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It was an emotional day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage this Sunday, where the U.S. Interior Secretary spent the day listening to Native boarding school survivors, who suffered abuse at the hands of government employees.

As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports, it was the tenth stop on her Road to Healing tour.

Trigger warning: this story includes testimony of child sexual abuse.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) told the gathering her name in Keres is Crushed Turquoise.

She says her family’s knowledge of their language fractured after a priest took her grandmother away, at the age of eight, on a train to a Catholic boarding school.

There she was punished for speaking Keres and quit using it, so it wasn’t passed on.

Today, Sec. Haaland says she understands some of the language but can’t speak it.

“This is the first time in history that a United States cabinet secretary comes to the table with the same trauma that all of you have.”

“Many of these kids were as young as five years old. “

Jim and Kermit LaBelle. (Courtesy: Jim LaBelle)

Jim LaBelle was the first to share his story. He was only eight years old when the government took him away from his mother, along with and his younger brother, Kermit.

When LaBelle was sent to the Wrangell Institute in 1955, he was bilingual.

“I quickly shut down my Inupiaq side, because I saw so many of my students beaten in so many different ways.”

There was the gauntlet, in which a naked child would be forced to run past a row of kids, who lined up to strike them with their belts. And if they didn’t hit hard enough, they would be punished too.

“We just didn’t do it once. We did it many times. And a lot of times that drew blood on our bodies.”

He said matrons used a paddle known as a cat of nine tails. It had holes that would leave blood blisters.

There were also shaming tactics.

When children were caught speaking their Native language, they were forced to wear cone-shaped hats, labeled with the word “Dunce.”

But LaBelle says that wasn’t the worst of it.

“Matrons were sodomizing boys in their beds or in the bathroom. We saw girls going home in the middle of the year pregnant.”

LaBelle says the kids knew what was going on, but never told anyone – dark secrets which took a huge emotional toll.

Even 20 years ago, LaBelle says people didn’t see the relationship between boarding schools and trauma.

Emily Edenshaw, Executive Director of the Alaska Native Heritage Center, left, poses with Paul Sherry; Interior Secretary Deb Haaland; Robin Sherry, a boarding school survivor from Wrangell Institute; and Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland. (Photo: Rhonda McBride / KNBA)

That’s why he began to share his story, to help people like Martha Senungetuk connect the dots.

“And a lot of trauma is carried on from one generation to the next. And that’s what happened in my family.”

Senungetuk says this was never talked about in her family, and yet.

“Some people became alcoholics. There was domestic violence in the family. And not knowing how to raise your children, because no one every taught you. Grandma didn’t know how to raise children in a boarding school.”

Martha Senungetuk says all Alaska Natives are in some way touched by boarding school abuse.

Photo: Sue Thompson via Flickr CC

A Canadian judge has approved a landmark $23 billion First Nations child welfare compensation agreement.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, it’s for First Nations children and families who experienced racial discrimination because of the government’s underfunding of the foster care system on reserves.

The compensation, $23 billion, is the largest in Canadian history.

It comes after a Canadian human rights tribunal ruling in 2019.

It ordered the Canadian government to pay the maximum human rights penalty for discrimination that will work out to about $40,000 for each affected First Nations child and family member.

Initially Ottawa fought the order, but negotiated a deal after it faced two class action lawsuits.

Cindy Blackstock is the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society.

‘It’s a relief, but I also find myself thinking about the thousands of children, youth and families who were hurt by Canada’s discrimination and will never get their childhoods back. And that’s why it’s so important that we end the discrimination and prevent it from happening again, because no amount of compensation ever gets you your family back.”

About 300,000 First Nations children and their families will be entitled to the compensation.

The settlement comes more than 15 years after the Assembly of First Nations and the Child and Family Caring Society launched a human rights complaint.

It centered on allegations that Ottawa’s underfunding of on reserve child welfare services amounted to discrimination, and that First Nations children were denied equal access to support including medical equipment and school supplies.

