Reporting from Indian Country

This article, the result of a six-month investigation, was published by  In These Times m agazine in 2016. For more on topics like this, see my book, American Apartheid: The Native American Struggle... .  “ T hey attacked my aunt like a bunch of coyotes attacking sheep in a corral,” says Navajo tribal member Roberta Tovar. “They were going, ‘Mary, Mar y, just go ahead and sign it.’ ”  The “coyotes” included representatives of Western Refining, a Texas-based oil company. One of the company’s pipelines carries 15,000 barrels of crude a day from oil fields in the Four Corners region to a refinery near Gallup, N.M. On the way, the line crosses a 160-acre plot of Navajo reservation land, shown here, owned by 88-year-old Mary Tom, also seen here, and dozens of family members. Western Refining’s right of way expired in 2010. After years of negotiations with family members, the company invited just a handful of them, including Tom, to an October 2013 meeting at the El Rancho Hote

These two articles appeared on  Indian Country Today Media N etwork   in 2016 .  For more on topics like this, see my book,  American Apartheid: The Native American Struggle.... Milestone Victory for Nevada Tribes   Sept. 2016—An emergency injunction will open early-voting offices on the Walker River and Pyramid Lake Paiute reservations, in Nevada. Plaintiffs, including tribal chairmen Bobby Sanchez and Vinton Hawley, respectively, told the federal court that tribal members travel inordinate distances to register and vote, curtailing their access to the ballot box, while off-reservation communities have numerous nearby options. A Department of Justice “Statement of Interest” backed these claims, saying they relied on “well-established precedent.” The judge ’ s decision clarified application of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, among other legal issues. “Everyone is very excited and happy,” said lead plaintiff Sanchez, shown left, about reaction on Walker River, adding that