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A first-of-its-kind report on missing persons in Alaska has been released.

The State Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police Department collaborated to collect this data.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has more.

Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Public Safety Department, says the report maps out hundreds of cases going back to 1960.

“We think this is a good first effort, and we’re definitely interested in adding additional data points.”

McDaniel says the work, which is an outgrowth of Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK)’s People First Initiative, will be updated every quarter and can be found online.

In the last quarter, from April to June, 200 Alaska Native or American Indian people went missing in the state. Most of those have been found, except for 25.

The database has an important new feature.

It categorizes the circumstances surrounding the disappearances, identifying those which are suspicious.

As director of the Data for Indigenous Justice group, Charlene Apok welcomes the new report and says it’s what advocates for missing Indigenous people have been asking for – for years.

She worked on an earlier attempt to track their numbers.

“Sadly, I think what this really illustrates is a systemic issue of violence that’s being perpetrated in our community in the state of Alaska. And that should raise flags and alarms, and really start igniting justice.”

Apok hopes the database will continue to improve and provide more information about those missing, including their hometowns and Native cultural identities, so they become more than just points of data, but reminders of loved ones, lost to their families.

A Native youth group spent one week in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks reconnecting with their roots.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann reports.

13 Native youth from the Wind River Reservation and the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota explored the area alongside five traditional elders and teachers from the Lakota, Dakota, Northern Arapaho, Eastern Shoshone, and Blackfeet Nations.

Lynnette Grey Bull is the leader of the youth group, called Indigenous Youth Voices.

It’s the first time the group has hosted this kind of event. She says that sharing knowledge between generations is invaluable.

“Not only do we share our language and speak our language, but we also share things that they probably haven’t learned and won’t be able to learn in school. Some of our traditional and oral knowledge and historical knowledge, as many people know, is not told in the right way.”

The group spent the week kayaking, whitewater rafting, and traditional storytelling.

 

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A First Nation in British Columbia says it has found nearly 160 child deaths at four facilities in the province.

As Dan Karpenchuk reports, most of the deaths occurred at a hospital.

The probe by the Stó:lō Nation in British Columbia focused on unmarked graves and missing children, going back to the 1860’s.

But representatives of the First Nation and its research and resource management center say the work is only beginning.

So far, obstacles have been the lack of access to information from Ottawa as well as religious institutions that were linked to residential schools.

The research, using ground penetrating radar, archives, and field work, was into three residential schools, cemeteries, and a First Nation hospital.

Most of the children died of diseases such as tuberculosis. Some from accidents.

Amber Kostuchenko is a researcher and the project manager.

“One child died because they were jumped on by another student. Another child was reported to have hit their head against the bed under unknown circumstances. And another was reported to have broken their spine while jumping rope.”

The institutions included the St. Mary’s Indian Residential School, the Coqualeetza Industrial Institute, and the Coqualeetza Hospital – all three in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.  And the fourth was the All Hallows School in Yale, BC.

Kostuchencko says her team is still gathering information and has only accessed about half of the 70,000 documents they need.

One of the lead researchers also says interviews with survivors suggested many atrocities committed against children, including sexual assaults, starvation, and secret burials.

Some survivors allege that the St Mary’s school was a place of punishment and starvation – and later when it moved to a second location, a place of pedophilia.

Photo: Emma VandenEinde / KUNC

For years, it was extremely difficult to find meals like bison pot roast or an elk taco at a restaurant.

Yet, Indigenous cuisine has been in the Americas for centuries.

KUNC’s Emma VandenEinde joined a chef in Denver community kitchen Same Day Café to see her approach to the cuisine.

Chef Andrea Murdoch (Indigenous Andean) is busy in the kitchen.

She’s baking her light blue sugar cookies with the help of some volunteer chefs.

“‘They’re like blue!’ ‘Yeah. They stay blue.’ ‘They do?’ ‘Yeah.'”

The color is made using Ute Mountain Ute cornmeal from Southwest Colorado.

“And blue cornmeal is something that’s very specific to the Four Corners region of the U.S. Like you will not find this easily out on the West Coast, out on the east coast.”

