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(Photo: Mariam Nanalook / AFN)

Alaska’s heavy reliance on wild foods has prompted the U.S. Interior Department to take an unusual step.

As KNBA’s Rhonda McBride reports, it has pulled the federal Office of Subsistence Management out from under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Emily Schwing and Sage Smiley of KYUK contributed to this story.

Roosevelt Arch, the north gate of Yellowstone National Park, one of the locations of this summer’s art exhibit. (Photo: Yunner / Wikipedia)

An arts nonprofit is partnering with Yellowstone National Park for a summerlong art installation at the park’s five entrances.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Olivia Weitz reports.

This year, the project features a traditional teepee at each entrance.

Minnesota’s Prairie Island Indian Community has opened a recreational cannabis dispensary.

Island Pezi, which means grass, is a Native cannabis company owned by the tribe located in Welch.

Prairie Island Tribal Council President Grant Johnson says the dispensary represents many important milestones and will create revenue for the tribe.

He also says it allows them to offer high-quality cannabis products to consumers.

The tribe is partnering with the White Earth Nation, carrying Native American-grown and branded cannabis from White Earth.

The tribe’s newly formed Cannabis Regulatory Commission will regulate the business.

Visitors to the business must be 21 or older.

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Native young people from across the country are gathered in Portland, Ore. this week.

They’re enhancing their leadership skills at the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY), Inc. Conference, as Rhonda LeValdo reports.

This year’s UNITY Conference theme is “Revitalizing Our Roots”, which focuses on increasing access to cultural protective factors and traditional tools to improve the mental health of Native youth nationwide.

UNITY attendee Mateni Hutchins. (Photo: Rhonda LeValdo)

First time attendee Mateni Hutchins from the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation says it’s been a great experience.

“Leadership wise, it’s good to have communications with all the people to know like what needs to be done, what does not need to be done, and what’s already finished. And that, other than that you can like communicate, like try to help others when they need it, and when they don’t.”

UNITY attendee Miss Indian Northwest Leilonnie Wilson. (Photo: Rhonda LeValdo)

Many tribal royalty are in attendance.

Miss Indian Northwest Leilonnie Wilson says it helps with her leadership skills.

“For two years, I was our female co-president and so I had to get up and talk about, you know, what we have done, you know, what we are accomplished or what we want to accomplish. So you know, being and talking in front of the whole region and it kind of brought me out of my shell, you know. Especially with royalty, that’s another thing, you know takes me out of my shell. It helps with my public speaking skills.”

On Monday, all attendees will take a trip to visit the NIKE world headquarters.

The conference ends on July 3.

Sealaska Heritage Institute Director of Archives and Collections Emily Galgano shows the Chilkat robe. (Photo: Yvonne Krumrey / KTOO)

A Wisconsin museum has sent a Chilkat robe it’s had for the last 80 years to Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau, Alaska.

The idea is to identify which clan it belongs to and give it back to them.

KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey has more.

In the basement of the Walter Soboleff building on a recent afternoon, Emily Galgano opened a huge white cabinet.

She pulled out a long drawer with a Chilkat robe laying inside. The robe’s colors are faded.

“So it could be very old, or it could be less old. I’m assuming at least 100, 150 years old. But it’s hard to say exactly.”

In May, a Wisconsin museum sent a Chilkat robe that it’s had for the last 80 years to Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau to identify which clan it belongs to and, hopefully, give it back to them.

Galgano is Sealaska Hertiage Institute’s archives and collections director.

She said the robe is a diving whale design.

Some of the black coloring has faded to purple and rust. Other spots are still rich and dark, which could indicate a different batch of dye.

With gloves on, Galgano flipped a corner of the robe to reveal colors much closer to how they might have looked when the robe was new: dark blacks and bright yellows.

Earlier this month, the robe was on display during Celebration.

Galgano had hoped that people might see it and know something about its origins.

“We’re always working with the community to try and crowdsource that sort of information. This is the first time I’ve done something with an object like this, that’s of this scale — but we have done similar, smaller projects.”

The robe is on loan from the Rahr-West Museum in Manitowoc, Wisc.

Greg Vadney, the museum’s executive director, said they don’t have anything else like it — he believes it came to the museum in the 1940s from someone who served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska.

