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President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated Avi Kwa Ame, a sacred site in Nevada, as a national monument.

Its name means “Spirit Mountain” and is a sacred landscape to Indigenous people in Nevada and number of tribes.

President Biden designated it as a Traditional Cultural Property on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its religious and cultural importance.

“Breathtaking deserts, valleys, mountain ranges. Rich in biodiversity, sacred lands, that are central to the creation story of so many tribes who have been here since the time of memorial. Look, it’s a place of reverence, it’s a place of spirituality, and it’s a place of healing. And now it will be recognized for the significance it holds, and be preserved forever.”

More than 500,000 acres of land will now be safeguarded as a national monument.

Tribes across the country celebrated the news including Chairman Timothy Williams from the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, who introduced the President and thanked the White house for the designation.

President Biden also on Tuesday awarded National Humanities Medals.

A Native organization and a Native woman were among those honored.

Matt Laslo has more from Washington.

As Henrietta Mann likes to tell it, when she was working on her master’s thesis she “wanted to write about Indians…[but] was told, ‘no, you can’t.’”

That’s because her advisor knew there were no Native American scholars to grade her.

She made sure to change that, including for future generations.

Likely why the White House audience lavished the 88-year-old with a sustained ovation.

In 1986, the Bureau of Indian Affairs tapped Henrietta Mann to be “the first Indian woman to direct Indian education programs”.

She’s taught at University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University, but for 28 years she was a Professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana.

She’s also the Endowed Chair in Native American Studies at Montana State University in Bozeman.

“A teacher, a scholar, and a leader. She’s dedicated her career to Native American education and to establishing the field of Native American studies,” President Biden said during the ceremony.

“Thanks in large part to her, Native American [sic: studies] is now taught at universities across the country, strengthening our nation to nation bonds for generations to come.”

While Mann was pivotal in enshrining Native American history’s place in academia, our sister public radio program “Native America Calling” was honored for starting and sustaining a dialogue with often overlooked voices from across Indian Country.

President Biden says the program has helped bring Indian Country to life for millions, even as it’s also served as a digital gathering place for Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

“Every day from a studio in New Mexico, Native America Calling airs a podcast—a live radio show, exploring everything from the legacy of Native newspapers to Native cuisine to Native American solidarity with Ukraine, capturing the vastness of the Native American life and its profoundly impact on the country.”

The one-of-a-kind Native program started broadcasting to 14 stations in the 1990s.

It’s now on 139 stations, including many large, non-Native outlets.

President Biden also bestowed medals on the likes of musician Bruce Springsteen, fashion designer Vera Wang, actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and singer Gladys Knight.

Disclaimer: Native America Calling is owned by Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, which also owns National Native News.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will have a roundtable discussion regarding the “Native Priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill Reauthorization” in Washington D.C.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), the committee’s chairman, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), vice chair of the committee, will lead the discussion.

A number of representatives from tribal food and agricultural programs are expected to testify.

Tribal leaders from across the country are advocating for the passage of the Farm Bill which they say helps fund many important programs in Indian Country.

 

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The Navajo Nation went before the United States Supreme Court on Monday to argue it has a right to Colorado River water dating back to an 1868 treaty.

Matt Laslo reports from Washington.

There’s no running water on more than 30% of the Navajo Nation and households on the reservation that do have running water only have access to about one tenth of the water average U.S. households use.

Why?

“Broken promises,” reads the tribe’s brief before the Supreme Court.

After more than two decades of a drought in the southwest, tribes have been demanding a seat a the table.

“More tribes are actively pursuing their water rights. Yeah, it’s a big deal. It’s daunting.”

That’s Mark Macarro, tribal chair of the Pechanga Band of Indians in southern California and first vice president of the National Congress of American Indians.

“A lot of tribes have a right to water. That’s the whole premise of federal Indian water law.

When a homeland was created there’s an implied right to water comes with it. But beyond that, how much?”

The case could have far reaching impacts for tribes across the west, because two decades of drought have had lasting impacts, including on bringing reservoirs like Lake Powell to historic lows.

Christina Aspaas is Navajo from New Mexico.

“Look at Lake Powell now. That is so down, and a lot of that water also ran down the Little Colorado River, and that was also to our hydro plant and nobody talks to us. They make these plans up here with these industries, and nobody came to us to ask.”

The Biden White House is aligned with Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and some California water districts in opposing the Navajo Nation’s water claims.