And this isn’t the first time she’s used unique ingredients.

“I sourced locally and indigenously to support those economies. Kroger doesn’t need my money.”

It all started when Murdoch expanded Four Directions Cuisine, her food business.

She wanted to create South American cuisine, and through her research, she found that ingredients representative of the culture were pre-colonial.

Like rabbit, bison, or other foods that existed in the Americas before colonizers arrived.

“I have this distinct privilege and honor to be able to take the teachings from others and translate that through menus.”

Along with sourcing food from local and Indigenous farmers, she forages around her for flowers and grasses, praying to the weather god Illapa for rain.

As she cooks, she taps into what she calls her “sixth sense” and connects with plants and animals that are seen as relatives in her culture.

“There’s an element of listening to the ingredients and understanding how you’re going to honor them best.”

Indigenous cuisine like Murdoch’s has recently grown in popularity, with many restaurants opening in cities like Minneapolis and Seattle.

And, for the second year in a row, a Native chef won a James Beard award – almost like the Oscars for cooking.

But it wasn’t always this way. And there’s still room to grow.

“We find food from all over the world in our amazing cities. And very seldom do we find food of where we happen to be standing that represents the land and the Indigenous communities and cultures.”

That’s Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota), head chef of Owamni in Minnesota and a multi-James Beard Award winner. 

“We should really be focused on what’s the true food of North America. And you can’t understand North American food unless you bring the Indigenous perspective into it.”

 

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In the aftermath of the fires that ravaged Maui, the struggle to protect the Native Hawaiians’ land continues. Matt Laslo reports from Washington.

In the nation’s capital, when people hear “Maui”, they think resorts, not Native Hawaiians.

“They are very important voices,” says U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) while riding the tram under the US Capitol.

Sen. Hirono bemoans the perpetual struggle for Native voices to be heard — a struggle that pre-dates the deadly fire.

Before the tragic inferno, many Native Hawaiians were vocal critics of where their traditional sources of water were diverted, including to tourism and sugar plantations. And there was also a housing state of emergency Gov. Josh Green (D-HI) declared ahead of the fire.

It upended traditional reviews focused on the cultural and environmental impacts of development — issues Sen. Hirono knows all too well.

“I think that is a big challenge, but, nonetheless, the sentiment is definitely there. They don’t want developers swooping in and getting hold of the property and doing whatever it is they want to do. There are also issues such as water, so limiting factor in terms of developing that area.”

As the rebuilding of lives, homes and land continues, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) cautions patience.

“I think we have to take a deep breath and allow FEMA and the EPA to clean up the site, and then we need to let individual landowners have access to their own properties so they can get closure and collect whatever personal effects might still be there. And then individual property owners are going to make individual decisions.”

Sen. Schatz says public officials have no say in some of these deeply personal matters.

“I think, you can’t force people to stay for some, they want to rebuild and for others, they want to rebuild their lives somewhere else. And I’m not here to judge any individual family for what they may want to do,” Schatz says.

As for Sen. Hirono, she promises “there’s not going to be a free for all landgrab in Lahaina.”

“I do not have the answers, but I do know that you there should not be a rush to figuring out what Layina is going to look like.”

A celebration of Indigenous music and culture took place in Juneau, Alaska last week packed with three days of music and 25 different acts.

As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports with help from KTOO’s Bostin Christopher, organizers say it’s the only global Indigenous music festival in the United States.

It all takes place in Juneau in Lingít Aaní, the Lingít homeland.

This is the second Áaw’k Rock Music Festival, now held every two years.

This year, it features 35 cultures from around the world.

Some the headliners are well known – Native American groups like Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Samantha Crain, a Choctaw Indie pop singer.

Stephen “Qacung” Blanchett (Yup’ik and African American), the creative director for the festival, says Áawk Rock has performances on multiple stages, as well as jam sessions.

“We’re not gonna have seats like the traditional seats, we’re gonna have places where people can just chill out. You might be able to, you know, hang out on a piece of like sea out or fur and just kind of lay out and relax or maybe even smudge with some sage. I’m imagining some organic, just amazing magic being made.”

