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A stretch of highway that runs through the Blackfeet Nation in northwest Montana is now named after the late Chief Earl Old Person.

Aaron Bolton reports Old Person was a storied cultural and political leader for the Blackfeet Nation.

Old Person, who died in 2021, served as the Blackfeet traditional chief and sat on the nation’s tribal council for decades.

But he also played a major role nationally, serving as the president of the National Congress of American Indians from 1969 to 1971.

He also helped pass federal legislation like the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, which ensured access to traditional sites and the freedom to worship through ceremonies.

A bill that will memorialize Old Person was signed into law Tuesday.

A stretch of U.S. Highway 89, which runs through the heart of the Blackfeet Reservation, will now be known as Chief Earl Old Person Memorial Highway.

On Tuesday, you heard about Jemez Pueblo’s efforts to secure water rights for the tribe’s health and way of life.

KUNR’s Kaleb Roedel has more on why that work is more urgent than ever.

Traditionally, the Pueblo’s growing season runs from April to October. But it often gets cut short by water shortages – to the point that some don’t even want to plant anymore.

“This climate change has really made us even think harder. What can we do? How can we make these things work?”

That’s Michael Toledo Jr. He’s a three-term governor and a longtime negotiator on the tribal water team. And he’s a farmer who says the lack of water hurt his crops badly last year.

“That’s the way it goes sometimes – and it’s year by year. But it’s our way of life, we’ve got to take care of our own land and take care of what we have.”

The federal government has set aside $2.5 billion to settle disputes over tribal water rights.

So far, a number of tribes have already reached settlements.

That includes the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah; the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho; and the Southern Ute Tribe in Colorado.

Last fall, several lawmakers from New Mexico introduced bills to approve Pueblo water settlements.

For Jemez, it would create a $290 million trust fund for water-related projects and confirm the tribe’s rights to more than 6,000-acre-feet per year. That equals enough water to cover 6,000 acres of land, one foot deep.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) spoke about the proposal before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

“The settlements will provide critically needed funding for water infrastructure to develop and distribute new water to Pueblo homes and businesses.”

But the Jemez Pueblo is still waiting for its water rights to be approved. And Congress has been newly divided after Republicans took control of the House.

Here’s Paul S. Chinana, a five-term pueblo governor and member of the tribal water team.

“I just hope that we get a settlement. It’s always an upstream battle, and we’re not there yet.”

Meanwhile, on the banks of the Jemez River, Peter Madalena is thinking beyond the water the Pueblo needs for its fields this year.

“It’s just part of our lives. And I think it’s very important that we continue that livelihood, not just for us but for our grandkids and their kids way down the line.”

That’s why he’s glad to see the surrounding mountains covered in snow.

He’s praying for plenty of rainfall this spring – and for their water rights to be secured sooner than later.

This story is supported by The Water Desk, an initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.

 

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For 40 years, Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico has been working to access water the tribe says it’s owed by the federal government.

KUNR’s Kaleb Roedel visited the tribe to learn more about those efforts.

It’s a gray and snowy day in late winter on the Jemez Pueblo reservation in north-central New Mexico.

Peter Madalena is standing on the banks of the Jemez River, a tributary of the Rio Grande.

Madalena says the river’s higher than it has been in recent winters thanks to more days like this one – filled with snow.

“It’s a blessing that we’re getting it because you’re gonna have more water, and hopefully more people plant.”

Madalena is the Pueblo’s 1st Lieutenant Governor.

He’s also a lifelong farmer – like many here at Jemez.

The tribe doesn’t own any casinos or large energy sources.

They’re largely supported by farming, with corn and chilies being their primary crops.

That means they rely heavily on this river, which they divert for agriculture.

“The crop from the seed up, as they say, we grow together. So that’s what we’re trying to protect here, the water.”

But that hasn’t always been easy.

Back in 1938, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas signed a compact that divided the Rio Grande Basin waters among the states.

But Native tribes and pueblos didn’t have a seat at the table.