“We have nothing else that we know that even comes from the Pacific Northwest, let alone Alaskan tribal culture. So we were excited to be able to return it to its home. And we’re also very excited that hopefully, while it’s at Sealaska Heritage, some of the gaps in the history that we don’t know about — some of that detail can get filled in in this partnership.”

He said the idea to reach out to SHI came from Manitowoc artist Skip Wallen, who designed the whale sculpture in Juneau’s Overstreet Park.

Vadney said Rahr-West is eager to return the robe to its original owners.

“Certainly as a museum, oftentimes we kind of, unfortunately, look at the things as things, and forget about the material culture of it and the human element. And in this case, the spiritual element that is inherent to it.”

The robe is on loan to SHI for the next year, but it could stay in Juneau long term while the organizations decide next steps.

“Our thought process is, this is a step towards repatriation.”

Galgano said SHI’s next step will be gathering expert weavers to study the robe.

“If it belongs to a clan, and it’s something like at.oo — where it’s a clan-owned object — then we also have a process where clans can long-term loan items here, where we’ll still care for it. It’ll still be in our climate-controlled vault and taken care of here, but it won’t belong to the museum, and they can then check it out for ceremonies, things like ku.eek.”

Galgano said she wants anyone who thinks they may have information about the robe to make an appointment to come see it by emailing her at emily.pastore@sealaska.com.

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After delays, Montana’s Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force has been re-created with more members and new staff.

Montana Public Radio’s Ellis Juhlin has more.

The new task force members met for the first time last week.

The group has existed in Montana since 2019, but it hasn’t met since lawmakers funded an expansion of their work within the Montana Department of Justice (MTDOJ) last year.

The bill was carried by State Rep. Tyson Running Wolf (Blackfeet Nation/D-MT) from Browning.

“We’re still in the dark about, you know, how it’s going to function, but at least we got the task force in place and we got that position filled. It’s better late than never.”

Lawmakers last year also allocated $60,000 to train Missing Person Response Teams, but as of last week, the MTDOJ said that money hasn’t been spent.

Montana has one of the highest rates of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) in the nation.

Indigenous people make up around 7% of Montana’s population, but 26% of the state’s missing persons cases, according to MTDOJ.

This new task force is made up of representatives from tribal, state, and federal offices, and the Montana Highway Patrol.

Haley Omeasoo (citizen of the Hopi Tribe and a Blackfeet descendant) is one of the new members.

She’s a University of Montana PhD student studying forensics and the founder of a company that investigates missing person cases.

“I’ll basically just kind of be the person that brings the forensic science aspect to the task force. I’m kind of hoping that I can be that person that will start to do, like, the actual case work. For some of these missing and murdered indigenous persons cases.”

The newly expanded task force plans to meet quarterly going forward.

Organizers gather at the federal courthouse building in downtown Rapid City, S.D. calling for the release of Leonard Peltier. (Photo: Lee
Strubinger / SDPB)

A caravan full of activists and organizers worked its way through downtown Rapid City on Thursday calling for Leonard Peltier’s release from federal prison.

Peltier has spent nearly five decades behind bars.

As South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger reports, a US Parole board is set to decide on Peltier’s release in the coming days.

The Iron Bull drum group plays as over two dozen vehicles roll up to the Federal Courthouse in downtown Rapid City on a hot summer day.

The caravan’s message is simple: Release Leonard Peltier.

Peltier is serving two life sentences for an incident that turned into a shootout between American Indian Movement members and FBI agents near the Pine Ridge Reservation town of Oglala.

The incident resulted in the death of the two FBI agents.

Peltier supporters call him America’s preeminent political prisoner.

Jean Roach was there that day in 1975.

She says Peltier’s case is emblematic of more than the incident.

“The whole story doesn’t start with Leonard Peltier. It starts with first contact. Leonard Peltier is an example—they’re making him an example of what can happen or what is happening. Until they let Leonard Peltier free there’s not going to be no good faith effort between us and the United State’s government.”

Peltier had a hearing before the US Pardons and Parole board earlier this month.

The board is expected to decide on Peltier’s release starting in early July.