Aaw’k Rock is co-sponsored by the Tlingit & Haida Tribes and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council.

 

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A first-of-its-kind skateboard competition is coming to Navajo Nation Saturday at the Two Grey Hills Skate Park.

The Modern Matriarchs Skate Jam competition will bring together “Indigenous Girls, Women, Trans, Non-binary and/or Gender non-conforming skaters” as they put their hard work and practice to the test.

Amy Denet Deal (Diné) is the founder of 4KINSHIP, an Indigenous owned clothing brand, and organizer of the Diné Skate Garden project.

She says while spending a day at the skate park with one of her groups, one of the girls came up with the idea of having an all-women skateboard competition.

“I’m like, ‘Let’s do it!’ And they came up with the name. And they’ve all been working together these last few months to make it happen. It’s been a great experience.“

Deal said using skateboarding to bring the community together just made sense.

“I’m not a skater, but I’m executive from an active sports company, and I personally now so many athletes, and every single one says the same thing to me. ‘Amy, skateboarding changed my life, it saved my life.’ It’s like people that struggle with mental health issues, or just health issues, there’s always a place for them within this sport. It’s something you can do any time, you don’t have to be on a team, you can do it by yourself, you can do it with friends, it’s just a great way to process emotion that you go through during the day and things that you struggle with I knew it was just a great way to bring a really beautiful tool to the kids.”

The event will also raise awareness for the need for equipment for Diné youth and will help the organizations get to their goal of providing more than 2,000 youth on Navajo Nation with skate equipment.

“We made a beautiful partnership with a company called Monarch Skateboards. I just have to raise a lot money between now and the end of the year, and I’m down for that it’s just necessary for kids to be able to experience this sport. We have 25,000 left to fund before end of the year, but I know we can do it.”

Deal says they’re also helping raise funds to purchase skateboards and helmets for Native youth.

Over a dozen projects in Oregon have received funds as part of a federal initiative to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.

Altogether, 15 projects in eleven counties and two Native American tribes received money.

About $13 million have been made available for small urban and rural projects that cut greenhouse gases from transportation.

Ryan Webb is the engineering and planning manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which is getting almost $700,000 for four electric vehicles and two charging stations.

“People of this land have always been good stewards of it. And I think being able to be considerate of how we can limit the impact that that footprint has, is one component of what the tribe does when we look at kind of sustainable projects or our footprint on the land.”

The Oregon Department of Transportation says five years of federal funding will come to $82 million for state projects.

ODOT says it aims to lower the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60% (than what they were in 1990) by 2050.

The 8th president of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan. was sworn in this week.

Dr. Frank Arpan’s leadership comes as the tribal college is serving the most Native American students in 12 years.

Dr. Arpan was officially inaugurated in a ceremony along with his Yankton Sioux Tribal Council in attendance.

He says his focus is on a holistic environment.

Dr. Arpan stated that Haskell has more than 880 students representing 140 tribal nations at Haskell this year.

 

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Indigenous Guatemalans, who make up nearly half that country’s population, are protesting their government’s apparent actions to block the takeover of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, elected in a landslide last month.

This week, various Maya groups called for nationwide road blockades in protest, as Maria Martin reports.

The Indigenous organizations Codeca and 48 Cantones (48 villages) blocked traffic at more than a dozen crossroads and bridges throughout Guatemala.

They are calling for the resignation of justice department officials they accuse of interfering with the results of the recent presidential election.

This participant, blocking the highway in Totonicapán, says these corrupt government officials, including Attorney General Consuelo Porras, are harming the country.

Codeca leader Thelma Cabrera, whose own presidential candidacy was blocked by the courts earlier this year, says the blockades are the only option allowed Guatemalans whose popular will is being ignored.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government says it’s prepared to level sanctions against those who block Guatemala’s presidential transition.

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council is attempting to promote better relationships with external governments and agencies, including Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY)’s administration.

Last week, they had the opportunity to host New York State Deputy Secretary for First Nations Dr. Elizabeth Rule (Chickasaw) and voiced the need to rejuvenate their government-to-government relationship with the state.