That forced them to negotiate settlements or file lawsuits – even though their rights predate all other water users.

Paul S. Chinana is a five-term Jemez Pueblo governor and member of the tribal water team.

He’s been involved with negotiations since they started back in 1983.

“We’ve been having a lot of water shortages for as long as I can remember. And there were a lot of people that were moving in upstream.”

As more water-users – mainly, homes and businesses – are built to the north, less of it flows down to Jemez.

And there’s another challenge impacting the amount of available water.

“Drought. It’s just hard to get everything running normal like it’s supposed to run when there’s no water.”

This story was supported by The Water Desk, an initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.

The city of San Antonio, TX recently named Chicano poet Nephtali De Leon as the city’s poet laureate.

The bilingual bicultural artist says he’ll not only represent his Mexican-American culture in the post, but also his Indigenous roots.

Maria Martin reports.

The son of migrant workers, 78-year-old Nephtali De Leon is known for his children’s stories, his visual art, and most of all, for his code-switching poetry.

“While we bless all with holy water of our San Antonio, of ancient our Yanawana Springs, where you can even dance a Westside Polka… with Chiquita Banana.”

At his investiture as San Antonio’s poet laureate, De Leon told National Native News he and all Chicanos from the Southwest are rooted in the ancient Indigenous Mexica culture.

“We still carry the same blood as our ancestors.”

Poet Nephtali De Leon will serve as San Antonio’s poet laureate for the next three years, promoting the art of poetry while celebrating the diverse culture and history of this Texas city.

 

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Montana’s legislature has passed a joint resolution recognizing the history of American Indian boarding schools and calling on the U.S. government to create a national day of remembrance.

Montana Public Radio’s Ellis Juhlin has more.

State Rep. Tyson Running Wolf (D-MT/Blackfeet Nation) sponsored the resolution in the House to officially acknowledge the trauma of boarding schools.

They suffered physical, sexual, cultural, spiritual abuse, and neglect – and experienced treatment that in many cases constitute torture.

For speaking their native language, many children never returned home, and their fates have yet to be accounted for by the U.S. government.

On the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Running Wolf read off a list of 13 children from tribes across Montana who died at the Fort Shaw Industrial Indian School, an hour east of Helena.

The school was opened between 1892 and 1910.

The youngest to attend the boarding school was four years old.

Senate Joint Resolution 6 passed with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

In 2021, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland launched an investigation into the country’s past assimilation policies, which included the forced removal of Native American children from their families and tribes, placing them in Indian boarding schools.

That ongoing investigation found 18 boarding schools operated in Montana.

Gov. Tina Kotek (D-OR)’s stance on gaming is hypocritical, says the Coquille Indian Tribe.

The criticism follows a letter Gov. Kotek recently sent to the nine tribes located across the state.

KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.

In her letter, the governor writes that she does not favor the expansion of gaming, and therefore her policy maintains the status quo from previous administrations.

Gov. Kotek then highlights the Coquille Tribe’s application for an electronic bingo facility in Medford, and states her opposition to it.

That’s stirred up strong feelings and resentment among some who point to a broad array of state-sponsored gambling in Oregon.

Jon Ivy is Vice Chair of the Coquille Tribal Council.

“Truly, the Oregon Lottery is the biggest gaming institution in the state of Oregon. Maybe there’s some political gamesmanship going on here, when in fact it is frustrating and quite frankly, somewhat hurtful to the tribe.”

The tribe says Gov. Kotek has no authority over the matter and her stance perpetuates a mythical “one tribe, one casino” policy.

The Coquille Tribe has sought federal approval for a Medford gaming facility, which would be its second one outside the Mill Casino in North Bend.

Previous governors have not supported it, and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians – which runs the Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville – has also opposed it.

The governor’s office did not respond to KLCC’s request for comment.

A man with strong family ties to the Western Alaska village of Gambell has been recognized for his commitment and dedication to Native culture and identity.

