An abundance estimate of free-roaming horses on the Navajo Nation

The geologic profile of the western United States lends itself to naturally elevated levels of arsenic and uranium in groundwater and can be exacerbated by mining enterprises. The Navajo Nation, located in the American Southwest, is the largest contiguous Native American Nation and has over a 100-year legacy of hard rock mining. This study has two objectives, quantify the arsenic and uranium concentrations in water systems in the Arizona and Utah side of the Navajo Nation compared to the New Mexico side and to determine if there are other elements of concern. Between 2014 and 2017, 294 water samples were collected across the Arizona and Utah side of the Navajo Nation and analyzed for 21 elements. Of these, 14 elements had at least one instance of a concentration greater than a national regulatory limit, and six of these (V, Ca, As, Mn, Li, and U) had the highest incidence of exceedances and were of concern to various communities on the Navajo Nation. Our findings are similar to other studies conducted in Arizona and on the Navajo Nation and demonstrate that other elements may be a concern for public health beyond arsenic and uranium.

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Capitoline Dolphins: Residency Patterns and Abundance Estimate of Tursiops truncatus at the Tiber River Estuary (Mediterranean Sea)

Biology ◽

10.3390/biology10040275 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 275

Author(s):

Daniela Silvia Pace ◽

Chiara Di Marco ◽

Giancarlo Giacomini ◽

Sara Ferri ◽

Margherita Silvestri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Size ◽

Tursiops Truncatus ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Bottlenose Dolphins ◽

River Estuary ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Tyrrhenian Sea ◽

Abundance Estimate ◽

Photo Identification ◽

Tiber River

Periodic assessments of population status and trends to detect natural influences and human effects on coastal dolphin are often limited by lack of baseline information. Here, we investigated for the first time the site-fidelity patterns and estimated the population size of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at the Tiber River estuary (central Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian Sea, Rome, Italy) between 2017 and 2020. We used photo-identification data and site-fidelity metrics to study the tendency of dolphins to remain in, or return to, the study area, and capture–recapture models to estimate the population abundance. In all, 347 unique individuals were identified. The hierarchical cluster analysis highlighted 3 clusters, labeled resident (individuals encountered at least five times, in three different months, over three distinct years; n = 42), part-time (individuals encountered at least on two occasions in a month, in at least two different years; n = 73), and transient (individuals encountered on more than one occasion, in more than 1 month, none of them in more than 1 year; n = 232), each characterized by site-fidelity metrics. Open POPAN modeling estimated a population size of 529 individuals (95% CI: 456–614), showing that the Capitoline (Roman) coastal area and nearby regions surrounding the Tiber River estuary represent an important, suitable habitat for bottlenose dolphins, despite their proximity to one of the major urban centers in the world (the city of Rome). Given the high number of individuals in the area and the presence of resident individuals with strong site fidelity, we suggest that conservation plans should not be focused only close to the Tiber River mouths but extended to cover a broader scale of area.

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From Professional Development to Native Nation Building: Opening Up Space for Leadership, Relationality, and Self-Determination through the Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators

Educational Studies ◽

10.1080/00131946.2021.1892686 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (3) ◽

pp. 322-334

Author(s):

Angelina E. Castagno

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Nation Building ◽

Self Determination ◽

Navajo Nation ◽

Opening Up

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Infrastructures as colonial beachheads: The Central Arizona Project and the taking of Navajo resources

Environment and Planning D Society and Space ◽

10.1177/0263775821991537 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026377582199153

Author(s):

Andrew Curley

Keyword(s):

Colorado River ◽

Water Network ◽

Navajo Nation ◽

Political Factors ◽

Indian Water ◽

Central Arizona Project ◽

Indigenous Lands ◽

Archival Documents ◽

Central Arizona ◽

Colorado River Water

Colonial difference is a story of national infrastructures. To understand how colonialism works across Indigenous lands, we need to appreciate the physical, legal, and political factors involved in the building and expanding of national infrastructures in different historical contexts; infrastructures that arrive in some places while denied in others. Using archival documents, this article accounts for the colonial politics necessary to bring Colorado River water into Phoenix and Tucson. It highlights how the following moments worked to enlarge Arizona’s population and power while denying Diné water claims: the 1922 Colorado Compact, Arizona’s 1960s campaign for the Central Arizona Project, and recent Indian water settlements between Arizona and Navajo Nation. The infrastructures that emerged from these events formed a coal–energy–water nexus reliant on Navajo coal while constructing Arizona’s water network. In sum, these projects served as colonial beachheads—temporal encroachments on Indigenous lands and livelihoods that augment material and political difference over time and exacerbate inequalities.

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