In his letter to the pardon’s commission, FBI Director Christopher Wray called Peltier a “ruthless murderer”.

Supporters say Peltier’s health is failing. He has type-2 diabetes and is losing his eyesight.

Nick Tilsen (Oglala Lakota Nation) is the President and CEO of NDN Collective. He says Peltier is not receiving proper medical care.

“He gets really disoriented because part of what connected him to the outside world was writing letters. This is a message, too. If anyone wants to send him letters, it’s got to come in about 22-point font for him to be able to read it. He’s strong in the sense that he’s still has that fight in him to fight for his freedom and fight for the people. But his health is deteriorating.”

Tilsen was one of two individuals allowed to testify in favor of Peltier’s release earlier this month.

If Peltier is not granted parole, Tilsen says they’ll start a clemency push from President Joe Biden.

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The Native-led organization NDN Collective is holding a caravan drive Thursday in Rapid City, S.D., calling for the release of Leonard Peltier.

A parole hearing was held on June 10 and a decision from the U.S. Parole Commission is expected to take place soon.

The leader of the organization was one of two people to testify at Peltier’s parole hearing outlining a re-entry plan and what his release would mean for Indian Country.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger has more.

Nick Tilsen is the president and CEO of NDN Collective.

He was one of two witnesses who testified in favor of Peltier’s release at a parole hearing.

Peltier is serving two life sentences in federal prison after being convicted for taking part in a fatal shootout between American Indian Movement members and FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975.

Tilsen says the fight for Peltier’s release is an uphill battle, but he says he left the parole hearing with a little hope.

“One of the reasons why we fight for Leonard so fiercely is that how Leonard was treated during his prosecution and continued prosecution is consistent with how they have treated Indian people throughout history.”

Tilsen says NDN Collective has purchased a house for Peltier on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, where Peltier is enrolled.

He says he outlined Peltier’s re-entry plan, including helping Peltier get signed up for programming services through Indian Health Service (IHS) community health as well as building a sweat lodge near the home.

Kevin Sharp is Peltier’s lawyer.

He says if parole is approved, he expects an appeal from those opposed to his release.

Then, he says, Peltier would start re-entry.

“Leonard would likely be transferred to a medical facility while we work on getting the process inside the bureau of prisons taken care of. Could likely take months to get him out. If it is denied, then our next step is to appeal to the national appeal board.”

If they lose the parole hearing, Sharp says it could take years to appeal through the courts.

“Any appeal of any case ends up taking way too long.”

Peltier’s supporters feel time is of the essence.

Sharp says Peltier’s health is failing.

His next parole hearing would be in 15 years, which, he says, Peltier likely would not make it to.

Those opposed to Peltier’s release say he has not earned parole and should serve out his two life sentences.

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Tribes and states will have another opportunity this summer to compete for federal funding to address collisions between wildlife and cars.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Rachel Cohen reports.

About 1-2 million motor vehicles crash into wildlife each year in the U.S.

Kylie Paul, a road ecologist with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, says that threatens animals, human life, and property.

“Each year, it costs Americans more than $10 billion to hit wildlife on their roadways.”

Last year, the Federal Highway Administration gave out $110 million for bridges, tunnels, fencing, and broader plans to keep animals off roadways. 

But Paul says states and tribes proposed more than three times as many projects than got funded.

“It’s very evident that states and other entities across the country are really looking to address this problem.”

Now, the federal agency is giving out more money for crossings.

Applications are due in September.

Isabel Deroy-Olson, left, and Lily Gladstone star in “Fancy Dance”. (Courtesy Apple TV+)

Fancy Dance will begin streaming globally on Apple TV+ this week.

The film follows Jax, played by Lily Gladstone, who searches for her missing sister, while she also cares for her niece, on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma.

Writer and director Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga Nation) talked to National Native News about how the film is raising awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

Tremblay says she hopes the film bring some humanity to these topics, which she says is not often the case in Hollywood.

“You go online and it’s hardly a day goes by where you don’t see a missing poster coming across our social feeds. And I think that there’s just so many people in this country that don’t realize that this epidemic exists and how traumatic and how impactful it is on our communities. So we wanted to tell a story about these issues, also forced removal of Native kids from, you know, ICWA was going through the Supreme Court while we were writing this and it was really important for us to talk about these topics, but do it in a way that the story is told through the survivors of this and the people left behind.”