KNOM’s Greg Knight reports.

Sam Schimmel, 23, is an Indigenous youth advocate who’s Siberian Yu’pik and Kenaitze.

He’ll soon graduate from law school.

Schimmel is the inaugural recipient of the Autumn Apok Ridley Award given by the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage.

He’s recognized for his work in supporting Indigenous culture and ways of life.

Schimmel says listening closely to elders as a youth, as he grew up in Gambell and on the Kenai Peninsula, was one of the most important touchstones in his life.

“They’re the ones who instilled in me the promise of reciprocity, that our communities are based on the idea that our elders will teach us how to live and how to be. In exchange, when we grow up, we will take care of our elders and we will pass down that knowledge onto our children so that they will take care of us.”

Schimmel received the award last week.

The heritage center’s inaugural community recognition included an elder award, which was given to the late Dr. Oliver Leavitt (Inupiaq).

 

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President Joe Biden is back spending time with his Irish cousins Friday as part of his week-long trip to the Emerald Isle.

Thursday was a full day of pomp and circumstance with Irish politicians in the Republic’s capital, as Seo McPolin reports from Dublin.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Ireland’s poet-president Michael D. Higgins rang a peace bell at Áras an Uachtaráin.

The head of state’s official residence was originally built in 1751 and was a summer place for the British viceroy in the Kingdom of Ireland.

Most of Dublin’s city center – including the zoo – was shutdown Thursday amid tight security.

There were concerns of violence by critics of the Good Friday Agreement, which deferred a United Ireland in the name of peace 25 years ago this week.

The White House denied the President is ‘anti-British’ after a former leader of Northern Ireland’s right-wing loyalist party said President Biden ‘hates the UK.’

His love for Ireland was on full display including his entry into President Higgin’s guest book, quoting an old Irish saying “your feet will bring you to where your heart is … and it’s an honor to return and to come home to the home of my ancestors.”

Chief Standing Bear is being honored by the U.S. Postal Service.

His portrait is featured on a Forever stamp.

The leader is well-known for fighting for Native rights.

In 1877, the U.S. Army forcibly relocated some 700 Ponca people to Indian Territory, what’s now Oklahoma, after the federal government took the tribe’s homeland in an area that’s now in northeastern Nebraska.

When trying to return home, Standing Bear along with 29 other Ponca people were arrested.

Standing Bear sued the federal government for his freedom in a landmark civil rights case, which he won.

A ceremony will be held in Lincoln, NE on May 12 to rollout the stamp.

Freda Dan’s four kids are all grown-up, but she continues to organize an Alaska Native language spelling bee every year in Anchorage, which now includes Yup’ik and Inupiat language speakers, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports.

Dan (Yup’ik) grew up in the Western Alaska village of Stebbins.

She now lives in Anchorage, where she started the spelling bee when her kids were small, to help them keep their connection to their language.

After twelve years, with one year off for the pandemic, Dan is holding her 11th statewide spelling bee in Anchorage. She says it’s the students who keep her going.

“I do catch their exuberance and happiness, that they accomplished something.”

Before students get to the competition, they have a lot of work to do.

They’re given a long list of words to learn – 26 pages for Yup’ik spellers and 14 for Inupiaq.

“It includes the word with its definition, a sample of its usage and a lot of them have difficulty with Q and K and R and G.”

Dan says those letters represent different sounds than in English.

Understanding those spelling conventions, she says, also helps students learn to read in their Native language and improve their vocabulary.

Four schools are taking part in the Yup’ik spelling bee – Nunam Iqua on the Bering Sea coast, as well as two Kuskokwim River communities, Akiak and Akiachak.

Brevig Mission, which is north of Nome, is the only Iñupiaq school in this year’s competition.

The statewide spelling bee will be held at the Central Lutheran Church in downtown Anchorage on Saturday.

Indigenous chef Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota) has made Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world list for 2023.

Sherman is a leader in the movement to revitalize Indigenous food systems, and is also a founder of the non-profit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems.