An Indigenous professor is conducting a survey to learn more about the millions of American Indian and Alaska Native people living in urban areas.

Emma VandenEinde of the Mountain West News Bureau reports.

The nationally-reaching survey asks questions like if they live in an apartment or a house. It also asks about the conditions of their housing and their experience finding housing.

Sofia Locklear is a professor at Western University in Canada and she’s from the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina.

She launched the survey two months ago, and since then, she’s received nearly 800 responses from Indigenous people.

“That signals that, like people want to talk about this. You know, I’m getting emails, people saying, I really want to tell you my story about trying to find housing.”

There are no concrete results yet. But Locklear says responses reflect the country’s colonialism and racism towards Indigenous people.

“Everybody I’ve talked to sure has so far had some hard things happen in their experiences of finding housing, but they also are really brilliant at navigating that.”

Her goal is to use this data to inform policy and allocate funds to AIAN people.

Congratulations to our sister program Native America Calling, which is owned by our Alaska-based company Koahnic Broadcast Corporation.

The one-hour live call-in talk show, which connects listeners from across the country to Indigenous issues, has been awarded a National Humanities Medal.

President Joe Biden will present our President and CEO Jaclyn Sallee with the medal during a White House ceremony on Tuesday.

Watch the ceremony live: 

 

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Food shortages, along with higher costs, were among the challenges experienced in Rural Alaska during the pandemic, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has more.

But Old Harbor on Kodiak Island had its community bison herd and gardens, as a fall back — part of longtime efforts to bring down the high cost of food to a village, accessible only by boat and airplane.

The Old Harbor Alliance — a group which includes the tribe, the city and the village’s Native corporation — bought about 40 bison in 2017 and barged them to an island across from Old Harbor.

Since then, a lot has happened. The Alliance built a processing plant to butcher surplus bison, which have filled up freezers with meat, distributed to community members at no cost, with priority going to elders.

Melissa Berns-Svoboda who manages the herd, says it’s taught Old Harbor an important lesson.

“Anything’s possible. I mean, this was kind of a pie in the sky dream that I’ve heard our leadership talking about since the early 2000, and they kept on pushing for it and we made it happen.”

The Alliance took a big step in 2020, when it added three bulls from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana to improve the herd’s genetic diversity.

The bison, which were surplus animals from Yellowstone National Park, had to travel in trucks, airplanes and barges to reach their final destination. But today, seemed to have adapted to their new home.

“They’ve got their little harems and they’ve been there for about three years. So we definitely have their offspring out on the landscape already.”

As the herd continues to grow and thrive, the bison have also fed the community’s spirit with hunts that bring families together.

Permits have also been given to those who have moved away.

“It’s kind of a way to reconnect people to their roots and provide for them at the same time.”

Berns-Svoboda says a lot of the credit for the bison herd’s success goes to the InterTribal Buffalo Council, which has provided both expertise and opportunities to build the herd.

The Old Harbor Alliance recently added about sixty animals to its herd, barged in from another part of Kodiak Island.

The long-range goal is to use the surplus bison to grow the community’s cash economy – through visitor hunting permits and the sale of the meat.

Any profits will be used to support the meat processing plant and community gardens, as well as cultural programs, which teach children about their Alutiiq language and heritage.

The herd now has more than 160 bison, four times what it was when the program began six years ago.

A Michigan tribe has been awarded a $100,000 federal grant to study creating its own power utility.

Mark Richardson has more.

The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians will use Tribal Energy Capacity Grant funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to perform a Tribal Utility Authority feasibility study.

Eugene Magnuson is the executive director of the tribe’s economic development arm, Little River Holdings.

He says the tribe sees operating a power utility as a way to exercise its independence, diversify its holdings, control its energy future and reduce costs.

“Energy sovereignty, I think, is the next arena that tribes are starting to look at, and one of the ways is going through solar, wind and all those technologies that are available for tribes to get into.”

There are currently more than 30 Tribal Utility Authorities across the country, including the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.

The Little River Band was among 18 tribal entities funded during the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ January round of grant awards.

The tribe is located in Manisee County in the northwestern part of Michigan’s lower peninsula.

The tribe’s main income enterprise is the Little River Casino Resort north of the reservation.

Magnuson says electricity to operate a casino can be costly.

“The Tribal Utility Entity was created to actually peel power off the grid. And because of the tribal sovereignty, we could procure the electricity off of the grid at wholesale.”

