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A pandemic-era program that helped low-income people keep up with their water and sewer bills is running out of funding.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports this comes as a federal report shows rural and tribal households have long struggled to keep their taps on.

Congress’ water utility assistance program supported over 8,000 Montana households and ran out of money last year.

A separate pool of water assistance funding for tribes is close to running dry, too.

A federal report found tribal families are more likely to be in debt to their water utilities and owe more money.

It also found that rural households experience higher disconnection rates for non-payment.

Patricia Courchane with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes says the water-assistance program was a lifeline for those families, but adds that it’s also helped households on well water.

“You have bacteria or something like that in your water and you aren’t able to drink it, you can get a bottled water system in your home through this program.”

Courchane says the tribes have about half of the roughly $600,000 they received left.

She says families could struggle to afford clean drinking water once that funding runs out.

Federal agencies are asking for public feedback on five potential plans for managing Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah.

KUER’s David Condos reports for the Mountain West News Bureau on the collaboration with tribes.

The plans are the result of a first-of-its-kind collaboration between federal agencies and five tribes to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into the monument’s management. 

Ruben Pacheco is with the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition.

He says this is especially historic because public lands across the West often overlap with ancestral homelands.

“So ensuring that tribal perspectives are meaningfully involved in the protection of these lands is a way to respect tribes, and it’s a move towards what we consider repairing historical injustices.”

The plan preferred by the partnership is option E, which would limit some cattle grazing, off highway driving and camping.

Rachel Wooten is with the Bureau of Land Management office in Monticello.

She says the best way for people to make sure their voices are heard is to study the plans before responding.

“Opinions are valuable, but the most helpful comments are the ones that provide new information, provide specific information about a use or an area that we might not have known or considered.”

 The agencies will launch a series of meetings to answer questions about the plans starting in April. 

Dr. Joseph Suina. (Courtesy Sen. Heinrich’s office)

In New Mexico, during a ceremony in Albuquerque last week, former Cochiti Pueblo Governor and U.S. Marine Corps and Vietnam veteran Dr. Joseph Suina was presented with service medals he earned in the 1960s.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) helped retrieve the medals, which were stolen in the 70s in a house break-in.

Sen. Heinrich also honored the veteran last week on the Senate Floor talking about his medals, which included the Purple Heart.

(Courtesy Sen. Heinrich’s office)

“Dr. Suina also earned the following awards: the Combat Action Ribbon, the Marine Corp Good Combat Medal, the National Service Defense Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Rifle Sharp Shooter Badge, Pistol Expert Badge. He also earned a Gallantry Cross Medal from the Republic of Vietnam. I was deeply honored to help retrieve these medals to recognize Dr. Suina’s incredible bravery and sacrifice.”

Dr. Suina was also recognized for his advocacy, especially for raising awareness of PTSD.

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Two federal agencies published their response to a 2023 national report on missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann reports what’s next.

In 2020, Congress passed the Not Invisible Act.

The bill created a commission to develop recommendations on how to best address the MMIP crisis.

After conducting listening sessions across the country, they published their final report to the federal government.

The Department of Justice and Department of the Interior have just responded to it.

“The biggest takeaway I have is just the fact that a lot of our resources are not streamlined. It’s like a scattershot.”

That’s Enrolled Northern Arapaho tribal member Jordan Dresser.

He was part of the Not Invisible Act Commission and he agrees with the report’s takeaway that more coordination between different agencies is crucial.

“So when a family is going through something like that, I think they sometimes don’t know where to turn to.”

The more than 200-page response from the two federal agencies outlines their commitment to continuing to work with Tribal communities to find solutions to the crisis.

Leif Richards is in the 11th grade and an NYO team captain at Thunder Mountain High School. He is doing the One-Foot High Kick on the Santa Clara Pueblo Indian Reservation. (Courtesy Kyle Worl)

Now that the North American Indigenous Games Council has approved Arctic sports on a trial basis for its 2027 games in Calgary, fans of Native Youth Olympics hope the games can spread beyond northern tribes.

As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports, a team of athletes from Juneau, Alaska visited schools in Kansas and New Mexico.

In Arctic sports, team members encourage each other to strive for their personal best – and it’s not unusual for athletes to cheer on their opponents.

In that spirit, Kyle Worl, the head of the Native Youth Olympics program for Juneau schools, took a team of six athletes on tour.