 

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An Indigenous organization is collecting data about American Indian and Alaska Native youth.

Emma VandenEinde with KUNC reports.

The Center for Native American Youth is conducting a nationally reaching survey aimed at 18-24 year olds who identify as Indigenous.

Cheyenne Brady is with the center.

“How can we be working for Native youth if we don’t really know what their voice is?” 

The center has done a few surveys like this in the past, but this one focuses on the resources available to Native youth.

It asks questions about education, food security, economic opportunities, and more.

The survey is part of the Urban Indian Health Institute’s Decolonizing Data grant program.

Brady says their goal is to fill in the data gaps where other surveys fail.

“If we’re not creating new data for us and by us, that risks the opportunity for the nation and the world to continue utilizing any data where we’re severely underrepresented or any data that is simply inaccurate.” 

The survey has more than 500 responses.

Once finished, the results will be shared with tribes.

The survey will close Friday and can be accessed via the Center’s website.

And now for a tale of two Alaskan dogs who live on St. Lawrence Island, a tiny piece of land off the Bering Sea coast not far from Russia and surrounded by sea ice, as told by Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA.

Starlight and Nanuq are the beloved pets of Mandy Iworrigan, who lives in Gambell, a village at the top of the island.

Mandy Iworrigan owns the dogs.

“If dogs could talk, both of them would have one heck of a story.”

Iworrigan left Starlight and Nanuq at home in Gambell, when she took a trip south to Savoonga, but the dogs had other ideas.

They disappeared. And about two-and-a-half weeks later Starlight, who looks like a black lab and husky mix, showed up in Savoonga, about 40 miles away from Gambell.

So where was Nanuq?

Well, the Australian shepherd turned up in Wales, a week after Starlight made it to Savoonga — a trek to the mainland that took Nanuq across more than 150 miles of sea ice. And except for some bite marks on his leg, he was in good condition.

Iworrigan believes he survived by hunting.

“I’m pretty sure he ate scraps of seals, scraps of birds.”

Iworrigan says the dog proved he was a survivor and lived up to his Siberian Yup’ik name, Nanuq, which means “polar bear”.

Nanuq traveled by airplane back to Gambell.

Iworrigan says she was especially grateful to Michael and Hilary Ahkinga of Wales, a brother and sister who took care of Nanuq – and to those who helped him fly home.

Iworrigan says she and her children were there to greet him.

“When he came and heard our voices off of the plane, he started whining and crying, you know, just the happiness.”

With help from antibiotics to treat his leg, Nanuq appears to be on the mend. Iworrigan believes he may have been bitten by a wolverine or a seal, possibly even a polar bear.

Western Michigan University is announcing a graduate certificate in tribal governance.

The certificate is in cooperation between the School of Public Affairs and Administration, and three Potawatomi nations.

The opportunity is intended to provide tribally endorsed resources where students can engage with various tribal entities through subject matter and experts.

Plans include cohorts involving government, gaming and economic development with each tribal nation.

The announcement will be made Thursday afternoon as the university hosts a talk with U.S. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland.

Newland is a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community in northern Michigan.

 

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Two regional tribal organizations have sued the federal government over failed Western Alaska salmon runs, reports Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA.

The Association of Village Council Presidents and the Tanana Chiefs Conference have named two federal agencies as defendants in the case – the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Department of Commerce.

The lawsuit was filed on their behalf by Earthjustice.

AVCP and the Tanana Chiefs represent about a hundred tribes who live along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers, a land mass that stretches from Southwest Alaska to the Canadian border.

Jennifer Hooper, the Natural Resources Director for AVCP, says back-to-back seasons of fishery collapses have affected every aspect of life for people in the region.

“It’s just been a compounding situation of huge food security concerns and lack of salmon, which of course is protein and food. But more so, it’s the culture and the traditions that people have experienced for thousands and thousands of years.”

Salmon bycatch is at the heart of the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court last Friday.

