Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Advocates are making slow, but steady progress to clean up a portion of the Columbia River that has been named an EPA Superfund site.

Eric Tegethoff has more.

Toxic pollution dumped by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over 40 years at Bradford Island contaminated fish in the area, which are used as sustenance by the region’s Indigenous people.

Rose Longoria is regional Superfund project manager for the Yakama Nation.

She says the contaminated site has been known for two decades, but only recently got Superfund listing.

“If it wasn’t for Yakama Nation, Bradford Island would not be on the National Priorities List. And even now, I believe that if it wasn’t for Yakama, no one else would be pushing as hard to get this site the attention that it needs.”

There is a “Do Not Eat” advisory for resident fish near Bradford Island.

Organizations like Columbia Riverkeeper have created advisories in English and Spanish to let people know which fish are safe to harvest.

Laura Shira is an environmental engineer with Yakama Nation Fisheries. She says resident fish near Bradford Island have the highest in the nation concentration of a toxic compound known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.

“There’s all these fishing platforms – on the Washington shoreline, on Goose Island, on the Oregon shoreline – and those are tribal fishing platforms and they’re within like a quarter to a third of a mile of what we know to be the worst contaminated area on that north shore of Bradford Island.”

While it’s been listed as a Superfund site, Yakama Nation and others in the region are still waiting on a concrete cleanup plan. Longoria says the PCB levels in resident fish make this an emergency and thinks the federal government should act quickly to correct the situation.

“There are significant data gaps that need to be filled, but we need to do that as expeditiously as possible and determine the full nature and extent of contamination, and determine the best way of cleaning up the site to protect human health and the environment.”

(Courtesy TheIditarod / Instagram)

One of the longest running and most lucrative mid-distance sled dog races in the world gets underway in Western Alaska Friday night.

As KYUK’s Emily Schwing reports, the field is deep and includes Alaska Native competitors who are making waves in the mushing world.

Pete Kaiser is the second winningest musher in Kuskokwim 300 history with seven championships and he will have his dog team lined out at the startline again this year.

“If you get in a position at some point during the race to win, then maybe it’s your race to lose, but before the race starts, I don’t think of it that way.”

Competition in this year’s race is fierce and includes last year’s Iditarod champ, Ryan Reddington.

“It’s quite the dog race with competition here, so whoever makes the top three is gonna have to have a good dog team and execute a good race plan.”

Richie Diehl will also be on the sled runners, vying for a second career win, but he says he’s not sure if his dogs have what it takes for a top finish.

“I don’t know, it’s hard to say if you if you could put me in that group, but if they look good, I’m definitely not gonna back off the throttle.”

Per mile, the purse for the 300 miles sled dog race, is one of the most lucrative in mushing totaling $185,000.

The trail takes dog teams through a half dozen predominantly Indigenous communities on Alaska’s Yukon Kuskokwim Delta.

This year’s is the 45th running of the Kuskokwim 300.

The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy bootbearwdc / Flickr)

Apple plans to provide grants to the Sundance Institute Indigenous Program and the National Museum of the American Indian, Variety reports.

It’s part of the company’s Empowering Creatives program.

The grants are intended to support and partner with Indigenous communities and amplify voices and experiences of Indigenous people.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Tribal leaders, advocates, California state lawmakers, and law enforcement reviewed the Feather Alert on Wednesday, one year after its implementation in California.

The alert system is used to notify the public and law enforcement about missing Native American people, especially women and girls.

Tribal leaders gathered for a press conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento before a hearing on the alert system.

Joe James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, says a Feather Alert was issued just last week for one of his tribal members.

“Little mixed emotion when I think about that, but I’m glad there’s a resource and a tool that’s there … murdered and missing Indigenous women have been going on for decades. Back to our boarding schools, back to when we were abducted, to remove our identity, to remove us as people. It’s an honor here to stand here as a tribal chairman, as a tribal leader, to work with my colleagues behind me, to knowing the work that we’ve done. We’ve got some ways yet to go, but this can’t be done without the legislator, the local law enforcement, our local sheriffs at home, our local community, our tribal leaders come together as a whole.”