“Every school and community we’ve gone to, they’ve been very engaged, and it’s just been fun.”

The team demonstrated seven games: The One-Foot and Two-Foot High Kick, the Alaskan High Kick, Scissor Broad Jump, Seal Hop, and the Inuit and Dene Stick Pulls, which today are part of friendly competitions that require strength, agility and endurance – necessary for traditional hunters to hop over ice flows or carry heavy loads for long distances.

Worl says everywhere they went, students showed interest in the games and their history.

“I think this sport really resonates with Indigenous people, because it’s an Indigenous-based sport – and it’s about community. And I think all tribes know that community is really important.”

Worl is hopeful the sport can take root at the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., which has two Alaskan students who can help with the coaching.

The team also traveled to the nearby Kickapoo Nation School to plant some seeds among kids who are not yet in college.

Worl says the Juneau athletes gave them a chance to try out the games for themselves, which they seemed to enjoy.

“To be able to be in a space where your Indigenous identity is represented and honored — and you feel a sense of belonging — and that you don’t have to shy away from who you are.” 

The Juneau team also traveled to New Mexico to visit the Santa Clara Pueblo Tribal school, the Santa Fe Indian School, and the Institute of American Indian Art.

They left behind kits with equipment that included a kick stand, a handsewn sealskin ball, and two types of sticks.

Worl says the Calgary games are four years out, plenty of time to train for NYO games.

Crews install the final stages of a new fiber-optic internet network across four tribal nations in northern New Mexico. (Courtesy New Mexico PBS)

New Mexico’s Congressional delegation announced last week $10 million for multi-purpose facilities for seven tribes in the state.

The funding is under the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund to invest in New Mexico’s Tribal Library Broadband-Ready Facility Improvement Program.

The program will construct a new childcare center, expand six libraries and family resource centers to boost services, and provide broadband and computers.

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Researchers at Avera are working to understand factors underlying maternal health care for Native Americans in western South Dakota.

Most counties west of the Missouri River are considered a maternal health care desert.

As South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger reports, that means women live more than 100 miles away from medical providers that specialize in delivery.

Distance, weather, transportation, and trauma are just a few of the barriers standing in the way of pregnant Native American women needing or wanting prenatal health care.

That’s coupled with a lack of providers West River — both in reservations and in the Black Hills.

Dr. Amy Elliott is a chief research officer at Avera McKennon.

She describes the issue bluntly.

“It’s crisis levels. With the lack of obstetrics providers especially on the western side of the state. How do we find solutions, not just for recruiting more people, but also do we have to think a little bit different about how we deliver care?”

According to the South Dakota Department of Health, from 2012 to 2021, American Indians made up 20% of all live births, but 44% of all pregnancy-associated deaths.

Dr. Elliot and others want to fully understand what’s causing that issue, and others.

Dr. Elliot says a lack of data hinders insight into understanding causes or generating solutions.

“An advantage of being in a health system is we have access to quite a bit of data and we also have close partnerships with the Department of Health, Great Plains Tribal Leaders Board and other agencies around so we’re able to help maybe combine different data streams that haven’t been combined before.”

That, Dr. Elliot hopes, will lead to lasting and systemic change in better health outcomes for Native women on the great plains.

A new documentary Bad River spotlights the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa — and the tribe’s David vs. Goliath battle against the Line 5 pipeline.

Lina Tran of WUWM in Milwaukee reports.

The Bad River Band is up against the Canadian energy company Enbridge.

Twelve miles of pipeline runs through the Bad River reservation. 

It’s a fight the Band says is necessary to defend Lake Superior from the aging pipeline. And protect the lake for future generations. 

RunningHorse Livingston is a Bad River member featured in the film. 

“We’re fighting this battle for water, but it’s really a battle for our home. And keeping it safe and keeping it beautiful, the way that it has been for forever.”

The film says there’s no evidence the Band ever consented to the pipeline. A federal judge ruled that Enbridge is trespassing and has three years to shut it down.

The film argues this is only the latest chapter in the tribe’s long fight for sovereignty.

Here’s producer, writer, and director Mary Mazzio.

“And you know, long after this challenge, there will be another one, because that’s just the history of who we are as a country. This is a very, very precarious situation happening in real time.”