Magnuson says tribal leaders have not set a deadline to complete the study.

A group of Apache people and their allies are headed back to federal court in efforts to protect the sacred site Oak Flat in Arizona from mining.

On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit will hear arguments again in Apache Stronghold v. United States after the court decided last fall to hear the case in front of a full panel of 11 judges.

The hearing is taking place in Pasadena, CA.

 

Watch the hearing live via the court’s YouTube channel

 

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A tribal leader in Washington state is raising concerns about oil spills after a train derailment along a bay on the Swinomish Reservation this week.

Crews on Thursday were cleaning up oil spilled on land from the BNSF train.

The Washington Department of Ecology first reported about 5,000 gallons of diesel leaked.

Federal officials estimate about 2,500.

Chairman Tom Wooten of the nearby Samish Nation released a statement saying safety is a priority and thankfully no one was injured.

But Wooten says the spill signals a larger infrastructure issue, adding there needs to be a priority on evaluating infrastructure hauling hazardous materials.

He says there also needs to be a weaning away from fossil fuels for preservation of Native lands.

In a statement to KOMO News, Swinomish Chairman Steve Edwards said he was grateful to first responders and various agencies working on the spill.

Edwards says they’ll continue to do everything they can to protect the waters and natural resources, and ensure public safety.

The Swinomish Nation has sued the BNSF Railway in the past over oil train shipments.

The derailment is under investigation.

Federal officials will spend $25 million to restore and conserve bison herds on tribal lands.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Will Walkey has more.

Tens of millions of bison once roamed North America. But the species was hunted to near extinction in the late 1800s.

Today, wild bison number in the tens of thousands nationwide, including about 20,000 managed by tribes.

Jason Baldes works for the National Wildlife Federation and lives on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

He says this recent announcement is a step in the right direction.

“They’re a keystone species, so that should be reason enough to restore them to the landscape because it benefits the grasses, the birds, the insects.”

He says herds also provide food and maintain the cultural identity of tribes.

The money comes from the Inflation Reduction Act and will go towards building new herds and transferring more bison from federal to tribal lands.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland says officials also need to tap into Indigenous knowledge more to keep preserving one of the most iconic animals in the American West.

A new book explores the legal history of the Oneida Nation’s fight to protect its sovereignty.

Lina Tran of station WUWM reports.

For years, the Oneida Nation faced challenges to its sovereignty from Hobart, a village on the eastern half of the reservation, just outside Green Bay, WI.

Disputes ranged from garbage collection to police jurisdiction and roads.

“They constantly and regularly tried to tell the Oneida Nation how it should be going about its business.”

Rebecca Webster is an Oneida citizen who served on the tribe’s legal team. Now, she’s an assistant professor in American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Webster shares the history of these legal battles in her book In Defense of Sovereignty.

The biggest clash involved Hobart’s attempt to force the tribe to obtain permits for its Big Apple Fest.

“Hobart’s main arguments throughout all of this litigation is, they’re really challenging that the Oneida Nation isn’t a legitimate government.”

Ultimately, the tribe prevailed, when a federal appeals court ruled in its favor in July 2020.

Webster says Hobart’s tactics were part of a wider effort to upend tribal sovereignty, from the anti-Indigenous group Citizens for Equal Rights Alliance.

“This isn’t just happening here in Oneida, this is happening in other places. We need to continue that network of tribes talking to each other. Because we know this is something we just, we need to stay on top of, and we need to stay vigilant.”

Webster hopes her book sheds light on the issue for other tribes.

 

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Authorities say they’re investigating an attack on an Indigenous community that left five dead and at least three wounded in Nicaragua.

The incident is the latest in a series of ongoing attacks on Indigenous communities in the north and east of that Central American country, as settlers, and mining and timber interests want to move into Indigenous lands.

Maria Martin reports.

This latest attack took place in the Indigenous community of Wilu in the Bosawas Nature Preserve in northern Nicaragua.

Local Native authorities report “all of the houses in the Wilu community have been burned, and families have been left without shelter, food, and clothing.”

Indigenous Forest Rangers who guard the protected area say the bloody attack was carried out by some “70 armed non-Indigenous settlers.”

The attackers are believed to be mostly former soldiers, also responsible for previous acts of violence against Mayangna and Miskito communities in Nicaragua, as they seek land for ranching, farming, mining, and the timber industry.

