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Lake County commissioners may reconsider whether to pull out of an agreement to provide law enforcement services on the Flathead Reservation.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports that comes after a meeting with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen this week.

County officials met with Attorney General Kndusen in Polson to see if his office can offer resources for prosecuting crimes.

On May 21, jurisdiction over felonies on the Flathead Reservation will fall to the federal government. That’s because Lake County is pulling out of a long-standing agreement between the state and the federal government to provide those services.

County officials say they can’t afford it, but federal law enforcement officials have said they have little resources to offer the county and would only prosecute high-level felony crimes.

County officials and residents worry many crimes would be left unchecked.

Knudsen told commissioners he has neither the resources nor authority to help oversee felony jurisdiction, Knudsen did say Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT)’s office may be willing to help.

“I’ve been told directly they are willing to sign a bill next session that gets you folks some law enforcement funding.”

Lawmakers did pass a bill to do just that in 2023, but Gov. Gianforte vetoed it.

When asked for comment, Gov. Gianforte’s office pointed MTPR to his veto letter saying the bill created a “slippery slope” by not putting any conditions on the $5 million the bill would have provided the county.

His office did not directly say whether he’d sign future legislation to fund Lake County law enforcement.

Lake County Commissioner Gale Decker says it’s hard to trust Knudsen’s message given the governor’s previous veto. But he says commissioners are considering whether to keep jailing and prosecuting people for felony crimes based on what Knudsen said.

“If we can get everybody to the table, I think there’s a solution.”

It’s unclear when commissioners will make that decision.

(Courtesy Assemblymember James Ramos / Facebook)

Tribal leaders, lawmakers, and California state leaders are commemorating missing and murdered Indigenous people ahead of the May 5^th national awareness day.

Three activities will take place on Wednesday sponsored by the California Native American Legislative Caucus and its chair, Assemblymember James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA).

A press conferences is taking place at the state capitol, followed by a subcommittee meeting, and a candlelight vigil will be held in the evening.

The events will highlight the disproportionate numbers of violence against Native Americans.

Two tribes have declared states of emergency because of the numbers of missing persons on their reservations – the Yurok Tribe and the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians.

Dozens of child-sized Ravenstail robes were danced for the first time Tuesday in Juneau, Alaska.

KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey has more.

Ravenstail is a Southeast Alaska Native weaving practice using mostly black and white yarn, and geometric designs.

Master weaver Lily Hope says it’s the largest collection of new Ravenstail weaving in 45 years.

The event shared the history – and future – of Ravenstail weaving, or Yéil Koowú.

Here’s Hope on the talk show Juneau Afternoon last month.

“This particular history and telling of where we are now and how we got here, has never been shared on this scale.”

Weaver Rae Mills joined Hope on the show. They shared their love of weaving and the community that forms around it.

“Iʼve never felt so whole and so complete, and just so healed, as when I’m able to share something so special. The fact that these things were done by our ancestors, and we almost lost them, and they were woken back up, and we are still able to share this knowledge, and happiness and love. And it’s been amazing to be a part of.”

On Friday, the robes will go on exhibit.

KTOO 360TV aired the event live on 360TV and streamed KTOO.org and LilyHope.com.

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A federal agency wants to give up management of lands on the Wind River Reservation.

As Wyoming Public Radio’s Chris Clements reports, the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes have argued it never should have been removed from the reservation in the first place.

The Bureau of Reclamation is trying to part ways with under sixty-thousand acres of federal land originally removed from the reservation as part of the Riverton Reclamation Project.

Located on Muddy Ridge, the land could go to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or to local interests like the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes.

Wes Martel is a former councilmember of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.

“There should be no question that that land reverts back to the tribes. We’re going to stand up for ourselves.”

Non-tribal ranchers have grazing leases on Muddy Ridge for cattle, and are worried about changes to how it’s managed if the tribes receive it.

A recent news report says ranchers believe that if the Bureau of Indian Affairs manages the land, they could impose different grazing regulations.