Josefina Frank is chairwoman of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria.

“And it’s important that everyone here in this room and outside of this room understand that our people are important. And it’s important that we’re all here to discuss all of this and to work together and to build those relationships and creating those Memorandum of Understandings with all of the tribes, whether that be in Northern California where we’re located, in Southern California, we all should be working together. I’m extremely thankful for the Feather Alert because it has helped in many cases, but the reality of it is also there’s a lot of data that’s not provided.”

Vice Chairwoman Raquel Williams of the Wilton Rancheria reflected on progress made in one year with the Feather Alert, but also says there’s much more work to do.

“Incredible progress has been made in such a short amount of time, and we’ve brought not only awareness, but an actual real action to help put an end to this crisis, but we can’t stop now. We must continue to train tribal members, the general public, and all levels of law enforcement on how to properly utilize this important tool so that alerts may be issued in a more timely manner. And we must increase funding and wrap around services. When recognizing that these feather alerts, they’re still a much needed healing and care for the victims and their families. We must continue to work together to ensure that future generations will not have to live in the same fear that we share today.”

State Rep. James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA), who authored legislation creating the notification system, held the hearing after the press conference where discussions focused on successes, challenges and needs.

An area Rep. Ramos noted improvement on is making tribes and the general public aware of the Feather Alert.

He also says improvements are needed in bridging communication gaps among various law enforcement agencies and tribes.

Rep. Mary Peltola takes a photo with supporters at her Fairbanks, Alaska campaign launch event. (Courtesy Mary Peltola / Facebook)

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK) has announced her bid to run for re-election.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports.

In 2022, Rep. Peltola made history when she won a special election to finish out the late U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-AK)’s term.

Rep. Peltola became the first Alaska Native to win a seat in Congress and was later elected to her first full term.

Last January, she took the oath of office beside her husband, Gene Peltola, Jr, who died eight months later in a plane crash.

Rep. Peltola returned to work a month later, still grieving, but said she was ready to carry on.

In a statement, Rep. Peltola said she will campaign as a bipartisan candidate and wants to build upon the legacy of two Alaskan Senators – the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK), as well as Rep. Young.

Rep. Peltola faces two Republican challengers: Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R-AK) and Nick Begich III, whom she defeated in her last race for the House.

Begich is the grandson of the late U.S. Rep. Nick Begich (D-AK).

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

An oversight correction relating to housing grant dollars in South Dakota tribal settings is advancing through the legislature.

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

Last year, lawmakers passed the $200 million Housing Infrastructure Finance Program, but that program included language excluding tribal governments.

House Bill 1041 modifies the bill’s definition of public infrastructure to allow federally recognized tribes to claim from that pot.

Further, it declares an emergency to allow tribal groups to claim that money sooner than later.

The bill was brought by State Rep. Tyler Tordsen (Sisseton-Wahpeton/R-SD).

He explains the scope of the proposal.

“Housing is a challenge, whether you’re in Sioux Falls, whether you’re in rural South Dakota, or whether you’re in the tribal communities. So, that was the reason there was so much support for this, just to make sure tribes are eligible, tribal entities are eligible, tribal housing authorities and nonprofits that operate in that area of our state.”

Questions were raised about the necessity of an emergency provision in this bill.

State Sen. Reynold Nesiba (D-SD) says the need justifies the clause.

“My concern is that the grant funding is already gone, because that became available July 1, so I do think it is urgent. I don’t think it is anyone’s intention to keep tribal entities from being able to qualify. They have some of the most pressing housing problems in our state.”

The bill advanced with a do pass recommendation on an 8-1 vote and will next be heard on the House floor.

Window Rock Wastewater Treatment Plant. (Courtesy Smith Engineering Company)

The U.S. EPA recently announced it reached a settlement with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA).

That means the NTUA has agreed to improve wastewater treatment facilities in three communities in northern Arizona.