Child welfare was one of the main issues to come out of the report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

In addition to the $23 billion in compensation, another $20 billion will be spent to reform the child welfare system.

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Studies show the nation’s aging power grid isn’t ready to handle the energy shift from fossil fuels to renewables.

The U.S. government hopes a historic investment will fix that.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more.

The Department of Energy is spending $3.5 billion on efforts like expanding capacity for wind and solar power and building microgrids that keep the lights on during power outages.

Money will also go toward hardening power lines against extreme weather and wildfires.

That’s led by a $100 million investment in high-risk areas across more than a dozen states – including Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

Margaret Tallmadge is with Navajo Power, a Native-owned developer of renewable energy projects.

“This provides an enormous opportunity for us to address transmission congestion, outdated transmission leading to wildfires – a huge opportunity to support renewable energy development in Indian Country.”

She says it’s also a chance for tribes to receive the revenue and economic benefits of their projects.

Courtesy ACLU of Nebraska

A Lakota family in Northwestern Nebraska was the recipient of a six-figure settlement following a court battle.

C.J. Keene has more.

The case circles a 2021 incident involving the Johnson-Leroy family in Cherry County, Neb., just south of the border of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations.

Amyrah and Madeline had their hair allegedly cut during school hours as school officials searched for head lice. (Family photo)

Two of the families’ children had their hair cut by school staff, which sparked the discrimination suit.

Nebraska state law prohibits discrimination in public schools based on a student’s tribal regalia or long hair.

The family was represented by the ACLU of Nebraska and the Harvard Law School Religious Freedom Clinic.

The suit ultimately sparked change in the Cody-Kilgore School District as well, including the recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day and Native American Heritage Month.

Further changes are to be made to the district’s student and employee handbooks to note no student’s hair should be cut without consent from parents or guardians.

Native American Bank has been chosen to administer $50 million in grants from the U.S. Treasury Department to bolster low-income Native American community projects and businesses in Plains states, including Montana.

Mark Moran reports.

The Treasury Department has given Native American Bank the authority to invest in disadvantaged Indigenous communities that often lack access to the capital they need to start and maintain viable, sustainable businesses on tribal reservations or other American Indian-owned land.

Joel Smith with the Denver-based Native American Bank says, in northern Montana, the investments will show up in the construction of community service facilities on and around the Blackfeet Indian reservation in Browning.

“So, we’re looking at a lot of health-care clinics, wellness centers, behavioral health or opioid recovery centers in addition to child care and schools.”

The $50 million is part of a larger, $5 billion federal investment designed to spur economic growth in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide.

Smith says this federal investment will fill the gaps that remain on Indian land that currently aren’t covered despite bank and grant funding.

“But when you layer this on top of it, gets the project across the finish line. So, in that regard, it’s one of the most impactful things because it’s making projects happen that really would not otherwise. ”

In addition to new and much-needed community services, Smith adds the investment will also create jobs in the communities where these facilities are built.

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In Guatemala, an unprecedented national strike led by Indigenous groups has been going on for over 20 days.

Protests and blockades continued over the weekend as Indigenous and other citizens mobilized in support of the President-elect Bernardo Arévalo.

Maria Martin reports.

As Guatemala’s national strike enters its third week, neither the government nor pro-democracy protesters are budging.

Those mobilizing want the government to drop its efforts to block the reformist President-elect Arévalo from taking office while the government wants the protests to stop, calling the blockades quote “crimes against humanity.”

In Guatemala City, doctors from the two largest public hospitals joined protests, one carried a sign referencing the lack of investment in public health saying, “we’re here from all those who’ve lost their lives due to corruption.”

Meanwhile, the Indigenous group 48 Cantones (48 Villages) say some of its blockades will be lifted, but that protests will continue in the capital.

The group’s significant role in leading the pro-democracy movement is now being celebrated in a song going viral on social media.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the official end of the electoral period at the end of the month.

The Justice Department can legally move to disqualify the president elect’s party.

