too woke by the Republican Party," she said, referencing a book by Kathleen Connors.
The book, which tells the story of Parks, a Black woman who refused to give up her seat to a white person, was among 176 titles banned in Florida's Duval County, according to the nonprofit PEN America. The Duval County Public Schools district at the time said the books on the list had not been banned but were under review.
In another incident, a textbook publisher used in Florida schools removed references to Parks's race in a draft lesson plan in an effort to comply with the state's Stop WOKE Act, legislation pushed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that limits instruction related to race and gender in schools. The Florida Department of Education later said the publisher was wrong to remove mention of Parks's race.
100-Year-Old Grandmother Slams Florida's Book Bans in Powerful Speech
Christopher Wiggins
Sun, March 26, 2023
Grace Linn
At a Florida school board meeting, a 100-year-old woman spoke passionately, invoking her late husband, who died fighting the Nazis during World War II, against book bans. Her speech captured hearts and minds after the video of the encounter went viral online.
On Tuesday, hundreds of parents and grandparents filled the Martin County School Board meeting to demand the return of at least 80 titles to the public schools’ libraries. As a result of a complaint filed by parent Julie Marshall, the books were removed from school media centers due to their sexual content or perceived racist themes.
Schools’ responses to book challenges depend on state and local policies. For example, once a challenge has been filed, media specialists must remove books until the challenge has been resolved. In addition, state law mandates that media specialists ensure that library books are age-appropriate and free of pornography.
Introducing herself to the Martin County School Board, the centenarian who once taught senior citizens computer skills at the local high school made her point quickly.
“I am Grace Linn,” she said. “I am a hundred years young. I’m here to protest our school’s district book-banning policy. My husband, Robert Nicoll, was killed in action in World War II at a very young age. He was only 26, defending our democracy, Constitution, and freedoms.”
Eight days before the Normandy invasion, the unit that her husband commanded was bombed and strafed by Nazi planes, the Daily Beast reports. She was seven months pregnant when he was first declared missing in action. Three days after their daughter, Nicci, was born, she received a telegram saying he had died. Linn later received a picture that her husband had brought with him to Europe, but his remains could not be found.
“One of the freedoms that the Nazis crushed was the freedom to read the books they banned,” she said. “They stopped the free press and banned and burned books. The freedom to read, which is protected by the First Amendment, is our essential right and duty of our democracy. Even so, it is continually under attack by both the public and private groups who think they hold the truth.”
Seeing a handmade quilt being unfurled behind her, Linn explained its significance.
“In response to the book banning throughout our country and Martin County last year—during the time I was 99—I have created this quilt,” she said. “To remind all of us that these few of so many more books that are banned or targeted need to be proudly displayed and protected and read if you choose to.”
Linn did not mince words when it came to why she was there.
“Banning books and burning books are the same. Both are done for the same reason—fear of knowledge. Fear is not freedom. Fear is not liberty. Fear is control. My husband died as a father of freedom,” she said.
“I am a mother of liberty. Banned books need to be proudly displayed and protected from school boards like this. Thank you very much,” she concluded.
PEN America found that between 2021-2022 there were 565 books banned in Florida schools. Many of these books have LGBTQ+ themes or subjects and have been cracked down on due to the state's notorious "dont' say gay" law.
Watch Grace Linn’s incredible speech below.
Martin County School Board - Regular School Board Meeting www.youtube.com
Parent thanks Utah for book banning law that makes it 'so much easier' to challenge the 'sex-ridden' Bible
Kenneth Niemeyer
Sun, March 26, 2023
A Utah parent asked that the Bible be removed from a high school because of its "sex-ridden" nature.
The state lawmaker who sponsored the bill said the request was a "mockery" of the law.
Laws banning certain kinds of books have plagued multiple states in recent years.
A Utah parent said that a book ban law passed in the state made it "much easier" to request that the Bible be removed from schools for its "sex-ridden" content.
According to a complaint filed against Davis High School in December 2022, recently obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, the unnamed parent thanked the state legislature for making it "way more efficient" to request book bans.