Tremblay says when it came to character development the writers were inspired by their own friends and family members.

“We cared about these characters and we curated them and we built them in a way that mirrored the people in our lives that we love and respect so much and our heroes. You know, Jax is an amalgamation of my mom and my aunties and queer folks that have guided me through my journey on this earth. And so I hope people do recognize people and themselves and that they feel excited and inspired and represented.”

And as far as Native representation in Hollywood, Tremblay says she’s hopeful there’s more to come.

“We’re finally arriving at a place where our talents are being recognized and we’re being allowed to tell our own stories. And I’m optimistic but guarded that this will continue because we’re certainly not going backwards. But it’s about time and Hollywood still hasn’t done enough, right? There’s still so much work to do and there’s still so much more to, so many more stories to be expressed. So, I’m hopeful that there will be more to come.”

“Fancy Dance” streams on Apple TV+ on Friday.

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The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) is applauding the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Rahimi to uphold the federal statute that prohibits individuals subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm.

The resource center filed an amicus brief last year urging the Court to uphold the protections to keep those with restraining orders from accessing guns.

NIWRC Executive Director Lucy Simpson in a statement said survivors are often in the most danger when they attempt to leave an abuser or when they receive an order of protection, so prohibiting the possession of a firearm for those subject to a domestic violence protection order is a critical safeguard.

And she says work needs to be done to fully address gaps in protections for survivors, including the closing of the loophole which allows dating partners subject to protection orders to possess firearms.

Statistics show American Indian and Alaska Native women experience the highest rates of violence in the country, with four out of five women experiencing violence in their lifetime.

According to the resource center, firearms are the most common cause of intimate partner violence homicide injury for American Indian and Alaska Native people.

The court ruled 8-1 in the case.

Courtesy Seminole Hard Rock Hotel

The National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) kicked off its 50th Convention and Tradeshow Monday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Fla.

More than 600 people from across the country are registered for the four-day event.

Tribal leaders and tribal housing officials are among attendees.

Among discussions, the reauthorization of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA).

The law governs development, operation, and maintenance of homes for the 574 federally recognized Tribes.

NAIHC Executive Director Douglas Marconi, Sr. says it’s important for Congress to understand how critical funding is for much needed homes in Native communities.

He says looking back at 50 years of housing in Indian Country, there are great strides, but communities have growing needs and Indian housing has always been underfunded.

On Tuesday, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. will highlight his tribe’s investment in housing initiatives, including housing for elders.

He’s expected to also address the reauthorization of NAHASDA.

NAHASDA grants provide affordable housing that benefit low-income families living on Indian reservations and Alaska Native communities.

Reauthorization of the law has been delayed since 2013 and the bill faces funding cuts.

The Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development under the Committee on Appropriations is expected to review the bill this summer.

Tribal leaders are advocating for its reauthorization and are seeking increased funding.

(Courtesy Erin Braaten / Dancing Aspens Photography)

Native people from around the country are honoring the birth of a rare white bison calf in Yellowstone National Park this week.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Hanna Merzbach reports, many see it a blessing — and a warning.

The white bison calf made international headlines when it was spotted in Yellowstone earlier this month.

While not confirmed by park staff – tribal members say it’s the first documented *wild bison of its kind. Other white bison have been born in captivity to parents with cow DNA.

This birth fulfills a prophecy for many tribes.

Lakota Chief Arvol Looking Horse has compared it to the second coming of Jesus Christ. But he also has said it’s a sign that more needs to be done to protect the animals and the Earth.

Looking Horse will lead a gathering Wednesday in West Yellowstone – honoring and naming the rare bison.

This comes as Yellowstone National Park proposes big changes in how it manages the species.

There’s currently about 5,000 bison in the park – and that number could go up to 6,000.

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A sacred red rock to the Kaw Nation that was taken from the tribe and put on display in Lawrence, Kan., has finally returned to its original homelands in Council Grove, Kan.

Rhonda LeValdo has the story on the celebration that was held over the weekend.