Erosion near the banks of the Bad River has stoked the Band’s concerns that the exposed pipeline could rupture.

Their urgency grows as climate change makes extreme rainfall and flooding more and more likely.

The film started screening March 15 in select theaters. 

Members of the Kiowa Tribe welcome Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs employees to Carnegie, Okla. on April 7, 2023. (Courtesy VA)

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Kiowa Tribe in Oklahoma are hosting a veterans benefits event on April 5.

Tribal Veteran Service Officers and other advocates are expected to be onsite at the tribe’s community center to assist veterans, spouses, and widows with VA claims.

According to the VA, collaborations with other tribes across the country are in the works to hold similar events.

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Federal officials say they don’t have many resources to offer if it takes over law enforcement on Northwest Montana’s Flathead Reservation.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports those comments come as the county plans to stop providing those services on the reservation.

For decades, Lake County has overseen felony jurisdiction on the Flathead Reservation as part of a long-standing agreement. But commissioners say the county can no longer afford it and wants to pull out.

That would pass jurisdiction to the state, but Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) says the state is also pulling out of the agreement.

That means the federal government would take over, but Montana U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich says federal agencies are already stretched.

“And we know for a certainty at this point that it will be … worse in the short term from a resource perspective in holding people accountable.”

He says his office would only be able to prosecute bigger cases that impact a large number of people like large drug distribution or sex trafficking.

Lower-level felony offenses might go unchecked.

“That’s an unacceptable consequence.”

County Commissioner Gale Decker says it costs about $4 million to provide law enforcement services on the reservation.

“If we have to stay in it for public safety concerns, then we’ll have to make decisions about where we can find extra money.”

Commissioner Decker says that could come in the form of budget cuts, staff layoffs, or asking voters to approve a levy.

If Lake County continues with its plan to pull out of the agreement, the federal government would take over May 21.

Niin Wigwamis / My Little Home Project in Canada. (Courtesy Garden River First Nation / Facebook)

Canada’s auditor general says the federal government is failing to pledges on housing and policing to the country’s Indigenous people.

It’s a refrain that was voiced by previous fiscal watchdogs, as Dan Karpenchuk reports.

Auditor General Karen Hogan released three reports this week, two of them focusing on housing and policing for First Nations.

She says her latest audit shows a distressing and persistent pattern of failure.

“I’m rather discouraged that it’s been twenty years and there is little progress despite the amount of money that’s been invested.”

Hogan says previous auditor general have talked about the situation being unacceptable and even beyond unacceptable.

She says, despite many warnings, the lack of funding for housing means that number of First Nations homes in need of repair is basically the same as it was in 2015.

She says it’s obvious that the process has not been working and there is twenty years of information to show that.

“I’d like to see a fundamentally different approach taken by the government to address the issues whether it be around safe drinking water, emergency preparedness, housing or policing.  The approach of being passive and siloed and having communities apply, doesn’t appear to be working.”

Hogan says adequate housing is a basic human need and adds that she’s completely discourage that so many First Nations families continue to live in substandard homes.

Hogan’s report says the Indigenous Services Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation have made little progress to support First Nations efforts towards better housing conditions in their communities.

She also says the data shows that government agencies have not given priority to communities with greatest needs and those communities with poorest housing conditions got less money that those with better housing conditions.

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community members and staff tend the clam garden. (Courtesy Swinomish Fisheries Department)

More than $30 million for 42 climate projects have been awarded to tribal communities in Alaska under the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program.

Alaska received about one-quarter of the $120 million in awards recently announced.

The funds are intended to help address climate change.

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Federal infrastructure dollars are making their way to the Pine Ridge Reservation.

This money will go toward the Oglala Dam, which has been out of commission for some time.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene reports.

The dam failed about five years ago.

Representatives from the Interior Department were on hand this week to break ground on the new development.

Putting the dam back into use will help mitigate floods in lower-elevation communities and rebuild the lake ecosystem in the area.

Bryan Newland (Ojibwe) is the assistant secretary of Indian Affairs.

He explains the problem at the dam.

Newland says it’s an example of real investment in reservations from the Biden Administration.

“This is a perfect example of the commitment. This is not just mouthing the words ‘trust, responsibility, or commitments to tribes.’ We’re putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to things like this. Serving all Americans including American Indian people, tribes and communities that are so often overlooked.”

