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A South Dakota Senate committee is rejecting an effort to rename the Scalp Creek Lakeside Recreation Area in the state.

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

State Sen. Shawn Bordeaux (Sicangu Lakota/D-SD) from Rosebud says it’s time for the state to move away from hurtful names.

“Scalp Creek Recreation Area is a beautiful place, often visited by families and children. Such a place should not be marked by an association with such terrible history. South Dakota should take the initiative here and change the name to fit the place.”

Bordeaux proposes the area be named “Naca Topa”, which translates to “Four Chiefs.”

State Game Fish and Parks oppose the bill idea.

Scott Simpson is deputy secretary with the department.

He says the name change should not appear in state statute.

“This legislation is not necessary because South Scalp Creek Lakeside Use Area is not named in statute. I think that should be a much more public process. There’s no official process for the naming of a lakeside use area. We believe that we have an open palate and I’ve visited with the sponsor about this. I visited with the sponsor about this. I think there’s some different directions we can go and maybe come up with an appropriate alternative.”

Simpson says a name change public input process could take as long as a year, but couldn’t offer a firm timeline.

Sen. Bordeaux says he will work with Game Fish and Parks officials through the process.

The leader of an effort to create an inter-tribal network of electric vehicle charging stations says the project is rolling along.

Chuck Quirmbach of station WUWM reports.

Bob Blake heads Native Sun Community Power Development, a non-profit in Minneapolis that promotes renewable energy.

Blake is also a tribal citizen of the Red Lake Nation.

He says a few years ago he was protesting the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline in the Upper Midwest and staring down law enforcement officers that he respected.

“I’m sitting there and I’m protesting, and they’re looking at me, and I’m thinking ‘There’s got to be a better way to do this.’

So, in an attempt to reduce the demand for oil, Blake says he got the idea of creating an inter-tribal electric vehicle charging network.

With financial help from the U.S. Department of Energy, about ten charging stations have been built on tribal lands and electric vehicles have been delivered to the Red Lake and Standing Rock communities.

Blake says twenty to thirty tribes, mainly in the Upper Midwest seem interested in creating the charging network.

So, he’s fired up.

“I am pretty excited, because tribal nations are always the last to get this sort of technology. For us to be able to be the first, it’s a big thing.”

Blake says having charging stations on a lot of tribal lands should also help draw tourists, if electric vehicle use continues to grow. He says he hopes to expand the inter-tribal charging station network to the West Coast.

On Monday, the New Mexico Senate confirmed Josett Monette as cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department.

She had served as deputy secretary of the department, and prior to joining the state, she was in the legal field and in education.

Sec. Monette is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota.

She has raised three children as a single mother.

In a statement, Sec. Monette says she’s committed to advancing the priorities of the governor’s administration in support of the 23 tribes in the state and all of New Mexico’s Native people.

She’s replacing a cabinet secretary who was criticized by Native women advocates for past abuse charges.

The governor’s office also faced criticism for ending a missing and murdered Indigenous relatives task force.

In a statement, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) said Monette’s extensive background in serving Indigenous people uniquely positions her to address the challenges facing tribal communities and realize the opportunities.

Sec. Monette was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

 

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While efforts to repatriate Alaska Native remains have been ongoing, keeping track of those remains has been difficult. But now the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, Alaska is building a database of repatriation efforts for the archipelago’s communities.

As KMXT’s Brian Venua reports, tribes will be able to track repatriation progress online in about two years.

Amanda Lancaster is the Alutiiq museum’s curator of collections.

She says the $100,000 grant comes from the National Park Service’s Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

“One of the major problems with NAGPRA is that there is not a central database that shows what has been repatriated (or) what has been claimed. Oftentimes tribes will spend time pursuing this repatriation and then it turns out that that set of ancestral remains was returned and buried 20 years ago.”

The new grant now gives the Alutiiq Museum federal funds to create a central database that tracks repatriation progress.

The money is going to be split for travel to villages to meet with Tribal representatives and for staff to dedicate their time towards the project.

The press release says the project is called Angitapet, an Alutiiq word that means “we are returning them”.

Lancaster says the museum will also use funds to contract outside software developers to create the system.

“Part of that money is earmarked for them to work on that database for us to create a login system so that tribes can actually access the database themselves.”

This is just the latest step in bringing Alutiiq and Sugpiaq remains back to the archipelago.

NAGPRA was passed in 1990. The Kodiak Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Repatriation Commission was founded in 2007 to set their priorities.