@48_cantonesJuntos defendamos la democracia, la libertad y la institucionalidad nacional. 🇬🇹 Por un país libre de corrupción y dictaduras, 48 Cantones de Totonicapán. 📣♬ sonido original – 48 Cantones Oficial

A Northern Wisconsin Tribe is in the middle of a major housing development project.

In the next year, it’s expected to build and renovate 44 homes within the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation.

WXPR’s Katie Thoresen reports.

Two major housing projects are underway in Lac du Flambeau right now.

The Chippewa Housing Authority received $15 million in tax credits to build 20 new homes and renovate 24 others.

The new homes will range from two-to-four-bedroom units.

The renovated houses will be adding another bedroom and bathroom.

Travois has been working with the housing authority since 2021 to secure the financing.

Brian Schuler is the organization’s Vice President of Housing Development who works with tribes across the country.

“We see a lot of overcrowding within reservation housing. So that was meeting that particular need in terms of this renovation. Additionally, housing authorities maintain a really large waiting list of households that need housing. The new construction was going to be very vital to the LDF community.”

Schuler says the Indian Housing Block Grant allocation hasn’t kept up with inflation which is why tribes like Lac du Flambeau have turned to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.

It’s the first time in state history a tribe was able to get both of these types of tax credit projects funded within the same year.

Jeff Ackley is the housing administrator for the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa Housing Authority.

“There’s always a way to improve anything that you’re, you know, any community that you’re working in, and that kind of thing. So it’s some of it has been challenging, but the reward is great. And, you know, I think that the whole community and you know, like, Wisconsin wins, basically, you know, basically for affording us the opportunity and putting in for tax credit projects.”

Ackley says one of the long-term benefits is sustaining Tribal membership in the community.

People will not have to move off the reservation to find other housing.

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LISTEN to our special AFN coverage: Alaska’s Native Voice with Antonia Gonzales

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) was greeted with a standing ovation at the Alaska Federation of Natives, when she addressed the convention Friday.

From subsistence to Native veterans, Sec. Haaland touched on a range of topics.

But one issue on this trip to Alaska will get a lot of her attention.

On Sunday, Sec. Haaland held a listening session in Anchorage on the trauma caused by Native boarding schools.

“We must reckon with the past to address the injustices we still face, because we know that intergenerational trauma connects so much of what hurts us.”

Sec. Haaland has been traveling the country on what she calls a “Road to Healing Tour,” taking testimony on the boarding school era about the damage it caused.

“My grandma used to share stories about this trauma with me about how a priest showed up one day in her village, took her and other children away from her parents and families, and sent them on a train to a Catholic boarding school, when she was only eight years-old.”

Sec. Haaland’s listening session was held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center and followed by the raising of a healing totem.

The Heritage Center has been investigating church records to learn more about how Alaska Natives were impacted.

Benjamin Jacuk (Kenaitze Indian Tribal Member), one of the researchers, says his grandfather is a boarding school survivor, which got him interested in learning more.

“The road to healing is going to be a very, a very emotional event, because it’s a lot of people, actually telling their stories. Some maybe before, some for the first time. One thing you know, is never leave people in that space.”

The healing totem is the work of two Haida master carvers – Joe and T.J Young.

An elder developed the concept for the design.

The totem pole depicts mother bear, who is holding two cubs, while the father, in human form, sits above her, embedded in a Raven’s tail.

Two children rest comfortably in Raven’s ear.

The totem raising, which was followed by a potlatch, was open to the public, but the Road to Healing Tour was closed to the general public, to give boarding school survivors and their famiies some privacy.

Courtesy Alaska Department of Education

Education in Alaska has followed a westernized, traditional path since 1784, when the first settlement was formed on Kodiak Island.

Since 1784, education has changed, morphing into a system that doesn’t serve all of the children that it’s meant to.

It has been documented that Indigenous children have been stolen, abused, and forced to assimilate in the current westernized system.