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe hopes that through the Deputy Secretary for First Nations, Gov. Hochul’s administration will continue to give attention and distribute financial resources to address the challenges that face Tribal Nations across the state.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, held a hearing entitled “Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Tribal Communities.”

Testimonies were given from tribal water experts, and stakeholders on a range of water-related issues for tribes in the United States, including lack of access to infrastructure, deferred maintenance of existing infrastructure, inadequate water quality, and workforce development shortfalls.

Sen. Padilla spoke about the statistics of running water and sanitation in Native American Homes.

“Native American households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack indoor pipes for running water and sanitation. Inadequate water supply, and deteriorating pipes can impact the public health. Education and economic development of tribal communities. If you can’t trust the water you’re drinking or the plumbing that keeps your home sanitary, it harms your quality of life.”(24 sec)

Jola WallowingBull is the director of the Northern Arapaho Tribal Engineering Department and is a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe from the Wind River Indian Reservation.

She states that the application approval process is delaying repairs, and is causing many Tribal homes to get worse while people wait for assistance.

“It often takes a long time to receive funding and put it to use. While we wait for applications to be approved, our work cannot and does not wait. Leaks and other issues continue while our requests slowly move through the approval process. We plug holes as best we can, but the review system ensures that we are always addressing emergencies rather than allocating our resources to planning future development.”

The Indian Health Service reports that approximately 17% of American Indian and Alaska Native homes lack adequate sanitation facilities.

 

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The percentage of female engineers varies by specialty, but 2021 figures show only 9% of Mechanical Engineers are women. A Native student at Arizona State University is working to change that, as Alex Gonzalez reports.

Claire Gunderson (enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Jemez and Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico) just started her first year at ASU studying mechanical engineering.

She says her passion for this field started by helping her dad with his cars in her hometown of Albuquerque, N.M. And while she’s disappointed to see a lack of diversity in the field, Gunderson says she’s optimistic about the future.

“I guess it’s a little sad, but like, more women aren’t involved in engineering and it just inspires me to pursue what I want to do and make connections with everybody around me, no matter if they’re male or female or whatever.

ASU awarded bachelor degrees in engineering to 460 women in 2021.

Gunderson is also a National Indigenous Recognition Scholar. She graduated high school with top academic standing.

Only 8% of ACT tested American Indian and Alaskan Native High School graduates meet college readiness and STEM benchmarks, according to the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.

During her time at ASU, Gunderson says she hopes to become a member of the Formula SAE club, which each year sets out to build a Formula-style race car to compete at an annual Formula student competition in Michigan.

She says she’s eager to see the process of building a prototype for anyone considering the engineering field.

Gunderson recommends taking time to explore your options and find the best fit.

“If you’re really into figuring stuff out and all that, like (there’s) bound to be something in engineering that you’ll be able to find, whether it’s like mechanical, electrical, or aerospace, anything like that, it’s just really fun.”

Gunderson and more than 144,000 other Sun Devils have begun their degree programs this fall at ASU campuses or online.

The largest student enrollment in the university’s history.

The Michigan Bar Association’s representative committee will grant its 2023 Unsung Heroes Award to the Honorable Melissa L. Pope, the Chief Tribal Court Judge of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi on September 24.

According to the Michigan Bar Association, the Unsung Hero Award is presented to a lawyer who has exhibited the highest standards of practice and commitment for the benefit of others.

September is Suicide Prevention Month and new data shows that the suicide rate in the US has increased dramatically over the past 20 years.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports, that’s especially true for Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

The analysis was done by Pew Charitable Trusts.

It found that from 2000 to 2020, the national suicide rate grew 30%. For Native American and Alaskan Native women, the rate spiked more than 130%. For men, it jumped over 90%.

Emily Edmonds Harrows is with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health.

She says a major factor is the historical trauma caused by colonization and the boarding school era.

“If a parent is traumatized because of these experiences and and experiences those things and not allowed to talk about it and not allowed to cope with it, they then pass along that trauma to their children and sort of this cycle perpetuates itself.”

She says there’s also a lack of funding for mental healthcare services in tribal communities.

But efforts to bridge the gap are coming from the Indian Health Service, which is training tribal members to respond to people in crisis

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the national suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.