The Kodiak Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Repatriation Commission and museum staff have been working to repatriate several human remains since 2007. Lancaster says the commission last met in 2022 after the museum got a similar grant that would fund more research to find additional remains

“We identified 12 collecting institutions in the U.S. that had the remains of at least 168 Alutiiq ancestors – and those are just the ones we know about.”

The database is expected to be completed in the next two years and will only be accessible to Kodiak’s ten federally-recognized tribes.

Two Native groups are headed to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, but not to cheer on the NFL championship game between Kansas City and San Francisco.

As Jill Fratis from our flagship station KNBA reports, they’ll be holding a demonstration on Sunday.

The greater Kansas City area group Not in our Honor plans to make the trip to Vegas for what members say will be a “peaceful demonstration” outside the stadium.

They’ll be joined by the group Arizona to Rally Against Native Mascots.

Members of the groups are advocating for the Kansas City Team to change its name and for the end of Native cultural appropriation. 

Gaylene Crouser is executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center and a member of Not In Our Honor.

She will be in Vegas for the demonstration and says that showing up to such a big event is important.

“Stand up and show that there is opposition to the use of our imagery, and likeness and the bastardization of our culture, and all of those things that it’s not okay. And that they don’t have the support of all of Indian Country.” 

The Kansas City team has been gaining much attention, all due to the celebrity of Taylor Swift.

The singer is dating one of the players.

Crouser says she thinks Swift could be an advocate for the Native groups.

“If she were to say to them, ‘Hey, I really I want to support my boyfriend and I really want to do whatever I can, but this particular issue is wrong to have human beings as a mascot’, and to utilize the imagery that way, and come out against it. I believe she would have a lot of sway.” 

Crouser says she is thankful Swift has not taken part in evoking an outdated stereotype of Native people when fans chant and do the “Tomahawk Chop” at games.

And as far as the team changing its name?

Crouser thinks it will have to take something drastic like a financial hit, but Not In Our Honor plans to continue to hold demonstrations as long as it takes.

 

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An Alaskan writer’s new book has gotten a nod from the American Library Association’s prestigious Newbery Award.

KOTZ’s Desiree Hagen reports, the book is a retelling of an Iñupiaq story that was lost for nearly a century.

Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson (Iñupiaq) lives in Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska, a community of about 300 people roughly 70 miles above the Arctic Circle.

The 46-year-old author and illustrator published her first book Eagle Drums last September.

The book is the retelling of the first Messenger Feast, a traditional mid-winter gathering that celebrates Iñupiaq dance, art, and storytelling.

The festival died out after Presbyterian missionaries came to the Arctic, but was revived in the late 1980s.

“So it’s a feast that celebrates connection with each other, but also how our people got music, and song and dance from the eagles.”

Hopson’s book follows a young hunter named Piŋa who is kidnapped by a giant eagle.

Taken to the eagle’s village, Piŋa learns practical wisdom and drumming along with traditional Iñupiaq values like sharing, community, and avoiding conflict while living among giant eagles who frequently shapeshift into humans.

Interspersed between pages are Hopson’s colored pencil illustrations guiding the narrative.

Hopson says her two daughters were her biggest inspiration for the book.

”I think it’s important that we create things for our kids to see themselves in.”

Her book has already received several awards including the American Indian Youth Literature honor, which recognizes the best writing and illustration by and about Indigenous Peoples.

Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday’s legacy is being remembered after his recent death in Santa Fe, N.M.

His first published novel House Made of Dawn made him the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Hannah Bissett has more.

N. Scott Momaday, or Tsoai-talee, which means Rock Tree Boy, was an author, poet, painter, and lecturer.

He often wrote about his experience as an Indigenous person in modern times.

In the 70s, that was uncommon, according to his close friend and coworker, Shirley Sneve.

Sneve, who worked with Momaday on several projects throughout the years, remembered the impact he made with his first book.

“That was a game changer in history that he was able to tell this intimate story about the experience of a warrior in modern times and what that legacy left in that story, left for the Kiowa Nation.”

At the time of publishing House Made of Dawn, the understanding of PTSD for veterans was slim to none.

Sneve says that Momaday’s ability to write this story resonated with veterans coming home from war.

“To be able to hear a story and think to themselves, oh my gosh. that’s my story. Now I understand why I feel the way we do.”

They met on the PBS program American Masters, where Momaday was the star of an episode.

“I always wanted to get some story from one of our famous people on that program, because after all we are the original American masters.”

To make that happen, she began the work for the episode, including the search for an all-Kiowa production team.