A Rematriation held Saturday for “Iⁿ ‘zhúje ‘waxóbe,” which in the Kaw language basically translates to “Sacred Red Rock” was done at its new home on Kaw land at Allegwaho Memorial Heritage Park near Council Grove.

Kaw tribal citizen Storm Brave spoke on the event.

“I just hope and pray from this day on that it is respected amongst this community since we aren’t able to take it back to Washunga, Oklahoma, where we are now. It’s a good way to remind people that our (Kaw language) people are still here and we’re still thriving and growing. I hope that our Iⁿ ‘zhúje ‘waxóbe is kind of a steward into our future.”

Vice Chair of the Kaw Nation Jim Pepper Henry also spoke of the support of the local community.

“The Kaw Nation is humbled by the outpouring of support for this project…and we respectfully ask our neighbors to assist us in the stewardship and care of Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park.”

The park was part of the last reservation the Kaw people had in Kansas before they were removed to Oklahoma. The Kaw Nation bought the land back in 2002.

Iⁿ ‘zhúje ‘waxóbe the sacred red rock was deposited at the intersection of the Shunganunga Creek and Kansas River near Tecumseh, Kan. by glaciers during the last ice age.

It remained there until 95 years ago when it was moved to Lawrence.

Photo: Maria Palma / KUNR

A new mobile clinic is now serving about 2,000 Tribal patients in rural Nevada.

It’s one of the latest beneficiaries in the region of a federal grant program.

KUNR’s Maria Palma reports for the Mountain West News Bureau.

The unit will provide services to both the Lovelock Paiute Tribe and the Yomba Shoshone Tribe.

Without a mobile clinic, medical staff would make weekly trips in multiple vehicles covering hundreds of miles to provide medical services. 

Cathi Williams-Tuni, Chairwoman of the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, says it’s a dream come true. 

“We have the remote locations at Yamba and Lovelock and sometimes to go out to Lovelock, they always have to take the four by fours, because of the roads. Much of the road is dirt.”

Clinical nurse Joy Schultz says the mobile clinic will bring people immunizations, lab testing, physician and nurse visits, wound care, prescription medicine distribution and education.

“We can say we’ve actually saved lives, we’ve saved limbs, we’ve saved communities from COVID.”

The new mobile clinic was funded through a $670,000 emergency rural healthcare grant, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking information from the public about the cause of the South Fork and Salt Fires in New Mexico burning on the Mescalero Apache Reservation and near Ruidoso.

A flyer released by the FBI says it’s offering $10,000 for information leading to the “arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible” for starting the fires.

The bureau’s Albuquerque Field Office is assisting tribal, local, state, and federal partners in the investigation of the fires, which were discovered on June 17.

The FBI is taking information via its telephone tipline, through its online tip form, or in person at local FBI offices.

The fires combined have burned more than 24,000 acres.

As of Saturday, the South Fork Fire was 26% contained and the Salt Fire was 7% contained.

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Leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs announced Thursday legislation to establish a commission on federal Indian boarding school policies is heading to the Senate Floor for consideration.

U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), chair of the committee, and vice chair Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced the release of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act from committee.

The legislation would establish a federal commission to investigate, document, and acknowledge past injustices of the federal government’s Indian boarding school policies.

The legislation was authored by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and co-led by Sen. Murkowski.

All three Senators are urging for the bill to pass quickly through the Senate.

Courtesy Mescalero Apache Tribe / Facebook

President Joe Biden declared a major disaster declaration Thursday for the State of New Mexico to aid in recovery efforts in areas impacted by the South Fork and Salt Fires.

It orders federal support to help with tribal, state, and local efforts.

President Biden’s action also makes federal funds available to individuals in Lincoln County and the Mescalero Apache Tribe – grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the disaster.

Federal funding is also available to tribal, state, and eligible local governments – and certain private nonprofits – on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will coordinate the federal recovery operations.

The fires were reported on the Mescalero Apache Reservation on Monday, and are now on national forest and private land.

The tribe’s operating evacuation sites on the reservation for both tribal and non-tribal families.

According to the Mescalero Apache Fire Rescue, as of Thursday night, the South Fork Fire is still not contained and its size is more than 16,000 acres.

