A few weeks back, the news was awash with reports of a group of schoolboys who had allegedly harassed a Native American elder. The pupils, who were from Covington Catholic School in Kentucky, had been in Washington DC in order to participate in the March for Life and protest women's rights to abortion. While there, they encountered Nathan Phillips, an Omaha Tribe elder who was participating in the Indigenous Peoples March.

In a video posted to Instagram, the boys could be seen surrounding Phillips as he led a chant, with one pupil in particular - Nick Sandmann - standing right in front of the elder while he tried to lead a procession.

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Accounts on what actually happened during the encounter differed wildly according to each side of the story. Phillips believed that he was in danger when the boys surrounded him, telling CNN:

"When I was there and I was standing there and I seen that group of people in front of me and I seen the angry faces and all of that, I realised I had put myself in a really dangerous situation. Here's a group of people who were angry at somebody else and I put myself in front of that, and all of a sudden, I'm the one whose all that anger and all that wanting to have the freedom to just rip me apart, that was scary...

"They were there looking for trouble, looking for something."

Sandmann, meanwhile, insisted that he had not instigated any trouble, and instead was an innocent bystander.

"The protestor everyone has seen in the video began playing his drum as he waded into the crowd, which parted for him," he said.

"I did not see anyone try to block his path. He locked eyes with me and approached me, coming within inches of my face. He played his drum the entire time he was in my face.

"I believed that by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse the situation ... I never felt like I was blocking the Native American protestor. He did not make any attempt to go around me. It was clear to me that he had singled me out for a confrontation, although I am not sure why."

Still, a large group on social media believed the students should be punished for their actions, prompting the Diocese of Covington to open an investigation into the matter.

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Now, after reviewing more than 50 hours of internet activity, as well as conducting interviews with 43 students and 16 chaperones, an external company called Greater Cincinnati Investigation has concluded that the boys involved did not do anything wrong.

According to the report, the students were not "offensive or racist", and will not be suspended or expelled from Covington because of their actions.

In a statement on the diocese website, Bishop Roger Joseph Foys said "that taking everything into account, our students were placed in a situation that was at once bizarre and even threatening. Their reaction to the situation was, given the circumstances, expected and one might even say laudatory."

Crucially, however, the investigating body failed to interview two people: Nick Sandmann and Nathan Phillips. They were also unable to contact anyone from the Black Hebrew Israelites, the group that the Covington students insist stirred up trouble in the first place.

The company says that it will "not make any comments on [the] investigation."

Protesters in Canada have toppled and defaced statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II following the discovery of bodies of indigenous children in unmarked graves, BBC News reports.

The incident occurred at the legislature in Winnipeg on Thursday (July 1) - Canada Day - and was sparked by fury over the horrific discovery of 200 children's bodies in a mass grave at St Eugene's Mission school in Cranbrook, British Columbia.

According to the outlet, over 150,000 indigenous children in the country were forced to leave their families and stay at the residential schools during the 19th and 20th centuries in order to enforce their assimilation.

Around 6,000 of the young students passed away while staying at the boarding schools as they were often made to stay in poorly-built and unsanitary accommodations.

The gruesome discovery of the unmarked graves had led to calls for Canada Day celebrations to be called off. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the day would instead be "a time for reflection", per Reuters.

Demonstrators decided to spend the day toppling monuments of the longest-serving monarchs in Britain.

The statue of Queen Victoria was daubed in red paint, with a sign reading "We were children" left close by.

Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901, was monarch amid the founding of the Canadian confederation. The residential school policy was initiated during her time on the throne.

As for Queen Elizabeth II, footage shared to Twitter shows protestors tying a yellow rope around her statue, causing it to topple over while they chanted: "No justice, no peace". Her Majesty is Canada's current head of state.

Trudeau had previously stated that the discovery of the graves had "rightfully pressed us to reflect on our country's historical failures and the injustices that still exist for Indigenous peoples and many others in Canada."

Meanwhile, the UK government has condemned the destruction caused to the two monuments.

"We obviously condemn any defacing of statues of the Queen," a spokesman said, per BBC News. "Our thoughts are with Canada's indigenous community following these tragic discoveries and we follow these issues closely and continue to engage with the government of Canada with indigenous matters."

Featured image credit: Design Pics Inc / Alamy

Over this weekend, a video clip showing a group of teenage boys in MAGA hats surrounding a Native American elder went viral.

The boys, who were from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, had been in Washington DC in order to participate in the March for Life, but encountered Nathan Phillips, a Native American man, as he led a chant.