The government of Daniel Ortega has been criticized for not taking strong enough action on the perpetrators.

The government denies that accusation, pointing to the arrest in January of 24 settlers involved in a previous attack on a Nicaraguan Indigenous community.

The Qawalangin Tribe in Alaska’s Aleutian islands is calling on locals to help with a climate vulnerability report.

Sofia Stuart-Rasi has more.

As Unalaska Island tries to adapt to the changing climate, the Qawalangin Tribe is looking for residents with knowledge of the berry seasons, bird populations, and more.

The tribe is working on an assessment of Unalaska’s climate vulnerability.

Resilience Coordinator Shayla Shaishnikoff says participants – who’ll be called community knowledge holders – do not need formal scientific training to serve on the assessment committee.

“We are the ones who know this land, we are the ones who know our oceans, and so you guys know better than any scientist based out of Anchorage or Homer about what’s going on here on the ground.”

Participants will be paid to provide information on topics including when seabirds show up, how long berrypicking season lasts, and other environmental issues that may demand planning and adaptation.

Shaishnikoff says this guidance will equip local decision makers to better identify threats and challenges driven by climate change.

Six committee members will meet quarterly throughout 2023. Shaishnikoff says meetings will focus on the concept of guustilix^.

“Guustilix^ is the Unagan form of visiting and essentially what that entails is when you get together with your friends, your family, colleagues, anybody; you sit down over coffee or tea, maybe some fish dip or snacks … and really just create a space for where there’s trust and where we’re going to have an organic conversation of knowledge sharing — and really, just sitting in a safe, comfortable space.”

A professor is conducting a survey to learn more about the millions of American Indian and Alaska Native people living in urban areas.

Emma VandenEinde of the Mountain West News Bureau reports.

The survey asks if they live in an apartment or a house, conditions, and experiences finding housing.

Sofia Locklear is a professor at Western University in Canada and she’s from the Lumbee Tribe in North Carolina.

She launched the survey two months ago and has received nearly 800 responses.

“That signals that, like people want to talk about this. You know, I’m getting emails, people saying, I really want to tell you my story about trying to find housing.”

Her goal is to use this data to inform policy and allocate funds to American Indian and Alaska Native people.

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The leader of one of eleven federally-recognized tribes in Wisconsin has delivered an annual State of the Tribes speech at the Capitol building in Madison.

The tribes are calling for more cooperation on health care, casino revenue, and protecting the environment.

Chuck Quirmbach of station WUWM reports.

Robert Van Zile is chairman of the Sokaogan Chippewa Community.

One thing he told Wisconsin’s governor and about 130 lawmakers is that tribes receive very limited funds from the federal Indian Health Services program.

Van Zile says that makes it tough to hire and keep health care providers.

“Wage pressure and difficulty recruiting medical talent. Rural areas are really hurting and hindering quality care, for patient care.”

Van Zile asks for a change in Wisconsin law that would allow nurse practitioners to work without supervision from physicians.

He also urges the state to help the tribes provide more mental health counseling, and to fight opioid addictions.

On gaming, Van Zile calls for more state regulation and consumer protection related to gambling machines at non-tribal taverns. He also asks for tribes to be able to keep more revenue from their casinos, and share less with the state—allowing tribes to invest in diversifying their economy.

“For our tribes to make strides toward economic self-sustainability, we must diversify our economic engines beyond casino revenue.”

Van Zile also requests that Wisconsin officials let tribes add their expertise to battling contamination from so-called forever chemicals known as PFAS that threaten many fish. He says the pollution may hurt the Wisconsin tradition of Friday night fish frys.

“Might just require a Mr. Yuk sign/sticker to prevent people from poisoning themselves.”

Wisconsin is sitting on growing state budget surplus. But Republicans controlling the legislature have warned that Democratic Governor Tony Evers is proposing too much spending.

How that battle plays out this spring could affect calls for more state-tribal cooperation.

 

Three Alaska Native mushers were the first to finish the Iditarod on Tuesday, as Rhonda McBride reports from our flagship station KNBA.

Ryan Redington (Inupiat) crossed the burled arch in Nome just after noon. He finished the 1,000-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome in eight days, 21 hours, 12 minutes, and 58 seconds.

Pete Kaiser (Yup’ik) of Bethel came in about an hour and a half later, followed by Richie Diehl (Dena’ina Athabascan) of Aniak.

Another Alaska Native in the race, Mike Williams, Jr. (Yup’ik) of Akiak, is still out on the trail.