 

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In Guatemala, Indigenous groups of farmers are calling for the defeat of a proposed law they say would damage Native seeds and the environment in that Central American country.

Maria Martin reports.

Outside the Guatemalan Congress, Indigenous leaders called a proposed bill known as “La Ley Monsanto” “disrespectful” to Guatemala’s Indigenous peoples.

“Una falta de respeto…”

Monsanto’s Law refers to the corporate agricultural giant whose opponents accuse of wanting to privatize the production and exchange of seeds of such traditional crops as corn and beans with the help of corrupt lawmakers.

“Nos unemos a esta lucha, porwue esta lcuha es una agresion directa a algo sagrado…”

This, they say, disregards the will of Indigenous Guatemalans who several years ago, mobilized to defeat a similar proposal.

”Y ahorita estan cometiendo un gran delito con pueblos originarios con esta ley Monsanto Y AHORA.”

Now, Indigenous leaders like Sylvia Menchu of Santa Catarina Palopó are calling on all Guatemalans to join Maya groups in opposing Monsanto’s Law to protect ancestral legacy, going back thousands of years.

Maternal deaths nationwide have more than doubled from 1999 to 2019 – especially for Black and American Indian and Alaska Native moms.

Emma VandenEinde of the Mountain West News Bureau reports on the data.

The overall number of maternal deaths rose from 505 to 1,210.

That’s according to a recent study in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers looked at how many mothers died per 100,000 live births.

Black and American Indian and Alaska Native mothers had the highest rates.

The rate for Black moms rose from about 27% to 55%. The American Indian and Alaska Native rate rose from 14% to about 49%.

Dr. Tina Pattara-Lau works with the Indian Health Service.

She says many factors play into these numbers, like a lack of hospitals in rural areas or increases in mental health problems. But there’s another underlying cause.

“There’s a long history of historical trauma, including elements of systemic racism that can often last generations.”

She says more doctors could build trust with patients by involving community members and cultural practices in the birthing process.

The Avera Research Institute has been awarded $58 million in grant dollars to be distributed over a seven-year period.

C.J. Keene has more.

In particular, the health care network says these dollars will go towards research to benefit the health of mothers and children in Native and rural communities.

Both grants come from the National Institutes of Health.

The first, totaling up to $47 million, is part of the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes research network.

The second $11 million grant aims to reduce pregnancy-related inequities and will create the Maternal American Indian Rural Community Health Research Center.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, will convene a hearing about tribal water issues on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Tribal water experts and stakeholders are expected to testify on challenges, including a lack of access to infrastructure, deferred maintenance of existing infrastructure, inadequate water quality, and lack of funding.

The hearing is also expected to discuss emerging contaminants, technical assistance concerns, and workforce development shortfalls.

Watch the livestream on Sen. Padilla’s Facebook page starting at 2:30 p.m. ET

 

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On the Nez Perce Reservation in north-central Idaho, wildfire smoke often pollutes the air.

It can also seep into homes, so the tribe is handing out about 250 air cleaners to elders and others with health problems.

Rachel Cohen of the Mountain West News Bureau has more in part two of her report.

On a recent Thursday, Johna Boulafentis of the tribe’s air quality department was off to set up one of the air cleaners.

She stopped in at the apartment of elder Florene Davis.

“Did I turn it off? No, you have it on low now.”

Davis is 91. She’s soft spoken but chatty.

She mentors kids and college students in nimipuutímt, the Nez Perce language.

“Go one more and it’ll be really high. You’ll be like a young girl, hair flying through your hair.”

Davis says earlier this summer, she was traveling to a doctor’s appointment in Washington state.

Smoke was drifting down from British Columbia.

“We could feel it, notice the air was a little more heavy.”

Boulafentis shows her how to change the filter inside.

“That’s the main one to check? Yeah, frequently.”

This Nez Perce program is innovative – and aims to protect people from wildfire smoke indoors.

Erin McTigue with the EPA says tribal efforts like this are being replicated elsewhere.

“Some of these reservations are highly impacted by smoke, have lots of forested land that they’re trying to manage, have a lot of vulnerable individuals.”

