(Permanent accompaniment to this post)

A semi-regular weekly survey of what’s going on in some states where as we know the real work of government is going on and people are crazy and times are changing is.

We begin in Arizona with a wonderful story about indigenous people who are bringing the desert to life by reviving the farming techniques of their distant ancestors. Smithsonian:

This desert landscape is both modern and old-fashioned. Concrete lined and arrow-straight canals designed with turnouts to flood fields are the final part of a state-of-the-art irrigation system for the Gila River Indian community here on the Indian reservation. Therefore, it is modern. Southern Arizona. Camille is a member of the Akimel Oodum, or river people, also called Pima, so her ancestors have been known since ancient times. Hundreds of miles of canals were being dug to bring water to fields planted with corn, beans and pumpkins. .

The vast Hufgam civilization of canal building (the name of the ancestral Pima tribe, meaning “predecessors”) reached its zenith in the 15th century. But what happened after that is a mystery. There is also evidence that the drought will last longer. Other data from strata studies suggest that a series of massive floods destroyed much of the canal network, and now, more than a century later, the water has returned to the reservation. The Pima have moved from water poverty to water abundance, and despite the region’s worst drought in 1,200 years, the reservation is now entitled to more water than anywhere else in Arizona. I have. This momentous change in Pima’s fortunes represents a long-sought victory over ongoing historical injustice.

The region’s indigenous peoples developed canals and irrigation systems comparable to those of the Maya and Aztec civilizations.

For centuries, the Pima lived in permanent villages scattered throughout the region. Their residence was a one-room house called a keek. Families owned small fields of up to three acres, separated by fences made of sticks and brushes. There were water managers, or canal managers, who controlled the flow of water and received part of the crops. The canal was carefully and strategically planned, taking advantage of topographical and geological features. For example, there was a solid bedrock beneath the river bed near the Pueblo Grande, propelling the water with tremendous force as it left the Gila River, accelerating its flow 16 miles into the main canal.

The short history of the place is sadly well known. In the years following the Civil War, an influx of white settlers overwhelmed Pima and the agricultural system that had supported them for more than 1,000 years. Water rights treaties signed by Pima were routinely violated or ignored. And worse things followed.

But in 1889, the Florence Canal Company began diverting the Gila River’s remaining flow for sale to farmers. The river, once an ever-flowing ribbon of life, surrounded by vast riparian forests, filled with fish and shellfish, has become a ghost of what it was. Many of the remaining Pima migrated elsewhere. Others survived by cutting down the mesquite bosk, or riverside forest, and selling it for firewood. Exactly how many died is unknown. During construction of a new irrigation project, excavators uncovered numerous burials, including the bodies of many children aged four or her five. for food. “They were always self-sufficient, wealthy people,” he says. “Now they couldn’t.”

It wasn’t until the 1990s that the Pima’s situation took a turn for the better, when the casino brought in enough revenue for the tribe to embark on a large-scale lawsuit.

The waters that appeared in the desert soon became oases, and in one place where a large aquifer was backfilled, the Gila Monster Lizard came to life. “We were shocked,” he says DeJong. “Within a year all native plants have returned. We now have 200 or 300 acres. Eight different braids of rivers have returned. Wildlife has returned. I’m back.It was incredible.” Many of the tribesmen come here to gather traditional food and materials to make baskets.

An American historical drama involving Native Americans with a happy ending. It’s, well, desert water.

Moving north to Montana, 3000 miles from where Chris landed was a Columbus fanatic who brought slavery and the European epidemic to the New World. Avid fans thwarted attempts to replace Columbus’ Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.from Missouri:

Senator Dan Salomon, R-Ronan, and the chairman of the Senate Educational and Cultural Resources Committee opposed the motion and blamed Morigot for the bill’s failure. “[Morigeau]starts by accusing Columbus of raping, beheading and mutilation…I have never been so angry,” he said, alluding that Morigot introduced the bill. “This was a classic, so classic, case of a bill sponsor screwing up his own bill. No … In the context of history, Christopher Columbus is one of the most important figures in Western civilization,” he said.

Except, of course, that Columbus and his men did really bad things.

Morrigoe said he had no intention of speaking on the floor, but was motivated to stand after two senators called him out. “The commission threw down the bill, not me,” Morigot said, adding that he didn’t know how to discuss Columbus without talking about the atrocities he committed. I was trying to.”

I’m sorry. But your fixation on facts means you are no longer qualified to discuss American history.

“I don’t understand how talking about history upsets people,” he said. “This is factual information. If it makes people uneasy, if they can’t stand talking[about Columbus]why are we celebrating this holiday?”

White people have gone completely insane over this thing, and that’s why.

We moved to Indiana and want our public school teachers to go to gun school.from Indiana Capital Chronicle:

“This is just a standardized [training] It’s a state-funded format,” author Jim Lucas, Rep. R-Seymour, said on the floor. He said the bill was a response to deadly school shootings across the country.

In 2009, Indiana cut $300 million from the K-12 public education budget. Whether it’s arming the math department at Fort Wayne or raising revenue for the F-35 Flying Swiss Army Knife, it’s funny how every level of government can always raise money when it comes to weapons.

Of course, like everything, there is always Mississippi.from new york times:

poverty rate of [Scott] The county’s 28,000 inhabitants far outnumbered the rest of the country. So are the rates of diabetes and other chronic diseases that exacerbate the risk of severe Covid-19. It had only two nurses to cover 250,000 residents in eight counties. So when the Biden administration gives Mississippi her $18.4 million in mid-2021 to hire public health workers, this will boost her Covid workforce at state and local health agencies across the country. was part of her $2 billion grant to But 18 months later, in January, Mississippi had spent less than a fifth of the grant, $3.6 million. The company’s attempts to hire epidemiologists, nurses and other soldiers in the fight against Covid have all but failed.country lost 1 in 224 residents to Covid-19, one of the worst death rates in the United States, including 122 in tiny Scott County alone.

Divide the infinity when the government becomes deadly.

And, as we always do, we conclude in Oklahoma.From there, blog-official reptilian whisperer Freedman of the Plains brings a tale of petty, childish bullshit, but this doesn’t narrow things down these days. non-document:

An ongoing dispute between Joel Kinsel, director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, and the board that oversees government agencies is escalating, with leading veterans in the legislature urging feuding political parties to say, “You According to interviews with former and current staff members and public comments, employees are fed up with the lingering politicized altercations and that the drama is addressing the needs of veterans. I am concerned that I am diverting the agency’s attention away from fulfilling.Kinzel I believe Gov. Kevin Stitt wants him removed after contesting him with 14.3% of the vote in the 2022 Republican primary. He also took considerable time off from his ODVA, which runs veteran housing and enrolls veterans in welfare programs, to run a campaign alleging massive “corruption” by the Stitt administration. .

Republican vs. Republican offense can be slightly funny. But Oklahoma has veterans who need their services. Stitt and Kinzel need to be detained for some time.

This is your democracy. America. cherish it.