“His way of storytelling has just really honored the Kiowa legends. So, I was just really grateful that we were able to put that documentary together with American Masters so, we could honor the legacy of this great poet and writer.”

Momaday also wrote stories of children’s literature and taught at a variety of universities.

He was also an illustrator, particularly in watercolor, which is highlighted in several of his poetry books.

He passed away on January 24 in his home at the age of 89.

Momaday is survived by his two daughters and their children.

Listen to Native America Calling’s Commemoration of Momaday’s life with special guests Jill Momaday (Kiowa), Jacob Tsotigh (Kiowa), Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), Heid E. Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), and Jeffrey Palmer

 

 

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A former employee of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana pled guilty to stealing nearly $80,000 from the tribe.

Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports.

Federal prosecutors say former Blackfeet Operations Manager James McNeely admitted to stealing COVID relief funds.

Prosecutors say McNeely submitted fraudulent reimbursement requests to tribal officials for COVID-19 supplies on Amazon, but never actually purchased anything.

McNeely faces up to ten years in prison.

His sentencing is scheduled in June.

A bill introduced by U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk Nation/D-KS) and Eli Crane (R-AZ) to support Native entrepreneurs has passed the House Committee on Small Business with bipartisan support.

The legislation is intended to enhance the Small Business Administration’s Office of Native American Affairs.

Rep. Davids says small businesses are the heartbeat of tribal communities and economy.

She spoke Wednesday during a committee markup.

“The SBA currently lacks congressional mandate for this office limiting the capacity for the office to do the work it needs to do and leaves it vulnerable to challenges or changes to one administration to the next.”

The legislation would codify the office into federal law, establishing an administrator role to oversee operations in order to create a better government-to-government relationship with tribes.

Enhancements include being able to expand its grant-making ability, provide training, counseling, and technical assistance.

Since October of last year, Anchorage, Alaska, has been visited by a rare, feathered celebrity – a white raven.

The bird is not an albino, but leucistic, which means it has a gene that causes a loss of pigmentation. It also has blue eyes.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has followed a Facebook page called “Anchorage White Raven Spottings”.

Almost every day you can find new photos of White Raven on the page aloft with its feathers, translucent through the light, and at play with another raven in the snow.

The photos that have caught the eye of Meda DeWitt, a Lingít healer who works with medicinal plants.

She says she first heard about White Raven years ago from another traditional healer, the late Rita Blumenstein, a Yup’ik from Southwest Alaska, known as Grandma Rita – trained by her elders from childhood to ease pain and suffering.

“This is one of the stories that she would tell that brought hope. She would say, ‘We will see a White Raven and that’s when we’ll know that humanity as a whole, and not just Alaska Native people, is shifting towards one of peace.’”

DeWitt says it’s a prophecy Grandma Rita heard from her elders.

She says not to forget that raven is also a trickster.

Her uncle tells a story about how Raven wanted to bring mankind fresh water to drink, so he stole a bucket from a chief’s house.

Soot blackened his feathers as he escaped through a smoke hole.

In another version, Raven steals the sun, the moon, and the stars to bring light into the world.

DeWitt believes Raven has transformed yet again to encourage mankind to save the planet, a message especially important to Alaska Natives.

“Our whole job is to steward the earth, and if the earth is sick, that means that we’re sick. And we are actually possibly looking at human extinction. When I see something like the White Raven, it gives me a profound sense of hope. Even beyond hope, knowing that we’re going to be successful.”

Floyd Guthrie (Tsimshian, Lingít, and Haida), another traditional healer, has been waiting for White Raven’s arrival.

“It makes our hearts feel good, because we connect to the truth of his existence.”

Guthrie and his wife, Dr. Marianne Rolland, specialize in treating trauma.

Years ago, long before the bird appeared, they named their counseling center in Anchorage the White Raven Healing Center.

“White Raven opens hearts. And opening up hearts, opens up flow of creativity.”

Rolland says she’s not surprised to see all the White Raven-inspired artwork that has been posted on Facebook – sculptures, paintings even beaded earrings.

The photos run from regal to rogue.

One of the latest shows the bird demonstrating the trickster nature of White Raven, as it strutted with an empty container of Häagen Dazs White Raspberry Chocolate Truffle ice cream.

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Farmers, landowners, and local government agencies will come together Wednesday on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation in Colorado for the latest listening session on a plan to protect and manage the Mancos River.

KSJD’s Chris Clements reports.