At this year’s Alaska Federation of Natives conference, that story seems to be shifting to a conversation about future hires, curriculum changes, and the potential to bring elders into the classroom.

The conversation started off with a video talking about the history of Indigenous people.

“The story our past tells us, is about an education system imposed on Alaskan’s First People, rather than one built along side of us. ”

For the past year, Cook Inlet has been working on reaching out to multiple communities to see what an ideal educational system would look like.

So far, five tribal communities have agreed to participate in the AFN Educational Compacting Project.

Joel Issak, director of tribal affairs for the U.S. Department of Education, says that the focus of the program and the future of education are these three things.

“The first one is funding. And having the funding go directly from the state to the tribes. The second one is local control and looking at self governance. The third one is around instruction and looking at, ‘How do tribes be that driving force for who is in the classroom teaching our students?'”

After the video was played, speakers said conversations of the future must contain the past, and bringing back traditional beliefs from before 1784.

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WATCH and LISTEN to gavel-to-gavel AFN Convention coverage

An exhibit opened Wednesday night at the Dena’ina Convention Center that looks at the work of Bill Hess and his 40 years of photographing Alaska Native veterans.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA was there for the opening.

Before you enter the main convention hall, large panels with portraits and candid photographs line the way.

“Actually, when you walk in, it draws you in.”

Wanda Solomon-Parsons. (Photo: Rhonda McBride / KNBA)

Wanda Solomon-Parsons (Athabascan), Alaska National Guard Member, is dressed in her uniform.

She’s served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and was struck by how the photos evoke the spirituality of serving your country.

“It draws you into a story and it draws you into a personal life of an Alaskan Native veteran that served. We all have a story to tell.”

Along with the pictures, you can read about each veteran’s life.

“I capture what I see and feel and the feeling is every bit is important as the eye.”

Bill Hess says this exhibit showcases photographs of more than 60 veterans, culled from four decades pictures he’s snapped at veterans’ ceremonies, as well as sit-down portraits of vets he met along the way.

“I don’t feel like I’ve photographed near enough actually.”

But long enough to know that Alaska Native Veterans don’t get near enough appreciation.

Out of all the ethnic groups in the country, Alaska Natives have the highest rate of service to their country and yet as a people, Hess says, they’ve been treated terribly.

“These are Alaska native indigenous people who are willing to put their life on the line for a country that took it upon himself to subsume most of their country. It’s still their country and, and they have a loyalty to it.”

Photo: Rhonda McBride / KNBA

Benno Cleveland (Inupiaq), who is head of the Alaska Native Veterans Council says, serving your country as a way of life for Alaska Natives, a tradition of service that goes back to World War II, when thousands of Alaska Natives signed up to the Alaska Territorial Guard to defend the country during World War II, a direct threat when the Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor in Unalaska and invaded the Aleutians.

“And that way we started to come into the United States as citizens, as equals.”

And also known for their love of service to the country, as well as their endurance and remarkable ability to fight in the cold.

“Our people are adaptable, we can adapt to any situation, anything that comes our way, that is our strength.”

From the Territorial Guard, to Vietnam, to the Persian Gulf Wars, and Afghanistan, the exhibit also shows how this legacy of service has been passed down across the generations.

Courtesy Kodiak Tribal Housing Authority

The 2023 AFN Citizen of the Year Award went to Kodiak resident Margaret Roberts on Thursday.

She was nominated by the Woody Island Tribal council and was selected by the AFN board of directors.

She passed away in July of last year and has been praised by communities all over Alaska for her tireless dedication to the Alutiiq language and dance, as well as advocating for the rights of Alutiiq people and Alaskans.

Born and raised in Kodiak, Roberts was known for her leadership.

She served on boards for many tribal councils including the Alaska Native Claims Settlement act corporation, as well as other non-profit organizations.

Robert’s daughters joined the presenters and Alutiiq dancers, a dance group Roberts created, onstage.

Leslie Ann Heglan, Roberts’ oldest daughter, spoke of her mother’s tireless commitment to her people and corporations, even while fighting cancer and just having had surgery.