Bycatch are fish that are caught unintentionally and discarded, as fishing boats pursue other species.

In this case, the lawsuit targets factory trawlers in the Bering Sea that fish for pollock, a ground fish used in popular flaked fish products like fish sticks and surimi, a crab substitute.

Brian Ridley, who is Chairman of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, says the salmon crisis may soon reach a point of no return.

“If immediate, large scale action doesn’t take place by either the state or the feds, we might not even have a fishing resource left in our rivers. I mean, we’re darn near the level where I think endangered species could start coming into play. And that’s all we’re trying to do is not get to that point.”

The lawsuit claims federal fishery managers relied on outdated studies, when it set groundfish catch limits for the 2023 and 2024 seasons – and failed to consider what it calls “monumental changes” in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands ecosystems that have taken place over the last two decades.

The fishing industry has argued there’s no conclusive evidence that bycatch has caused the decline of salmon, but even so, has taken steps to reduce incidental catches.

NOAA Fisheries, which oversees the National Marine Fisheries Management Service, says it cannot comment on litigation.

Earthjustice is the same environmental law firm which recently filed suit on behalf of three other Southwest Alaska tribes to block the Donlin Gold Mine.

On Tuesday, members of the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition joined U.S. Arizona lawmakers U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) in launching an effort to create protections near the Grand Canyon.

They’re calling on President Joe Biden to use his authorities to designate the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.

The proposal includes more than one million acres near Grand Canyon National Park.

Tribal representatives took part in a virtual press conference with the lawmakers expressing the need to protect the area, which is culturally and spiritually significant to tribes in the Southwest.

Timothy Nuvangyaoma is chairman of the Hopi Tribe.

“The creator gave us a gift and that gift is in the form of the Grand Canyon. That gift is not only for the tribal nations that have that intimate connection with it, but it’s a gift to the state of Arizona. It’s a gift to the United States. It’s a gift to the entire world. So, we do have to protect the beauty of the area many tribes call home…The Hopi Tribe supports the designation it protects the Grand Canyon’s physical beauty and natural and cultural resources. This designation is the highest priority to the Hopi people.”

The designation would protect the area from uranium mining. The area is also an important watershed for the Colorado River.

The Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition consists of representatives from more than a dozen tribes.

 

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The Alaska Native Heritage Center says its study of church records that go back to the 1800s is not research for research’s sake, reports Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA.

Researcher Benjamin Jacuk-Dolchok (Kenaitze) says he hopes to reconstruct the story of how early churches used schools to separate Alaska Native peoples from their land, their culture, and their spirituality.

He says the impacts are still felt today.

“You can’t understand what you need healing from, unless you pull back the band aid and understand the wound.”

Jacuk-Dolchok says most Alaskans don’t realize how closely churches coordinated their efforts.

“While these might be different denominations, the ideology was mostly the same. And that was forced assimilation.”

Jacuk-Dolchok says some of the research looks at the role of boarding schools — and how Americanization and Christianity intersected to break the close connections Alaska Natives had with their land.

He says the forced use of English took away the “heart language” of the people, which sped up the process.

“The major takeaway from what we’re doing is understanding the truth to bring healing, so that younger generations can thrive.”

Jacuk-Dolchok has studied Native boarding schools for more than a decade and credits his grandfather, who attended boarding school, for inspiring his work.

The Princeton Seminary graduate says his theology studies has helped him with his research and given him access to important documents.

Jacuk-Dolchok will share some of his research at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage on Friday.

President Joe Biden flew to Ireland Tuesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic Good Friday Agreement.

But as Seo McPolin reports from Dublin, not everyone is celebrating the deal which deferred Indigenous Irish sovereignty in the name of peace and prosperity.

The Good Friday Agreement was hammered out 25 years ago by Irish, British, and American negotiators. It effectively ended decades of violence against the Irish people and opened up the economy of Northern Ireland.

However, it failed to unite the island of Ireland and left the British government, which sponsored much of the violence, in control of the six counties.