And moving away is not an option for many tribal members.

“Whether people like it or not, this is this is our home.”

Aaron Miles is director of Natural Resources for the Nez Perce Tribe, which was forcibly removed from most of its homelands.

He says the U.S. government has an obligation to ensure clean air for the Tribe. At the same time… “the tribal government does everything it can to protect our people.”

That includes programs like this one to ensure indoor spaces are healthy.

It’s been smoky a few times since the air purifier has been running in Davis’ living room. She’s noticed its button turned “red” as it detected poor air quality and then started running its fans more intensely.

She’s glad to have it with her, keeping the air clean.

This reporting was supported in part by a grant from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.

More processing and tribal meat inspection.

That’s what officials who are tasked with getting buffalo into Native communities say are needed in the next farm bill.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger has more.

Troy Heinert is the executive director of the Intertribal Buffalo Council.

He says tribal entities need to be a part of the farm bill conversation.

“Often times we’re either an after thought or we’re completely neglected in some of those decisions.”

Heinert says that’s shifting.

The former South Dakota Democratic state lawmaker says he’s seeing federal farm bill language getting drafted to help meet needs for buffalo processing.

“Because there’s such a bottleneck in processing anyways. When you start talking tribes, rural nature, and buffalo on top of that, those processing capabilities start dropping even further.”

Heinert says the Intertribal Buffalo Council doles out grants to help with processing.

The group works with 83 tribes across 22 states that manage over 25,000 buffalo.

They expect to have relocated over 5,000 surplus buffalo to tribes in the last three years.

Heinert, who is Sicangu Lakota from Rosebud, says tribes are asking the USDA to work with them on meat inspection as well.

“The tribes in South Dakota — for the most part — are very rural. They’re the high population centers in those areas and yet there’s no processing. There’s definitely no inspectors. So, why shouldn’t we be able to train our own people to inspect tribal meat or tribal produced meat? And then for distribution to either our tribal membership, or put it on the retail market if that’s what the tribe chooses to do. Why would they hold us back economically?”

Many expect the current farm bill to get extended.

South Dakota U.S. Senators hope a new farm bill will get passed by the end of the year.

However, Congress must craft a budget by September 30 to avert a government shutdown.

 

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When wildfire smoke clouds the air, you might be warned to avoid strenuous activity outside. But as fire seasons get longer and more intense, some air quality experts say that advice isn’t enough to protect your health.

Rachel Cohen of the Mountain West News Bureau reports.

About 15 adults take their seats in a classroom on the Nez Perce Reservation in north-central Idaho.

Johna Boulafentis invited them here this Wednesday night for an air quality workshop.

“We’re going to go over some things about indoor air (and) outdoor air.”

Boulafentis works for the tribe’s air quality department.

Pollution on the reservation has come from agricultural burning and a nearby paper mill. But now, wildfire smoke is the main problem.

“This is this is what we’re going to continue to see with climate change is increased and more frequent wildfires, which if you have fire, you have smoke.”

Mansel Nelson is with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Arizona University.

He’s critical of the longstanding public health guidance for avoiding wildfire smoke.

“The general advice to go indoors always makes me cringe.”

Why? Because the smoke doesn’t stay outside.

“In many cases indoor environments are almost as bad as outdoor and can even be worse.”

Boulefantis hopes to change that. So tonight on the reservation, she’s offering a lesson on air filtration – and eliciting some laughs along the way.

“Okay, why we’re all here today..”

She’s also giving away free portable air cleaners to tribal members.

Recipients include families with young children who have asthma and tribal elders – those who have higher health risks from smoke.

“Say hello to the Winix D360. This is the sweet baby.”

The cleaners stand about 2 feet tall and filter out more than 99% of smoke particles.

Boulafentis ordered 242 of them using funds from a state emergency preparedness grant.

“I want to come try it.”

People in the class talk about where they’ll put the cleaner in their house.

Outside, they pick up their own filters from the back of a minivan to take home.

The next week, the air quality program will host another class on the opposite side of the reservation to hand out filters to more tribal members.