"Now we can all ban books and you don't even need to read them or be accurate about it," the complaint says, with just a hint of sarcasm. "Heck, you don't even need to see the book!"
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed H.B. 374 — also called the Sensitive Materials in Schools Act — into law in March 2022. The bill bans books with "pornographic or indecent" material from schools and school libraries. Critics of the bill say it has been used to disproportionately target books written by people of color and books with LGBTQ themes.
Book bans have plagued US schools in recent years across multiple states, including Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Florida. In September 2022, the Oklahoma education secretary threatened to revoke the teaching license of a teacher who gave her students a link to the Brooklyn Library's banned books database.
Utah Parents United — a conservative parents group that pushes for book bans in schools — has requested that some books be removed from Davis High School, which is about 20 miles north of Salk Lake City, according to the complaint.
"I noticed there's a gap, though," the parent said in the complaint. "Utah Parents United left off one of the most sex-ridden books around: The Bible. Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide."
The parent said that the legislature would "no doubt find" that the Bible violates the state's new law because it has "'no serious values for minors because it's pornographic by our new definition."
"Get this PORN out of our schools! If the books that have been banned so far are any indication for way lesser offenses, this should be a slam dunk," the parent wrote in the complaint.
State Rep. Ken Ivory, a Republican who sponsored the bill, told The Tribune that the request to ban the Bible from Davis High School was "antics that drain school resources." Ivory did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Sunday.
"For people to minimize that, and to make a mockery of it, is very sad," Ivory said, according to the paper.
The Davis School District and Utah Parents United did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Sunday. Utah Parents United told The Tribune in a statement that "we believe in following the law."
"That's all we're asking schools to do," the group said, according to the paper.
Read the original article on Insider
Parade disinvites Hawaii lawmaker after pride flag comments
AUDREY McAVOY
Fri, March 24, 2023
HONOLULU (AP) — The chair of a parade honoring a Native Hawaiian leader and prince said Friday a state lawmaker won’t be allowed to participate in the event after he questioned a middle school principal’s display of a pride flag supporting LGBTQ+ people.
Kūhiō Lewis, the chairperson of the Prince Kūhiō Parade, said he notified Republican state Rep. Elijah Pierick of the decision in a letter.
“The LGBTQ+ and mahu community is an essential part of the fabric of Hawaii that we all know and cherish,” Lewis said in a statement. In Hawaiian language and culture, “mahu” refers to someone with dual male and female spirit and a mixture of gender traits.
The parade is scheduled to be held in Kapolei on Saturday. Lewis is also the CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, which is organizing and financially supporting the parade.
"Rep. Pierick’s commentary is hurtful, not aligned to the cultural values that we work to promote, and will serve as a distraction to honoring a true leader of Hawaii, Prince Kūhiō," Lewis said.
He said Pierick will be removed from the parade lineup. Lewis said he looked forward to educating Pierick on the significance of mahu and LGBTQ+ culture in Hawaii.
Piereck responded, saying: “I appreciate the perspective of the private entity that leads the parade and I honor their decision in who they invite to be in the parade.”
Lewis' statement comes after Pierick posted a video on Instagram relaying how he visited Ewa Makai Middle School and saw what he called “a LGBTQ flag” outside of the principal's office and other offices in the school.
“You might be thinking yourself, What does that flag actually represent? What is it conveying to our middle school students? This is what it means: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, plus,” he said.
“Are these the kinds of concepts and lifestyles we want to be conveying to our middle school students? Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday all year round?,” he said.
He urged people with thoughts or concerns to contact the school principal, and he posted the school's phone number and her work email address.
“I believe my constituents have the right to know what’s going on in the school. What kind of symbols are being promoted and what kind of messages are being conveyed to the students?” Pierick said.
Piereck is a first-term legislator representing Kunia and Honouliuli. His district doesn't include the school but is nearby.
State Sen. Kurt Fevella, a Republican whose Ewa Beach district includes the school, posted a video on Facebook asking Pierick to apologize. He urged people to vote Pierick out when he is up for re-election in two years.
Fevella said teenagers contemplate suicide, drugs and alcohol abuse because they don't feel safe at school, at home and in their communities. He said they need to feel safe.