Local tribal representatives on hand were happy to see real steps being taken. That includes water resources director Reno Red Cloud.

“It’s an exciting time today with the spillway dedication. We can see that there’s improvements coming to our tribe. It’s an improvement for us to move forward for another 60-70 years.”

The dam was first built in the 1940s and was taken out of commission following a severe flood.

The U.S. and Canada have struck a deal over pollution flowing from British Columbia coal mines into a lake and river system in Montana.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton explains.

Tribes in the U.S. and Canada have raised concerns for years about  selenium levels harming fish reproduction in Lake Koocanusa and the Kootenai River.

That selenium is flowing from coal mines along the Elk River in British Columbia.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes chairman Tom McDonald says the pollution puts cutthroat trout and threatened species like bull trout at risk.

“We have to be able to have a clean and healthy environment that we can be able to catch fish and eat fish out of any river system that’s in our aboriginal territory that we’ve relied on for the past 10,000 to 30,000 years.”

The U.S. and Canada agreed to let the International Joint Commission set up a governing body for the transboundary watershed.

That body will make recommendations for provincial, state, and federal governments.

While not legally binding, IJC recommendations are usually implemented.

Teck Resources, which owns the mines, says it wants to learn more about the IJC process, but noted it’s willing to work with all parties.

B.C. provincial officials released a statement saying they support IJC involvement.

Courtesy Angus Reid Institute

A new poll suggests that Manitoba’s new Indigenous premier has the highest approval rating among Canadian premiers.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, Wab Kinew’s polling shows a sharp difference from his predecessor who ranked last in four previous polls.

It’s apparent that the honeymoon phase between Manitoba voters and premier Wab Kinew (Onigaming First Nation) is far from over.

The latest Angus Reid poll shows Kinew with an approval rating of 57% and more than 20% of them say they strongly approve.

Kinew of the New Democratic Party campaigned for the October election on the promise of fixing health care making life more affordable.

“So today is a new day in our province and people are feeling very optimistic about the future and now it’s up to our administration to deliver.”

Chris Adams is an adjunct professor of political studies.

“You don’t wanna hang your hat too strongly on these numbers, but at the same time, it’s good to compare this premier to the other premiers. Knowing the polling data from the past number of years, it’s the first time Manitoba’s premier has been so high up in the numbers.”

At the same time Adams says Kinew has made some commitments that might be difficult to keep and he adds that he would be surprised if the current numbers hold. But he says many Manitobas are feeling a sense of optimism about Wab Kinew’s election.

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Native women are a key part of the business world and discussed women leadership this week at the Reservation Economic Summit in Las Vegas, Nev.

The event is put together by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

Yonne Tiger is a travel attorney and has a business called Show Nation.

When it comes to women lead businesses, Tiger says women bring something different including a different mindset than their male counterparts.

And also, she says Native women are often the breadwinners for their families.

“Sometimes, you’re the main person in their family that’s providing an income. And it’s not always because they’re a single mother, it’s just because of circumstances. They’re the ones that are providing for their whole family, and even outside of their immediate family, a lot of times they’re the caregivers for our parents, and our siblings, and nieces, you know, whoever needs the help. We’re charged with that responsibility.”

Margo Gray is a board member of the National Center.

She wears many hats, and has been a part of RES for many years.

She says women lead businesses are continuing on the up and up, and when it comes to giving women, especially Indigenous women advice, she says make sure to have a plan.

“Do your homework, and I’m telling you, you can go to Barnes and Noble and any bookstore and look how to get into business. Just follow the process. And I just encourage everyone if you have that dream, don’t ever think it, do your homework, and then be ready to take that risk.”

Keynote speakers this week had words of encouragement for attendees like Dakota Louis, a professional bull rider from Browning, Mont.

He says when Indigenous people put their mind to work, they can do powerful things including Native youth.

“It’s going to be hard at times, but it’s going to be worth it. Anything that’s wroth it, is definitely going to test you, and just know that you’re not alone. Everybody struggles through things, there’s good days and there’s better days, just know that Creator has a plan for us all, and just keep pushing forward, the only limit is the limit you put on yourselves.”

More than 4,000 people are gathered together, including tribal leaders, members of Congress, federal agency representatives, state and local officials, and top C-E-O’s to discuss entrepreneurship, business, and mentorship in Indian Country.