Painting of Margaret Roberts by Helen Simeonoff.

“She tells me she leaves that Sunday for Seattle for housing meetings and (a) conference. I said ‘WHAT?! Mom you just got back from surgery, what are you thinking you can’t go, you’re still l weak.’ Mom went, it was about a week later, she looked just exhausted. Mom had selflessness and worried about everyone.”

Heglan said Roberts also fought for the Alutiiq language to be taught in her daughter’s school.

“And it did happen. Sammy had four years of Alutiiq language in high school.”

After Roberts’ daughters accepted the award, the Kodiak Alutiiq dance group performed a Native dance to honor the memory of the woman who made it possible for them to be up on the stage that day.

Roberts was known in her Alutiiq language as “the one who dances.”

Check out our Day 1 gallery courtesy of our partners at Alaska Public Media

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After a year of planning, the guests have gathered and the table has been set for another Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, which will officially come to order at 9 a.m. (AKT) Thursday morning.

The Qasigirmuit Dancers from Bethel will welcome delegates today, as they take their seats on the convention floor at the Dena’ina Center in downtown Anchorage.

After opening ceremonies and speeches, the convention will hear from two keynote speakers this morning: Sophie Minich, president and CEO of the CIRI Native Corporation, and Ryan Redington, champion of this year’s Iditarod.

This is the 57th annual AFN Convention.

This year’s theme is “Our Ways of Life,” which will explore the subsistence lifestyle in communities across the state and how Alaska Natives are blending their culture and traditions to address today’s challenges.

Get out the Native vote efforts are underway this week in Anchorage, as people from across the state gather downtown for the AFN convention.

Michelle Spark is the director of Get Out The Native Vote, a statewide nonprofit, nonpartisan voter education group.

She says one area they’re focusing on is rural communities.

“Rural village precincts with Native populations did not vote at all, either in August or in November. So we’re here to make sure that the staffing happens, that there’s less barriers to voting when it comes to an election day, and that our vote counts in the end.”

Spark says they’re gearing up for 2024.

The theme for this year’s Annual Elders and Youth Conference that was held at the Dena’ina center in downtown Anchorage, Alaska was “Let it be that we all heal each other.”

One of the people in attendance was George Holly, Athabaskan from Soldotna.

He came to the Elders and Youth Conference to promote healing with multi faith daily prayers at dawn.

“About four years ago at elders and youth, a group of Indigenous friends from all over Alaska, proposed that Dawn belongs to all and that the Earth turns and humbles itself before the sun each day. And we can do that too. And the Elders and Youth Conference was so open to it, we had a fire, and folks were attracted to be able to have that kind of expression again, as we get together. And it’s been going since so this is its fifth year.”

Another passion of Holly’s is language revitalization.

He says when it comes to healing, speaking your Native language brings back cultural identity.

Naomi Michaelson (Eagle Wolf tribe of the Shark House) is from Ketchikan.

For ten years she worked for a domestic violence shelter, but found it hard to balance her personal life and her job. Still wanting to advocate for domestic violence victims, she took a different approach.

“ I took some time off and started a business called Café Indigenous Foodways. And my hope and goal is to help people reconnect back to the land and to each other. I’m passionate about helping people, and including myself with healing, and our families and our communities.”

Michaelson’s approach on using food for healing goes hand in hand with this year’s Alaska Federation of Native’s convention theme, “Our ways of Life”, by exploring the subsistence lifestyle in communities in the state, and how using culture and traditions can help address today’s challenges.

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The third day of the 2023 Statewide Annual Elders and Youth Conference at the Dena’ina Center in downtown Anchorage, Alaska started off with a Native dance group from Unalakleet and a touching speech from Youth keynote speaker Quannah Chasinghorse (Gwich’in from Eagle Village, Alaska and Oglala Lakota Tribes of South Dakota), an Indigenous land protector and model.

More work shops broke out in the early afternoon, which included salmon cutting, practicing self-governance, and the much-anticipated Native Youth Olympics.