Chris Clements of KSJD has more.

The Department of Justice filed a complaint on behalf of the EPA that says the facilities violated Clean Water Act permits meant to protect human health and the environment by discharging wastewater not treated to proper levels into washes across the tribal nation.

It also says the NTUA failed to maintain their facilities’ sewage systems and prevent sewage spills.

The roughly $100 million settlement will mean some short-term and long-term upgrades to facilities in Chinle, Kayenta, and Tuba City that serve about 20,000 people, mostly Navajo citizens.

Beth Aubuchon is a supervisory natural resource specialist for Region 9 of the EPA.

“When we look at Navajo (Nation) and the type of land it is, water resources are a limited quantity out there. It’s important to protect all of them.”

Aubuchon says that NTUA, a nonprofit enterprise of the Navajo Nation, has already begun much of the work needed at its treatment facilities.

Federal grants from initiatives like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan and other sources are expected to cover the majority of the cost expected for the NTUA under the settlement.

California state lawmakers and tribal leaders are taking a look at the Feather Alert a year after its implementation.

The alert system is used to notify the public and law enforcement about missing Native American people, especially women and girls.

It operates similar to the Silver and AMBER alerts.

Like other alerts, it is overseen by the California Highway Patrol, but city police and sheriff departments make the notification request to the highway patrol.

State Rep. James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA) authored the bill, which created the alert system.

Rep. Ramos will lead a press conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday, followed by a legislative hearing.

Tribal leaders, advocates, and law enforcement officers are expected to take part in both the news conference and hearing.

State officials are also expected to take part in the hearing.

Rep. Ramos, who’s the first and only California Native American in the state legislature, was recently named chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee, which deals with public safety issues.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

The South Dakota House is advancing a proposal that designates lithium as a precious metal, like silver and gold.

The move comes as interest in mining in the Black Hills is increasing.

As South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger reports, a Native state lawmaker opposes the bill, wanting protection of the Black Hills.

Hard rock lithium is contained in crystals that form in pegmatite rock.

To mine pegmatites, an operator must obtain a permit, similar for those mining sand or gravel.

Companies from around the world have expressed interest in mining the Black Hills for lithium.

State Rep. Kirk Chaffee (R-SD) lives near Sturgis in the northern Black Hills.

He says the move subject lithium to a state severance tax of 10% of net profits.

“By calling it ‘precious metals’, there’s actually provisions in the current statute that allows that. It’s taxed on the net profit of lithium. So, wherever it is in that stage of production, it’s taxed on that dollar amount.”

Rep. Chaffee brought a bill last year to tax lithium. It failed in the Senate.

He hopes paring lithium with two other designated precious metals will convince the Republican-controlled Senate.

A large majority of House lawmakers voted in favor of the idea. One lawmaker who voted against the proposal worries it incentivizes mining the Black Hills.

“I don’t believe we should be mining in the Black Hills, period.”

State Rep. Peri Pourier (Oglala Lakota/D-SD) worries about how mining will affect water quality in the Black Hills.

“Preserving it’s natural, original state is the most important thing we can do for the people of South Dakota, the Oceti Sakowin, and for future generations coming up together.”

The state Department of Revenue opposed the bill last session.

This year they did not support or oppose the legislation.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colorado on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. (Courtesy Colorado Parks And Wildlife)

As many as 15 gray wolves could be reintroduced to Colorado’s Western Slope next winter, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).

It’s a move that concerns the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southwest Colorado.

CPW reached an agreement with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to collect the wolves on the tribes’ land in eastern Washington.

As KSJD’s Chris Clements reports, a group has already been released.

Ten wolves from Oregon were released in Colorado last month, the first batch under the state’s reintroduction plan.

However, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe says they were never properly consulted about the decision to reintroduce wolves to the state or the potential impacts it could have on the sovereign nation.

Manuel Heart is chairman of the tribe and says he’s worried about the depredation of already-dwindling herds of cattle and horses.