Sinn Féin, now the most popular political party on the island, has been denied the chance to lead on either side of the border by their right-wing counterparts.

Sinn Féin is pushing for a reunification vote, which has been gaining support since Brexit.

Britain’s withdrawal from the E.U. further isolated Northern Ireland from the rest of the island and put new pressure on the 25-year-old agreement.

President Biden will spend this week attending anniversary events and visiting his Irish cousins.

An Indigenous author recently released a new children’s book highlighting the cultural importance of hair. KUNC’s Emma VandenEinde.

Carole Lindstrom (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe/Métis)’s mom never allowed her to have long hair when she was young.

She didn’t understand until she learned about Indian Boarding Schools, where her relatives were forced to cut their hair.

“My mom didn’t allow it because it made us look native. It made us look uncivilized. That kind of decided it was time to tell the story.”

My Powerful Hair follows a young girl who sees her culture and life events woven into her hair like a scrapbook. At the end, the girl and her mom decide to grow their hair out together.

For Lindstrom, the story is very personal.

“I wish my mom was still here so she could be with me to celebrate who she really was.”

Illustrator Steph Littlebird (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde) made the drawings colorful to show her community’s resilience.

“We’re fighting erasure on so many levels. And so these books make visible our community in a way that’s so beautiful and empowering.”

My Powerful Hair is available in bookstores and online.

Listen to Native America Calling’s recent conversation with Carole Lindstrom

 

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A New Mexico man pleaded not guilty Friday in the 2021 disappearance of an elderly woman on the Navajo Nation.

Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, Ella Mae Begay’s case has brought national attention to the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

At his arraignment in Flagstaff, 23-year-old Preston Henry Tolth pleaded not guilty to assault and carjacking charges.

Begay’s friends and family attended the hearing urging that Tolth remain in custody.

Seraphine Warren is Begay’s niece.

“He’s where he’s at, his hands are shackled, he’s helpless, maybe just like my aunt was. We’re going to fight with this and him to get the right answers. My aunt really did not deserve this at all.”

She spoke at the hearing along with Begay’s son, Gerald Begay.

Warren brought attention to her aunt and other cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people last summer as she walked from the Navajo Nation to Washington D.C.

Begay is still missing and prosecutors hope to uncover the truth about her disappearance.

They say Tolth assaulted the then-62-year-old woman in the community of Sweetwater, Ariz. near Four Corners, and then took her pickup truck, which he allegedly traded for methamphetamine and 200 dollars in Albuquerque, N.M.

A U.S. magistrate ordered Tolth to remain in custody pending trial.

He was already in custody on a separate charge and has an extensive criminal history.

A federal trial is scheduled to begin next month in Phoenix and, if convicted, Tolth faces decades in prison.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health are surveying water quality and access on tribal lands.

KUNC’s Emma VandenEinde joined them on a survey day to see how it works.

Taishiana Tsosie and Kimberly Belone head out on winding dirt roads, following a random list of homes.

To find one driveway, Tsosie and Belone have to count the roads they pass.

TSOSIE AND BELONE: “So this would be seven, eight, eight, right? No, this isn’t it. This isn’t it. No, it is.”

While other surveys did not count hogans and trailers, this one uses satellite imagery to map all homes in the Fort Defiance section of the reservation.

But without good addresses or Wifi on the Navajo Nation, it can be difficult to find.

TSOSIE: “It is. That hogan was there. Okay. Yeah.”

At each home, residents are asked if they want to be interviewed anonymously. The survey has questions about where they get their water, the water’s quality and potential solutions.

They plan to survey more than 1,000 homes, and 100 will be selected for water testing. But the interviews can be a rollercoaster of emotions. Belone recalled one with an old man who was struggling to haul water.

BELONE: “He was just like, ‘I’m not going to have anybody to do this. So that might be the end of us if I can’t haul water anymore.’ It’s just like, Oh my gosh.”