The group behind the plan is made up of municipalities and organizations that lie along the river like Mesa Verde National Park, the Mancos Conservation District and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, which have voluntarily joined together.

The listening session is intended for tribal members and ag producers who rely on the river to give feedback on a new watershed stream management plan.

Sensa Wolcott is the watershed coordinator for the conservation district.

“There are certain times in certain spots where the river does dry up. Especially obviously, in drought years, and that is really hard on irrigators. And it’s really detrimental to the ecology and the riparian aquatic animals as well, you know, like fish can’t move.”

Wolcott says the first draft of the plan will likely be finished by late February.

It’ll serve as a guide for communities to better use and conserve water resources, and could include voluntary or compensated changes to irrigation rules during drier years.

More outreach sessions will take place starting this summer for feedback on the first draft.

The finalized plan isn’t expected until 2025.

After a nearly four-year hiatus, Gov. Tina Kotek (D-OR) has revived a task force dedicated to taking stock of Native American items in state and public collections.

KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.

Then-Gov. Kate Brown (D-OR) established the Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items in 2017.

Its 16 members were from all nine federally-recognized tribes within Oregon, as well as government, university, and law enforcement officials, but their operations were paused in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic spread.

Jesse Beers is the cultural stewardship manager for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians and was with the original task force.

“I really want to convey how happy I am that this is being reconvened, because it was an important task force. There’s items that the state may hold that tribes aren’t aware of, and there’s knowledge that tribes have the state is unaware of, so it’s a way of building relationships.”

Oregon became the first state to share survey findings on tribal items in 2019.

A signing ceremony between two tribal colleges to help address teacher shortages in Indian Country was held this week in Macy, Neb., at the Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC).

NICC signed an agreement with Haskell Indian Nations University, which is located in Lawrence, Kan., to increase opportunities for tribal college students at NICC who earn an associate degree in teacher preparation to transfer to Haskell for a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

Kristine Sudbeck, NICC academic dean, expressed her gratitude for the partnership, saying it will help their students reach goals of becoming teachers.

“And trying to serve the needs of our students where they are at and really trying to promote more Native teachers that will stay in the communities because they’re invested.”

Kameron Runnels, vice chairman of the Santee Sioux Tribe, attended the signing event and talked about why representation matters.

He says it’s important that young students see Native teachers who can help inspire them as they become future leaders in tribal communities.

“We talk about that all the time, our kids running our tribe, our kids being professionals.”

The effort between the two tribal colleges is to create a pathway for graduates to become certified teachers in elementary school settings.

The agreement goes into effect this summer.

NICC offers students certificates and associate degrees at three campuses in Nebraska and online, and is working on offering its first baccalaureate program.

 

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A Navajo Nation Council delegate has stepped down from his seat.

Seth Damon will take up a new position as Deputy Secretary of Indian Affairs for the State of New Mexico.

KSJD’s Clark Adomaitis has more.

Seth Damon bid farewell to the Navajo Nation council.

“My family and I share a deep appreciation for the communities I had the privilege of representing over the years. And thank you for standing with me during positive and very oftentimes difficult times.” 

Damon is accepting a new position in New Mexico’s Department of Indian Affairs, a department that recently replaced a controversial cabinet secretary, and that has been criticized for its response in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives crisis.

“What Speaker Damon did is really going to help us especially the New Mexico (Navajo) chapters.”

Eugenia Charles-Newton is a Navajo Nation council member who co-sponsored a number of bills with Seth Damon.

Charles-Newton spoke to Council on Seth Damon’s last day.

“Because we do really give millions of dollars back to the state of New Mexico who are trying to help us to with water projects with Chapter projects with road projects. And because of the miscommunication that happens between the federal or the sorry, the state government and the Navajo Nation. I think that Speaker Damon is a perfect fit to try to fix that issue.”

The Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council says that an interim council member will be appointed to fill Damon’s vacant seat.

A special election will be held to permanently fill the seat.

The Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak, Alaska, in collaboration with the Alutiiq Museum, have released a textbook to help revitalize an endangered Alaska Native language.

As KMXT’s Davis Hovey reports, it’s a new tool to teach the next generation of Sugpiaq or Alutiiq speakers.

A new Alutiiq Language textbook, released last month, focuses on the Koniag dialect, although it’s open to anyone who wants to learn Alutiiq.

Dehrich Chya, Alutiiq Language and Living Culture Manager at the Alutiiq Museum, is one of the co-authors.

He says many Alutiiq speakers were consulted to create this textbook.