In a federal court case from 2014, both tribes argued that areas north of the Wind River like Muddy Ridge are lawfully part of the reservation.

However, the 10th circuit court of appeals eventually ruled against them.

Courtesy Facebook

Canada’s top Native leader says she was stunned by her treatment of the country’s national air carrier – Air Canada.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the Assembly of First Nations national chief says it was hurtful the way her headdress was dealt with on a flight.

Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

She says she’s traveled before with her headdress and without any problem. 

But last week, she boarded a plane in Montreal and carried her headdress in a special case, which she usually places in the overhead compartment.

This time she stowed it under the seat in front of her because the overhead compartment was full.

The Air Canada flight staff told her the case would have to be into the cargo hold.

From there she says things got pretty heated.

She refused to give up her headdress, but flight attendants insisted the case go in cargo, then she didn’t get it back until he pilot intervened and it was brought to her.

“I think we were all pretty stunned. It was an unfortunate incident and I just hope nobody else ever has to feel like that again. I know it was a tough, tense situation, but I think it’s a learning lesson on how to work together better and I think when it comes to Air Canada this stuff isn’t new.”

Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented on the incident.

“It is an unfortunate situation that I hope will lead to a bit of learning.”

Air Canada has since apologized and says it will review its policy.

Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Michigan’s eastern Upper Peninsula. (Courtesy Pure Michigan)

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan has passed a new resolution recognizing nature’s inherent rights.

Interlochen Public Radio’s Ellie Katz reports.

It’s the first step toward changing the tribal code with the ultimate goal of eventually establishing the legal rights of nature in court.

Amy McCoy. (Courtesy Amy McCoy / LinkedIn)

Amy Aamoo McCoy is a Sault Ste. Marie tribal member who first drafted the resolution.

She says it codifies the long-held responsibility that the Anishinaabek have to nature.

“Those beings need to be respected, not relegated as resource commodities. They need to be cared for, respected, protected. And now that’s the law.”

Other tribal nations throughout Michigan are considering similar resolutions.

It’s part of a broader movement among Indigenous communities that seeks to extend the same legal rights to nature that individuals and corporations already have.

McCoy says this initial resolution should make it easier to pass more tribal environmental protection laws in the future.

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In California, the Yurok Tribe’s justice system is providing a path for healing.

Yurok Tribal Chief Judge Abby Abinanti says they’re also focusing on helping people off the reservation – other tribes and the urban Native population – through their close connection with the social service organization the Friendship House in San Francisco.

“We need to work more with the urban population, because many of our people went to the urban area. And a lot of the relocated people have been in the urban area. And we need to team up. Our like value systems will help them and will help the communities they live in.”

Friendship House founder, the late Helen Waukazoo, was a close friend of Judge Abby.

Peter Bratt, Friendship House Village SF Project Lead, says Judge Abby and Helen were soul sisters.

“And they were always plotting and they always had these incredible dreams and visions. And one of them was to, was to bring inpatient and outpatient recovery services to the remote northern part of the state where the Yurok Nation is. And so that vision is finally coming to fruition and so Friendship House is working with the Yurok to build inpatient services up in Northern California that will serve not just the Yurok, but the eight surrounding tribes, and then in turn a lot of the clients that come to Friendship House are from the Yurok Nation.”

Peter Bratt.

Bratt says when a Native relative goes through recovery, often they leave the program and cannot return back to their tribal community. So, they often stay in San Francisco for longer.

“They live here, they get job training, they get work. And so, we have a lot of Yurok tribal members who are part of our staff and who live in and around the Bay Area. The Yurok are also helping us build housing for tribal members here in the city and county.”

Friendship House services include substance abuse treatment, a youth program, and recovery for women with children and expectant mothers. Those involved with the Indigenous-led organization believe culture is medicine.

“It centers traditional practices, ceremonial practices, as its treatment model. And again, going back to our founder, Helen Waukazoo, she put a stake in the ground and back in the early 80s and started bringing traditional people to work with our clients. And that was a very radical thing to do back then. But that essential cultural aspect of our program, now that has become a standard throughout Indian country.”