Up until this point, it has seemed that the boys - in particular, an individual named Nick Sandmann - were deliberately antagonising Phillips. However, another video has surfaced which shows that there is more to the story than initially believed.

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The video, which is more than 1hr 46minutes long, shows that - prior to Phillips' arrival - the group were engaged in confrontation by the Hebrew Israelites (the group filming the clip).

The Hebrew Israelites, a group who believe that some black Americans are the descendants of an ancient Israelite tribe, and who have been associated with antisemitic and homophobic views, can be heard at the start of the video criticising the boys. "How you gonna have peace to this land ... when you got this madman in the White House?" one of them asks, before the camera pans around to show the large group of teens - many of whom are wearing 'Make America Great Again' hats and sweatshirts.

"When has America been great for our people? When has the America ever been great for the North American Indians?" the group's leader says later. "America ain't never been great. It only been great for you damn peckerwoods."

It was because of this group's chanting that the pupils began chanting back, Sandmann claims.

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"A student in our group asked one of our teacher chaperones for permission to begin our school spirit chants to counter the hateful things that were being shouted at our group," Sandmann said. "The chants are commonly used at sporting events. They are all positive in nature and sound like what you would hear at any high school."

These chants continued until the arrival of Phillips (which happens at about 1hr 12mins into the video), at which point one of the Hebrew Israelites says the Native elder "came to the rescue". When Phillips walks up to the group, however, they do not disperse, and instead surround him, chanting over him.

It was during this interaction that some other members of the crowd claim they heard students shouting, "build the wall" and "gone in 2020".

Sandmann's actions also came across as being quite aggressive, as he makes a deliberate effort to stand directly in front of Phillips during the procession, and smirks at him as he sings.

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But the student says his attitude was influenced by the Hebrew Israelites.

"The protestors said hateful things. They called us 'racists,' 'bigots' 'white crackers,' 'f****ts,' and 'incest kids," Sandmann claimed. "They also taunted an African American student from my school by telling him that we would 'harvest his organs.' I have no idea what that insult means, but it was startling to hear."

Phillips did not see that, however, and felt very threatened by the boys.

"It was getting ugly, and I was thinking: ‘I’ve got to find myself an exit out of this situation and finish my song at the Lincoln Memorial,’" the elder told the Washington Post. "I started going that way, and that guy in the hat stood in my way, and we were at an impasse. He just blocked my way and wouldn’t allow me to retreat."

He, too, says that he heard them repeating hurtful Trumpisms.

"I heard them saying, 'Build that wall, build that wall'. You know, this is indigenous lands. We’re not supposed to have walls here — we never did for millennia, before anybody else came here."

Clearly, this situation is a lot more complex than it was first believed to be, but Sandmann's and Phillips' version of events seem wildly different to one another. Hopefully, more clarity will emerge soon.

Italian explorer Christopher Columbus did not actually "discover" America, as Icelandic explorer Leif Ericsson landed in the country five centuries prior. Rather, Columbus jumpstarted the European colonization of the Americas, a noteworthy event, but perhaps not worth celebrating. According to historians, Columbus and his men brutally enslaved and abused Native Americans, wiping out entire populations.

In 1990, South Dakota became the first state to abolish Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples Day (or Native American Day), a celebration of Native American heritage. Since then, five other states have followed suit: Minnesota, Alaska, Vermont, New Mexico, and now, Maine. On Friday, the Democratic governor of the Pine Tree state, Janet Mills, signed a bill officially replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day.

Maine has four federally recognized Native American tribes, and their relationship has become strained due to disagreements over land ownership; namely, a controversial 1790 treaty signed 30 years before the state existed, and a poorly worded 1980 settlement that sparked disputes over casino locations and EPA rules mandating higher water quality standards in tribal rivers. Chiefs from three out of the four tribes joined Gov. Mills for the signing.

"I believe we are are stronger when we seek a fuller and deeper understanding of our history," Mills said, during a bill-signing ceremony. "I believe we are stronger when we lift up the voices of those who have been harmed and marginalized in the past, because there is power in a name and in who we choose to honor." Just a few days ago, Maine's Democratic controlled-House passed a bill banning public schools from using mascots and logos depicting Native Americans.

Penobscot Nation Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana said the change shows "a true intent to honor the Indigenous Nations of our State and brings all citizens to an elevated understanding and reconciliation of our shared history... [We are] happy that our ancestral ties and contributions are validated and celebrated instead of silenced and ignored by the previous holiday that glorified the attempted genocide of our Nations."

"We are graciously appreciative of this measure that reflects a state that feels more welcoming and inclusive," Dana added. "Our past can be painful but our present and future can be brighter with acts of unity and honesty."