In the next part of this story, we’ll visit with an elder as she receives one of the air cleaners.

This reporting was supported in part by a grant from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.

A cash-prize fishing derby has proven to be an effective tactic against invasive bass in southern Oregon.

As KLCC’s Brian Bull reports, it’s all to help safeguard salmon, prized by the Coquille Tribe.

Almost 12,000 fish have been reeled in since last year by anglers, as part of the annual smallmouth bass derby.

The event is hosted by the Port of Coquille River and sponsored by the Coquille Tribe, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and 3J Ranches.

Brenda Meade, chair of the Coquille Indians, says this helps reduce a major scourge in local waterways.

“They are just eating machines on the river, and they’re eating the salmon smolt. Salmon…there would be a huge loss, culturally significant to our ceremonies. To traditional foods. To our way of life.”

Meade says state conservation officials estimated a 99% drop in returning salmon in local waterways over a ten-year period.

The second annual derby started in June and has been extended to October 1.

There are 80 tagged fish that can win anglers prizes, with amounts ranging from $50, up to $10,000.

Tribal leaders were among those to remember the life of former Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) as a funeral mass was held this week in Santa Fe.

Pueblo leaders say Gov. Richardson helped them prosper in many ways as governor and as a member of congress – improving social services, infrastructure, health care and education.

They say he also helped provide incentives for business development and gaming, and ensured religious freedom.

Under his leadership, the state’s Indian Affairs was elevated to a cabinet level department.

He passed away in his sleep in Massachusetts earlier this month at age 75.

 

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The husband of U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK) died after a plane crash on Tuesday. He was 57.

As KNBA’s Rhonda McBride reports, Gene “Buzzy” Peltola is being remembered as both a supportive husband and a leader in his own right.

When Rep. Peltola ran for Congress, her husband “Buzzy” Peltola was often behind the scenes, beaming proudly.

As she took her oath of office to become the first Alaska Native woman to serve in Congress, he stood beside her, wearing a traditional Native kuspuk, holding the Bible.

For many Alaskans, the couple seemed to embody Peltola’s campaign slogan – fish, freedom, and family – an image that shattered when he was flying solo in a small plane that crashed into a mountain near St. Mary’s on the Yukon River, part of a vast region he knew well in more than three decades of work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bethel.

Eventually he became the first Alaska Native to manage the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

Later, he served as the Alaska regional director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Throughout his public service career, there was a common thread – Peltola’s passion for hunting, fishing, and giving Alaska Natives more say in how fish and wildlife are managed, a passion he shared with LaMont Albertson, one of the founders of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

“It’s just so hard to find the words to describe his intelligence and how intuitive the guy was. He was assertive and he knew how to say the right things at the right time.”

Albertson, who will soon turn 80, has known both Mary and Buzzy Peltola since they were kids, but says he’ll cherish a recent memory forever.

After suffering a stroke, they sent him a care package with subsistence foods to help him recover.

It’s National Suicide Prevention Week, and new data shows that the suicide rate in the U.S. has increased dramatically over the past 20 years.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Kaleb Roedel reports, that’s especially true for Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

The analysis was done by Pew Charitable Trusts.

It found that from 2000 to 2020, the national suicide rate grew 30%.

For Native American and Alaska Native women, the rate spiked more than 130%. For men, it jumped over 90%.

Emily Edmunds Haroz is with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health.

She says a major factor is the historical trauma caused by colonization and the boarding school era.

“If a parent is traumatized because of these experiences and experiences those things and are not allowed to talk about it, and not allowed to cope with it, they then pass along that trauma to their children and sort of this cycle perpetuates itself.”

She says there’s also a lack of funding for mental healthcare services in tribal communities.

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Or contact them via live chat.

Artists Keith BraveHeart and Marty Two Bulls Jr. have been named as the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s 2023-24 artist laureates.

C.J. Keene has more.

In the role, the pair will serve as cultural ambassadors for the tribe, support artistic endeavors on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and enrich their communities through their works.

Two Bulls Jr. and BraveHeart both work as educators in addition to their art – serving as art professors at Oglala Lakota College.

The program runs under the OST Vice President’s Office.

 

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