Clayton Dumont.

Clayton Dumont is Friendship House Program Director.

“In the last three months, we’ve actually brought in nine different individual traditional practitioners to work with our clients, it’s really important to help build trust with our clients. They’re dealing with intergenerational trauma in order for them to open up and address those issues they need to trust us. We look at the healing process in terms of interconnected between the spiritual, the mental, the physical, and being able to address all those different things that comes out of a culture.”

Bratt says the Friendship House is expanding with a village project, which will also be a cultural and spiritual hub.

Friendship House Sweat Lodge.

“That will offer medical, dental, behavioral health services, we’re going to have our women’s lodge program there where young mothers, young American Indian mothers go through recovery with their small children, youth programs, other services, and a rooftop farm.”

And the village is a vision Judge Abby shares. Construction has already begun on the Village SF project.

This story is a collaboration with First Nations Experience Television with support from the Public Welfare Foundation. Listen to part one. Watch the television story below:

Courtesy U.S. Interior DepartmentThe Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced this week the opening of the Division of Indigenous Connectivity and Technology within the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The new division will assist tribes with managing and expanding new technological and wireless services on their lands.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Ojibwe) says it will modernize the way tribal nations engage in these types of opportunities.

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In California, the Yurok Tribe’s justice system is providing a path for healing.

Yurok Tribal Chief Judge Abby Abinanti is well-known for her work in the legal field.
She’s the first Native American woman to be a member of the California State Bar.

Judge Abby, as she’s commonly referred to, recently joined tribal leaders, advocates, law enforcement, and others in Sacramento for a day devoted to justice issues.

Her work with the Yurok Tribe, located hundreds of miles away from the state’s capital city, centers on wellness.

“Essentially what we’re trying to do at home is to build a court system that would have been sort of the natural evolution of our value system. That means that our practices are much different than what you learn in the state court. So, my job there is to help people return to their responsible roles in community.”

Judge Abby says they do more intensive work with each person that comes before the court and they ask them to think as the wellness court as their extended family with special expertise.

She says it’s very different than state court with traditional values being a vital part of helping people.

“We look at culture as a way of living, this is how you live, this is what your value system is as a human being. And these are your responsibilities. And once you get people back into that walking on that road, they just act differently, you know, and we’ve had a lot, the invasion brought us a lot of problems, and we have to face those, and we have to push them back.”

Judge Abby says based on their value system, the wellness court has advocates who serve as mentors and friends that take on the role of cultural aunts and uncles.

“And they walk with people, they help them, they talk to them, they’re there for them. And they become part of their extended family. ‘You need to test. You didn’t test. And if you’re dirty just tell me and we’ll figure out what we’re going to do about it.’ You know, so we get people, we encourage people, and we help them find their way back.”

Judge Abby says they also focus on other wellness – behavioral health, housing, and requirements people need to get them back to where they need to be in society.

Tribal officials says it’s essential for justice to include traditional knowledge, culture and spirituality.

Phillip Williams. 

Phillip Williams, a Yurok Tribal Council Member, says Native people get lost in today’s society.

“Colonialism has stripped away most of everything that we are. And so that’s why a lot of our people are in addiction and alcoholism, because they don’t know who they are, where do they fit in this world. And so, part of that, that keeps us going in that is our traditions, our dances, our ceremonies. One of the most basic parts, I think that people miss is your prayer. You know, the elders teach you to pray every day. So, you wake up, you wash your face, you pray, and then you start your day. And a lot of the people don’t, don’t get that. And so, we’re trying to replicate that, give a person, you know, something to live for in life.”

The Yurok Tribe and Judge Abby’s work are not just on the reservation.

They’re helping other tribes and the urban Native population through their close connection with the social service organization in San Francisco – the Friendship House.

The Friendship House work will be featured in part two of this special series, a collaboration with First Nations Experience Television with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.

Watch our collaboration with FNX TV story here:

The Native Youth Olympic Senior Games literally kick off Thursday in Anchorage, Alaska.