His father, Mike Williams, Sr. was in Nome for the finish.

Williams says he’s proud to see not just one, but three Native mushers at the top.

“It’s a joy. It’s something very special. One, two, three. And it says a lot that mushing is still alive in our communities.”

Williams has run the Iditarod 15 times. He says he entered his first race in 1992, because the number of Native mushers was in sharp decline, mainly because they could not afford to compete against a new class of well-financed, professional mushers.

Williams says the traditional use of dogs for hunting and trapping was key to survival and required a mastery of the land in one of the harshest environments on the planet.

He says the Iditarod is a reminder of the culture behind the sport, Williams has also run many Iditarods with Ryan Redington’s grandfather, Joe, who founded the race.

Although many members of the Redington family have competed in the race, Ryan is the first to claim the trophy, which bears the image of his late grandfather.

“He would be very proud, very proud that he accomplished something like this,” Williams said.

Williams says for Joe Redington, it was always a victory just to finish the race. Williams says he feels the same way about his son, who returned to the Iditarod this year, after taking a break from the sport.

Mike Williams, Jr. has been focused on training a team of young dogs and has about 150 miles to go before reaching Nome.

 

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The Biden administration has given the greenlight to the Willow project, one of the largest oil and gas developments in Alaska in years, estimated to produce 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports.

The project has been scaled down from ConocoPhillips’ original proposal and continues to face intense opposition from environmental groups.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) gave credit to Alaska Native groups for helping to push the project over the finish line.

“Alaska Native people, those who live and work and raise their families up in, in the area. The strong support from, from unions.”

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK), the lone Democrat in Alaska’s congressional delegation, says it was a bipartisan effort and an example of what can be done when Alaskans unite for a common cause.

“I’d like to thank the president and his administration for really listening to the voices of Alaskans, when it mattered the most. And I’d also like to thank my Democratic colleagues, who really helped to push for meetings with the White House and who listened to the voices of Alaskan Native leaders, who told them about how unique Alaska is and how important this project is for our future.”

Not all Alaska Natives were happy with the decision.

In Nuiqsut, the community closest to the Willow project, there’s been division over the project.

Eunice Brower, who works for the tribe, believes oil and gas development in the region has already caused air pollution and health problems like asthma.

“They’re not taking that into consideration, as to how much they’re impacting the health of the people that live there.”

Brower says there are also worries that oil and gas production will introduce toxins into the environment, which can lead to higher cancer rates.

Willow will bring miles of new roads and pipelines, as well as 200 oil wells that will forever change the landscape.

Environmental groups have called Willow a “climate bomb” that will potentially release tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and accelerate climate change.

Disclosure: ConocoPhillips is an underwriter of KNBA

A Guatemalan forensic anthropologist who’s worked to exhume and identify the remains of thousands of Maya killed during his country’s bloody civil war is offering to help Indigenous communities in Canada, as investigations are underway of unmarked graves at former Indian residential schools.

Maria Martin has more.

“Guatemala is recovering from a 36-year-long armed conflict…what we have as a result is 200 thousand civilian victims.”

Forensic anthropologist Freddy Peccerelli says Guatemala’s still in the process of dealing with the impact of a war that ended some 25 years ago, and whose victims were largely Indigenous Maya, many whom have yet to be identified.

“The missing, the ones we are still looking for today…we call them the desaparecidos.”

Peccerelli has spent more than two decades helping Maya families identify the remains of thousands of bodies of the so-called “disappeared” using DNA tests. He’s offered that expertise to Canada’s First Nations so they can develop their own forensic capacity.

Peccerelli says that in both countries what the families of those buried in unmarked graves and cemeteries want is the truth.

“Now the families they want information, they want to know what happened, they want the bodies of their loved ones, but most of all they want you to know that their loved ones did nothing wrong.”

Peccerelli heads up the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala.

 

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The failure of a bill in South Dakota means there will be no task force studying the welfare of Native children in the state.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene checks in on what’s next.

Native children make up a disproportionate number of children in the state’s foster care system, which led to the initial interest in the study.

State Rep. Peri Pourier (Oglala Sioux/D-SD), in a recent appearance on SDPB’s In the Moment, says this has been on lawmakers minds for some time.

“This has been a longstanding issue, for as long as I could remember, at least documented about 20 years. It’s been at sixty percent of children in the system are Native children. They wanted to come together and address it; the Oglala Sioux Tribe declared a state of emergency last year.”