NYO was created by Alaska Natives to help develop crucial survival skills in harsh weather and environment.

Today, the youth compete in the games to preserve and display their cultural identities in modern day life.

Maio Nishkian is a coach at the Ya Ne Dah Ah school in Chickaloon Native Village, a small town just north of Palmer and one of the NYO instructors.

She came to the gathering with three students ages eight through ten. She says NYO today is more than just physical strength and endurance.

“It’s about supporting each other, helping each other. You’ll see kids from different teams teaching each other how to do certain moves, helping each other. It’s very different than most western sports. The cultural learning that they get they’re whether native or non-Native helps them appreciate indigenous cultures.”

One of Nishkian’s students, 10 year-old Colt Jennison, shared what he’s excited about doing during the workshop.

“One foot or maybe Indian if there is Indian. This is my second year. NYO is awesome.”

@nativevoiceone Student Elmo Henry does a 2 foot high kick during the Elders and Youth Conference #Native Youth Olympics workshop. More details in the latest edition of National Native News with Jill Fratis. https://www.nativenews.net/wednesday-october-18-2023/ #Alaska ♬ original sound – Native Voice One

Duke Ngo, another instructor and a coach from Juneau, is anticipating the 2023 Arctic Winter Games which will be held in Alaska this year.

He says while he’s not certain yet about his involvement with this year’s competition, he’s looking forward to the games coming to his home state.

“It’s really exciting and I hope our team Alaska will do their best and be able to have fun at the games.”

As the Elders and Youth Conference is beginning to wind down, at the same time, preparations are underway for the Alaska Federation of Natives convention taking place at the same location starting Thursday.

Guatemala’s three-week-old popular uprising, led by the country’s Indigenous citizens, is beginning to turn bloody.

At least one protester has been killed as armed vigilantes attacked a group of protesters on Monday.

The uprising’s Indigenous leaders  say they’re fighting to save their country’s fragile democracy, as Maria Martin reports.

As this week  started, there were fewer blockades across Guatemala, but people are still leaving their Indigenous communities to come to the capital to protest and demand the resignation of what they claim are corrupt  justice department officials.

Meanwhile, Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras is calling for the government to use force against the hundreds of thousands of largely Indigenous protesters in peaceful resistance.

The protesters want her  resignation  and that of other officials  leading an investigation against the political party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo.

The justice department’s illegal raids of electoral offices was the last straw for many Indigenous groups.

48 Cantones  leader Luis Pacheco expressed disappointment that Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei has ignored their demands during a recent dialogue .

“We maintain hope and prayers that this struggle, a peaceful effort for democracy, has a good outcome.”

But yesterday, in various places, violence broke out.

In the Indigenous community of Malacatan in the border province of San Marcos, an armed masked group of vigilantes attacked the protesters.

A food vendor who was part of the protest is reported dead; more are hospitalized.

Representatives of ancestral authorities say they’ll be coming together to discuss  next  steps in light of the violence.

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The 40th annual Statewide Elders and Youth Conference kicked off Sunday at the Dena’ina Center in downtown Anchorage.

People from all over Alaska have come to town to take part in the four-day event, as well as the Alaska Federation of Natives convention that will take place later this week.

This is the third time Joseph Johnson Sr. from Angoon has taken part in the conferences. He said it is very important for elders and youth to come together.

“Get all the young kids and everyone together as a group and then split them up where they can talk, and tell other people what’s going on in their community that makes it very interesting.”

Anne Stepetin from Juneau escorted five elders to Anchorage.

She said the children can be a healing source for the elders.

“It is bringing an elder into a space where they can have healing because a lot of our elders have faced a lot of traumas in their life. We have a lot of generational trauma and I’m a huge believer in connecting our youth with our elders, and the youth bring a lot of healing to our elders.”

Those who attended Monday and Tuesday heard keynote speeches from elder Delores Churchill, the last remaining Haida birth speaker in the state, and Indigenous land protector and model Quannah Chasinghorse.