Students in grades 7th through 12th will take part in three days of competition.

Athletes not only test their skills needed for everyday life, but the games promote sportsmanship, health living and leadership skills.

Thursday’s games include opening ceremonies, the Toe Kick, Wrist Carry, and the Alaskan High Kick.

The games continue through the week with closing ceremonies and awards on Saturday.

Listen to our special coverage, Alaska’s Native Voice: Live From NYO 2024, hosted and produced by Antonia Gonzales and featuring reports from Jill Fratis, Hannah Bissett, and Rhonda McBride this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 12 p.m. AKDT

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The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska is launching a new program to provide fresh, organic, Alaska-sourced foods to the entire Aleutian community – and to some regional partners.

KUCB’s Andy Lusk spoke with tribal staff to learn more.

Organizers did a distribution trial run last month.

At the event, Unalaskans came to the tribe’s food bank and received bags full of carrots, potatoes, cabbage and beef — all completely free. That produce and meat came from a family farm in Palmer.

The tribe is interested in partnering with multiple providers over the course of the program, including local fishermen.

Tanaya Horne is the tribe’s COO.

She says the program is part of their ongoing wellness initiatives, and aims to support Alaska farmers by offering their products to locals looking for high-quality, minimally processed foods.

“For Alaska Native people, for American Indian people, our love language is food. That is how we show that we want to be partners with you, and we want to show you that we care about you.”

The project first developed last spring, when the Qawalangin Tribe met with USDA representatives at an economic summit.

The tribe was ultimately awarded over $2 million for the project through the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Program.

The project came together in partnership with the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, who helped facilitate rollout of produce and meat to tribal organizations across the Aleutian Islands region.

Anfesia Tutiakoff is the Qawalangin Tribe’s cultural director. She hopes the program can dovetail with some of the foods already available in Unalaska, including local herbs.

“The more that we’re able to harvest our natural foods on-island, and use natural foods from these farmers, you’re getting less and less processed foods the more that we do these kinds of programs.”

Tribal services manager Marie Schomer says that during the trial run, around 5,000 pounds of food arrived and was distributed to the community.

“I love doing it, personally, because a lot of families out here are struggling [with] the cost of food. And if you’re able to give them a couple bags of fresh produce and meat, it’s very helpful.”

The cost of food in Alaska is famously high and Unalaska is no exception.

Groceries are barged into the island and take longer to deliver than to stores in the lower 48.

Organizers expect the program to continue throughout the next two years, working in conjunction with other regional tribal organizations’ food security initiatives.

In Unalaska, there are no income restrictions to participation.

Anyone is welcome to take food whether they are a member of the Qawalangin Tribe or not.

The next event is slated for late April.

Horne says she expects the program to do bi-weekly food bank events by the summer.

Chickasaw Nation Lt. Governor Chris Anoatubby, left, Choctaw Nation Assistant Chief Jack Austin Jr., Seminole Nation of Oklahoma Chief Lewis Johnson, Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill, and Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., at the April 19 quarterly meeting of the Inter-Tribal Council (ITC) of the Five Civilized Tribes. (Courtesy Chickasaw Nation Media)

The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma is the latest Native American organization to pass a resolution in support of the establishment of an event code to be used to help find Missing and Endangered Adults.

KCNP’s Brian Brashier has more.

The resolution cited statistics from the National Crime Information Center which shows that Native American men and women have historically been disproportionately affected by missing persons cases at a percentage which is more than double that of the general U.S. population.

Native American women are at an even greater risk of going missing or being endangered with estimates they are ten times more likely to fall victim to homicide than the average American woman.

The resolution also stated that these statistics emphasize the urgent need for focused attention and specialized support, like the new Missing and Endangered Persons (MEP) code.

Used with the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS), the code would work like the familiar Amber Alert initiated when children are missing.

The resolution stemmed from a letter from Native Public Media who also sponsored a resolution that passed last year by the National Congress of American Indians.

The resolution passed unanimously by the council comprised of the Chickasaw Nation, Cherokee Nation, Muscogee Nation, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

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