The Salt Fire is more than 7,000 acres and is also not contained.

An estimated 1,400 structures have been lost and about 8,000 people evacuated.

Click here for the latest updates from the State of New Mexico’s Wildfire Dashboard.

Photo: daveynin / Flickr

The Black Hills National Forest is one of the latest federal lands to enter a co-stewardship agreement with tribes.

Kathleen Shannon has the details.

The Pactola / Ȟe Sapa Visitor Center sits on the south end of the Pactola Dam, along the 1.2 million acres making up the Black Hills.

A ceremony held this month honored a new memorandum of understanding for co-stewardship of the center, bringing together local tribal nations and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to jointly administer the site.

About 80 similar agreements were made after a 2021 federal order, according to the Interior Department.

Ada Montague, staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, said the agreements are opportunities to make good on federal treaty promises – ongoing legal obligations the U.S. government has toward tribal nations.

“There’s often a difficult history to reconcile with. That’s usually a big first challenge. But when there are engaged folks on both sides who want to see something go forward, then typically the difficulties are more technical.”

The technical challenges may be around the structure and terms of agreement, Montague pointed out, but there are increasingly more models for them, including a sovereign-to-sovereign cooperative agreements online resource launched by The University of Washington Law Library in March.

Tribes involved in the Black Hills agreement include the Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, Oglala, Rosebud, and Crow Creek Sioux Tribes.

Weston Jones, who is Oglala Lakota and a summer law clerk for the Native American Rights Fund, said co-stewardship of the visitor center allows tribes to teach the public.

“They can share stories, they can share plant knowledge, animal knowledge, watershed knowledge, and all the natural resource knowledge and pass that to their next generation,” Jones noted.

USFS said the center averages about 40,000 visitors a year.

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This week, Indigenous agribusiness leaders, U.S. government officials, and state representatives are on a trade mission in Canada.

They’re working on developing export markets for Indigenous businesses and products.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor says it’s the first of its kind focused on Indigenous producers.

“So we have participants on this trade mission that are tribal producers with the ‘Made/Produced by American Indians,’ which is the official trademark. And we also have producers from the Native Hawaiian community operating on Native Hawaiian homeland.”

Taylor says they’re having standard business to business meetings, but they’re also facilitating high-level nation to nation policy discussions.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe/D-MN) is part of the delegation.

She says the trade mission is giving Indigenous producers additional skills and opportunities.

“I think having peers who are part of this trip, as well as experts who can help to remove obstacles, and think about what is possible has been incredibly powerful.”

The delegation also includes more than a dozen tribal agribusinesses and agricultural leaders from 13 Native Nations, a representative from the Intertribal Agricultural Council Board, and officials from Maine, North Carolina, and Oregon agriculture departments.

Products include tea, poultry, wine, honey, popcorn, wild rice, and salmon.

This week, RFA’s Ed Hubbard, third from right, is in Vancouver for a USDA trade mission. Among those attending is USDA Under Secretary for Trade Alexis Taylor, center. As part of the event, stakeholders participated in a roundtable to discuss opportunities for #SAF growth. pic.twitter.com/iDRf5hL2fF

— Renewable Fuels Association (@EthanolRFA) June 19, 2024

National Go Skate Day is June 21 and a special event is being held on the Navajo Nation at the Two Grey Hills Skate Park in Two Grey Hills, N.M.

Jill Fratis has more.

Amy Denet Deal (Diné) is the creator of Diné Skate Garden Project and founder of 4KINSHIP.

She has worked closely alongside fellow Indigenous skater Shawnshine Harrison (Diné). 

She says it’s a year of firsts for the project.

“This is the first time we’ve celebrated Go Skate Day on Navajo Nation, so pretty amazing day. I think we’re supposed to get a little thunderstorms in the afternoon to make it really exciting.”

Denet Deal says this is also in celebration of the one-year anniversary of their mentorship programs, and as part of that celebration there will be giveaways and skating competitions. 

While kids and teenagers were the initial target for these festivities, Deal says it brings people of all ages together. 