“We are losing our children, Facebook fam, because we get people like that. We get people like that judging our community,” Fevella said.
Pierick said he appreciated Fevella's thoughts and perspectives.
“He stands on the foundation of the First Amendment of freedom of speech. So I want to advocate his ability to speak freely. I encourage the community of Ewa Beach to watch original video, and make the conclusion for themselves of what they think the message is conveying,” Pierick said.
The Prince Kūhiō Parade honors Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, who was born in 1871.
He went into exile after the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893. But he returned years later and in 1902 became a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives in Congress, where he served for two decades.
He is credited with spearheading a law setting aside 200,000 acres of land to create homelands for Native Hawaiians.
March 26 is a state holiday in his honor, which will be observed on Monday.
Adviser on unmarked graves says some landowners are refusing access for searches
Story by The Canadian Press • Tuesday
OTTAWA — As some private landowners restrict residential school survivors from performing ceremony or searching their properties for possible unmarked graves, a federal minister says Ottawa is open to legislating new protections for the possible burial sites.
Adviser on unmarked graves says some landowners are refusing access for searches© Provided by The Canadian Press
Kimberly Murray, who was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's governmentto provide it with advice on how to handle such sites, testified before the Senate on Tuesday about her role and the main concerns she says she has heard from Indigenous communities.
"We need access to land," Murray told senators at a committee hearing. "This is what keeps me awake many nights, thinking about how some things could escalate."
She said there is currently no federal law in place to protect suspected gravesites or grant communities access to land that is privately owned but is believed to be home to unmarked graves.
When residential schools were closed, Murray said, the lands they were located on were not turned back over to First Nations or other Indigenous communities — "the rightful landholders," as Murray put it.
Speaking a separate event, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller told reporters that many former sites are located on provincial Crown land, and there is "an immense amount of complexity" around who controls such areas.
While some landowners have shown "good faith" in their willingness to help communities, others have not wanted to give up their property or have increased the purchase price when it comes to surrendering their lands, he said.
"There are potential conflict points."
Miller said the government is open to legislating protections of such sites and is awaiting advice from Murray's office.
The final report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which spent more than five years investigating the residential school system, says that more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attended the government-funded church-run institutions.
It estimated that more than 6,000 children died at these facilities. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which archives testimony and other records from that period, maintains a student memorial register that includes more than 4,000 recorded names. However, many experts believe the number to be much higher.
Murray said Tuesday that some landowners have refused to provide access to their properties "even to do ceremony, let alone to search the grounds," adding that her office has had to write letters and meet with landowners to try and convince them otherwise.
"We have landowners that have campers on top of the burials of children, known burials," Murray said. "We don't have any law to put a stop to this."
In her testimony, Murray did not elaborate on specifics, but told senators such lands ought to be protected.
She said that while provinces have various laws that protect lands for different reasons, these are often not enforced and are unlikely to provide cohesive protection for unmarked graves.
"We have a big gap federally in the legislation."
Murray said the only recourse a survivor or community currently has is to go to court.
She pointed to a recent case in Quebec, where a judge granted an injunction after a group of elders known as Mohawk Mothers said the bodies of Indigenous patients of the Allan Memorial Institute and the Royal Victoria Hospital were buried at a site McGill University had slated for redevelopment.
The judge granted Murray intervener status in the case and ultimately ruled that the parties needed to discuss a plan to search the site for graves.
"Do we have to go to court to get injunctions to stop development on lands where there are burials?" Murray asked senators Tuesday.
"There's got to be a better way."
Murray was appointed to her role last June, fulfilling a promise made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government that it would seek independent advice on how to help Indigenous communities that want to search for unmarked graves.
First Nations from across Western Canada and in parts of Ontario have been conducting such searches. In May 2021, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Nation announced it had detected 215 possible unmarked graves at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
That number sent waves of shock, grief and anger rippling through the country and saw Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities renew calls for federal and church authorities responsible for the system to be held accountable.
But nearly two years later, Murray said many Indigenous communities are still battling denialism.