The summit wraps up Thursday.

Courtesy Arctic Winter Games

Competition is heating up at the Arctic Winter Games.

The Matanuska-Susitna Valley near Anchorage is hosting the games this year – the first time the international competition has been in Alaska in a decade.

So far, “Team Alaska” leads the Ulu count, medals that are shaped like a Native ulu, a curved knife for cutting fish and game.

The Yukon and Northwest Territories are in second and third place.

Besides the United States, which is represented by Alaska, the other Arctic nations include Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

The athletes range in age from eleven to 18.

At opening ceremonies on Saturday, Alfred Tellman, an elder from the Knik Tribal Council welcomed the crowd.

“Whether you win or not, you’re all winners.  Whether you ‘medal’ or not, you’re all winners.  You’ve come a long ways to get here. You’ve done a lot to be here.”

One of the big challenges for Greenland’s team was raising the money to travel. But Karl Davidson, who is the Greenlandic government’s official representative for the games, says sports are one way to help young people balance both modern and traditional life.

“Sports over Greenland, are very much influenced by the European style.  The Arctic Games are very much less to find in Greenland.”

Davidson says Indigenous games like the one-foot high kick have gained popularity in his country, thanks to Greenland’s participation in the Arctic Winter Games.

The event encompasses a wide range of competitions – from winter sports like figure skating and speed skating – to downhill and cross-country skiing. But the Dene games and other Indigenous sporting events make the Arctic Winter Games a one-of-a-kind event.

Former Gov. Wally Hickel (R-AK) and other Arctic nation leaders founded the games in 1959 to bring circumpolar peoples together.

The manager of this year’s games, Karen Land, says they will help Alaska build bonds for the future.

“It is very special celebrate that. And the great thing about the game, is that the participants all come, and they are all strangers. By the end of the week, they are friends and lifelong friends. It’s just amazing to watch.”

The games run through Saturday.

Today’s NNN was written and anchored by Jill Fratis

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Indian Country business is getting done in Las Vegas this week, as more than 4,000 people are gathered for the 2024 Reservation Economic Summit.

It’s put on by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

The summit features tribal leaders, members of Congress, federal agency representatives, state and local officials, and top CEOs all gather together on a national platform.

Attendee Henry Jake Foreman is the program director for New Mexico Community Capital based in Albuquerque, which assists Native-owned businesses.

He says an important goal for his non-profit in the next year is to connect with high urban Indigenous communities.

The organization is building a technology hub in downtown Albuquerque, which is a co-working space and an innovation spot.

He says they’re also seeking to expand hubs beyond New Mexico.

“Phoenix, Ariz., they have one of the highest urban Indigenous populations, so we also want to create a hub there as well. We’re looking to Oakland, Calif. where we’ve done programming in the past. We’re traveling to Oklahoma City next week as well as Alaska.”

Also during the summit, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the Biden Administration is investing $58 million in tribal communities in Nevada, Oklahoma, and South Dakota to provide clean drinking water, sanitary wastewater systems, and affordable high-speed internet.

Sec. Vilsack says that when it comes to helping a community grow economically, access to clean water and water sanitation should be a no brainer.

“Making sure that tribes have access to water and wastewater treatments, absolutely essential to the economic opportunity and development.”

As for high-speed internet, Sec. Vilsack says that regardless of how small or rural a community is, access to high-speed internet is crucial, and that working with the Reconnect Program is going to help make that happen.

“You cannot have a modern economy without access to high-speed internet. And I think the President has been very clear about this. He wants all areas, regardless of how remote they may be, to have access to this incredibly important tool.

RES wraps up on Thursday.

WATCH Native America Calling live from RES today at 1 p.m ET and a special web exclusive panel at 5 p.m. ET

Are you at RES this week? Meet us at booth #423

Ryan Metoxen-Hamilton, left, and his brother Deven Metoxen-Hamilton process samples together. (Photo: Lina Tran / WUWM)

Bitter cold keeps bugs at bay, but climate change is giving invasive pests like emerald ash borer a leg-up — which can cause serious economic damage.

After Wisconsin’s warmest winter on record, Lina Tran of member station WUWM reports on how tribes in the state are keeping track of the problem.

Warming winters have encouraged the spread of invasive pests like the tiny, green ash borer beetle. That makes fending off pests harder.