USDA Office of Tribal Relations Director Heather Dawn Thompson, left, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt and Food Safety, and Inspection Service Administrator Paul Kiecker announce a new bison purchase pilot program for tribal feeding programs. (Photo: Lee Strubinger / SDPB)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding half a million dollars in contracts to four tribal buffalo producers located within South Dakota.

The move is part of what the agency hopes will offer more ground bison meat for tribal communities.

SDPB’s Lee Strubinger has more.

Officials with the USDA say they want to change how the agency purchases and delivers bison to local communities.

The agency is announcing a pilot program they say will offer more ground bison to communities through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).

It seeks to align purchasing timeframes with how ranchers manage bison herds.

Heather Dawn Thompson is the USDA Director of Tribal Relations and an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

She says the program will benefit local producers who want to sell meat to the federal government.

“It’s very challenging to be able to sell to the federal government as a small producer. South Dakota has lots of small and family producers. This provides an opportunity for those producers to really participate in the federal procurement process.”

Thompson says the program will benefit communities near bison herds that receive provisions from federal food initiatives.

The USDA awarded contracts to four tribally owned herds and managers in the Cheyenne River, Rosebud, Lower Brule, and Standing Rock Reservations.

Students participated in a Buffalo harvest experience facilitated by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Buffalo corporation and Laplante school. (Courtesy Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Schools)

Jenny Moffit is an Under Secretary with the USDA, who oversees purchasing at USDA.

She says bison present a unique challenge when it comes to federal food distribution.

“There are certain times of year when bison are harvested. If we’re buying year-round and expecting and asking for full truck loads worth of bison and that’s something producers can meet, they’re not able to participate in these programs. That is such a miss.”

The USDA says it will align purchase timeframes with infrequent animal handling, traditional field harvests, and a nature-based calendar.

The agency says it will take lessons learned from the pilot to take the program further in the future.

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Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska granted the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN)’s motion to intervene in U.S. v. Alaska, the latest case challenging Katie John.

AFN President Julie Kitka: “This is a welcomed ruling. AFN has a special place in this litigating—dating all the way back to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act—and culminating most recently in Sturgeon. We’ll defend the legal rights of Alaska Natives to engage in subsistence hunting and fishing anytime our ways of life are threatened.”

According to AFN, U.S. V. Alaska began in 2021 when the State of Alaska refused to honor U.S. Fish and Wildlife subsistence management decisions on the Kuskokwim River.

AFN goes on to say it increased rapidly in 2022 when the State, again, refused to abide by federal closures regarding salmon fishing along certain parts of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

In a statement, AFN Co-Chair Ana Hoffman said, “This federal protection for rural Alaskans, secured by Alaska Native leaders decades ago, is the source of our nourishment physically, emotionally, culturally, and spiritually. This is our way of life; it is our existence.”

AFN predicts that U.S. v. Alaska will make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Friday, you heard about the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s efforts to recover an endangered fish by modifying a 100-year-old diversion dam.

In part two of his report, the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more on why the tribe’s fish passage project is more urgent than ever.

Shiva Sundaresan is deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and attended the project’s groundbreaking.

He says dams aren’t the only obstacles fish populations like Cui-ui and Lahontan Cutthroat Trout have to overcome.

“As climate changes in places we’re seeing changes in snowpack, changes in the timing of when you have snow melt, changing water temperatures, all of that is definitely affecting fish populations, fish habitat.”

He says that’s why the fish passage project at Numana Dam is one of dozens nationwide receiving federal funding.

“The more, I think, we can restore these ecosystems, allow fish to migrate up and down the streams, have habitat where they can find refuge when water temperatures rise, the better we will be at protecting and restoring, conserving these fish populations.”

At the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, the underwater ramp will allow up to 600,000 Cui-ui to swim over the diversion dam to new spawning grounds.