"Every time an announcement of anomalies or reflections or recoveries are made, communities are being inundated by people emailing them and phoning them and attacking them and saying, 'This didn't happen,'" she told senators.
"I sit here and tell you: this happened. I have seen the records. I have seen the photographs of children in coffins. We need to all fight this denialism and it shouldn't be left to the survivors to have to do that."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2023.
Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press
Tribe urges Army to speed up return of child's 1879 remains
Headstones are seen at the cemetery of the U.S. Army's Carlisle Barracks, Friday, June 10, 2022, in Carlisle, Pa. A Native American tribe in South Dakota is pressing federal authorities to return to them the remains of a 13-year-old boy who died soon after arriving at a federal boarding school for indigenous children in November 1879. The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate wrote to the head of the U.S. Army's cemetery office this week, Friday, March 24, 2023, demanding movement on their effort to have the remains of Amos LaFromboise repatriated from a graveyard at the Carlisle Barracks.(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
MARK SCOLFORO
Fri, March 24, 2023
Federal authorities expect to return a 13-year-old boy's remains to his Native American tribe in South Dakota this fall, they said Friday. The statement comes days after the tribe urged for a faster return of the child who died at a federal boarding school for Indigenous children in 1879.
The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate wrote to the head of the U.S. Army's cemetery office this week, demanding movement on their effort to have the remains of Amos LaFromboise repatriated from a graveyard at the Carlisle Barracks, a military facility in Pennsylvania.
The letter from three lawyers with the Native American Rights Fund to Army Cemeteries Executive Director Karen Durham-Aguilera describes the child as the son of one of the tribe's most celebrated leaders, Chief Joseph LaFromboise, who signed an 1867 treaty that established their current reservation boundaries.
The Office of Army Cemeteries emailed a statement saying that Amos LaFromboise's disinterment was approved a year ago and that the Army also told the boy's family and the tribe's chair last summer that his remains will be returned in 2023. His disinterment will be entirely at the Army’s expense, the office said.
“The Army currently plans to conduct the disinterment of Amos this September and the required Federal Register Notice will be published in the next 60 days,” according to the statement.
The tribe argues that the Army has been requiring repatriation standards that are more demanding than those in the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, mandating a signed affidavit from the child’s closest living relative, which can be difficult or impossible for 19th century remains.
“Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate expected Amos to return home from Carlisle Indian Industrial School,” they wrote, “to lead his people like his father and serve as a model for future generations of Tribal leaders.”
Lawyers for the tribe said Friday their request stands to have Amos LaFromboise repatriated under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and that the tribe is willing to discuss the next steps.
Amos LaFromboise died 20 days after his arrival at Carlisle the year the school opened. The tribe's letter says the Army has previously dug up and reburied his remains at least three times in three different locations. The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate want to bury him next to his father on the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeast South Dakota.
Tribe historians say six children of tribal leaders were sent to Carlisle in 1879. Three of the boys died there and a fourth passed away shortly after he returned home.
At a ceremony two years ago to return nine disinterred remains of Rosebud Sioux children, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said forced assimilation practices at Indian schools stripped away the children's clothing, language and culture.
The Carlisle school put children through harsh conditions that sometimes resulted in their deaths. Founded by an Army officer, the school cut their braids, dressed them in military-style uniforms and punished them for speaking their native languages. European names were forced upon them.
More than 10,000 Native American children were taught there and endured harsh conditions that sometimes led to death from such diseases as tuberculosis. There have been several rounds of disinterment and repatriation at Carlisle in recent years.
Opinion
Right-Wing Commentator Trashes GVSU’s Celebration for Native American Students
835
Levi Rickert
Sun, March 26, 2023
Previous Native American graduation feast to celebrate their success. (Photo/Grand Valley State University)
Opinion. America’s culture war hit close to home this week.
On Monday, Grand Valley State University (GVSU) was ridiculed on Twitter by right-wing commentator Matt Walsh about an email sent by university officials announcing graduation celebrations for five groups that include Asian, Black, LGBT, Hispanic, and Native American graduates.