Heart says tribal members routinely bring their herds to the tribe’s land in Gunnison County, like the 20,000-acre Pinecrest Ranch, which is near to where the next batch of wolves is likely to be released.

“The state of Colorado failed to notify both the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian tribes. So when they went through that initiative of the public voting on that, from the state of Colorado citizens, then we were not included in that process.”

The Colorado plan calls for releasing 30 to 50 wolves on the Western Slope in the next three to five years.

Lily Gladstone has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

Gladstone made history earlier this month, becoming the first Indigenous best actress Golden Globe winner.

She’s being recognized for her role as Mollie Burkhart in the film, which tells the story of the murder of Osage people in Oklahoma during the 1920s for oil money.

The Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday.

The ceremony will be held in March.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Montana State University (MSU) will soon help communities and tribes in six states obtain environmental- and energy-related grants.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton explains.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is giving MSU $10 million to set up an environmental justice resource center.

This is one of ten centers nationwide.

The Bozeman center will serve Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and 28 tribal nations.

These centers help local governments, nonprofit, tribes, and other eligible entities apply for grant programs.

The program’s main intent is to make it easier to apply for funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and Congress’ recent infrastructure bill.

But the center will provide assistance with any grant process.

It’s intended to help communities who might otherwise not have the expertise to navigate complicated grant applications.

Jodie Foster, left, and Kali Reis (Cherokee, Nipmuc, and Seaconke Wampanoag) in “True Detective: Night Country.” (Photo: Michele K. Short / HBO)

The HBO series “True Detective: Night Country” features a fictional town in Alaska called Ennis.

While most of the filming was done in Iceland, some scenes were shot around Nome.

KNOM’s Ava White reports that producers have been in touch with locals to get insights and feedback for the show.

Marjorie Kunaq Tahbone is one of five people on the Iñupiaq Advisory Council, which was the team working with the show.

She says the producer’s goal was to “make the show about a place like Nome.”

She says the board reviewed the scripts for all six episodes featuring Ennis, and shared their concerns with writers about scenes and lines that seemed inaccurate or questionable.

One of those changes was featured in the first episode.

“There’s a scene where there’s caribou, but in the original script it was elk. And we’re like, ‘we have no elk in Alaska, let alone up in the Arctic.’”

She says the council encouraged producers to include Iñupiaq words and learn about the meaning behind traditional Alaska Native stories.

Tahbone says they even helped choose most of the Iñupiaq names for characters in the town.

The council also encouraged including trigger warnings for the show because some episodes regard the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People epidemic.

“We advised about leaving traditional parts in and taking other elements of the story out just to maintain the integrity of the story and kind of keeping it true, but also kind of holding it close. It’s kind of like not wanting to give away too much, because people who aren’t from our area who weren’t raised in our culture, can misunderstand or just not have any clue what’s being said.”

Tahbone says she was glad to be part of the advisory council and to help ensure the content was as accurate and respectful as possible.

She says she hopes it can pave the way for more Indigenous people to work in the film industry.

Courtesy Native American Rights Fund

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army to repatriate the remains of two children from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.

The tribe made a request in November 2023 for the return of the remains using the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

The Army denied the request in December, saying NAGPRA could not be applied to carry out repatriation.

Last week, the tribe initiated the lawsuit represented by the Native American Rights Fund.

The tribe is seeking to enforce NAGPRA to repatriate Samuel Gilbert and Edward Hensley, who were taken from their home more than 100 years ago and never returned.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

A Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council Member has been indicted by a grand jury in Colorado for 12 counts of alleged sexual abuse and assault that took place on the reservation.

Chris Clements of KSJD has more.

In a special meeting held on Saturday, the Council moved to place Lyndreth Hemp Wall on unpaid administrative leave indefinitely if he doesn’t quickly resign.

They also removed Wall from his appointments to boards and commissions and issued a formal reprimand.

Wall is a former Montezuma-Cortez school board member and a well-known figure in the area.

If he’s convicted of a felony, he could be removed from the Council by a two-thirds vote that would also bar him from serving on it again.