Plus, many barriers stand in the way for tribal communities.

Heather Himmelberger is with the Southwest Environmental Finance Center.

She studied tribal water systems in Rio Grande pueblos And found that old and faulty pipes and other infrastructure were their main concern.

“You have these very expensive infrastructure projects with very few people who can pay for them. So you can imagine that that becomes problematic over time.”

Her 2022 study also found that many water systems were not aware that dozens of grants existed for their projects.

Some did not even receive the full amount of requested funding.

“What part gets done? What part doesn’t get done? And then how does that affect that community for a longer time frame?”

Despite this, Belone believes the Johns Hopkins’ survey is what the community needs.

“Many of them are really, really grateful. They’re like, Thank you. Nobody has asked me these questions. Thank you for being the one to actually start something.”

This story was supported by The Water Desk, an initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.

 

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Three Alaska tribes are suing the federal government to block a gold mine in Southwest Alaska.

As Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports, the lawsuit also impacts two Alaska Native corporations, which are partners in the project.

The proposed Donlin Gold Mine sits near the upper reaches of the Kuskokwim – one of Alaska’s two largest rivers – remote and rich with wildlife.

The mine’s developers say it also has the potential to be one of the biggest gold mines in the world.

Opponents say the massive open pit mine that’s envisioned is just too risky.

Earth Justice is representing the three tribes that have filed suit – the Orutsararmiut Native Council, which is based in Bethel, the Organized Village of Kwethluk and the Tuluksak Native Community.

The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court, challenges the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Donlin project. It names the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management and the Interior Department as defendants in the case.

The suit says the mine threatens lands and waters that tribes have relied upon for food and drinking water for time immemorial, as well as for culture, ceremony and passing on traditions.

The lawsuit claims that mining tailings or spills from barges carrying toxic substances like cyanide and mercury could destroy fisheries and wildlife habitat.

Two Canadian companies, Barrick Gold and Nova Gold, are co-owners of the mine, which pits the tribal groups against two Alaska Native Corporations, which are partners in the project.

The Kuskokwim Corporation, a consortium of ten village corporations, owns the land. Calista, a regional corporation, owns the mineral rights. Both have touted the mine as a golden opportunity that could bring jobs, infrastructure and affordable energy to one of the most cash-starved regions of the state.

Alaska’s other Native Corporations also have a stake in this project, under a profit-sharing mechanism in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act – which created the corporations and sets aside 70 percent of the profits from natural resource development, to be split among twelve regional Native Corporations.

In a news release, Donlin Gold said the lawsuit is without merit and is confident the decisions made by the federal agencies involved will be upheld.

An organization is examining water quality and access on tribal lands.

KUNC’s Emma VandenEinde took a trip to the border of Arizona and New Mexico to learn more.

Taishiana Tsosie and Kimberly Belone are standing in the dark, in an office bathroom on the Navajo Nation.

They’re holding up plastic bags filled with water from the sink.

Belone shines a blacklight on one of the bags.

Tsosie says that will help find contaminants.

“What we’re looking for is…basically if it’s glowing really, really bad.”

Belone and Tsosie don’t think there’s any E Coli. But they see harmless bacteria in some of the numbered bag compartments.

BELONE: “I think two and three on both of them are fluorescent.” TSOSIE: “I was thinking three, and I don’t think yours is.”BELONE: “Really?”  TSOSIE: “Yeah.”

This test is a crucial part of their Diné Household Water Survey conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health. It aims to learn more about water on the Navajo Nation.

Estimates about water access and quality vary widely.

The Indian Health Service says just over 9 percent of Native people lack good sanitation, but the Water and Tribes Initiative reports that number is as high as 48%.

And the problem is concentrated in the arid southwest – from the Navajo Nation to the Rio Grande pueblos.

TSOSIE: “Well, since the Rio Grande is so close to Albuquerque metropolitan area that they’re finally experiencing what we have been experiencing here.”

Tsosie is familiar with these water issues from her childhood.

