Tag: native americans

Commentary: More Cows Needed to Reverse Climate Change, Experts Say

Virginia Star Staff
Cows

In a little-noticed presentation on Dec. 9, 2023, at COP28 in Dubai, a panel of soil experts presented the case for cows as climate allies, not gas-spewing destroyers. The event, titled “Conscious Livestock Rearing and Soil Health,” discussed “animal rearing’s impact on soil health, and its place as a part of the climate solution.” Contrary to the anti-cow cacophony of the climate crisis crowd, these experts explained the vital role ruminants like cows play in nourishing and rebuilding precious soils. It turns out, grazing cows sequester massive amounts of carbon.

On the panel of experts was Seth J. Itzkan, co-founder of SOIL4Climate, Inc., a nonprofit that “promotes soil restoration as a climate solution,” and a man akin to a Lorax for the cows.

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Commentary: Yellowstone Showcases Leftist Propaganda

Virginia Star Staff

At the end of a long day, many of us unwind by kicking back to an entertaining television show or movie. However, because much of this media today is overt propaganda, choosing a show or movie to watch has become quite the challenge. Anything that isn’t obnoxiously propagandistic has become a welcome alternative. But this type of media can put our guard down and make it easier to accidentally uncritically accept the narrative being pushed, simply because it’s presented in a more palatable package.

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SCOTUS Returns Oklahoma’s Right to Prosecute Crimes on Native American Land

Virginia Star Staff

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state of Oklahoma Wednesday in a case that weighed whether a state can prosecute crimes committed by non-Native Americans against Native Americans on reservation land.

Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta involved a non-Native American defendant Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta, who admitted to “severely” under nourishing his 5 year-old stepdaughter, a Cherokee citizen. The state charged Castro-Huerta and his wife for child neglect. Castro-Huerta’s sentence was 35 years in prison with a possibility of parole.

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Department of Interior to Change Names of over 600 Sites to Remove the Word ‘Squaw’

Admin

On Tuesday, the United States Department of Interior (DOI) announced that it would be declaring the term “squaw” to be derogatory, and would rename over 600 historical sites that feature the term.

As reported by CNN, DOI Secretary Deb Haaland first wrote an order back in November declaring that the longtime term “squaw,” which often referred to female Native Americans, was racist and sexist. To this end, Haaland announced the creation of the Names Task Force, consisting of 13 members, for the purpose of coming up with new names for the over 600 sites that included the term in their names.

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Professor Stuart Reges Commentary: Defy the Nonsense of Indigenous Land Acknowledgments

Virginia Star Staff

How do you make the progressives on campus so “horrified” that they spring into action to defend their sacred ideology?  Make an indigenous land acknowledgment that doesn’t match their view of history and watch them lose their minds.  Let me describe how that happened to me.

Indigenous land acknowledgments have been common in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and they are now starting to crop up on college campuses in the United States.  At the University of Washington, they are showing up all over the place.  The diversity experts in the university’s Allen School of Computer Science—where I teach—have produced a “best practices” document that encourages faculty to include these on their course syllabus.  The document also suggests replacing the phrase “you guys” with “ya’ll,” but that’s a topic for a different piece.

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Commentary: The History of the Word ‘Turkey’

Admin

“Meleagris Gallopavo Day” is a bit of a mouthful. Which may be why this Thanksgiving, most people will opt for the less ornithologically precise “Turkey Day.”

And just as turkey is a versatile meat – think of those leftover options! – so too is the word “turkey,” which can refer to everything from the bird itself to a populous Eurasian country to movie flops.

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Commentary: Canceling Columbus at American Universities

Virginia Star Staff

For years, Campus Reform has covered the trend of colleges across the country replacing Columbus Day with “Indigenous People’s Day.” Fueled by concerns of honoring “colonialism” and “genocide,” universities are opting for scrapping remembrance of the explorer all together.

University of Michigan History and American Culture Professor Gregory Dowd is one of many academics who assert that the country as a whole needs to end Columbus Day recognition completely in favor of Indigenous People’s Day. His view was promoted by the university ahead of the holiday this year.

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Minnesota Lt. Gov. Suggests Bigotry to Blame for Opposition to Haaland Appointment

Peter D'Abrosca

Without evidence, Minnesota’s Democrat Lieutenant Governor suggested that opposition to the appointment of Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM-01) to be the United States Secretary of the Interior is rooted in anti-Native American bigotry. 

“Boozhoo! This is Peggy Flanagan. I’m a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota,” Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said in a video on Twitter, urging her followers to support Haaland.

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