Tracking their spread is a key part of the effort.

Melissa Johnson (Oneida) is with the Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council.

She leads a pest survey across tribal land in the state.

Before it started about five years ago, tribal forests weren’t included in the state-run surveys.

“The tribes, the more knowledge they have about their land, the better. And it’s not like an insect knows reservation boundaries or county boundaries.”

A mix of antifreeze and water helps immobilize and preserve the trapped insects until they are processed. (Photo: Lina Tran / WUWM)

What they find helps inform tribal forest management and preserve black ash wood, which Haudenosaunee tribes have used to weave baskets for thousands of years.

Last July, I met Johnson and her interns at a wild, grassy field in the Oneida reservation.

Deven Metoxen-Hamilton is a senior at UW-Stevens Point and an Oneida citizen.

He checks a trap hanging from an oak tree.

He almost wants his summer job to be boring — he doesn’t want to find anything.

“Like, it feels good to be doing this. But then again, it’s like if you find something, it’s a good thing and a bad thing. Bad that it’s here. Good that you’ve detected it early.”

All morning, the team drives to different sites.

None of them identify as “bug people.” They’re doing this because of the threat that non-native bugs pose to the trees and birds that they love.

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Native students from colleges and universities from across the country are learning valuable leadership skills this week in Las Vegas.

More than 250 students are gathered for the American Indigenous Business Leaders (AIBL) conference.

It’s being held in collaboration with the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s Reservation Economic Summit where more than 4,500 business leaders are gathered.

The AIBL conference offers a variety of activities geared specifically to enhance educational experiences beyond what is taught through traditional academic methods.

Courtesy Prairie Blount / LinkedIn

Prairie Blount is the Executive Director of AIBL.

She says, with the program, they’re helping future business leaders in three different ways.

“We focus on training tomorrow’s business leaders, and we do that in three specific ways. We provide scholarships, we provide paid internships, and mentoring opportunities.”

Blount says, with scholarships and financial help, Native students, particularly in the business fields, can get their education and return back to their reservations and communities to help build the economy.

Christian Rangel has been a part of AIBL for four years and joined his junior year of college at the Northwest University of Oklahoma with a bachelors in business management.

He’s now working to get his business major and says because of AIBL, he will be able to help his community.

“Whenever I graduate, I want to open a business and go back to my reservation in Piñon. In Piñon, there’s not much water, and not much housing I want to create some type of housing.”

Blount says with the 30th anniversary coming up for the organization, they have a lot of plans in store, especially for the younger leaders still in school.

“We’re blowing up our programming to include high school track, a tribal university, and then a young professionals track. So those students that have come through our program, but are just entering their jobs, they still need support as well. And so we’re including them in our new programming going forward, so that we can really create a more wholistic experience for our up and coming business leaders.”

The AIBL conference wraps up Tuesday, with representatives from over seventeen different states, over 35 different tribal colleges, and universities.

Courtesy Oscars / ABC

Sunday’s 2024 Academy Awards was filled with many memorable moments.

The movie Oppenheimer won a majority of the awards as predicted, but one thing Indian Country was rooting for didn’t happen in the Best Actress in a Leading Role category.

Native people across the county were holding high hopes actress Lily Gladstone would take home an Oscar for her role as Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon.

Courtesy Oscars / ABC

Gladstone has been the top contender this award season, winning best Actress at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, so when Emma Stone’s name was called, it appeared Stone herself was just as shocked.

When going up to accept her award, Stone acknowledged Gladstone in her speech.

“Lily, I share this with you. I am in awe of you. And it has been such an honor to do all this together, I hope we can keep doing this together.”

Gladstone is Blackfeet and Nez Perce.

Her portrayal of Molly Burkhart in the film ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ has been widely recognized by critics and viewers alike.

During the introduction of the Oscars Award for Best Actress, actress Jennifer Lawrence highlighted Gladstone’s portrayal in Killers of the Flower Moon.

“Lily, you are the soul of Killers of the Flower Moon. Every second of your performance as Molly Burkhart is imputed with the plight, resilience, and spirit of the Osage people. Your advocacy offset is a powerful display of dedication and leadership illuminating and helping us reconcile one of the darkest part of our country’s history.”

People across Indian country expressed their displeasure on social media, but many say Lily is still a winner and an inspiration.

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