“Whenever we’re doing any language, producing any language materials, we work as much as we can with language speakers who live here in Kodiak. Over the past few years, that has gotten harder and harder as speakers have passed on.”

Chya started his language journey with nearly no knowledge of Alutiiq, having rarely heard it spoken when he was growing up.

Now he is an advanced speaker who still considers himself a language learner.

He says this textbook, in conjunction with all the other online language resources, can help revitalize the endangered Alaska Native language, but there are still challenges that exist for a beginner to become fluent in Alutiiq.

“I think the hardest part of learning the language is finding time to use it with somebody. Because language learning for a lot of people is quite a personal journey and not everybody has the opportunity to have other people around them who are also learning at the same time or at the same rate.”

With Elders and fluent Alutiiq speakers dying off, there is a need for more speaker-teachers to help the next generation achieve proficiency in their second language.

That’s where Peggy Azuyak comes in. She’s teaching Alutiiq language classes to young adults at the Kodiak College, under the University of Alaska Anchorage.

“I’m using it right now in my Alutiiq 102 class. This is the first semester I am able to use it with students.”

The new Alutiiq Language textbook features 15 chapters, including sections on numbers and math, and is targeted towards high school and college age students.

“Several high school students have been interested in going through either the Kodiak High School or College courses and are involved with teaching the language in their home communities.”

Anyone who wants to learn to speak Alutiiq can access the Alutiiq Language textbook online for free.

 

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Over the weekend, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City closed two halls exhibiting Indigenous cultures of North America – the Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains.

The move comes after the Biden Administration’s recent updates to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which includes tribal consultation and consent for exhibition and research of artifacts.

In a letter to museum staff from the museum’s president, both halls are said to display artifacts that could require consent under the new regulations.

The letter goes on to say the halls are severely outdated and rather than covering or removing items, they’re closing the halls.

The museum is also covering seven cases with Native items located in various areas in the museum.

The museum says it will work with tribes and Native communities and will use this as a learning opportunity.

A Farmington, N.M. musician is channeling John Cage and his Navajo ancestors to honor those lost in the Long Walk.

KSJD’s Clark Adomaitis has the story of a musical performance that will run for four and a half years.

Delbert Anderson is a jazz musician and composer in Farmington.

Recently, Anderson launched a performance of a piece he calls “The Long Walk”.

It’s an abstract piece of music that lasts for four-and-a-half years, but only includes 50 notes in total.

There are months of musical silence between each note.

The four-and-a-half-year-long piece represents the amount of time of the Long Walk of the Navajo – 1674 days.

That’s the length of time Navajo people were forced from their homeland in the 1860s by the U.S. government.

In December, Anderson gathered with community members and musicians at an art gallery in Farmington.

The performance was a single note played for a 30-second interval – a concert D.

“For those of you who want to participate, you’re welcome to sing the note as well. you can hold the note as long as you you want. Some people just do a simple bop. And that’s it.”

On the Long Walk, more than 10,000 Navajo people were forced to march hundreds of miles to an internment camp in New Mexico.

They were malnourished and weren’t clothed properly. During some periods, 20-30 starved each week.

These are the details performers and audience members consider in the moments before the note is played.

The musicians hold the D note, as we reflect on a history that’s more than a hundred years old.

Following the note, there’s silence for some time.

Sam Bader (Native Hawaiian) is a trombonist who lives in Farmington.

“When I played that concert, D on my trombone, I just felt echoes of like generations of, of ancestors. And I think I really felt it in the silence after I played. I had to close my eyes and just kind of sit and think with it for a little bit.”

The 50th and final note will be performed on June 1, 2028.

In the intervening time, several dozen additional notes will be played.

Between each of those notes, there are periods of silence – silence that reminds us what the Navajo people faced during their Long Walk.

Pete Kaiser (Yup’ik) won his eighth Kuskokwim 300 Sled dog race, as he crossed the finish line in Bethel early Sunday morning.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has more.

Kaiser raced over a hard and fast trail in sub-zero temperatures over the frozen Kuskokwim River.

The trail runs 300 miles to Bethel and Aniak and back, following an old route used to deliver mail by dog team.

Kaiser is from Bethel.

He and his team of twelve dogs, which made it from start to finish, take home a $28,500 prize.

Kaiser won the 2019 Iditarod and beat this year’s champ, Ryan Reddington, who came in seventh.

Reddington (Inupiat) was the sixth Alaska Native musher to win the Iditarod.

 

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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.”

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.

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.

 

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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.

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).

 

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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.

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.

 

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