“I did live with my grandmother and she didn’t have piped or running water growing up. So we would have to, you know, use the bathroom outside.”

After she and her mom moved out, Tsosie got access to…some running water.

“It wasn’t great water. It was kind of yellow, but we were still safe enough to bathe and never drank it.”

Tsosie hopes the survey results can highlight a vital resource their nation needs. Belone agrees.

“That’s the thing. It is a basic thing. Everyone should be entitled to running water and all of that. ”

This story was supported by The Water Desk, an initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.

Tune in for Part 2 to see how the survey works.

 

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A federal grand jury has indicted a New Mexico man in the case of a missing elderly woman on the Navajo Nation.

As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, Ella Mae Begay remains missing after more than a year-and-a-half.

The two-count indictment alleges that 23-year-old Preston Henry Tolth assaulted Begay during a June 2021 carjacking in Sweetwater, Ariz., a community near Four Corners on the Navajo Nation.

Prosecutors say Tolth drove Begay’s Ford F-150 pickup truck across state lines and intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to her.

Tolth faces decades in prison if convicted.

The investigation by the FBI and Navajo Nation law enforcement is ongoing and the U.S. Justice Department says it’s part of a broader attempt to solve cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Begay’s family has aggressively sought answers in her disappearance.

In a social media post, an attorney representing them said the day of the indictment was bittersweet.

Last summer, Begay’s niece Seraphine Warren walked from the Navajo Nation to Washington D.C. to advocate for her aunt and other missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Winona LaDuke has resigned as executive director of the environmental group Honor The Earth.

The board of directors received and accepted her resignation this week.

The move comes after a Minnesota jury last week sided with a former employee.

Margaret Campbell had complained a co-worker sexually harassed her.

Campbell claimed Honor the Earth’s leaders failed to take her concerns seriously.

The Becker County jury awarded Campbell $750,000 in damages for sexual harassment and retaliation.

Honor The Earth released a statement on Facebook Wednesday from the new executive director Krystal Two Bulls.

In the statement, Two Bulls talks about moving Honor The Earth forward with the transition after LaDuke’s more than 30 years of leadership.

The statement does not mention the lawsuit, but Two Bulls says they’ve learned “real lessons” and have “deep” work to do around sexual harassment.

She goes on to say Honor The Earth is committed to listening, healing, and intentional work ahead.

In a Facebook post, LaDuke wrote that she failed former employee Molly Campbell for failing to respond to her reports of sexual harassment by a co-worker.

LaDuke says, prior to the trial, she had been working on a transition plan.

This story includes reporting from Minnesota Public Radio’s Kirsti Marohn and Dan Kraker.

Tribal leaders in California asked state lawmakers to help address the fentanyl crisis impacting their communities.

During a recent roundtable at the State Capitol in Sacramento, tribal leaders shared how fentanyl is devastating Native Americans across the state.

Chairman John Christman of the Viejas Band of Mission Indians, who’s been in tribal leadership for 16 years, has served as chairman for the last four.

He says fentanyl is plaguing his people and it’s like nothing he’s seen before.

“Part of the reasons we don’t have success is this new sort of chemical takes ahold of them and when you look in their eyes they can’t, it’s like they need a stepping program to get off of this to even get through to them at all.”

Chairwoman Angela Elliott Santos of the Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation talked about how she’s lost close family members to fentanyl.

She says challenges include being in a rural area with lack of resources, law enforcement and services. Santos says what tribes need is full funding, which they don’t have to compete for in order to tackle the issue.

“Funding we can count on to end the cycles that have plagued us since we were stripped of our way of life. In these days of so much talk of equity and making up for the past, our tribes are still in the same position they’ve been in for decades – nowhere close to having the resources to truly help our people.”

Santos also stressed the need for collaboration especially for law enforcement and mental health crisis support.

The discussion was led by State Rep. James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA) who says the roundtable was held for legislators to learn recommendations for a stable government-to-government solution.

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