The Cortez Journal reported on Sunday that Wall told his four victims he was a healer experienced in traditional healing practices during the alleged sexual acts.

After a nationwide search for a range of diverse applicants, the First Alaskans Institute, a nonprofit to advance Alaska Native voices in a variety of leadership roles, has hired Apagzuk/Apagruk Roy Agloinga as the new president and chief executive officer.

KNBA’s Hannah Bissett has more on the new president.

After Liz Medicine Crow (Haida/Tlingit) announced her departure as president of First Alaskans Institute in 2023, the nonprofit began a months-long search for the next leader. She served 15 years in the position.

The nonprofit hired Roy Agloinga (Iñupiaq).

“The opportunity to continue so much of the great work that First Alaskans does, and the tremendous ability that an organization like this has in unifying our community and programming, and this gives me a great opportunity to have that statewide impact.”

Agloinga has a diverse background in nonprofit management with an emphasis on rural health, policy, Inupiat language preservation, and child welfare.

Regarding his most recent experience, he spoke about what he did at the Rasmuson Foundation.

“In the last part of my work at Rasmuson, my focus was on bringing national funders to Alaska with a lot of our nonprofits and bringing a lot of support to the organization and to our communities.”

In his new role as president, he will lead the organization’s day-to-day operations while strategizing ways to continue the company’s mission of “progress for the next 10,000 years.”

The stack of to-dos for the new president is long, but one of the larger things on the list is looking over the assessments and surveys from a variety of partners, and using that data to create a new strategic plan for FAI.

Agloinga says that First Alaskans Institute should be a conduit for voices of elders and youth, and is an integral part of the nonprofit’s future.

“I think that there’s so much important work to be done across Alaska, and many times our youth and our elders know very intimately what that work is. Because they’re the ones who are living in our communities and are seeing some of the challenges that happen.”

He says that the future programming of First Alaskans aids in some of these statewide challenges, whether it be funding or training, and he says that these types of opportunities are priceless for the statewide Indigenous community.

A number of Indigenous films are being featured at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

The racial and social justice organization IllumiNative has a watch list of seven Indigenous-led films featured in six different categories.

The films include stories about unmarked Indian residential school graves, Native language preservation, and healing.

The organization debuted the Indigenous House at the 2023 festival as a gathering place to recognize and celebrate Native creatives, artists, and industry leaders who are helping to advance Native representative in film and television.

The Sundance Film Festival began Thursday and runs through January 28.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

A Rapid City, S.D.-based health care clinic for pregnant Native American women has seen a significant drop in patient since April of last year.

The Native Women’s Health Clinic is contracted to provide obstetric and gynecologic services for eligible Indian women.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB)’s Lee Strubinger reports.

According to a health care program review by Indian Health Service obtained by SDPB, Native Women’s Health Clinic had about 4,800 visits in 2021.

It saw a more than 50% reduction in visits in 2022.

Since last April, the number of visits has been zero, due to a lack of providers.

That report came out last June.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) holds a contract to operate the clinic through the Indian Self-Determination Act.

The tribe is required to monitor the quality of health care provided.

SDPB asked OST Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out whether the clinic has seen any patients since April of last year.

He says some tribal leaders have recently visited the clinic.

“Right now, due to a lack of funding in these programs, it’s a tough deal. We’re addressing that and hopefully we can better that program and fit the needs of our people and the staff.”

According to the most recent agreement between OST and the Indian Health Service (IHS), the tribe receives over $1.5 million to run the Native Women’s Health Care program.

The June IHS report says the clinic has not fulfilled its contractual obligations to provide comprehensive women’s health services, resulting in fragmented prenatal care which has been felt by patients and medical providers in Rapid City.

Patients are referred to either the Black Hills Pregnancy Center or Oyate Health Center.

The clinic, which is run by OST, is located in a wing of the old Sioux San building, which is managed by Oyate Health Center—a separate tribal entity that provides healthcare for Native Americans.

Star Comes Out says talk is on the table about letting Oyate Health take over the program.