Lisa Heki is a Reno-based project leader with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Historically, they move in large numbers at the same time, and they back up behind this current design. Now, with this gradient structure downstream, it’s designed specifically for Cui-ui swimming capacity and speed.”

She says when river flows go down this fall, construction of the ramp will speed up.

The tribe is putting the project out for a construction bid and a third-party contractor will build it.

Tribal Chairman James Phoenix says the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe is excited to finally see shovels break ground on a decades-long effort to recover their Native fish.

“It’s historical. It’s big for us and it’s part of our existence. It signifies us as Numu people here at the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.”

He adds he’s looking forward to the day when the Cui-ui population is big enough for tribal members to catch, fillet, and eat them once again.

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As the Guatemalan government prepares to use force against the unprecedented uprising led by Indigenous groups, thousands of citizens in that Central American country are still joining actions against what they see as attempts to block a reformist president-elect from taking power. Maria Martin reports on the second week of the uprising against corruption and authoritarianism in Guatemala.

Bus loads of new protesters entered Guatemala city this week  from the largely Indigenous provinces of San Marcos and Huehuetenango. The protests and the more than 100 blockades across the country are only getting bigger in the wake of recent statements by President Alejandro Giammattei in a nationally televised speech, the outgoing president said protesting Guatemalans that have virtually shut down the country were “poquitos”. 

 “They’re only a few”, President Giammattei said of the hundreds of thousands out in the streets and highways.

At  the major cross roads called Cuatro Caminos, Indigenous TikTok influencers The Pacheco Brothers sent a message in response to Guatemala’s president.

Rafael  Pacheco: “ We are many and we’ll continue fight the corrupt government .”

As the protests grow, tensions are rising, and violence has broken out in some places.

Outgoing President Giammattei blames President-elect Bernardo Arévalo for “encouraging the protesters.” Arévalo says the government is using infiltrators to incite violence, so it can  declare a state of siege.

@_rafaelpacheco Dijo el presidente que somos un grupito de personas aca lo desmentimos 🇬🇹🇬🇹🇬🇹🇬🇹@Antonio Pacheco ♬ Así Fue – En Vivo Desde Bellas Artes, México/ 2013 – Juan Gabriel

Nationwide, millions of barriers – like dams – make it hard for fish to move freely and lay eggs.

Now, the federal government is spending more than $200 million to reopen spawning grounds for fish.

That includes an effort to recover an endangered species that’s sacred to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe in Nevada.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel has more in a report edited by Jennifer Coombes.

At the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation in northern Nevada, rolling mountains cloaked in pale-green sagebrush unfold for miles like a painting that never ends.

Standing at an overlook in these hills is the tribe’s chairman, James Phoenix. He’s watching the Truckee River rush over Numana Dam, an irrigation diversion.

As a kid, Chairman Phoenix fished in these waters for Cui-ui – sucker fish that aren’t found anywhere else in the world.

“Bringing them to shore and then cutting and filleting them, that’s what my dad had taught me. And I got to experience that’s how he was taught when he was young.”

The tribe refers to themselves as Cui-ui Tucutta in their Native language, which means “the Cui-ui eaters.”

But tribal members stopped catching them back in the 1980s as the fish population plummeted.

A big reason for the decreased fish population is this dam.

It was built more than 100 years ago to divert river water to the reservation for farming and ranching. But it’s been a barrier for migration of the endangered cui-ui and threatened Lahontan Cutthroat Trout – another fish crucial to the tribe.

Chairman Phoenix says the previous tribal council discussed removing or modifying the dam, but kept running into the same hurdle.

“A lot of funds weren’t available.”

That finally changed. The tribe is getting more than $8 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to modify the dam.

The money will be used to build a large underwater ramp – stretching from bank to bank – so fish can swim up and over the dam.

The project, which recently broke ground, will reopen 65 miles of river for their migration.

Chairman Phoenix says that will impact more than the tribe’s culture.

“It’s important to our economics. We rely on tourism and fishing. We get a lot of anglers that are coming in seasonally, so it’s really big for us.”

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