Rep. Pourier says the issue requires involvement from state government.

“What do we do now? Well, we go back to the drawing table. The fight never ends until positive outcomes happen for Native children. A lot of people will probably say, I hear this time and time again ‘why don’t the tribes just fix it on their own?’ We are South Dakotans as well. Yes, we have tribal nations, but there are Native children all across the state of South Dakota who are tribal members, and who are South Dakotans.”

It’s an issue that touches every corner of South Dakota’s Native community.

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Chairman Clyde Estes thanked the bills sponsors. He says he doesn’t expect this issue to go away after this session.

“With some of the sponsors of the bill and the support we have in tribal and state supporters, we’ll bring this issue back up again. The fact of the matter is that tribal and state leaders need to find a better path forward to work together to put aside our differences and do what’s best for all South Dakota children.”

SB191 died on the floor of the state House, just one step away from the Governor’s desk.

Opponents raised concerns over costs and the members making up the committee.

A bipartisan bill in Congress aims to bolster tribal law enforcement and combat the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, the effort would enhance access to data and increase officer retention.

The BADGES Act is designed to increase tribal access to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and conduct training and information gathering to improve the resolution of missing persons cases. Tribal police often face roadblocks because of a lack of access to federal crime data. The bill would also allow the Bureau of Indian Affairs to conduct its own background checks to improve the process of hiring officers.

U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is a co-sponsor of the bill.

“We need to empower these communities to protect themselves and give them their opportunity to really bring safety to their community and it doesn’t necessarily just have to happen from us at the federal level.”

Rep. Gallego hopes the bill will help with officer recruitment and retention on tribal nations by offering more access of culturally appropriate mental health and wellness programs to BIA officers and tribal police, and by mandating a report on tribal law enforcement needs.

As of Monday morning, three Alaska Native Mushers were battling it out for the top spot in the Iditarod, the 1,000-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA has more.

Ryan Redington, an Inupiat with roots in Unalakleet, has been out in front in this last stretch of the race.

He told Alaska Public Media he’s confident his team has the training to maintain their fast pace to the end.

2019’s Iditarod champ Pete Kaiser remains in second place, but cut short his rest in Koyuk to close the gap between his team and
Redington’s.

Kaiser, who is a Yup’ik from Bethel, left Koyuk about 26 minutes behind Redington, driving a team of eight dogs to Redington’s ten.

Richie Diehl (Dena’ina Athabascan) from Aniak was the third to pull into Koyuk, which is about 126 miles from Nome, where the trail follows the coast and mushers must endure punishing winds.

All three mushers have been clocking average speeds of more than eight-miles-an-hour, with Kaiser’s team moving slightly faster.

Redington’s late grandfather, Joe, founded the Iditarod, and while many members of this mushing family have raced in the Iditarod, none have claimed the trophy for the race, which features a giant bust of Joe Redington.

A fourth Native musher, Mike Williams Jr., a Yup’ik from Akiak, remains in the back of the pack, keeping a steady pace.

Williams, who has previously finished in the top ten, took a break from the Iditarod and is in the process of rebuilding his team.

 

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The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act known as ICWA.

As the Mountain West News Bureau’s Will Walkey reports, some states, including Wyoming, are preparing their own laws if the courts deem ICWA unconstitutional.

ICWA requires state courts to prioritize placing Native American children in foster or adoption care within their tribal communities.

It was passed in 1978 in response to the large number of Indigenous children who were being separated from their cultural affiliations.

Those against ICWA say it’s unfair discrimination against non-indigenous people. But others, like State Rep. Landon Brown (R-WY), disagree.

He testified at the legislature in early March. 

“I want to make sure that we step back just for a half a second and realize that these are sovereign tribes. This isn’t necessarily about the race issue. This is about granting those rights to the sovereign tribes.” 

The Wyoming legislature recently voted to codify ICWA protections for Native families.

The state’s governor signed that bill into law this week.

Utah and Montana lawmakers have pushed to do the same.

At least 11 other states, including New Mexico, have already done so. 

The court could make a ruling on ICWA as early as this spring.

The nation’s fentanyl crisis is hitting American Indian and Alaska Native people harder than others, according to federal officials.

Matt Laslo reports from Washington on efforts to stem the tragic tide of overdoses in Indian Country.