“It is one of the tribe’s programs. That talk is on the table of letting Oyate Health handle that. I really can’t give you an answer of who is going to lead that charge right now. It’s on the table and it has to go through tribal council.”

According to data from the South Dakota Department of Health, American Indians make up 44% of all pregnancy-associated deaths in the state.

The rate is four times higher than white women.

Nikolski School Building in 2006. (Public domain)

Nikolski School on Umnak Island in Alaska plans to reopen for students next year after being closed for more than a decade.

The Aleutian Regions School District made the decision to reopen the school at a special meeting last Thursday.

As KUCB’s Sofia Stuart-Rasi reports, the school expects to have enough students to qualify for state funding.

Umnak Island families with at least ten school-aged children are committing to attend the public school next year, reaching the minimum student count for state funding.

School district board members say they are thrilled about the reopening.

They’ve seen closures in their district, as well as trends around the state and country.

“Yay for those kids!”

Lisa Holsinger is a school board member in Adak, which had to close its school last year due to low enrollment.

The only school operating in the Aleutian Region School District this year is the Yakov E. Netsvetov School in Atka.

Mark Snigaroff is a school district board member there.

“I’m so happy we got another school. Thought we were going to be the only school in the district.”

The Nikolski School closed down in 2009 because of low enrollment, but families decided to stay on the island and home-school their children.

With its Unangax community, Nikolski is reputed to be one of the oldest continuously occupied villages in the world.

Mike Hanley is the superintendent of the Aleutian Regions School District.

He says he worked closely with local families to gauge their interest in reopening the public school.

“They’re longtime Nikokski families, that is their home. And now their kids are school-age.”

The search for a Nikolski School teacher is underway.

Meanwhile, Hanley is working with the state to ensure all paperwork is in place for a smooth reopening this August.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

As cold temperatures remain in South Dakota, Native groups in Rapid City are reaching out to their unsheltered relatives and are seeking assistance from the local government.

A warming tent that was being used at the Woyatan Lutheran Church was taken down after requests from the city, which cited safety concerns.

The church and Native groups are asking the city for alternatives, as they continue to help those in need.

They’re also asking community members to drop off warming supplies, winter clothes, or volunteer their time.

Tennepah Brainard is among those college students who are stranded in Oregon due to the winter weather. (Photo: Brian Bull / KLCC)

The cold weather is also impacting travelers.

It’s been a challenging week for airline travelers as the winter weather has led to several days of frustration across the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere.

It’s impacting plans for some tribal college students hoping to start the spring semester, as KLCC’s Brian Bull (Nez Perce) reports.

In Oregon, dozens of flights have been canceled at both the Eugene and Portland airports.

Among those stuck is Tennepah Brainard, a Coos-Apache senior at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe.

She’s been trying to get back there since Sunday.

After so many cancellations, she’s resigned to staying with her family in Eugene a bit longer and seeing if her instructors will let her do classes online.

“Some of them are telling me that it’s getting pretty hard, they don’t do Zooms. And I’m like, ‘Well, I can’t do anything about this, can you just make an exception, please?'”

Brainard says the terminal was chilly and communication was sporadic between gate staff and passengers.

She kept herself entertained with Netflix movies on her phone.

Courtesy Angel Ellis

Gary Fife (Muscogee) spent more than a half century working to change the way the journalists cover Indigenous peoples – and was still hosting radio shows and writing a weekly column when he died Sunday at the age of 73.

Fife devoted the last years of his life to his tribe in Oklahoma and the news organization Mvskoke Media, which is owned by the tribe.

But as KNBA’s Rhonda McBride reports, he was also the first host of National Native News.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Guatemala has a new president, despite efforts by the government system, which tried to prevent Bernardo Arévalo from taking office.

He was sworn in this week, elected in August, with heavy support of Indigenous groups across the country, but his win was followed by months of electoral drama.

Indigenous people have backed the reformist. They even held protests and blockades.

Arévalo campaigned in heavily Indigenous areas, calling for an end to racism and marginalization of Maya and other Indigenous people.