“It’s been so beautiful this year to see how it’s brought this community together. It’s intergenerational community center. It’s grandma and grandpa, it’s you know (Navajo language) it’s aunties and uncles, it’s the little tiny babies are there. People are driving up, setting up little bon-fire, and like hanging out there for their kids. It just warms my heart every time I go out there, and to see families show up.” 

With the 2024 Olympics coming up in July, Denet Deal is confident one of the skaters from the Navajo Nation will be joining them during the next competition in 2028. 

“There’s just no question we’re going to have an Olympic athlete. Because those kids are so focused, they’ve come so far in just one year, that we’re just trying to keep up with them.”

Denet Deal says the major player in the success of the Indigenous skateboard world is Shawnshine Harrison.

Harrison has been working with the youth for years, and says it’s because of him that the Diné Skate Garden Project is so successful.

“I have just seen someone, he’s just a natural leader. He’s just a community hero, because consistency is so important for our kids…to have somebody who has such a kind and good heart, and who is so passionate about skateboarding, that that’s the guy that’s like, teaching them, and I can’t say enough positive things about this. He’s a skatepark hero. He really is.”

The National Go Skate Day celebration will take place on Friday.

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The Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico has implemented a state of emergency due to fires on the reservation.

The South Fork Fire and the Salt Fire were reported on the reservation on Monday.

The tribe is working with federal, state, and other agencies on public safety measures.

This week, the tribe says some areas lost power, but work was being done to get the areas restored.

Generators were provided to pump water.

The tribe’s operating evacuation sites on reservation for tribal and non-tribal families.

The tribe is accepting donation of water, snacks, and hygiene items. Monetary donations are also being accepted.

According to the Mescalero Apache Fire Rescue, as of Tuesday night, there was zero containment of the South Fork Fire with more than 15,000 acres burning, and an estimated 8,000 people evacuated.

The Salt Fire was estimated to be more than 5,500 acres as of Tuesday.

The State of New Mexico Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Lincoln County and the Mescalero Apache Reservation due to the wildfires.

The National Guard has been deployed to the area to help.

Lobby of Native Women’s Health Clinic in Rapid City, S.D. (Courtesy NWHC)

New details are emerging about the Native Women’s Health Clinic in Rapid City, which has not seen any patients since April 2023.

Those details include why two tribes are pulling their federal shares from the program.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger reports.

Three West River tribes combine their funding for a Native women’s health program for women who live in Rapid City. That program.

The program is administered by the Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST), with help from shares from Rosebud and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes, through the Indian Self Determination Act.

In the resolutions obtained by SDPB, both Rosebud and Cheyenne River tribes pulled their shares for two reasons: failure to hire or contract with any providers and letters by a longtime Rapid City OBGYN detailing the “dismal state of affairs” of health care for Native women in Rapid City.

After OST assumed the contract for Native Women’s Healthcare Clinic, when providers left the clinic, positions remained vacant.

When the last provider was gone, Dr. Marvin Buehner — who has worked in Native women’s health care since 1993 — took on part-time contract physician work for the clinic half a day a week. That’s in addition to running his own private practice. He resigned in April 2023.

In a letter to the clinic director, Dr. Buehner said he resigned that part-time work with a heavy heart, not because of financial concerns, but because he believed he was enabling a failed health care facility.

Dr. Buehner, who said his unreimbursed work totals more than $23,000, wrote Native Women’s Health Clinic has lost respect of the medical and patient community.

In January, OST President Frank Star Comes Out said lack of funding for the clinic program makes the issue a “tough deal”, but that the tribe was working to fix it.

Both Rosebud and Cheyenne River tribes are transferring their women’s health shares to the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board, which operates Oyate Health Center on the grounds of the old Sioux San campus in Rapid City.

In a letter to the Great Plains Area Indian Health Service director, Rosebud Sioux Tribal President Scott Herman said the tribe is grateful to the Oglala Sioux Tribe for managing the program, but circumstances have changed.

The Cherokee Nation is holding a Juneteenth celebration in Tahlequah, Okla.

The tribe will declare Juneteenth on the reservation and provide updates on the Cherokee Nation Executive Order on Equality.

The tribe will also recognize the history and inclusion of Cherokee citizens of Freedmen descent.

There are more than 15,000 Cherokee citizens of Freedmen descent.

The tribe livestreamed the celebration.

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