American Indian and Alaska Natives saw a 39% spike in overdoses between 2019-2020, according to the CDC.

That’s because of the flood of fentanyl pouring into America.

Things only got worse during COVID lockdowns, as tribal leaders from coast to coast know all too well.

“It’s everywhere.”

That’s Mark Macarro, tribal chair of southern California’s Pechanga Band of Indians.

Overdose rates among American Indian and Alaska Native women between 25-44 were “nearly two times that of White women” of the same age, according to the CDC.

Macarro says it’s a travesty.

“What we see is fentanyl being put into other products that are unwittingly being used and unwittingly causing death. It’s insidious. It’s sickening now that that kind of sociopathic activity is being used there because people are making money off it. Cartels and others.”

Native Americans and Alaska Natives have historically suffered higher rates of substance use disorder than their non-Native peers, but Macarro says fentanyl has made everything worse.

“It makes everything more acute, because maybe folks weren’t going to die of casual, recreational use of whatever the substance was, but death is near certain when it comes to fentanyl. So it is more dangerous. It’s gone to next level.”

The National Congress of American Indians continues lobbying Congress for more resources to fight the overdose epidemic, but with Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives, steep budget cuts may be on the horizon.

This week, the U.S. Senate confirmed Patrice Kunesh (Standing Rock Lakota descent) as the Commissioner of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Native Americans – promoting tribal self-sufficiency and cultural preservation.

The commissioner is one of the most senior, Senate-confirmed, federal officials in Native policy at HHS.

The commissioner advises the HHS Secretary on Indian Affairs.

 

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Tribal leaders from coast to coast are watching the U.S. Supreme Court and bracing for the worst.

Matt Laslo reports from Washington on the foundational rights leaders fear the Roberts Court may strip away from tribes.

Tribes are still reeling from last year’s Supreme Court’s decision that greatly expanded the power state governments have over prosecuting non-Natives who commit crimes in Indian Country.

That case was Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerto and it still haunts William Lowe, the Speaker of Oklahoma’s Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

“That’s the biggest issue right now with us. And that’s something we’re concentrating on.”

Tribal leaders are now bracing for the upcoming Court ruling on the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.

With the far-right tilt of this Supreme Court, Speaker Lowe is praying for the best while bracing for the worst as the Court decides whether an act aimed at American Indian and Alaska Native children is actually discriminatory on the basis of race.

“Very. I’m pretty nervous, because now that the state and feds can come onto a Rez. and arrest our folks, that decision last time is what kind of makes us even more nervous. We look at that as our sovereignty too and now this ICWA is really testing it.”

Mark Macarro is tribal chair of the Pechanga Band of Indians in southern California and he’s NCAI’s first vice-president.

Like most Native leaders, he’s nervous.

Though he’s hoping the outcry from tribes last year will soften the court to their pleas. And he’s hoping Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch—who served as a federal judge in the sprawling, western 10th Circuit—has more sway with his colleagues this year than last.

“It turns Indian law as we know it upside down. I know—we know, collectively—that Justice Gorsuch knows all about Indian law. I hope his voice prevails enough, so I’m hopeful. But I don’t want to be Pollyanna-ish either.”

The Court’s decision is expected to be handed down in June.

Lady Gaga is a strong advocate for mental health.

She created an organization called Born This Way Foundation with her mother around ten years ago to make a difference in the lives of young people.

Hannah Bissett from our flagship station KNBA has the story of new developments within the foundation and its bright future.

Lady Gaga is a famous singer who has a platform that speaks about kindness, anti-bullying, and awareness of mental health struggles.

Her platform helped form the Born This Way Foundation, its mission began with spreading kindness.

The foundation created a new advisory board of young people taking on the task of creating mental health resources.

All of the board members have different educational and cultural backgrounds.

“Indigenous youth that’s gonna see me on there and the mission we are doing, they’re going to feel heard and that sends hope, right?”

That’s River Ward who’s a member of the Mi’kmaq Eel Ground First Nation (Natoaganeg) and works as a prevention and outreach coordinator.

Ward is one of 31 Born This Way Foundation board members.

Ward hones in on the importance the board could have on making future changes to help heal generational wounds.

“We are here to help we are here to listen to any Indigenous person who might be struggling that there is support with love and care and understanding and that our voices will always be heard.”

Board members will serve a year-long term.

It is composed of people ages 15 to 24.

The board will create resources for communities around the world to utilize and emphasize kindness, and understanding around mental health.

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