In August, Maya anthropologist Irma Alicia Velasquez Nimatuj shared perspective.

She says Indigenous people have high hopes for a different country where Maya and other Indigenous groups are not treated as second-class citizens.

“So, this is the opportunity to change the reality, to stop the migration to the United States. This is also a special moment for Indigenous women. Indigenous women in Guatemala have been working very hard for justice.”

In his inauguration speech, President Arévalo acknowledged the country’s Indigenous people.

The Associated Press reports Indigenous leaders are urging him to not forget about the support they’ve shown and to keep promises to provide basic needs to their people.

For Alaska State Troopers and other police departments across the north, the fur trapper hat is iconic.

The State Department of Public Safety buys about 50 of them a year and is looking for a new supply.

As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports, the department put out a request for proposals for hats with some very specific requirements.

Courtesy “Finding Your Roots” / Facebook

Cherokee actor Wes Studi is a guest on the PBS television show Finding Your Roots.

The episode “Fathers and Sons,” airs Tuesday night with Studi and actor LeVar Burton.

Both men grew up without their fathers and have questions about their family trees.

Finding Your Roots is in its 10^th season, hosted by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The show uses DNA technology and detective work to help guests learn about their family’s past, often answering decades-old questions, uncovering mysteries, and telling stories of unknown ancestors.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Thousands of pages from historical newspapers near and on tribal nations in Montana are now available and searchable online through the Library of Congress.

Yellowstone Public Radio’s Kayla Desroches reports.

The Montana Historical Society recently finished a two-year project where they archived more than 100,000 newspaper pages dating back to the early 1900s.

Segundo was a former teacher and left her full-time job to pursue reviving the Alaskan Haida language, a critically endangered language.

She felt in order to do that, she needed to start with the children.

“There were no Indigenous authors, especially children book authors at that time. I searched high and low for good books that represented my people correctly, so I started writing my books so my three children could see themselves represented.”

Kúndlaan tells the story of a wolf pup who takes an exciting trip to the moon, and it is inspired by ancient Haida stories.

Kúndlaan is among the first children’s books to ever be published entirely in Alaskan Haida.

Segundo says creating these books went far beyond telling stories.

Due to a ban on speaking the Native language in schools back in the late 1800’s, Segundo says the language continued to die with every generation.

Still, she says, the Elders tried their best to instill their Indigenous culture to the children.

“And then as time went on, I learned more of why our elders didn’t teach us our language. And that just broke my heart. They protected our culture. But in the safe places in our village, we would be singing, laughing, telling stories in Haida, eating our traditional foods, so they still taught us but it was in a protected way, in a safe place. And I just remember them closing doors and curtains, and you know, to teach us sometimes, just because they were so punished for just being Indigenous and speaking our language, and I just want to take everything back that they tried to take from us, you know.”

Now residing in Seattle, Segundo speaks passionately about her upbringing in Hydaburg, Alaska.

“I grew up surrounded by birth speakers, and I didn’t really know how blessed I was at the time hearing their voices and their songs, and they planted a lot of songs in me, and words in me. Because I love to sing, I love music, so I just was like a sponge.”

Segundo said when her youngest granddaughter was born, her daughter wanted her first words she ever heard to be in the Haida language.

“And when she was born, my daughter wanted her first words in this realm to be Haida. So, she had a Native doula in the room, it was during Covid, and the Native Doula made the doctors and nurses be silent, so I could speak the first words to her.”

Courtesy Sondra Segundo

During the book release party, Segundo read aloud all three of her books, Kúndlaan: The Wolf Pup with Moonlight in his Eyes, Orca Eyes, and Love Birds: the True Story of Raven and Eagle.

She also gave an art lesson, and taught the audience a Haida dance.

Also in the books, which Segundo illustrated herself, she has songs all translated in Haida and says at the end of the day, speaking and singing your Native language is what keeps your culture alive.

New Year. New Newsletter. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily and stay up-to-date on the 2024 Native Vote. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.