I have for the past 15 years served on the university’s Native American Advisory Council. Based in Allendale, Michigan on ancestral Potawatomi land, GVSU has a student body of just under 22,000 students according to the university’s diversity dashboard.
The celebrations are being held in addition to the spring unified commencement.
Walsh trashed the graduation celebrations as being “ridiculous.” He whined: "There will be no special celebrations for straight white people, of course."
As of Sunday morning, Walsh’s tweet had about 1.8 million views and triggered numerous responses that appeared to be about 10-1 in favor of his opinion — some calling Michigan “a liberal wasteland” or blaming GVSU for “(setting) back the civil rights movement 60 years.”
GVSU then got national attention when Newsweek ran a story on Tuesday with a headline — “College Segregating Graduation Ceremonies by Race Sparks Anger” — that some took to mean that the celebrations were separate commencement ceremonies. They are not. There is a unified commencement for all students.
Some folks I spoke with about the uproar thought that I should discount it as right-wing rhetoric and ignore it. That this just another day in the culture wars, where White conservatives were just pushing back on the progress of Native Americans, Hispanics, African Americans and Asian-Americans.
But, hold on. Here is where it hit close to home for me. On Wednesday, as a member of the Native American Advisory Council, I was forwarded an email that read: “F*#@ you and your divisive, political, woke a$$ views. Your POS so-called institution of ‘higher learning’ can go to hell!”
While I will admit I don’t fully understand the email author’s true intent beyond spewing some hate, I was alarmed nonetheless given recent events at another nearby university. GVSU’s main campus is an 80-mile drive from Michigan State University, where last month a person walked onto campus and killed three innocent students, while critically injuring five others.
We know there are unbalanced people in society who commit violence because they're angry. Reading that email made me wonder if this person or others would show up at commencement or any of the special celebrations next month with intent to do harm. Our advisory council would be remiss if we did not consider the possibility.
As an original member of the Native advisory council since its inception 15 years ago, I continue to serve on it — even with a tremendously busy schedule — because we are still working on our original goal to recruit, retain, and graduate Native Americans from GVSU.
That’s no mean feat when you look at national trends for Native American higher education attainment rates. According to the Postsecondary National Policy Institute, completion rates for Native American students are lower from all students overall, though there are signs of progress. The findings show that:
41% of first-time, full-time Native American students attending four-year institutions beginning in 2013 graduated within six years, compared to 63% for all students.
25% of Native Americans over the age of 25 had an associate degree or higher in 2019, compared with 42% of all those over the age of 25.
Between 2010 and 2019, the percentage of Native Americans over the age of 25 who had attained at least an associate degree increased from 21% to 25%.
The educational attainment gap is the result of many factors, including the fact that “Native American students are also less likely to have family members that have attended college,” according to PNPI.
Given this data, it is absolutely proper for Native American students who graduate to be celebrated. And anyone who knows anything about Native people knows that we are a people who prioritize community first and foremost. For these reasons, an annual graduation celebration has been held, in conjunction with the Native American Advisory Council and the university, for the past seven years.
We assist with the annual celebrations that are called feasts. Family and friends are invited to gather near the date of the unified commencement. It is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of Native graduates. Those who attend eat Native American cuisine, laugh, and even shed tears of joy — knowing they have overcome the odds that have worked against them and our people for centuries.
“These intimate celebrations allow for our community to celebrate together. With Native graduation rates the lowest in the nation, celebrating these amazing scholars and leaders not only honors them and their families, but our ancestors and our collective struggle for education,” said Simone Jonaitiss, Ph.D. (Little River Band of Ottawa Indians), executive director of GVSU’s Center for Adult and Continuing Studies and co-president of the Native American Advisory Council.
Lin Bardwell (Little Traverse Bands of Odawa Indians), who is an assistant director in GVSU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, says the hateful email this year is not an isolated case. Every year, Bardwell says, the school receives phone calls and emails from students asking ‘where the White graduation is.’
The culture war is alarming to us who seek a better world for Native American students. But it won’t stop us. We will continue to celebrate their achievements.
Thayék gde nwéndëmen - We are all related.
About the Author: "Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."
Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
